cheap targets "golf balls"

Pumpkins are a great machinegun target. It's like a house, you have to take it apart. But they are seasonal.

I've learned a lot shooting golfballs. If you hit it just right you chip shot out of the bunker.

Has anyone ever shot the old school kind with the rubber bands? I remember cutting them apart as a kid just to get the little rubber ball out of the middle.
 
Big russet potatoes. They explode, come with adjustable bases for shooting on uneven/inclined terrain, are very cheap and critters love them.
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I shoot a lot of potatoes, great reactive targets.

Old canned goods can be fun, but the clean up can get a bit messy.
 
I shoot at a sand pit and my golf balls hang from a target stand, no piece of them gets left behind, especially the screws..bad for flat tires on the machines
 
a 223 traveling at 3000 fps hitting a golf ball with a plastic shell and foam core, really? The bullet goes through and into the sand bank..Are you really asking that question?
 
I had read that golf balls make good targets for 22 lr shooting.
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a 223 traveling at 3000 fps hitting a golf ball with a plastic shell and foam core, really? The bullet goes through and into the sand bank..Are you really asking that question?
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Yes. Are we talking 223, 22lr, or whatever someone reading this happens to have close at hand?
No more worried than when it hits the edge of a 2x4, or tree, or the ground.
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I guess that is part of why I have never used any of those targets for target practice and make sure to hang my target so the bullet has a good chance of impacting the berm perpendicular to its path and not the ground at a low angle. I would be surprised if a 2X4 or tree is nearly as hard as some golf balls. Some designed for distance are pretty hard.

I've never shot bowling pins either. For much the same reason. I also check the berm directly behind my target for rocks and other debris before I shoot. If I was out west and could set up somewhere with miles of space behind the berm I would probably try some of these things out. I've seen two home ranges in Ohio with occupied structures less than 200 yards beyond the berm.
About two years ago there was a news report of a guy shooting across the highway into a building. I think it was a school that was out of session. Later, I heard what actually happened was he was shooting falling steel targets and the bullets were being deflected up at a ~45* angle or such. Probably a whole bunch went over the highway into a neighborhood landing in peoples yards/trees/attics. I'm not sure the tail end of that story is true, only that at least one bullet went over the highway into a school, but the scenario doesn't seem impossible.

In a good year, when 22lr is always on the shelf and the paychecks come steady, I'll put 5,000+ rounds down range. I'm sure many here shoot a lot more. Low percentage possibilities come into play.

I'm not saying no one should be doing it or that it is incredibly dangerous, but combined with some posts here, one of which was something like 'a round bale is sufficient back-stop for my 30-06' then after being told absolutely not, 'what if it is wet,' I think it is worth making a point of there being some risks involved.
 
You can get used range balls off ebay for really cheap if your patient. And modern golf balls have solid cores, no rubber strings.
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I buy golf balls in bulk for my golf ball launcher.
While not as cheap as some of the auction sites or self-collection options, I get 100% the same type of ball, hand sorted for condition (or resurfaced), shipped to me in about 3 days.

I think the last batch (360 ea Top Flite "Grand Tour" range balls) ran me $53, including shipping. So, for about 15 cents apiece, I have nice, consistent projectiles for the golf ball launcher.

But, of course, if I were using them as targets, I'd opt for the reject balls that are mix-and-match and half the price.

I'd probably just grab a 25-lb sack of potatoes, though. Around here, the 10-lb sacks are often on sale for $0.99-1.99; and the 25-pounders can be found during the summer for under $4.
More explody.
Biodegradable.
No trash to pick up.
 
old bowling pins.
attack a spring to the bottom. and a stand to keep them up right after getting hit.
last almost forever. (hit one with my 43 mauser it kinda broke), but still usable.
very hard wood covered with 1/8 in hard plastic, mine have taken many a .223 .7.62. varied pistol rounds. couple 308. still in great shape.

eggs ok but will make a rotten egg stink. but very good for the soil.
can get the crackers/cheap cookies at the dollar store. but made in communist china.. what is in them??
not sure about how they fly? cost? but swedish wafer board bread. if you can find them in the round. can they be launched and will they fly like clays?

now if only we can get the day shooters (one box (less) a month people) that come out with 100 pounds of glass (wine-booze) bottles and only hit some of them. all the broken glass litter.


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johnwilliamson062 said:
I would be surprised if a 2X4 or tree is nearly as hard as some golf balls. Some designed for distance are pretty hard.
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I believe you're confusing hardness and resilience (or elasticity). A golf ball is really not very hard at all. It's plastic and rubber. A 2x4 is much harder. It just doesn't return to shape when crushed. Put one of each in a vise and see which one crushes. The piece of 2x4 will break and splinter, it's very hard but also (relatively) brittle. The golf ball will just squish and look brand new when you take it out, unless you go beyond it's limit.

However, more importantly, neither is going to deflect a bullet in any crazy way. They can't possible turn one around and make it come back at you under any ordinary circumstance, not with high speed bullets. Any angle that they can deflect a bullet, well, there shouldn't be anything you don't want to hit in that direction anyway. If there is, you don't have a safe backstop or you're shooting in a direction that can't be made safe.

I agree that we should point out *reasonable* risks, but when we go pointing out every theoretical possibility that we can imagine, we start to sound more like Chicken Little than reasonably cautious and eventually people will ignore even the reasonable warnings.
 
Thank you very much Brian Pfleuger. You made a very good point without being the least bit sarcastic as I was in my earlier post...
Due diligence is very important but," going overboard"..we are just all wet...
 
Tennis balls...hung from a string --- is a great reactive target for 22 rimfire. Pinecones...that are thrown up on the backstop, can really be made to dance.
 
You can usually find sacks of golf balls at goodwill for a couple of bucks.

Since it's Easter I bring up another point. Seasonal items get sold for pennies afterwards. You can hang targets on Easter baskets.

I used to scoop up clearance seasonal
Items for repurposing for targets, plastic pumpkins and such.


On another subject, it's not hard to clean up shooting debris. Take a break every few minutes and pick stuff up. This lets you guns cool and saves a little ammo.
When I reset targets I take a reused shopping bag and pick up the bits.
 
Charcoal briquettes...cheap, biodegradable, and they make a great puff of smoke for my grand-daughters. We use 'em up close, then farther and farther away as their skill improves. Rod
 
Cheap playing cards are good too. $2-$3 gets you about 53-54 targets.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Model12Win said:
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Yep. Also a dozen or so "Goldfish" hot glued to a paper plate at 100 yards is also biodegradable, aka 'fish in a barrel'.

Can somebody say animal cruelty?? :mad:
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http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/ProductLanding.aspx?catID=722
 
Clay pigeons are a good option and most of them are biodegradable.

Gum balls on golf tees are a good time too!
 
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