Posted: 1/27/2010 5:10:33 PM EDT
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My brother has asked me to help him and another guy sail his 40' boat up from Miami to Canaveral next month. We discussed the possibility of taking some balloons and woodblocks out with us to shoot at w/ pistols and the AR if the weather was OK. We'll be well offshore - 6-10 miles or so. Is this legal? I think it is, but I'm not sure and neither is he. What sayeth the hive? |
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Quoted: HMMMMMM, I can't say that I've ever done that.................. http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w62/renkin2688/Boat%20Stuff/Fishing009.jpg Must have been a Sunday.......Osprey has on his Holy shirt!   |
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Think green - don't use balloons, use wood blocks... 
You should be GTG once you are in "international waters". I was going to say something about not using balloons but then remembered that you'll be shooting LEAD into the water at them and said F it ! hah 
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I think coconuts would be your best bet. You can go somewhere and get them off the ground for free, and they wouldn't be as affected by wind out on the water, since you can't predict the weather. Plus, the sea turtles won't eat the shreds thinking they were squid or some fish parts. 
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Quoted: Quoted: Think green - don't use balloons, use wood blocks... You should be GTG once you are in "international waters". I was going to say something about not using balloons but then remembered that you'll be shooting LEAD into the water at them and said F it ! hah Any of us that have fished these waters have left a great deal of lead on the bottom without firing a shot. |
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Any of us that have fished these waters have left a great deal of lead on the bottom without firing a shot. guilty 
Think ammo is expensive? 3-8 oz egg sinkers really take the cake. 
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Notice how still the water is in picture above? personally I would never shoot like that in rolling seas. I have been off shore and never saw a boat close by until I motored away. The rolling sea kept me from seeing the other boat the whole time I was there. Thanks. You got my gut rolling......I'm recalling a time I was headed out the St Lucie inlet. To nasty to stay out, too dangerous to turn around mid passage. I was having trouble keeping track of a 40' sailboat that was less than 100 yards away. Seas were stacked up high & tight. |
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Notice how still the water is in picture above? personally I would never shoot like that in rolling seas. I have been off shore and never saw a boat close by until I motored away. The rolling sea kept me from seeing the other boat the whole time I was there. remember them bullets can go a long way 
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Notice how still the water is in picture above? personally I would never shoot like that in rolling seas. I have been off shore and never saw a boat close by until I motored away. The rolling sea kept me from seeing the other boat the whole time I was there. remember them bullets can go a long way You can see about 6 miles out there. I don't think any 223's will go six miles at that angle of shooting. Ricochet or not. I agree with the rolling observation above. As you can see by the nice splashes, these babies are going straight in. No flying fish were injured during the filming of this adventure. The King Mackeral in the fish boxes were a different story, but it was cut bait and lures that got them. |
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Think green - don't use balloons, use wood blocks...
You should be GTG once you are in "international waters". I was going to say something about not using balloons but then remembered that you'll be shooting LEAD into the water at them and said F it ! hah My concern w/ the balloons would be the possibility of a sea turtle ingesting one. Not the littering aspect. No I'm not an enviro weenie. |
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HMMMMMM, I can't say that I've ever done that.................. http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w62/renkin2688/Boat%20Stuff/Fishing009.jpg As a reloader, the first thing I noticed was the brass going over the side.... and I hoped it was Berdan primed.
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Thanks for all the info. As far as what to use for targets, balloons would be the easiest, but I don't want to gag a turtle, nor risk the wrath of some UN treaty hammer. Maybe oranges or grapefruit, although not quite as easy to spot. The boat has radar, so most nearby boats should show up. Hopefully, Flipper won't be trailing along. If this all comes off like I hope, I'll come back and post pics. |
| OP: If I had an offshore-capable boat with RADAR, I'd take a case of clays, either a hand thrower or a small mechanical thrower, and a friend. I've always wondered if I could shoot a clay out of the sky with my AR, but don't know of any places safe enough to try it.. If I did do that, I'd probably want to be closer to 10 miles out, use RADAR to make damn sure that no one was within several miles of me, and I'd still shoot towards open ocean rather than towards land. This idea may turn out to not be as fun as I think it would be, but it's just one of those things I've always wanted to try. |
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My concern w/ the balloons would be the possibility of a sea turtle ingesting one. Not the littering aspect. No I'm not an enviro weenie. This Quoted:
As a reloader, the first thing I noticed was the brass going over the side.... and I hoped it was Berdan primed.
and This I scuba dive and can't imagine finding brass on the bottom, until I read this post  .
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Quoted: Quoted: HMMMMMM, I can't say that I've ever done that.................. http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w62/renkin2688/Boat%20Stuff/Fishing009.jpg As a reloader, the first thing I noticed was the brass going over the side.... and I hoped it was Berdan primed. You don't want that brass dinging up the gel coat. |
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I have heard that refrigerator doors make good targets off shore. They float and don't bust apart when shot making them easy to recover and reuse.
I was thinking a cheap kiddie pool or raft from Wal-mart, than glue a couple pool noodles to it to make a floating target stand. Wind would be an issue though. Or what about getting some copier paper boxes and filling them with Great Stuff? |