Not for me, for my son. Says he's getting bored shooting paper targets. And thats the only thing you can shoot at our range. He shoots AR15s, RR and Colt. Any ideas what we can do to make it more interesting? Thanks for the replies. Jay

Jay- it may or not work for you but my G-pa started me shooting clay pigeons (not tossed...grins). The other thought would be eggs?

Obviously making some steel dingers would be fun as well.

Have fun

MD

Maybe try some of those paper targets with pictures of flies on them and call your shots, make bets, etc.

When I was a kid, we loved shooting those little green army men with BB guns. We'd set up an entire fortress then back off a ways and start picking them off. Could you come up with paper targets that mimicked this kind of situation? At least make the target visually interesting.

You could put up a generic paper target and cover it with some kind of insect attractant. Wait for them to land and try to hit them.

One of the ranges I go to has that same paper target restriction, so nothing active (fun) is allowed. No dingers, gongs, clays, cookies, pop cans, etc. Even I can get bored with that some days.

Can he write his name on the target with a .22 ?

They often get bored shooting from a benchrest. challenge them offhand, sitting, kneeling, etc. Do a competition with them. they shoot, you shoot, back and forth. Make a small wager (ice cream, etc), make sure they win once in a while.

Jay-

Is Tyler shooting irons or a scope on his AR?

I've got lots of "games" for a scoped rifle, less so for irons...

Try things other than "bullseyes". I find circles boring myself. Maybe animal targets. Maybe colored squares/index cards with a bet on each shot. (Ya know, something like a shot of tequila each time. Just kidding, tequila's too expensive for a teenager who needs to buy more ammo... OK, make it a Coke, or cumulative Best-of-50 for burgers on the way home.)

Can you shoot metal "dueling trees"? LOTS of fun for you vs him stuff. They make small, lightweight (sorta, for 223 shooting), portable trees. If your range is "paper only" due to a trash issue, see if they'll make an exception for metal that you stick in the ground, shoot, and then take with you. You leave nothing behind to trash up the area...

How far are you shooting? If inside of 100 yards, Life Savers hanging on a string are challenging, give instant feedback, and leave very little "evidence" behind if your range is picky. Shatter one, and the pieces are gone in the grass...

Hope this gives you some ideas...

Kids like to blow up plastic pop bottles filled with water and the blow ups are pretty phenomenal! Also if there is a pond nearby, bottles or balloons tossed on the water(obviously doing this in a public place could get the owners upset unless you get permission!!) are good training toys especially for iron sights!! The can see where they missed especially easy and also hits are intantaneous gratification! GHD

Cheez-Its - little one-inch square crackers. They blow up nicely and critters eat the debris. When he gets good, move up (down?) to aspirins.

Jaywalker

Right now, he's shooting irons on his RR Entry Tactical. He wants to get a ACOG, Pa says they're too expensive. Told him, lets get some high rings and put the 6-24 Burris on it and see how accurate the thing is with 69MKs. We can only and I mean only shoot paper targets at our range, rangemaster or range Nazi as we affectionly like to call him, would'nt have it any other way. Thing called "safety" comes into play, somewhere here. Though, the lifesaver, or animal cracker hanging from the target would'nt be a problem. Just need to make sure if we need high rings on the RR or not, thinking yes, RR never called back today. Jay

Take him golfing. I think that will remind him how much more exciting the shooting sports are. Even paper targets are better than golf.

SBB

Spread some honey on the target, wait for some flies to land, and shoot the flies.

You can also use targets with pictures of people that others might like to shoot in real life, like Osama bin Laden. If you're shooting for group record your group size, then all groups after that can become competitions with yourself to shoot smaller groups. I've been doing that for years. Just one mans opinion. You can let your imagination run wild here. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Gorski:
... We can only and I mean only shoot paper targets at our range, rangemaster or range Nazi as we affectionly like to call him, would'nt have it any other way. ...

I lived 15min from a "Police Range" owned by the County and they had a similar "Rule". Wouldn't even let me staple my targets atop targets. Told them what I thought about it and they really wanted to slap the cuffs on me. Also went to a County Council meeting and told them as well - to no avail. They tried to make it as inconvenient as possible just to keep everyone else away.

So, I just drove an hour and 15min to a different Range and enjoyed the ride as well.
---

Since you have recognized it is boring to your son, perhaps some incentive to shoot better groups from trip to trip would help him maintain his focus. I'd suspect he is too young to go for the old, "The best group gets the BBQ paid for by the other guy." But, you can probably come up with something even better.

And of course, if he is really bored, don't force him to go shoot, or he will dread the trip.

Best way I found was to provide some kind of goal to the shooting practice. I have a 12 year old son that I was afraid would become bored as well. In my case shooting at the range/sighting in and load develop were the means to an end. We take trips out to the prairie and shoot praire dogs...lots of prairie dogs. There is absolutely nothing quite like shooting live reactive targets to spark an interest in shooting sports no matter what age.

