Do you use empty cases for 22 targets?

[Geobru]

I was wondering if anyone else uses empty cartridges as reactive targets for plinking sessions?

I started off using shotgun hulls stuck onto the end of branches on a sapling. If you hit the metal end, they go flying. Hit the plastic and it just moved a little.

One day I found some 380 cases and some 9mm. I put them out at 20 yards and had a friend who is a new shooter try to hit them. With a little practice, he was able to hit them pretty regularly. The next step was 22 lr cases. Same result, but the hardest thing was being able to see the case.

The guns are 22 levers with an old Weaver V22 scope. It makes a fun target if you can see them!

[CastingFool]

I have used spent shotgun shells I found, but not 22 casings. Discarded bricks make good reactive targets when shot at with a 30-06 or 308Win. Found a bunch of those out in the woods behind a friend's house and we had a good time blasting them. No scopes, just open sights.

[bangerjim]

Best thing I have found is water bottles! Hang them from a line stretched between 2 trees and have at it. Excellent action when you hit them. And you are watering the plants. If you hit high, you can get at least 3-4 hits B4 all the water is gone. Then you hit the string and drop the bottle. Works great for me at 50-80 yards.

[big bore 99]

I like shooting the heads off dry cat tails. Get a puff of seeds.

[jsizemore]

Flies at 50 and marbles at 100. Set the marbles on golf tees. Hitting the tees is a miss and makes a follow up shot difficult.

[GhostHawk]

Set those shotgun hulls sideways and aim for primers at 100y. Yes it is doable.

[Geobru]

This reminds me of a gun a friend put together. It was a 30 caliber (I don't remember exactly what it was) He put a 2"(?) diameter machinegun barrel on a mauser action and topped it with a 20 power scope. He would put small pieces of hamburger on his fence at 100 yards, and shoot the flies off when they landed on the meat. I asked him about it and he just laughed and said he put it together just to prove that it could be done. You had to use a rest because that gun had a LOT of weight forward! :)

[needausername]

Set those shotgun hulls sideways and aim for primers at 100y. Yes it is doable.

My preferred 17HMR target right there.

[HarryT]

I shoot through the center of 1/4 inch washers. That way I don't have to keep walking 200 yards to replace them. When I finish shooting I turn the washers on their side and make them disappear.

[22cf45]

Boy, this is getting deeper and deeper.

[Tenbender]

I use a lot of shotgun hulls at 50 yrd's with my Ruger Mk ll pistol. Plastic bottle caps at 100 with rifles. I have a bucket half full of cull brass. Might start using that. Scrap is not worth anything unless I'm the buyer ?

[WebMonkey]

Try round toothpicks.

[JeffinNZ]

I used to shoot at shotgun wads at 100m with my sillywet rifle off the bench. Very doable.

[GhostHawk]

I am looking at a target hanging on my wall at the moment. Shot at the pistol range, 10 rounds, you could fit them all inside a pop bottle cap, offhand.

Ruger Mk III 22/45 with 4" bull barrel and a Red Dot sight.
My other Ruger is the Mk III 22/45 with 6" stainless steel bull barrel and target sights.

It will do the same, better even, but it is harder with my old eye's.

I will admit that shotgun hull primers takes a good scope turned up around 9 and a good rest.
But other than that it is a stock Ruger 10/22 from early 70's with mostly original parts. I did add the extended mag release, worked over the bolt hold open, and put in a recoil buffer where that big steel pin was.

None of which makes it shoot any better, just more comfortable, less noisy.

My scope until it died was a late 80's era Bushnell Banner that came off my Dad's .270. He was not really happy with anything until we found him a 1.5-3 power.

Even then shotgun hull primers was always an end of the session trick. You had to warm up to it.
You needed the confidence, and reading wind helped.

[Garyshome]

380 cases have a pretty high re-sale value. I shoot at cardboard man shaped targets, I got a large amount of cardboard a few months back from a kitchen re-model.

[Iowa Fox]

I started my boys off shooting when the were somewhere between 3-5 years old. They are in their 40's now so they have had a lot of practice as they love to shoot. One of the things the oldest one does to show off is to take a plain sheet of white paper on a cardboard backer, he uses a iron sighted common 22 rimfire rifle fires a 22 LR hole into it offhand at 20 yards. Then he ejects the spent case and pokes it into the hole in the paper to the rim. He takes one shot offhand at 20 yards, one hole empty case gone. Makes for some good fun when the family is all home.

