No target shooting anymore?

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This morning, after this discussion, I felt like shooting again. So I decided to use JSB 14.35gr pellets as I did not use it recently. Looked and the dope and adjusted the pcp accordingly, 920 fps. Slight breeze. First shots on 50 meter, pellet on pellet, over to 75 meter, the same and over to 100 meter, 25mm group. I never tried the 150 meter plate with this 14gr pellets so adjusted according to Strelok - missed low. Tweaked data on Strelok and shoot again, hit the plate low and tweaked Strelok again, adjust and shoot, centre of plate and so does the next 15 or more shots, about 40 - 50mm group in the breeze. Then I put 6 palm seeds in a row at 25 meter, shoot standing resting against a tree, six shots, six seeds hit. Then six seeds at 50 meter, shot 4 and 2 got knocked off the frame by others moving sideways. Done for now. OK, at least everything is ready for next month's trip to hunt some antelope with the muzzleloader and the pcp is going along for some spurfowl.

For the rest of the day we are going to hit the road with the bikes through some twisties as planed.
 
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I shoot paper just to sight in, or confirm poi. I don't hunt anymore. I just can't kill innocent animals anymore. I never ate what I shot either.
However, I always felt walking through the woods and enjoying that serenity was 70% of my hunting joy.
So now, I go for woods walks and plink at all kinds of none breathing targets...pine cones, mushrooms, the knots on trees, leaves, etc. that fills my nick these days.
I'm fortunate to have 100's of acres of uninhabited woods behind my house. I also have hanging steel, and cans to shoot from my deck.
It's a great hobby!
Have fun!
 
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Caliber 22 said:
I came to a point where I want to shoot, take the air rifle, shoot one or two 5 shot groups at different distances which is always about the same good group, pack up a go put away the rifle. I am getting bored with target shooting. If it is not hunting, which I don't get regular opportunity to do, the rifle is not getting much use anymore. I tested most pellets available to me, I have the DOPE on all I shot so there is no challenge anymore. Luckily I did not buy more new rifles as I can see people are getting bored with shooting the same rifle, buy another just to go through that prosses again.

How often do you get to that state of mind? Is that when you start looking for a new rifle to buy?
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I shoot targets to initially zero the gun and for checking POA/POI at the ranges I shoot. After that? I’m a plinking fool, the casual, no pressure fun, the satisfying hits, etc. Most of my guns are capable of more than my skill set allows, I’m not going to spend time chasing small groups. Plinking and pesting are the main reasons I got into PCPs. I also love being “bored” by my “tried and tested“ same old PCPs. Good post.👍🙏
 
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Caliber 22 said:
This morning, after this discussion, I felt like shooting again. So I decided to use JSB 14.35gr pellets as I did not use it recently. Looked and the dope and adjusted the pcp accordingly, 920 fps. Slight breeze. First shots on 50 meter, pellet on pellet, over to 75 meter, the same and over to 100 meter, 25mm group. I never tried the 150 meter plate with this 14gr pellets so adjusted according to Strelok - missed low. Tweaked data on Strelok and shoot again, hit the plate low and tweaked Strelok again, adjust and shoot, centre of plate and so does the next 15 or more shots, about 40 - 50mm group in the breeze. Then I put 6 palm seeds in a row at 25 meter, shoot standing resting against a tree, six shots, six seeds hit. Then six seeds at 50 meter, shot 4 and 2 got knocked off the frame by others moving sideways. Done for now. OK, at least everything is ready for next month's trip to hunt some antelope with the muzzleloader and the pcp is going along for some spurfowl.

For the rest of the day we are going to hit the road with the bikes through some twisties as planed.
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I was waiting to see if you had a responce. 👍
I could only suggest plinking as many others did.
I'm always thinking of new ideas.

We had a BBQ party once, so for entertainment I set up a ahooting table, and hung cans. I told them first to drop the bottom of the thier can wins. They shot every piece of those cans into tiny shards. They were like a shark feeding frenzy. Lol
There are ways to make it fun. Hang a can at 50 meters and using center shots see how many shots it takes to cut the bottom off then beat that.
I wanted to add, targets that make satisfying sound are great fun, especially at long range.
 
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rcarlisle said:
Try shooting without a rest. That'll change bored to frustrated. Shoot prone off your elbows or standing offhand. It'll change your expectations and if you can work past frustration, it gets to be a lot of fun.
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I am back, what a fun time on the bikes.

