Material for target

[hminsky]

I have some of these expensive visi-shot targets, but I want to make something better and cheaper. I am thinking about a cardboard box which has a high intensity red light source on the top, and a silvered aluminum foil mirror over cardboard at the back at 45 degrees. If I could find a target material which makes nice clean holes where the bullets go through, I could make a box where each hit would light up in bright intense red.

Anyone know of a good cheap sheet target material for this? I'm thinking of some kind of thin or brittle plastic or cardboard which makes a nice crisp hole, rather than the fiber ragged edges you get from paper targets.

 

[Pilgrim]

An added feature - hitting a 'high intensity red light source on the top' will make lots of nice pretty sparks.

 

[Adam_MA]

I saw a guy on the range one day that just used old 12 pack beer containers. He cut them up, painted an orange circle in the middle of the cardboard, then painted over the orange once it dried with black paint. All spray paint, and he said it takes him no time at all. I'll tell you what... The holes he was punching were brighter than the Shoot-n-See targets that I was using.

Adam

 

[TY43215]

8" or 6" paper plates are real cheap.

 

[Weerd Beard]

I saw a guy on the range one day that just used old 12 pack beer containers. He cut them up, painted an orange circle in the middle of the cardboard, then painted over the orange once it dried with black paint. All spray paint, and he said it takes him no time at all. I'll tell you what... The holes he was punching were brighter than the Shoot-n-See targets that I was using.

Adam

ooh that sounds like a good idea!

Also save the beer cans...they're fun to shoot!

Arrr

-Weer'd Beard

 

[Adam_MA]

Unfortunately you can't shoot that stuff at my range...

Adam

 

[Weerd Beard]

Unfortunately you can't shoot that stuff at my range...

Adam

Mine neither....I'm gonna have to make a few feild trips to the Sandpits in Maine : ]

-Weer'd

 

[Adam_MA]

Mine neither....I'm gonna have to make a few feild trips to the Sandpits in Maine : ]

-Weer'd

Let me know when!

Adam

 

[Weerd Beard]

Let me know when!

Adam

Will do!

Arrrrrr

 

[Nickle]

That's a good point. If you're coming up for any shoots in Ripton, bring some jugs, especially any 5 gallon type. Mine are pretty shot up by now. Come to think of it, they were pretty shot up after the first day.

 

[hminsky]

An added feature - hitting a 'high intensity red light source on the top' will make lots of nice pretty sparks.

Well we'll probably only use this for .22 , and the battery and lights are protected by a strip of angled steel, which would probably deflect the bullet

 

[matt]

Well we'll probably only use this for .22 , and the battery and lights are protected by a strip of angled steel, which would probably deflect the bullet

What's fun in that!?!?

 

[centermass181]

seriously......dont they make an armor piercing .22?

 

[hminsky]

I built a prototype of this thing and it works spectacularly.

What I ended up with was the following:

I discovered that Aluminum foil makes nice clean round holes when bullets go through it.

+ I took a cardboard box covered with aluminum foil inside, and a sheet of cardboard with aluminum foil taped to it, inserted at a 45 degree angle as a back mirror.

+ The flaps of the box are taped together to form a shade around the open front of the box.

+ I take a sheet of aluminum foil and tape it into the mouth of the box.

For the light source from the top, I either use a super bright LED array module from a car brake light (I can get my hands on some rejects from the production line where my wife works), or else for outdoors I just cut open the top of the box and put foil reflectors to catch the sunlight and a red celophane filter to color the light.

Indoors, when a bullet passes through the front foil, a bright circle of red light is emitted from the hole, like seeing the brake light on a car go on. You can shoot it full of holes before replacing the interior foil.

The only problem is that the Mass Rifle club won't permit me to use it at their range,as they only permit paper targets. Need to find a more experimental-minded range...

 

[second]

I saw a guy on the range one day that just used old 12 pack beer containers. He cut them up, painted an orange circle in the middle of the cardboard, then painted over the orange once it dried with black paint. All spray paint, and he said it takes him no time at all. I'll tell you what... The holes he was punching were brighter than the Shoot-n-See targets that I was using.

Adam

I was thinking of trying the same thing, but using neon yellow construction paper with the black spray paint on it.

 

[Pilgrim]

Well we'll probably only use this for .22 , and the battery and lights are protected by a strip of angled steel, which would probably deflect the bullet

Deflect it where? I think I'd be worried about that.

 

[hminsky]

Deflect it where? I think I'd be worried about that.

Deflect downwards. The target hanging frames they use at Mass Rifle have somehting similar. If a bullet hits the steel it just defects downwards through the target. The steel strip is just an inch or less high.

 

[Pilgrim]

ok gotcha

 

[Adam_MA]

I guess that will work. Unless you hit the edge or peak of the angle iron, and have the bullet deflected upward and over the berm.

Adam