So you have your new airgun, and some ammo, and you’re ready to do some shooting. But you forgot something. You’ve got nothing to shoot! You don’t want to be shooting blindly across your property; you want to know what kind of accuracy you are getting, and you want to be able to do so safely. Today, we’ll take a look at some ideas to help you get started.
What are you shooting?
Before we start looking at what kind of target to build, we need to know what you are shooting. For example, if you are shooting a Daisy Red Ryder, you won’t need much of a backstop to keep your BBs on your property. But, if you are shooting the Umarex Hammer, you may NOT want to shoot in your backyard and rather head to the range. To keep things simple, we’ll assume that you’re shooting your basic backyard-friendly airgun and NOT a crazy powerful big bore. Maybe we can look at that in another article.
Homemade Pump Pneumatic and CO2 Airgun Targets
Pump pneumatic and CO2 air rifles are generally lower powered and don’t require too much in the way of a backstop to stop projectiles from traveling past your intended target. Something as simple as a pizza box filled with carpet makes a good mounting point for paper targets. It doesn’t need to be carpet; you could also use rags or rubber matting. The options are pretty endless. You want something that will absorb the energy of your shot and not let it pass through. It may take some trial and error, so make sure that you have a secondary stop like a dirt bank or even another box filled with rags, rubber mulch, etc. The idea is that you want to make sure that you capture your projectile so that it can not cause injury or property damage.
Medium Powered Break Barrels and PCP Airguns
As you move up in power and accuracy, you’ll quickly find that projectiles can and will find their way through traps with insufficient stopping material. Additionally, if you are shooting for accuracy and stacking pellets or slugs, they can quickly tunnel right through your backstop before you know it. We’ve seen .177 pellets tunnel through two feet of tightly packed hay bales within a few shots. Consider using bricks of electrician’s putty, we call it “ballistic putty.” Ballistic Putty is great stuff as it’s malleable and doesn’t dry out. It can safely trap projectiles pushing twenty-plus foot-pounds. What’s even better is that you can clean out the spent ammo and reshape it back into your trap. If you want to skip the DIY concept, we have our silent pellet trap, which uses our ballistic putty and a steel safety plate combined with a wooden box. It’s a great backstop for indoor and outdoor use.
High Powered PCPs
If you want to control pass-through while shooting your high-powered PCP airguns, then you’ll need to get more serious about your plans to stop that pellet or slug. In the past, we’ve used double or triple-stacked 2x4s or 2x6s for the backstop with a couple of layers of horse mat screwed to the front to create the initial barrier. From there you can mount targets directly to the horse mat. It’s easy enough to keep changing out the horse mat as it gets worn out. It’s extremely unlikely that you’ll drive anything through several stacked 2x4s or 2x6s, but you’ll want to inspect your blacktop regularly just to make sure.
Do you have a color printer?
So far, we’ve talked about ways to create safe backstops for various classes of airguns, but that’s only part of the equation. The fun really starts when you get creative with your color printer and cardstock. The only limitation is your imagination. If you are a small game hunter, finding some images of squirrels, rabbits, and other small game animals and then printing them out provides something more fun than just circles and a dot on a page. If you are a target shooter, you can find or create, if needed, unique target sizes to better refine your skills.
And if you’re not the DIY type…
We’ve discussed several ideas as well as things to consider when creating backstops and targets for your airguns. And provided you are handy and like DIY, then you are good to go. But, for the rest of us who want to spend more time shooting and less time building, be sure to check out our section full of pellet traps, reactive targets, shoot-n-c game targets, and a lot more. We can certainly keep you busy having fun with your airgun. And if you have questions, please be sure to reach out. We are always ready to help.
