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The "Tiny" Targets Thread

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For you guys wanting to make your own targets but don't own a bunch of shop equipment you can get a free cad program online there are many that can export a DXF file you can send that file to a local shop that does water jet cutting and make all the targets you like using most any shape squirrel, rat, deer, hog etc. You can find the free files online with some searching. Search free clip art for the animals.

Mike
 
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Good tip, Mike! :)
I'm not seeing to many pictures of your targets, and I know you guys aint shy, so get them targets out there!
Scenery today. -10 celsius.
20151122_110932_zpscetsonxp.jpg

This target held up with no issue. But I guess it would being 1/2 inch thick or more.
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Hi Bit Frost, I make a load of metal targets for myself and friends as well as our Field target club. They just used 5 of my targets in the 2015 AAFTA nationals.

I do them all by hand with only some simple welding and cutting knowledge and some imagination, so you will get your targets to be more to your liking by just keep on making them. Here are some of my little targets and some field targets I made.

This is a two use target a friend requested for me to make him.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Flipping the target bring up a new set of targets...
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
this was a heavy duty target I made for a friend shooting a Boss 30 cal and a .45 cal Sam Yang... It has rods that go into the ground if needed. They weren't!
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

This is my homemade quadrant target
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Spinner
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
These are some of my pull reset field targets that we use at the club THAGC Tar Heel Airgun Club here is NC.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

These are replacement faceplates for the Gamo target bases
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

Hope they all came through....I use 3/8" hard steel. It holds up to air gun pellets up to .25 cal with little to no damage.
Now get busy dude!

 
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I have a little bell target that I get a kick out of. I bought this from Ben at Steel Plinkers. This little target is originally made for 10m shooting, but you can get the opening made larger to suit your shooting needs. Mine's only 1/4 inch, which makes it very hard to hit from a distance longer than 20m, but I like the challenge.
Here it is unpainted...



Here's a look at the insides


Here it is with a coat of paint on it



And after I shot it up a bit with a few friends



It's a great little reactive target that emits a pleasant tone when you hit the bullseye
 
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Bit frost. If you don't mind suggestions.... I found this method the easiest way to make the quadrent target. take a rectangler piece of steel the size of the quadrent you want. I made it 4" wide and 6" high.

Then draw a line from corner to corner to mark the center where the line croosed. Then drill a 38" hole at the center. Now cut the rectangle down and across the centers left and rt through the hole.

After that you need to trim the top two pieces down their inside edges to allow for the swing arm. I used a pc of 1/4" x1/2" stock. Just drill the top for the cross rod. Then weld a pc of 3/8" metal on the swing arm. It is easy to use a grinder to make that pc into a 3/8" circle to fit in between the paddles. You may need to grind/file the paddles around where they touch the Kill Zone . The hard part is making the counter balance weights below. I used some heavy stock, but you could build up thinner metal. Where you attach them on the rods is the trial and error part to get the paddles to lay even. Remember it does not matter what it looks like as long as it functions! I used a cheap metal cutting portable band saw from Harbour Freight and a vice. It gave me more precise paddle cuts then the pasma cutter. Besides paint will make it pretty....lol good luck
 
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My favorite when it comes to tiny targets is aspirin tablets. Dip a toothpick in glue and apply to the tablet, wait 30 minutes or so and you're ready. Put these in toothpick sized holes drilled in the edge of a 2x4. I usually line up 20 of these and blaze away!

Looked at through the scope, a hit makes a satisfying puff of white "smoke".

Given my meager marksmanship skills, these are a challenging enough target at 25 meters to keep things interesting. :)
 
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Johnathan, I make them out if hardened 3/8" steel. They can take up to a .25 cal, but are designed for regular field target .177 and .22 cal at 20fpe.

We used several at the AAFTA nationals this year. I also make other types of targets. I made that top spinner with 3/4" steel discs for a friend. He uses a Boss 30. Cal and a .45 cal on it.

I hand make them and make a clear plastic stencil to repaint them. I cut them out with a plasma torch and then use an air file, grinders, and electric file sander to finish them.

Pint is just Rustoleum 2x ...last bests without falling. Only comes off in pellet mark size. Glad you like them...
 
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Thanks for the information Strikefast ...seams my two children and three more Girls all want to set up an air rifle range with mostly reactive targets so I am going to be asking around my circle of friends to find out who has an plasma torch as I think that is the cleanest way to cut them out ...I have grinders and can make them fairly good from there!
Jonathan
 
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I just copied the paddle from a Reminder gton target and twisted the hard. Now o use simple square paddles welded to the stem. I use 2" angle for the front and 1" for the center and back cut to 7" long. Then weld them at 3 1/2" center front and back. I use a portable band saw to cut the front 2" metal in front to bend them back and the faceplate bottom forward to make the hinge.

Get a Remington FT and it will give you ideas how to form it.
Good luck..

Don't forget to make spinners as the girls win't need to reset them.

I have several shoot-to-reset Remington targets, that after I shoot the bull down from a field target position, or bench rest, I then stand and shoot the large reset paddle for pratice of off hand.
 
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Has anyone tried out some harder steels, or is everyone using regular mild steel, like A36? I have some AR500 round plates for shooting powder burners and the durability is insane. I bet even one of the lower classes like AR200 or AR400 in 3/16" (or 1/8" if you could find it) would allow you to build a reactive target light enough to work with low power .177 but tough enough to handle all the way up to .30 or .357 PCPs. Admittedly, I haven't priced out plates in the AR class, so it may be cost-prohibitive.
 
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TDK I don't know about the AR steel's cost. I have a metal recycling plant near me in Wilmington NC that carries new and used metals and metal objects. They get a load of products like bolts , nus, ammo boxes, and other military products from the Marine Corps Base at Camp Laejune a few miles away. Some cool stuff.

I buy the sheet metal they have new and some used. Alum, SS, brass, dismond plate, rods, bars, sheet, you name it they have it!

They sell it by the pound so I am not sure of the cost between the diff hardnesses. I will ck the next time I go.

Also Johnathon, I put down 3/8" for the face plates in my above post and it was supposed to be 1/8"
 
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Just made and testet my own "Bell Box"-target.
It's ugly but It works. I didn't have thick steel laying around so I used som thin plates and welded them together. It's about 3,6mm in thickness all together but it still gets dented from the .25 Wildcat from a distance of 25m or so.
My plan is to use this target on long range shooting. It's pitch black when I get home from work so it's kinda hopeless to shoot in the weekdays, so looking forward to the times ahead, now that the sun is coming back for longer each day. 
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