Take him trap or skeet shooting.

bird seed at varying distances

Start competing. Highpower or tactical rifle, whatever. Competition is never boring. Well, except benchrest. That shit is boring.

Jay Go to http://www.reloadbench.com There are over 100 diference targets that you can download and print out. This should give your son a good choice. Jerry

Er. . . nobody has mentioned tge obvious: take him hunting!

For a challenging reactive target, try paintballs. Some two sided tape and a piece of cardboard, together with a bag of paintballs adds up to a lot of shooting fun.
Mike

I recomend get him someplace where you can shoot pop cans and such. Took a lady frend to her 1st time last weekend and when she hit one just right with my 22 pistol and it jumped several feet into the air, we were both tickeld !
It goes with out saying but ill say it any way ! clean up your mess when you are done ! ...tj3006

For a lot of fun we use paint balls as targets. They splatter when hit. They are only 1/2" diameter & a REAL challange. You can tape them to the target with a bit of scotch tape or hang them from strings with scotch tape. These will not be boring!

Charcoal brickettes are good too. A ilttle bigger & easier to hit & make a nice puff of black when their hit.

I too had the problem of my grandson getting bored with paper targets. Kids like something to happen. Ice cubes and charcoal briqettes were good targets. He also liked old golf balls. Those dont usually launch but roll a few feet and shoot them till you can't see them. Oh and I did take him hunting---that was reason for the trip to the range. Got his first deer at age 9 and has gotten atleast one per year since--now 16 and last year was 4 shots--4 deer. Don't expose them to too much recoil. We worked up from .22 centerfires to .243 and he stayed at .243.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/3221043/m/805109813

try moving up to something bigger

A little bit of fun we used to have was to blow up baloons to no bigger than a fist, attached a bit of cotton and anchor them out at (well it depends on how windy it is) 25 - 150 yards. It's great popping them.
Spent 12 bore cartridge cases at 100 yards can be fun too.

An empty 50rnd. 22lr ammo box is paper... Right?

Is there no place to just go into the "back yard" and bang a few soda cans where you live?

Have him join the 82nd Airborne. Worked for me, worked for my godson. We both went on to special forces units, made it even more fun. .

lawndart

Try Cowboy Action Shooting.

quote:

How can I make shooting less boring?

Get him a flintlock.......

Loosen his sights and challenge him to a good group contest.

If you don't take pervese pleasure in things like that, go find some varmints.

Aaron

Launch a cat with a helium balloon,object is to hit cat or the balloon--he has a choice,that always makes things more fun. Remember he is really going to enjoy this---need lots of cats. Keep several cat traps baited around your house so you have plenty to take to the range.

Make him pay for ammo out of his allowance.

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Gorski:
Not for me, for my son. Says he's getting bored shooting paper targets. And thats the only thing you can shoot at our range. He shoots AR15s, RR and Colt. Any ideas what we can do to make it more interesting? Thanks for the replies. Jay

I'm in WI and my range has same restriction. Same place???

I do use other targets....shhh dont tell ....cuz when I'm there I am almost always alone.

Paul

Hi
Let kill small animals bird see in the back yard, Rats, cat and stray dogs a the dump. Allways worked for me.
O' yeah Try some rabbits at night with a light.
Good Luck
Dr B

quote:

Originally posted by 44magnum:

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Gorski:
Not for me, for my son. Says he's getting bored shooting paper targets. And thats the only thing you can shoot at our range. He shoots AR15s, RR and Colt. Any ideas what we can do to make it more interesting? Thanks for the replies. Jay

I'm in WI and my range has same restriction. Same place???

I do use other targets....shhh dont tell ....cuz when I'm there I am almost always alone.

Paul

Paul, Our range is in Mosinee, Hwy KK. Jay

Jay

Mine is near Juneau in Dodge County. Just same stupid rules I guess!! I realize they dont want a mess left but sux that a few people always ruin it for others.

BTW I'd go with the crackers and lifesavers ideas....animals will clean up the little mess left. Cruise the candy aisle next time your in the grocery store....always target ideas there!!

Paul

The wife had me and my boy shoot up a bunch of old unwanted canned goods. Some of this stuff was 20 years old and some had missing labels. They were a hoot to shoot with the 257 wbys at varying distances. 200-400 yards. Nothing boring about that. Those things blew up awesome. The clean up of the cans was a drag though. Also hit the produce manager for apples, and melons. No clean up with this stuff if you do it out in the country. Try a watermelon with the 7mag at 50 paces. They make a vapor over 20 feet in circumference. Then put them out to 500 yards and work them over. Oranges blow up good and make a challenging target out around 300 yards.

Punching paper gets real boring after a bit, now matter what one does to spice it up, IMO.

Thank goodness my range also has a plinking pit where almost anything goes. As mentioned above, try to get somewhere you will be able to bounce cans, etc.

Having beautiful, naked women assisting with range duties, e.g., picking up brass, cleaning guns, spotting targets,etc. It's my fantasy and I am sticking to it.