[merlin101]

Try round toothpicks.

Sideways or from the end?

[shooter2]

I am not out to make anyone mad, maybe just a little envious. I had just finished sighting in my Suhl at 50 meters. Then noticed that flies liked sitting on the target. So I spent 30 minutes or so shooting flies. Just leaves a little hole where the fly was sitting. Suhl 150, BR stock, 36X scope.

[Hogtamer]

Sounds like some fishing story threads so I might as well chime in.....Personally I like to stir up a wasp nest and shoot their stingers off, flying @ 100 yds of course! Oh that's with my bow and this is a gun thread!

[jhalcott]

My buddy and I shoot 22ruger pistols and 17 hmr contenders at pint water bottle caps laying on the 100yard berm .6x Burris scopes and sand bags. Many people think it can not be done. Then they try it and usually succeed, going away with a new respect for the lowly 22 rd.

[funnyjim014]

50ft indoor range.... shot gun primers tapped to strings, the exhaust fan makes them swing just enought. Good pop noise. O when im out side i do portraits into sheet metal at 100yrs :bigsmyl2:

[izzyjoe]

Nothing exciting here, but me and a few friends used to blow up balloons half full, and place them at the 100yd mark at the range. We would tie a string across and tape the balloons to it, and we all had 22 pistol, and we shot 5 rounds a piece to see who could shoot the most balloons. It don't sound very hard, but most times the wind was hard to correct for. We had a good time doing it, the fellow that had the S&W 41 used to clean our plows, that thing was amazing how good it shot. Most of us had run of the mill ruger mk and buckmarks.

[tazman]

I and a friend would use our 22 pistols for practice. When we got bored, we would fire one round nearly straight up then hit it as it fell. Had to be done when the bullet was almost on the ground since we didn't want to have bullets flying into the neighbors fields. Usually needs to be done on a bright day since you need the reflection from the sun on the bullet to see it well enough to aim.
I was once able to hit it three times before it finally hit the ground.

[45workhorse]

I and a friend would use our 22 pistols for practice. When we got bored, we would fire one round nearly straight up then hit it as it fell. Had to be done when the bullet was almost on the ground since we didn't want to have bullets flying into the neighbors fields. Usually needs to be done on a bright day since you need the reflection from the sun on the bullet to see it well enough to aim.
I was once able to hit it three times before it finally hit the ground.

Dang it, I thought I was the only one that did that!!:bigsmyl2:

[spotsboss]

"Try round toothpicks."
Sideways or from the end?

I shoot at the ends and alternate between the toothpicks and pinheads, which can get boring so I go for the sharp point with these, too. Use an old Stephens single shot I picked up at a flea market for $5. Iron sights. I will confess, though, that I only get about 9 out of 10 hits shooting offhand at 50 yards so I resort to a sandbag rest to hit 'em all. CCI Standard Velocity- - that's the secret.

[jmorris]

I use unreloadable hulls in a pond (yeah don't do it if a ricochet will be an issue) for fun reactive targets. Pretty good for teaching as well because one can see the bullet impact off target pretty well. Not to mention even if they are not a "deadeye" splash will sink them at some point.

If fishing is slow, a bobber will also work but you need a direct hit to sink them.

Ballons are fun if your playing with SMG's but a little water in them before inflation will help keep them from blowing across the pond too fast.

Stale crackers are also fun and when that gets boring you can shoot for specific nubs on them from where they broke apart from their counterpart.

Needles are also fine targets for the crackshot until your Grandmother finds out what your doing and lights you up, haven't shot one since and she passed away too many years ago. The hardest lessons learned are the ones not forgotten.

I still wish she was here now to fish with me and my daughter and I wouldn't even shoot her bobber while she wasn't looking, nor would my daughter, more than once.

[Hickory]

"Try round toothpicks."

I shoot at the ends and alternate between the toothpicks and pinheads, which can get boring so I go for the sharp point with these, too. Use an old Stephens single shot I picked up at a flea market for $5. Iron sights. I will confess, though, that I only get about 9 out of 10 hits shooting offhand at 50 yards so I resort to a sandbag rest to hit 'em all. CCI Standard Velocity- - that's the secret.

