exploding target for air rifle small gun

How to Make an Exploding Target for Small Guns

This clever trick can give you immediate audio and visual feedback that work awesome with air rifles or smaller firearms.

A lot of times when I'm practicing, I use a target that makes it easier to see your results (like Shoot-N-C targets).

But sometimes  those targets won't make a large enough impact when using an air rifle or smaller caliber firearm. That's why it's helpful to hear a sound when the projectile hits the target.

The video below explains how you can use small cap gun caps, adhesive glue and some coins to make a target that creates a small explosion on impact.

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It's a simple combination of potassium chlorate and red phosphorous. This material is found in cap gun caps and other small fireworks like the bang pops you can get at gas stations around the 4th of July.

It's also the same combination of chemicals  used on a match head and the match box striker. That's how people make the exploding thunder caps, which is another way to do the same thing. You just spend more time scraping and crushing the material.

By putting this substance behind the quarter, you get enough of a sound to know whether or not you hit your target and usually will see a small flash.

Do this at your own risk. Cap guns and bang pops use a  fairly small amount of the substance, but it's still a chemical explosion. It could burn you and if you used enough of the powder it could do more serious damage.

With some common sense, it's should be a simple way to enhance your target practice.

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