I like to play with them.

I am interested in hearing yall's favorite shooting games. What do you do at the range to keep it fun and interesting.

We already play "yell out what to shoot and then the other person shoots it as fast as they can" and "shoot a lot of random stuff" but I am wondering what I could be missing out on.

Anything that can be done with .22 pistols is a huge plus.

The "Shoot the tannerite" game is fun. Loud, but fun.
And it's easy too! All you have to do is, SHOOT THE TANNERITE!!

Birchwood Casey .22 Resetting Gallery Targets

This is one of my personal favorites.

golf balls

tennis balls

"Reloading" rimfires.  I shoot CB Longs back into the spent brass when I can't get to the range.  Short range with a scoped rifle off of an improvised bench, but its fun.

Shoot the Clothespins Off the Other Guy's Target is always fun.    Especially if you get 3 friends in on it.

*BLAM*  -target flutters to the ground-

"Let's see which gun can shoot farther."

Last time, I shot a Marlin 336 .30-30, Savage Model 93 .22 wmr, S&W 638, Colt Police Positive .38 Special, S&W Sigma VE 9mm and a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug .44 Special side by side.  Started at 50 yards and went out to 400 yards.

I really need to get something in .45 ACP, .270, .223 and .45/70 and then it will get really fun


"Let's see who can destroy the cardboard barrel faster."

Last time I put my Mossberg 500c 20ga up against my dad's Charter Arms Bulldog Pug .44 Special

Bowling pins with 12 ga. birdshot.

Set up 10-14 in a semi-circle.
Two shooters stand side by side and when the whistle blows, you both start at different ends of the semi-circle.
First to reach the middle wins.

Thank you! I just ordered one. Heck of a price, and $1.00 shipping, you can't beat that.

Like to pick a yardages, particular targets and race times with pistols.



Bolt guns, ride out on the quad and set clay pigeons at random distances.



AR type stuff, similar to pistol shooting but with ammo prices its all about taking time and practice marksmanship.

they are fun as hell, make sure you go out and buy a can of spray paint because the stickers will wear off after one range session. they are also pretty challenging to hit.



 

Be advised, they don't last long when you're shooting .308 at them.  They don't reset worth a damn after one shot.

Yes, guns ARE toys...expensive, potentially deadly toys for use only by mature and responsible individuals who are fully aware of

the potential hazards associated with them.





CJ





 

We also bowl.

Ten pins and a full gun (must be similar capacity / caliber)

You get one point for each pin you knock down and one point for each unused round. (you knock all ten down in three shots and still have three left in the gun you would have 13 points)

Its just not as fun with .22s

Russian roulette.

I'm working on setting up 3 10/22 LTR's for my wife, my son, and my self.

I think this would be a great item for the range for them to shoot at.

LoL, yeah I don't imagine they last long after a 308.

At work I go through a LOT of canned air, so i save the cans and we do the old school can plinking. Discovered that while a .22 knocks 'em over, a .223 goes through so fast, the can doesn't even move.


also, I like the game targets you can buy at dunhams. kinda like darts.

I'm going to have to try this once I find some land out in the desert to shoot on.  Bowling with .30-30s sound like a lot of fun.

Hang balloons on a string from poles. Fill them with a couple spoonfuls of baby powder. A nice breeze keeps them moving and a challenge to shoot. Baby powder for effect.

Christmas light bulbs are fun.

Golf balls, line up some at a close distance and you and your friends have 1 min to see who can knock their designated one the farthest away in the alloted time. .22 caliber perference.

I have one of these but I haven't figured what yardage to shoot it at yet. It seems to swing too hard and bounce back off the bar or not have enough oomp to swing all the way to get up to the bar. Any recommendations for yardage? or is there a trick to setting this thing up?

While not eco friendly I go to one of the "dollar" stores where I can get  shaving cream on sale sometimes for 3 for a dollar and get reactive targets...

just pick up your empties when done....

Recently I started taking old 16oz water bottles, refill them, and add 4-5 drops of red food coloring.

Fund to shoot at.

The only shooting game I've played is called Annie Oakley. Its a game for shotgun shooters who have a pigeon launcher handy.

have three people up on the firing line. The guy who is next to the launcher 'first' makes sure everyone is ready, and then says pull. If he hits the pigeon, then he's 'safe'. If he misses, then the second guy in line shoots at the still flying clay. If the second guy hits, then the first guy is out of the game. If he misses, then the third guy in line gets a shot. If the third guy hits, then both the guys in front of him are out.

After every bird, the 'first' guy goes to the end of the line and the others move up.

The game lasts until there is one winner. This can sometimes take a while if you have shooters of equal skill, good or bad.

I've seen poker being played by some guys at the range, but have no idea on how exactly how to play. I'm interested so I searched but came up with nothing. Does anyone know how to play it?

My range won't let us set up junk to shoot at

So I go out on the range and pick up pine cones and spent shell casings, set them on top of a target stand at 25 yards, and take shots at them with a 22 pistol.  Same thing at 50 yards if I'm using a 22 rifle.

I think they recommend using it no closer than 25 yards, due to splatter and ricochets, but I think I tend to run mine a bit closer than that when using pistols.  Sometimes I have to adjust the legs in order to get it to lean forward properly, but it seems to work pretty well for the most part.  I'll try to pay more attention the next time I use it, and see if I can't get it dialed in a bit better.

