Plinking....

[Andy54Hawken]

So anyone else here enjoy plinking?
I find it fun and relaxing .... shooting at those little bits of left over clay birds , forgotten spent shotshells or odd colored rocks.

I have a Remington Model 33 that I put a Marbles "bullseye" rear sight on and of course noticed that I had to make a taller front sight....After zeroing it in I did the type of shooting mentioned above.
This rifle and "Plinking" seem to go hand and hand...It also is great practice for hunting.

If you have public land nearby , that allows shooting...I urge you to rediscover "The Joy of Plinking".
Just be sure to always have a good backstop and clean up afterwards.
Andy

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[Joe13]

Grew up starting at 4 plinking and still love it too this day.

Much better for teaching new shooters then a range imo.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I agree ... a little less "formal" than on a official range and can be a bit more fun / less intimidating to new shooters.
Plus with "reactive" targets ( cans , spent shells , rocks that "bust" , claybird parts etc...)
You can tell right away if you hit it or not ... that is a big thrill for new and experienced shooters alike.

I enjoy the "lets see if you can it that" and the easy going competitiveness / joshing that goes along with plinking.
Andy

 

[Joe13]

I agree ... a little less "formal" than on a official range and can be a bit more fun / less intimidating to new shooters.
Plus with "reactive" targets ( cans , spent shells , rocks that "bust" , claybird parts etc...)
You can tell right away if you hit it or not ... that is a big thrill for new and experienced shooters alike.

I enjoy the "lets see if you can it that" and the easy going competitiveness / joshing that goes along with plinking.
Andy

Absolutely!

I do find that I shoot much less accurately, or maybe better said as purposefully missing, with new shooters.

Tends to help them feel more accomplished then me hitting everything I aim at on the first shot or hitting things well beyond their capability.

 

[Mistman]

Plinking w/the kids is one of my all time favorite activities, just good clean fun! Seems like you end up spending a lot of time reloading those durn .22's though.......

I'm very fortunate that I can shoot at home, I take full advantage of it. You can't come to my place w/out seeing target stands all around the yard. I even pick up .22 brass (eventually) as it can hurt bare feet when running on the lawn. I think my bag of empties is pushing 5 pounds currently. I did slow down the shooting w/the extreme heat but not a lot

 

[Hop Sing]

As a buddy of mine said, "God had a good day when he invented the .22".

 

[Goosebrown]

As a buddy of mine said, "God had a good day when he invented the .22".

Oh no. John Moses Browning did NOT invent the .22 although I agree it was a good day...

 

[Connor Murphy]

Earliest shooting memories are if plinking with my dad. He's long gone but the fond remembrances aren't. Great post Andy.

 

[Misteramax]

Shooting 22 lr is fun for everyone. I love shooting my sr22.

 

[NEWFISHER]

I haul more 22's out to the hills to " plink" leftovers 90% more than I shoot anything else. I can not count the times that I have headed out without bring targets, clays, etc. just to descover hours of entertainment using leftovers at the local backstop.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I also plink with my Muzzle loaders ... Plinking shouldn't be relegated to just .22's ... try it with your hunting rifles.
Andy

 

[etrain16]

I grew up plinking - about the only type of shooting I did until I was an adult. Growing up there were plenty of spots nearby where us kids could take the .22 and shoot at just about anything we had available - including toys and even my old retainer. Now, finding a good public space that's relatively close and safe (free from tweakers, drunks or just unsafe people) has made it really difficult. So, I do my shooting at a range, where I'm limited to paper or steel. Still, I used to love shooting little things, and would love to do it some more. Our hope is that some day we'll move out just a bit further with enough land to set up at least a 100 yard range on my own property - then I can shoot whatever I want whenever I want.

 

[Kruel J]

It was fun as a kid, but I now mostly shoot steel plate drills or long distance.

 

[Mistman]

I also plink with my Muzzle loaders ... Plinking shouldn't be relegated to just .22's ... try it with your hunting rifles.
Andy

True, but to me to be a plinker it needs to have really low recoil and report and use cheap ammo I still plink w/a BB gun sometimes though mine isn't very accurate, relatively speaking.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Muzzle loaders are still pretty cheap to shoot and easy on the recoil....Can hunt well with 'em too.
Just putting out a plug for my favorite guns...
Andy

 

[Mistman]

It was fun as a kid, but I now mostly shoot steel plate drills or long distance.

It's still good fun, you just need to get you're kid on. If it was fun when you were a kid, be a kid again

I know about your anti .22 slant, just saying......

 

[Mistman]

Muzzle loaders are still pretty cheap to shoot and easy on the recoil....Can hut well with 'em too.
Just putting out a plug for my favorite guns...
Andy

If I had one I'd probably do just that. I did spend some time in the pasture w/a friends one day, it was a lot of fun and you're right, you can tame the loads pretty well just by not putting much powder in it.

Hmm.....maybe I DO need to look at a ML a little more seriously

 

[etrain16]

I should have mentioned I can get away with plinking in my yard with my quieter pellet guns - and the .22's can hit pretty hard, so they are fun to shoot. I also 'plink' with my slingshots, also a lot of fun, and I'm setting up and area to do some archery with my daughter - I've got a fairly new recurve and she's got a fun junior bow - and she's a good shot with it.

One fun slingshot exercise (or pellet gun) is can cutting - take a soda can at say 10 yards and see how many shots it takes to cut it in half.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

My Hawken with my regular load of 80 grains does not kick all that hard ...and its the load I use for everything , from cans and rocks to deer , elk etc ...
With only one load I do not have to guess as much or remember to hold a certain way for a certain range or target.
Andy

you can tame the loads pretty well just by not putting much powder in it.

 

[RVTECH]

I also plink with my Muzzle loaders ... Plinking shouldn't be relegated to just .22's ... try it with your hunting rifles.

I agree completely - been doing it all my shooting life! Often times we get 'hung up' on group size - which can be important to prove loads or gun accuracy, quality and function but once 'grouping' is established its off the bench! In MY case I sometimes shoot better plinking than on paper for a variety of reasons - one is simply contrast of the sights to the target. Not everyone can shoot at the same target due to variances in eyesight. I need good contrast with scope sighted rifles - and actually shoot better with open irons (which is a good thing since that is what I shoot the most!) I beat myself up on paper trying to get the tightest group - but then every pine cone within 25 yards is sent flying with my 2" mod 60! People who shoot only on a range fail to think about random targets in the woods are usually larger than the group they are trying to accomplish on paper. Therefore when plinking it can a little more forgiving due to target size and make on feel better about their shooting abilities! Bottom line - prove the gun and load on paper but then get out plinking - where it REALLY matters!