What do you plink??

[jli567]

Having done a search on plinking I didn't find any info on this, but my question is for those that actually plink what do you plink with? Do you buy those metal plates that you stake into the ground or is there something else that you plink? I've only shot paper and was wondering if there was anything else I can shoot. and will the ranges allow whatever I bring to plink or do I have to goto BLM. I have a .22,9mm, 7.62x39, and hopefullly a .223 soon, if that helps.

[Guinness]

Oh thank goodness, I thought this was going to be another krinker plinker thread.. :D

[naimad]

I use metal plate targets on stands these are fun to shoot leave no mess and you can take them with you when you leave. i shoot on blm land most of the time

[Michael303]

Metal plates are the most acceptable for commercial ranges. They make a nice noise when you hit them and don’t leave any rubbish to clean when you are done. From my experiences, most ranges won’t allow for glass or other trash. BLM land is pretty much anything goes. That means anything from metal targets to water heaters… just make sure you pack out what you pack in.

[JHC]

I shoot at paper, soup cans, steel plate, 2x4 cutoffs, and clay pigeons
(in ground mounts of course). I gather and carry out my pigeon debris even though nobody else does and it is biodegradable, I just cant stand seeing an orange mess left on the ground.
BTW I plink exclusively in the Nat forest

[Pvt. Cowboy]

When I lived in SoCal and we shot on pre-Feinstein BLM land whereever we wanted, the best targets we used were big white onions. We'd stop in the agricultural areas on the way out to the desert and pay maybe $20 for several tremendous man-sized sacks of giant white onions straight out of the onion fields. At the shooting area we'd find a nice hillside backstop packed with desert scrub brush up the slope and spike the onions on the ends of the bush branches. About ten minutes work would leave us with a hundred softball-sized targets to shoot at. White onions make a good target in the scope and they explode really satisfyingly. There's no cleanup necessary since it's vegetable material. One time we came back to the same spot months later after the rainy season passed and we found a wild onion field growing up the hillside in our target area. Seems that a big white onion can take a direct hit with .308 and survive to foster a new generation of little onions. Can't get much more 'green' than that while shooting. Desert tortoises just love onion fragments, too.

Now that I live where we have lots of quality shooting ranges, I am a paper target shooter.

[redneckshootist]

When at the range it just paper, when on blm land it varies from empty r-22 bottles, milk cartons full of water, to various fruits and veggies that are rotting in the pantry (I keep buying bags of them but never finnish eating the bags)

[Paul]

I shoot at a set of 18" and 12" square rifle gongs.

I've gone from wanting to shoot holes in paper to see how close I could get them to wanting to shoot in field conditions something that approximates the center of mass of a "bad guy". I love the instant feedback you get from the gong. It really re-enforces good habits.

At longer ranges its hard to hear the darn things so I have to stay inside 500 yards or so just to hear the "pling". At that distance it takes about a second for sound to reach that far.

(~1120 ft/sec)

[jli567]

another question for the people that shoot gongs and metal plates, where do you get them and for how much, and do they hold up well? like how many rounds have you shot at it and how does it look? does it hold up against all calibers? I have a .22, 9mm, 7.62x39, and hopefullly a .223 soon.

[Black Majik]

There are a lot of things to plink. One really comes to mind...

tannerite

Then there's fruits, vegetables, clays, water jugs, cans, golf balls, bowling pins, and steel

You can find some places that offer reinforced armor steel that can stop even stop rifle rounds...

[Archenemy550]

Down at Burrow Canyon I shoot rifle at paper, bowling pins, any fruit or vegetable I bring and sometimes I set clay pigeons 200 yards out on thier birm for fun. Tho I only go to Burrow Canyon on Monday, or Thursday now.... it gets crazy on Friday sometimes, and almost outa control Sat. - Sun. Plus I dont work or have school Monday/Thursday :)

[SnWnMe]

I have a 22 spinner that I set in a concrete base and a Do All Auto Reset target rated for 38 to 44.

My local range also has falling steel plates.

I hardly ever shoot for groups on paper as that activity doesn't sustain my interest. I do it to sight in and then it's off to the reactive targets I go.

[naimad]

another question for the people that shoot gongs and metal plates, where do you get them and for how much, and do they hold up well? like how many rounds have you shot at it and how does it look? does it hold up against all calibers? I have a .22, 9mm, 7.62x39, and hopefullly a .223 soon.

I made my own out of steel plate angle iron and square tubing i shoot them with everything from 22 to 500 s&w for rifles youll need to find a source for armor plate which i havent been able to find at a decent price, you can get these items at a metal supply store they have pre cut square and round plate
then youll need a welder.If you can find some big pieces of i beam that works great for rifles check some construction sites for scrap

[JHC]

another question for the people that shoot gongs and metal plates, where do you get them and for how much, and do they hold up well? like how many rounds have you shot at it and how does it look? does it hold up against all calibers? I have a .22, 9mm, 7.62x39, and hopefullly a .223 soon.

Here's one of my plates that has been retired, it's 3/8 inch of unknown hardness.
.22, .45acp, and .223 just put small marks on it. 7.62x39 usually punches holes in it but sometimes only dents a bit. 7.62x54 whizzes through without a problem.

I usually get my plates from the ironworkers at jobs I'm on but scrap pieces of plate can be found at most industrial supply shops as well, our local shop is "Blue Collar Supply" and they have lots of scraps like this for sale by the pound.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f242/crash76/0313072034.jpg

[Mr.RoDiN]

Bowling pins, paper, watermelons, pumpkins. Krinker plinker!:D

[randy]

If you are going to shoot on BLM or non public range and want to shoot steel there a couple of target manufactures that I'd recommend. MGM Targets and R and R racing.

Distances from 50 to 150 yards I'd go with MGM a Lolipop target. Doesn't take up much room and it's very easy to set up you can hammer it with a .308 at 100 yards and it will last a long time. When shooting it it stands about 30" to 36" above the ground so you can clear the tops of some brush.

Past 150 yards I'd use a MGM Flasher target you can see it flash past 300 yards.

Since you don't have to reset these targets you can shoot them from multiple positions so you can set up a pretty good course of fire.

You can move them closer and shoot them with your pistol or shotgun.

R and R makes some good targets too, but I don't know what they call them.

www.mgmtargets.com www.randrracingonline.com

Good luck

[Jedidiah]

+1 on the bowling pins. I can get used ones from my local bowling alley for 25 cents a pin. I think I still have about 50 of them in my garage. They don't leave much of a mess and they move quite a bit when shot. Makes a nice target.