I could fertilize my garden for two years with this . . . . . . . .

[merlin101]

"Try round toothpicks."

I shoot at the ends and alternate between the toothpicks and pinheads, which can get boring so I go for the sharp point with these, too. Use an old Stephens single shot I picked up at a flea market for $5. Iron sights. I will confess, though, that I only get about 9 out of 10 hits shooting offhand at 50 yards so I resort to a sandbag rest to hit 'em all. CCI Standard Velocity- - that's the secret.

Wait a dang minute! You use sights?? Where I come from sights are for kids an cheaters!

"I could fertilize my garden for two years with this . . . . . . . ."
Just thought I'd contribute to your garden Hickory!

[shooter2]

Wait a dang minute! You use sights?? Where I come from sights are for kids an cheaters!

Actually, there is more truth here than you may think. Look up "Lucky McDaniel".

In the late fifties I was stationed at a radar site near Valdosta, GA. Lucky taught a 3 day class on instinctive shooting. In fifteen minutes, everyone in the class could hit a washer tossed in the air ten times out of ten. At the end of the class one could hit an aspirin 50% of the time. ALL DONE WITH A BB GUN THAT HAD NO SIGHTS.

I once shot at a registered trap meet with a fellow that made three hundred straight look easy. 100 birds at 16 yards, 100 at 27 yards, and 100 doubles. Every bird was smoked.

Tommy Hefron (SP?) ran 1050 straight in a NSSA national shoot-off. The judges finally called the match a draw as his opponent did the same thing.

And yes, I actually was shooting flies at fifty meters. With a gun that shoots in the ones, calm winds, it actually got a little boring.

[Went2kck]

Finest thing I ever shot at was pumpkins full of water. Cut a small plug into them and fill, tape on sides to get all air out. Do this at least 3 times. The water makes them more solid and with a 165gr HP the almost explode.

[HarryT]

Back during WW Nam we were taught Quick Kill. Three inch metal disc and BB guns. I guess it was Lucky McDaniel's method.

[tazman]

For those of you who like reactive targets and have some money to burn(literally), fill a gallon(or smaller) milk jug with gasoline, screw the lid on, and hang it from a tree branch or fence post. Light a flare and set it in the ground a short but safe distance away. Back off to 100 yards or so and put a round from a centerfire rifle through the jug. The gas will turn to mist and ignite when it hits the flame from the flare.
Big, big fireball. Just make sure nothing that you don't want burned is near the fire before you set it off.
This was used by some during the Vietnam war as a numbers equalizer or booby trap. The jug would be painted green so it would not be seen and hung in a tree over the trail and the flare would be set in the middle of the trail near the jug. The shooter would be waiting in a hide down the trail waiting for a group of the enemy to come to the flare and try to figure out why it was there in the trail.
When enough of them were standing around the flare, the shooter would set off the trap with a round through the jug.

[Blackwater]

In trying to develop one's skills, constantly challenging one's self is the way to go, and if you want real skill in the field, targets of opportunity like spent casings from shotgun shells to .22 LR cases DO make some really challenging targets. And if you're not missing regularly, you're not learning, and if you're not learning, you're wasting time! Hitting everything we shoot at all the time gets to be really boring after a while, and things like this really make things a lot more interesting. One friend of mine, as a test for any new gun he gets, is to first sight it in on paper (usually cardboard of some type), and then he starts popping at pecans in his yard. He rates his guns' accuracy by how far he can consistently hit pecans. If they consistently hit pecans at 50 yds., he simply nods, smiles, and knows he's got another "keeper."

And when you get good, THEN you start tossing them in the air! When you can hit them or pennies or small rocks and pebbles thrown into the air, you're really "cookin' with grease!" And the oddest thing about that is, removing all the sights makes it EASIER, believe it or not! Sadly, nowadays I can barely SEE the darn things, much less HIT them! Eyesight, timing, etc. are just not what they once were, but you younger guys really ought'a try it. When you suddenly start hitting, it's a real revelation! Biggest requirement is an accurate rifle (single shots are fine) with a stock that fits you and comes up and mounts consistently. Take the sights off and it's even better!

