Memories of "Plinking"

Last week over at the Brookston Beer Bulletin, Jay Brooks shared a story about the Targeteer Beer Can Launcher. This "toy" from the 1960's used .22 blanks to propel empty beer cans through the air. The post brought back memories of my youth. Many fun times were spent in the woods and gravel pits near my home shooting at cans (and bottles) with .22 caliber rifles and pistols, as well as air rifles and powerful slingshots.

Those were fun times, and reminiscing made me realize that I actually have no access to a place to just plink as an adult. All the ranges I go to forbid anything other than "real" targets — paper, clays,
 steel . Shooting at "trash" (and now steel) is strictly verboten.

I suspect the fun that comes from ringing steel targets is a holdover from those youthful plinking adventures. And perhaps those memories are also what made this "bottle" target so appealing.

More and more craft brewers are taking advantage of modern canning techniques these days, so if I did get out to plink, my target variety would certainly go beyond the rusty cans of my youthful adventures.