I shoot a lot of different positions. With my Gamo magnum shooting standing offhand my record is 13 shots in a row hitting the 200x200mm plate at 100 meter, that was on a good day. With the pcp it is 7. My Gamo and muzzle loader is about the same weight so that helps me with the muzzle loader as well as I cannot shoot the muzzle loader at home.
 
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About a hundred and fifty years or so ago Beeman (IIRC) had a list of 'airgun games' in the back of their catalog. One outlined a competition called "mini-sniping" which used spent .22 long rifle casings at some prescribed distance and had some scoring and other suggestions. In any case, I've been shooting at .22 casings for many years now. It's always a challenge (if it's not, you're too close...). It's fun inside, but that takes away 3/4 of the challenge. Outside it ranges from challenging to downright humbling, depending on the wind. Good stuff. Hits mean more when you have to work for them.

As an addition of my own, I put the brass on golf tees so a low shot doesn't knock anything else over. Hitting the tee is a miss...

GsT
 
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Shooting moving targets can be a great way to mix it up a bit. Make a shelf with 4 holes in it that sits about 3 ft off the ground. Put holes in the bottom of 4 tin cans and connect the shelf to the tin cans with some string (about 5-12 inches in length). Place the tin cans on top of the shelf (towards the back so they can tip off easily when shot) and go back about 50 yards. First shot is easy, just knocking the tin can off the shelf so it starts swinging. Then see how quickly you can make a follow up shot before knocking the next tin can off the shelf. Different lengths of string will make the cans swing differently, so experiment some.
 
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I've always favored these guys. Set them up all over the back yard and then play Chuck Mawhinney (in much more favorable conditions.)

DSC_1034.JPG


Cheers,

J~
 
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I usually try to shoot more fun targets, golf balls, water bottles, pop cans...stuff like that. shooting specifically in the wind to get better at that aspect of shooting, I also blast pest birds around the yard so that always keeps it interesting. I also have a couple targets that move around as you shoot them, so the distance and angles are always changing.
 
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I've been shooting groups since I was a teenager . I have also enjoyed hunting since I was in grade school. It was a family thing . I'm an Idaho native.

We moved around alot and shooting my airguns especially the fwb124 was fun entertainment. Started like most with a red rider then a co2 pistol , a Crosman 2100 and Crosman. 22 pump pisto before the fwb124 . Groups with the FWB or hunting kept me busy and my dog enjoyed it as much as I did .

I also like the shooting challenges and doing them with like minded people. And I have to do pesting around our out of town location and do enjoy that . I like to set up at random ranges 0-50y to test my ability to remember holdover. And doing that with more pcps than necessary keeps me on my toes , ya and throw in a bunch of different pellets , tunes and I never get board.
 
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I don't get bored shooting anymore. Just bought my eight year old a crosman. He keeps things interesting. Time wasted passing down skills and knowledge to the next generation isn't wasted, whether it's your own kid or someone else's. Plus it's fun when we're watching TV and he's yelling at characters on whatever show is on. "Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot!"
 
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A variation of some I’ve seen mentioned, tie balloons blown up to different diameters on different length strings at 100yd/m and try to shoot them offhand while the wind plays havoc with them. Sounds like you enjoy fitness, so add in some version of exercises- 100m run/jog or a set of push-ups and see how accurately you can get 10 shots on target before you calm down. Buy some ballistic gel and approach a few shooting sessions from a scientific perspective.
 
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Take the scope off and stretch out the distances. I don't use scopes. Yes the target is blurry, but I can see the sights good enough. I have one of those 8 resetable swinger targets I shoot at about 75 feet away, I use with a Diana 460 .22, my elbows resting on an electrical box out back. I also have a set of silhouette animals, the recommended distances are on back for pistol and rifle, try hitting those open sights, even with a rest. And my favorite is my .22lr steel trap I use for 10 meter pistol and rifle, always offhand standing using diopter or open sights, that's a challenge. I'd like to shoot a competition match with no scope and inferior equipment, then you know how good you really are
 
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Sqwirl57 said:
My system is for keeping it fresh is simple.

1) Shoot springers
2) Take zero notes
3) Cycle through them until I feel I've mastered that particular gun again and then move on to the next one
4) Tinkering helps.
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I'm similar but shoot PCP's tweak the daylights out of them...forget everything...repeat...I'm now trying to figure out how in the heck I got my Maverick .22 Compact to shoot slugs. Oh I do keep notes but to keep it interesting they are non-sequential so basically meaningless. Hours of fun trying to figure out what in the heck they mean.
 
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