# What's Your Favorite Reactive Target



## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Only one rule: The target cannot be alive or illegal.

Gongers, flippers, spinners, exploding, cans, plastic bottles w/liquid, other? Love the homemade stuff - a great way to "recycle" otherwise useless stuff.

Describe your setup and pics if you have 'em.

Just started setting some reactive targets on a new 250-yard range. At 250 there is a 1/2" octagonal hunk of steel measuring 24" across and painted fluorescent orange. Looks like a big, orange stop sign. It's really fun offhand with anything! The all-copper Barnes bullets really made the 250-yard gong ring better than any lead bullets. Lead bullets sound like tomatoes being thrown on a wall. Splat! Really cool watching through a spotting scope and waiting for the confirmation. Lots of splash! Got it free, too!

At 200, we've been destroying bullets on a 9" popper made of armor-plate 1/2" thick, pictured. No damage so far - even with .300 Win. Mag. and hunting bullets. Not free. .


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## 220swift (Mar 2, 2011)

We like the plastic water bottles filled with water and frozen. The whole family save them and on our ATF Saturdays we set them up from 50 to 300 yards and there you go. Those go along with paper targets and metal gongs.

Just so you know, we invite people out to shoot, most have never shot before, we shoot all afternoon, then have a pot luck meal then the alcohol and tobacco comes out for the rest of the evening with no more shooting. Hence the ATF party.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

You need to change your acronym to ATFE...... Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Eats (not in that order of coarse)

i like soda cans with a rimfire, we se who can move it the farthest with 10 shots. For centerfire rifle paper targets are the norm, but there are always plenty of leftovers on the desert ranges, of coarse hauling other peoples trash out is part of the deal.


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Shaving cream. I do not shoot often. If I am lucky a couple times a month. A couple bucks at the dollar general for a few cans is worth the cost if your not doing it all the time. I will leave the details for you to find out.


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## 220swift (Mar 2, 2011)

youngdon said:


> You need to change your anagram to ATFE...... Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Eats (not in that order of coarse)


That's a good idea....will just have to do that.lol

I'm going to have to add a few cans of Barbasol for the kids, they'll get a kick out of that.


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## El Gato Loco (Jan 15, 2010)

I like the self resetting metal plate targets.


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## KaBloomr (Mar 18, 2010)

My boys and I really get a kick out of shooting filled water bottles and milk jugs. Our favorite target time is after garden harvest in the fall where we gather up the bug-bitten and too ripe vegetables and shoot them with the centerfire rifles. The aftermath makes a great feast for all of the critters.


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## Mattuk (Oct 16, 2010)

Apart from when zeroing because of a misplaced shot or the start of a season I never shoot at targets and have never been to a range.


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Mattuk said:


> Apart from when zeroing because of a misplaced shot or the start of a season I never shoot at targets and have never been to a range.


 Well, here's an open invitation to see what you're missing (pun intended).


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## Mattuk (Oct 16, 2010)

No buddy you go head, it does nothing for me.


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## Jonbnks (Jan 21, 2012)

My family likes to use old phonebooks and milk jugs. We fill the milk jugs with water and add a couple drops of food coloring.


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## CledusP (Feb 16, 2012)

Expired fire extinguishers


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Ahhh I bet that is good fun!


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## SHampton (Apr 20, 2012)

redtargets.com It's what FPSRussia shoots in his videos and it's awesome!


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## Hellbilly1373 (May 12, 2012)

Nothin beats a good pumpkin or watermelon shoot with the shotgun!


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

Overall, I'd have to vote for hanging steel plates. Good report and if freshly painted you can also see your group.

With that said, when I was a boy there was a junkyard behind our house. (Good old junkyards are a thing of the past...yep, regular EPA nightmare!) Anyway, by far the best with high-power was porcelain toliets...white, pink, blue. They would literally explode with my .30-30 letting chunks fly and leaving a cloud of color coded dust drifting away. ...Had a real eye-opener when I shot a sink with a .357. Put two rounds into the sink and nothing happened. Walked down to check my work and found both rounds zinged out over my head as they got slung out in the wash bowl. ...Also shot bottles out of the air with a Ruger Single Six and a scoped T-Bolt. (It was easier with the pistol.) You'd get rained with glass if you threw em too close above you. Yup, great child-hood, but be safe. NEVER ATTEMPT THESE THINGS AT HOME. Eyes, Ears, proper back-stop. RS, NattyB


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

Hellbilly1373, A chest hit deer and a pumpkin make the same sound when an arrow hits. We routinely say, "Heard the thumpin' pumpkin sound", but pumpkin guts are hard on feather fletch. RS, NattyB


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

Hey, just a safety note. Be extremely carefull shooting steel, especially pock-marked steel at closer ranges. It's easy to get lead splash-back. ...And this coming from the guy who shoots kitchen sinks. RS, NattyB


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## IamI (Jan 3, 2012)

ok im in with bowling balls,clay targets,empty paint cans,charcoal bracetts,maniqune heads,oxygen tanks,and what ever goodys i can find in secondhand stores, right now im put reflektive tacks on stuff and shooting them at night with the red light,dam this is fun


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

lami! My brother! I once tried to shoot an oxygen tank at the junk yard, but the .30-30 failed to pennetrate. What do they do? I was expecting a minor explosion, running away and denying the whole event. RS, NattyB


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## fr3db3ar (Aug 6, 2011)

I have some steel on the way. Bought a 6" square 8" & 12" round. AR500, Hope to be able to set them up past 800. the 6" is for 400 to 600 and maybe 22 @ 300.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

fr3db3ar said:


> I have some steel on the way. Bought a 6" square 8" & 12" round. AR500, Hope to be able to set them up past 800. the 6" is for 400 to 600 and maybe 22 @ 300.


 What thickness are you getting ?


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## fr3db3ar (Aug 6, 2011)

The 6 and 8" are 1/2, the 12" is 3/8. It's for a good cause

http://forum.accurat...652#msg36098652

After a trip to the range again yesterday I'll only be using the 6" for 22 long range or setting it up $600 and beyond. (As soon as I find a place I can shoot that far)









My ARs are shooting 3/4 to 1 MOA @ 400. 6" target isn't much of a challenge. Now I'm working on figuring out what the wind is doing.


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Different shooting positions could make those targets more challenging - even when it's calm. And, that 6-inch target is ideal as a conservative deer kill zone. Could be lots of fun with a muzzleloader or slug gun, too.

Recoating them with old, partial paint spray cans makes sense. I purchased packets of spray can tips and cleaning tips from Brownells so I can use the old stuff up.


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