Henry Rifle Forums

I did a little more work on the range today. I had to put additional braces on the old boards as some were not in very good condition and I put some rock around the base. I have four more bullet traps on order.

I still need to paint it.

Good for you. Nice setup.

As for our range, I did the dirty deed and pulled all the target stands out of the swampy bog and have started to set things up on higher and drier ground, right in our yard. Will have only one shooting station, but one bench setup at 50 yards and another at 30 yards. 30 yards is the sweet spot for most air rifles. Any decent air rifle should be able to shoot one hole groups at 30. The 50 yard bench is for accuracy testing and pushing the limits to see what individual guns can do.

Have decided to eliminate all metal spinner targets and go only resettable pop up metal targets and, of course, bullet traps for paper targets. It's been my experience that ricochets, though not common, are most likely to happen with spinner targets. I do get some with the spinners, but never with the pop ups. I suspect it happens with the spinners because they have just enough give to allow a pellet to sometimes hit them a glancing blow at an angle, thus the ricochet. For those of you in a situation where ricochets are something that must be avoided, be warned. Not a safety issue for us, but they make me very uncomfortable, not knowing where that pellet goes.

Gene, here's some of resettable pop up targets I really enjoy. Have not experienced ricochet with these when used at 25 yards and beyond.

This one is similar to what they use in Field Target. To score a kill, you must hit that yellow paddle in the body enough for it to drop away and no longer be visible. A body hit is a no score. You can also vary the diameter of the yellow paddle to add more challenge. To reset the body paddle back up into position, you shoot that paddle underneath on the right. Been thinking of getting a few more of these and doing a walk through the woods shooting course.


This is one of my favorites. When you hit one of the four lower paddles with enough force, it folds back up, out of the way and out of sight. To reset and drop the paddles back in sight, you hit that single top paddle.


There are also resettable pop ups that incorporate their own bullet trap. No pic, but a nice option if you don't want lead scattered around the target.

Wow! Not everybody has Fort Laramie at the bottom of their garden, SH!

Like everything, high class SirH

I really don't know why these airguns aren't more popular with shooters than they are; especially when they complain about not having time to go to the range.

You just created your own range.

For me, sitting around after my last swing shift shooting the empties with the Umarex P-08 that I got a copious amount of clips for.

140 good 400 fps+ shots with a 12g co2.

Life is good..............

Very nice

Henry88 wrote:Like everything, high class SirH

I really don't know why these airguns aren't more popular with shooters than they are; especially when they complain about not having time to go to the range.

You just created your own range.

For me, sitting around after my last swing shift shooting the empties with the Umarex P-08 that I got a copious amount of clips for.

140 good 400 fps+ shots with a 12g co2.

Life is good..............

Not to mention the savings on ammo. For what one single round of factory 45-70 ammo costs, I can shoot 200 pellets or so. No recoil or noise, either.

I don't seem to get many ricochets. Both backstops are offset about ten degrees from the shooting bench so the few ricochets go twenty degrees to the side. I'm surprised my Big Cat doesn't get more but it is powerful enough that the pellets lodge in the metal. I painted the objects bright so I can see them in the dark shadows. I lost the legs to this one so it doesn't spin. Here is the second backstop which I've posted about before. And of course the new one in full sunshine. This will be a morning range as in the afternoon the stop is in the shade and I am shooting into the sun.

SH, I don't like the new range at all. Seriously, where is the coffee? I'm hoping there's some at the shooting bench.

ditto1958 wrote:SH, I don't like the new range at all. Seriously, where is the coffee? I'm hoping there's some at the shooting bench.

Wait till you see the shooting bench.

Old School............literally. lol.

Sir Henry wrote:

ditto1958 wrote:SH, I don't like the new range at all. Seriously, where is the coffee? I'm hoping there's some at the shooting bench.

Wait till you see the shooting bench.

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Now we're talkin'.

Hey, wait a minute That was my desk when I was in 5th grade!!

daytime dave wrote:Old School............literally. lol.

If only my old school desk had an air rifle on it! It might have provided Sister Mary Xavier with a bit of extra time to think about what she was doing before she began to verbally abuse pretty much everyone in the class. As Paul Simon sang, "It's a wonder I can think at all!"

I have to be careful where I setup my resetting steel target. The pellets ricochet and hit my garage one day.

LeverLover wrote:I have to be careful where I setup my resetting steel target. The pellets ricochet and hit my garage one day.

Definitely. Anyone who uses steel targets for pellets needs to be aware of the ricochet issue. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Never use a steel target, indoors.

A pellet ricochets when it hits a glancing blow and fails to flatten. The worst culprits for pellet ricochets are the tiny, very light steel spinner targets designed for air guns. These have produced the most ricochets for me. I don't recommend ever using them in a situation where a ricochet is a serious issue. I only use them, outdoors, and we have no close neighbors or buildings to worry about.

Heavy steel reactive targets have produced the fewest ricochets for me, but, of course, they still need to be light enough to work for a given distance and gun power level. Even heavy steel can produce a ricochet, though, if you shoot at one from an angle. If you're careful to shoot at them, face on, ricochets are rare.