I thought it was a pipedream until I saw a friend do it, and he got me to try, and after a few sessions, and finding the right gun to do it with, I got nearly as good as he was at it! So don't scoff until you've actually tried it several times. It'll really sharpen your reflexes, too, which is a VERY good skill in the woods. After all, game doesn't always stand still like paper targets! Knowing how to deal with the movement can really be an asset. Transferring the talent over to faster, centerfires, requires only a compensation for time, due to bullet speed. And you CAN, I guarantee, get a LOT better than you think you can, and doing "wild" stuff like this is the key to developing those talents you never really know you had! Don't believe it? Try it. REALLY try it, and you will almost surely be surprised, even if it doesn't come with your first efforts. Keep at it, and you'll find you can do a lot of stuff that surprises you!

[jmorris]

Tazman reminded me of the old Logan berry paint cans we had that would no longer spray.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/paint/aaImage11.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/paint/aaImage9.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/paint/aaImage12.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/paint/aaImage10.jpg

[Boolit_Head]

We've used rifle cases lined up at 50 yards with 22's. If you want a challenge tape aspirin to a black piece of poster board.With 22's you get a small puff when you hit them. Haven't tried that in many years.

[shooter2]

Back during WW Nam we were taught Quick Kill. Three inch metal disc and BB guns. I guess it was Lucky McDaniel's method.

Exactly right. Go to Wikipedia and search for Lucky and you will find that he did teach his shooting techniques to the military including the Israelis.

the guy was incredibly gifted as a shooter. In the class he would put a charcoal briquette on the back of his hand, then draw his gun and hit the briquette with the barrel.

[cameron.fromthep]

Golf balls against a hill, most will roll back
. Trying to hit them before they stop

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

[MnSpring]

Golf balls against a hill, ...

Reminds me of the time, in Ajo AZ, Local Pima County range was just 4 + miles out of town.
(Had a friend in that town, would go down once and a while in the Winter)
17 covered stations, 400 yards long, a 200 foot high berm, no target posts, it was all open ground.
(Back side was the 'off limits' area of the Barry Goldwater A.F. Range)
Probably went their, a dozen times, and only ONE time, was someone else their.

I had made a A frame target holder. Was shooting. Another person drove up, started laying out some stuff.
When it looked like he was ready to shoot. I stopped, un loaded, walked over to him, chanted, and said: "I'm un-loaded, I will stand back, so you can go down range and set up you target"
He said: "Thanks, but just go back to shooting, I will not be going down range".

Well I walked back, then watched him. He tossed out a 'smiley' golf ball, then took his MKII, and started shooting at it. When he hit it, it flew. If it was still on the range he shot again. Then when it was about 100 or so, he tossed out another one. Then he took out a 10-22 with a scope. (don't know what it was), and threw out a handful, and started hitting them on a regular basis.

After he started packing up, I walked over to him. The Golf Balls, were Free, (His pick-up's) from a local driving range. And in the Hot AZ sun, after a week or so, they would just turn to dust.

Thought that was a VERY, clever way to pass some time.

[MnSpring]

... shooting the heads off dry cat tails...

When I was 8, My Father took me, Duck Hunting for the first time.
I was told take my BB gun, (Which I shot a LOT)

'Nailed the lid of a snuff can on a post, put the cardboard bottom on it, could, 're-shoot', the bb's, that HIT the target'.

Anyway, was expected to handle that BB gun, like a REAL firearm, (did so).
I was allowed in the blind, but could shoot, Only, in-between flights of Ducks.
(Found out several years later, Dad, and his buddies, were swapping quarters),
on if I would 'Hit or Miss', the ripe, Cat Tails I was shooting at.

At Christmas that year, I received a Used, (Auction Sale) 20g 870,
(Which Dad paid a whopping $20.00 for).

And then Hunted, Opening Duck Day, with him, for the next 31 consecutive years.
He passed away, 24 years ago.

[RP]

Golfballs on a hill are fun get them going up the hill and pushing them over the top was the game to play. I have fired matches the strike anywhere kind and drove nails in the end of some fire wood too, And after watching the hill billies on tv I had to try spliting a bullet by shooting the blade of a axe to hit two targets which took some doing but I did. But the best fun I have ever had was going to a pond infested with turtles and shooting a entire brick of bullets up keeping them off the logs. Note avoid the pond for a few weeks afterwards the smell is kind of bad.