Homemade Targets
- Thread starter Alderman
- Start date
Colored paper board. I usually get some stiffer paper like card stock but I grabbed some thin stuff the other day and it worked well also.
I lay the paper on a piece of cardboard that is larger than the paper.
Cover the paper with strips of cheap clear packing tape. It’s okay to have it a little long so it sticks to the cardboard.
Takes 5 strips of packing tape to completely cover the paper. I then cut the tape along the each end of the paper with a utility knife which releases it from where it is taped to the cardboard. Another alternative is just to fold the excess tape around the back but I’ve found the excess tape stuck to the cardboard actually anchors the paper in place and cutting it is quicker.
I paint over the taped side with the cheapest flat black spray paint I can fine (98 cents a can at Home Depot) and found I get better coverage and can do more targets with a can than with the more expensive paint.
I’m using some cheap sticky dots for aim points but find they don’t stick well when they are hit. When they come off though, the bright paper is exposed so there is still an aim point. I suppose another color paint or a marking pen could be used to make a bull.
$3.86 for 100 sheets of the thinner paper The heavier paper costs a little more
$7.97 for 200 yards of packing tape
$.98 can of paint will do 25-30 targets
I lay the paper on a piece of cardboard that is larger than the paper.
Cover the paper with strips of cheap clear packing tape. It’s okay to have it a little long so it sticks to the cardboard.
Takes 5 strips of packing tape to completely cover the paper. I then cut the tape along the each end of the paper with a utility knife which releases it from where it is taped to the cardboard. Another alternative is just to fold the excess tape around the back but I’ve found the excess tape stuck to the cardboard actually anchors the paper in place and cutting it is quicker.
I paint over the taped side with the cheapest flat black spray paint I can fine (98 cents a can at Home Depot) and found I get better coverage and can do more targets with a can than with the more expensive paint.
I’m using some cheap sticky dots for aim points but find they don’t stick well when they are hit. When they come off though, the bright paper is exposed so there is still an aim point. I suppose another color paint or a marking pen could be used to make a bull.
$3.86 for 100 sheets of the thinner paper The heavier paper costs a little more
$7.97 for 200 yards of packing tape
$.98 can of paint will do 25-30 targets
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Putting together some homemade splatter burst targets. Just something to do on a rainy day.
Fine job on this splatter project! I make cardboard templates of 1" circles, and paint my target dots on like that. You can paint a lot of those dots with a quick blast of paint and probably a lot cheaper than the sticky dots that fall off. I use my "not-so-sticky" target dots to re-paint my steel reactive targets white. Then I peel off the 1" dot to expose the grey lead/steel underneath and save the dot on the next white paint job of the steel.
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I use bingo marker for my paper target. I can make the circle small or large and assorted colours to choose from.
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I've being doing these for a while, instead of the sticky dots that fly off when you hit them or get close, I lay pennies or dimes on the paper then spray. When it dries, remove the coins.
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I just shoot a pellet hole somewhere on the paper and then aim at that until the hole gets too big, then make another. But this is at 25 yds. If it was at longer ranges I don't know if I could see the first hole.
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I scratch a cross on my DIY splatter targets used at 25 yards or less. For longer range I paint the dots like Airgun Hobbyist mentioned.
Just thought about using washers for the shadow painting technique (coins, etc.).
Just thought about using washers for the shadow painting technique (coins, etc.).
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When I want to make cheap bullseye targets I use butcher's paper and assorted size jar lids. You can buy a roll of butcher paper from the grocery store. As the paper is white it's pretty easy to see the hit.
You could also buy a cheap compass in school supplies to make different sized circles.
You could also buy a cheap compass in school supplies to make different sized circles.
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Golf balls make good targets, because you know when you hit them. Hit them low, they jump up. Hit them on the left side, they move right, and vice versa. They are also very durable and take a lot of hits and remain usable, unlike paper targets.
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Ha ha! If you ever get tired of painting your cash, just go to your local Home Depot and buy one metal electrical outlet box(so cheap you can buy it with the colored coins, lol) and take a small hammer and screwdriver and punch out all the 3/4” and 1/2” round tabs. Use those instead for the paint templates.
If you want super free, ask an electrician buddy to save them for you. In a day he’s probably punched out a hundred of those. Those things are all over a job site floor!
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great idea augie, i never even thought about that , comes from being (Feeble minded), i have stuck the dime sized stickers on the back of the square boxes, though, i really like the rummage sale stickers, but they have went way up in price, i have a older chevy van that i stuck them on & when i didnt have any stickers i would just shoot & aim for the last shot, i will try to look for the pic, both sides are shot to crap.
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@Ramjet- I remember as a kid walking my dog thru the residential housing tracts, of houses being built. I saw these metal, round, knockouts all over the floors. The 3/4” knockout is so close to the size of a quarter, I thought, I could use these to buy a newspaper out of the news stand machines, and get a paper for free!
Never tried it, though, lol
Choosing the trades as my career, I saw those things all over the floor, all day everyday for 34 years! They make good shims if you ever need to shim something up.
Never tried it, though, lol
Choosing the trades as my career, I saw those things all over the floor, all day everyday for 34 years! They make good shims if you ever need to shim something up.
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ok , now i get it , you are laying the knockouts on the paper to spray paint , i thought you were using the box's to spray the holes with ? , i think that it would work for a template ?
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Yes, just lay the knockouts on top of what your painting.
Those knockouts would make good spinner targets also, lol, but only for a few shots as I believe they are only 18 ga. Metal
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