I've also used the .44 mag version, but it's harder to get to work properly.  The legs don't have as much adjustment, and it seems to sit closer to the ground.  I'm still trying to get the hang of this one.

I just like having steel targets to shoot, so that I don't have to worry about hauling out a bunch of garbage after I'm done.  It makes setup and takedown a breeze.

with a group

staple a deck of cards to a peice of plywood.....2 to 4 players.....have to cancel each others shots out....numbers worth a $1......faces worth #5.....aces worth $10.

goto toys-r-us and buy some of the ball for the "ball pits"......toss them down range.....someone calling a color everyone shoots for that color.

My cousin and I got a couple of bags of toy soldiers a few years ago and spent an entire day shooting at them at the range. We stopped the Normandy invasion at the beach that day.   I'm sure the guys in the office had a few laughs while watching us on the security cameras.

Set up empty shot shells and shoot them with .22lr pistols, taking turns/one shot at a time.

For alittle bit bigger hand gun calibers, a dualing tree makes for hours of fun. They are easy to make if you have access to some steel and know how to weld. You could probably make one light enough for a .22

We put cans out in a line at a fairly short distance, one can for each shooter.  Then we make a "finish line" farther away.  We take turns each shooting our own can and see who can get their can across a "finish line" with the fewest shots.  This works great with .22s and all action types can compete equally.

A variation is for each shooter to have a similar type of firearm with a similar amount of ammo on hand and instead of taking turns we just see who can get their can across the finish line first, going for shortest time regardless of the number of shots fired.

I've heard of a drill for shooters armed with any kind of rifle equipped any way they wanted, and as much or little ammo as they wanted.  The target was a steel plate at 100 yards.  The firing spot was a 10 ft x 10 ft square on flat ground.  The shooter would start behind a line 10 ft back from the firing square with his rifle slung.  At the start signal the shooter would move into the firing square, unsling his rifle, and have to hit the steel plate using any position he wanted, then sling his rifle and run to the steel plate and around it and back to the shooting square.  At the square the shooter would unsling his rifle again and hit the plate using any position he wanted, then sling his rifle and run around the plate and return, etc.  The standard drill was three hits on the plate and after the last hit the shooter would run across the starting line.  This was done against the clock, low time to win, and no penalty for misses, except the obvious loss of time.  If making that third hit after sprinting 400 yards carrying your rifle isn't enough of a challenge then either move the plate farther away or increase the number of times you shoot at the plate.  This could be adapted to rimfire rifles or handguns at shorter distances with more repetitions.

With a semi auto pistol

I recycle my apartment's old "Entertainment" magazines as hostage targets.  Last week Jack Bauer was holding Kate from Lost hostage.  Unfortunately, at a hundred yards, I kinda pulled the shot left and Kate ate it.  Poor Kate.
 I've thought about using the old Time and Newsweek ones, but I didn't want it to get political.  



Put three whipped cream cans on the target stand right next to each other.  Sprint to cover (we have some pretty liberal range rules out here in the sticks) and wait for the rangemaster to call out which one is the hostage.  Shoot the others.  If you're feeling hot, shoot for the plastic stems.  At 25 yards, it's do-able, but not easy.  



I set up a moving taget with some old helium cans (they look like propane tanks, but are lighter, and don't go boom) and a some fencing wire on a slant between two trees.  Tie a string to the can, around the tree, and run the string back past the firing line.  Then play "moving target".  I'm pretty sure you can do this with paper clips and cardboard targets, I just haven't tried it yet.  



We have two sets of clangers.  So I put a milk jug full of water in between them and race one of the local cops.  You can't shoot the jug until you've put two rounds into each clanger, drop to prone, and engage a clay pigeon at 75 yards.  Whoever gets the jug first wins :)  You can't start shooting or shoulder your weapon until the rangemaster shouts "Gun!", "Knife!" or "Danger!" (Or "Dog!" if there's a good-natured cop on the line...
).  So the rangemaster stands there babbling on about his week, or telling bad jokes, or otherwise lulling you into a sense of complacency, or shouting "Cow!" or "Hey!" or "Wow!"  Makes it a little more mentally challenging.



Or go for SHTF drills.  Have your buddy short-load your magazines and/or drop a few snap-caps in there, so that you don't know when you're going to have a mag-change or FTF drill.  Shoot a course of firing using only one hand, or only your off hand, or––if you're bold and intelligent and not completely blind––without your glasses.  



When you sprint to cover, have your rangemaster yell which side of cover you're allowed to shoot from, or if he wants you to transition to your weak side, engage from the ground, etc.  



Set out a bunch of soda bottles, filled with water, of different types.  Practice engaging only the root-beer bottles, or only the ones with red in the logo, or only the cans, on command.  



Someday, we're going to have a Russian day and break out the Mosin's and do bayonet drills.  




If you have a good breeze, blow up a bunch of balloons, tie them to stakes on the range, and shoot different colors on command, at range.

Attach ping-pong balls to strings by any convenient method (small screw-in eyelets like used for hanging small pictures are really good) and hang them from a convenient

tree branch or wood frame made for the job.



But first,  drill a small hole in the balls and fill them with black powder.   Reportedly the finer grades make more impressive results but regular old FFg will give a sufficiently

impressive result when you tag one.





CJ