Garden canes and tin cans can be fun!

[sonofsammo]

Well what can I say, other than I'm bored?

Haven't played since I headbutted a rock, but still need to shoot things. As do my boys.
We'd been shooting in the garden, using tin cans, at ground level.

I had an epiphany - I was teaching my boys to shoot people's feet!
Useless.
So I immediately went out and bought a load of garden canes.
I then stuck them in the ground all over the (enclosed) garden. I topped them off with a cat food tin and voila - one course of fire created for pennies! Sod these electric target systems - it was an absolute blast and cheap as chips.
You can do all sorts of drills, lay them out in any order you want. The only limit is your imagination.
Why dafuq I never thought of it before is beyond me.
As the boys improve, I'll start designating different targets as pistol and rifle, so they can transition between the two. 
By the time they can actually play, they're going to be awesome 😄 

Anyway... if you haven't, I can highly recommend it and if you have, I'm open to any further ideas to make it even better.

[RostokMcSpoons]

That's a really cool idea.  

I'm very, very wary of what I do with my gnus in my back garden though, I wouldn't have the bravery to go for what you've done, in case the hits were too loud, or any BB's ricocheted into a neighbour's garden.

I do my target practice from inside the house (to dampen the noise from the gun, and so no-one can see the RIF), and I'm shooting at old cat scratcher pads (think multiple layers of corrugated cardboard that trap many of the BBs, and absorb the impact well).  I've got a 6' fence, with a big conifer directly behind that as my backstop, but I'm still slightly nervous every time I'm shooting.

[Tommikka]

There’s nothing wrong with learning to shoot feet ….. as part of practicing to shoot different targets 

(though in airsoft a boot shot is an easy one to ’not feel’)

You won’t always be shooting from a stand up position against someone in a stand up position, practice for various sizes of targets in various positions / heights 

 

 

Dodgeball

A two person exercise is dodgeball, which is practicing ‘first shot accuracy’

I’m a little blurred on the rules as they can be changed for your needs.

 

Two players face to face, with guns down to their side (or pistols holstered etc)

 

Take turns

The target must stay in position, they may be allowed to lift one foot, but can lean to the side  (hence dodgeball)

The shooter raises their gun and shoots 

The target decides to stay still (think it’s going to miss) or can swerve (think its going to hit)

 

 

Then depending on hit or miss:

The target that has been hit loses use of a body part (eg first take a knee, next down on both knees, one arm behind their back (and can’t steady a rifle)

Perhaps go as far as disabling both arms behind the targets back

 

Once a target has taken their penalty it’s their turn to shoot

The second shooter either inflicts penalties or restores their penalties :

If you have taken a penalty then you restore your body part when you make a hit

(If you’re restoring penalties then this could last a long time, but if you are just inflicting penalties then you see who knocks out the other first

Once one player has no legs and arms then they reset, standup and you get closer or further away

(Ideally make it harder, so the winner takes a step back, but you can also make it easier and the loser takes a step forward)

 

If you’re doing step forward then it’s probably best that with every hit the shooter remains a shooter, and with every miss you change shooters 

 

Targets

Set a line of targets which are each a little harder to hit 

(such as further away, smaller targets, etc)

 

Set about 3 to 5 firing positions in front of each other 

Start in the middle firing position 

Shoot the nearest / easiest target 

If you hit then take a shot at the next 

If you miss take a step forward 

If you hit all targets take a step backwards 

Take your time to begin with plenty of aiming, once you can accurately hit all then speed up

Once happy with a good speed then mix up the target order such as middle, near, far 

When you can accurately hit all sizes at all ranges whilst standing then you have to walk through, then next jog through

 

(When moving shoot at the middle first, furthest then nearest to ensure that you have to change the distances you’re aiming while you go)

 

On the moving run throughs start from a mid point.  If you are missing then start nearer and if you are hitting then start further away & then speed up 

((((Note that these exercises are even less suitable for gardens and are best suited for well controlled areas …. Such as on site)))

[GeorgePlaysAirsoft]

Interesting idea. I have been trying to think of ways i can make cheap targets for "practical plinking". ideally ones that give a nice ping on impact. I was thinking of buying some cheap baking trays and sticking them on canes. Does anybody have any better ideas? thank you.

 

 

[Tackle]

I used to keep the metal lids on jam jars, piece of masking tape with a number on each & hang them on the washing line with clothes pegs. 

Someone calls various numbers while the shooter then engages said numbered lid as quickly as possible, with the added bonus of an audible "ping" & a visible swing when hit, my lad used to love it & it definitely improved his abilities. 

[GhostNinja]

I made a couple of box targets that I shoot in the garage! To worried about the use in garden and the ARU turning up lol

 

essentially I made 3 wooden cube/boxes cut the front out of them like a picture frame and have clip board holders top and bottom so I can attach paper targets.

 

have some old curtain material hanging at the back to stop any rebounds, no sound but catches most bbs 

[SSPKali]

BBs do tend to ricochet quite a bit from tin cans but my new Tactical Pellet Catcher 5000 enables me to test accuracy and stop the BBs littering my (or neighbours!) garden!

 

If you are using metal targets on sticks I would angle them so that any BBs that bounce off are directed into the floor. Stringing up some fine mesh sheet (as they use around scaffolding / building sites) is also an option.

If the ARU do turn up, be calm and polite, do what they say and be prepared to chat for ages about your RIFs and let them have a play too  

[RostokMcSpoons]

21 minutes ago, GhostNinja said:

I made a couple of box targets that I shoot in the garage! To worried about the use in garden and the ARU turning up lol

 

... if only I had room in my garage (it's piled up with unused bikes, rugs, boxes of stuff, DIY materials blah blah.   Can barely see from one end to the other.  It's only a single garage anyway, not big enough!

As for the ARU, well I certainly don't want to be the guy on the front page of the local paper spread-eagled on the ground with guns pointing at me (or worse, not pointed at me as I'm already riddled with bullets!), but I'd love to hear how careful / not bothered others here are about their garden plinking.   

I could go around the nearest 5 neighbours and tell them what I'm up to, and sort it that way, except my darling wife had an argument with our neighbours (the ones who own the conifer that's the effective secondary backstop if anything went over the fence).   So I have to let that particular sleeping dog lie :[    The neighbours on each side are also religious so aren't super-likely to be enamoured with anything gun-related, but they've always been friendly and haven't complained even if they've worked out what I'm doing.  I just wouldn't want to give them the chance to say 'nope' and shut me down altogether.

It would certainly make my life easier if I could just wander around in my garden with a gnu or two, but I'm partly overlooked by 4 of those 5 neighbouring houses.  So I'm a tad stymied.

[Egon_247]

Heh, I've just had two coppers move in to the downstairs flat (we have to go down stairs over their back garden to get to ours) and one of them clocked my boy with his mp5 and went "ooh an mp5. Like it!" I think they're cool with it as the front door is still on its hinges and in not full of holes...

 

[J4ck]

Father of the year!

[Cannonfodder]

On 12/04/2023 at 20:34, Tommikka said:

Once one player has no legs and arms

 

Anyway, back on topic. I used to plink in the back garden semi regularly with a cardboard box filled with scrap paper and card to catch the shots sat on a garden chair as my neighbous  either side aren't fussed and the house at the back was empty and had lots of  thick bushes against the fence if I did have a flyer. Unfortunately though the empty house has now been sold and the family who moved in have cleared the bushes and appear to be full time pearl clutchers so I'm in the process of designing something that will definitely stop all shots and large enough to also catch misses 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Cannonfodder
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