Quietest/softest printable paper for targets?

[qball]

Hey Gang


I've tested my target box with rubber mulch and old clothing and they are both basically silent but as soon as I put up a paper target I hear that distinctive tap when the pellet hits the paper. So have any one tried something other than regular printing paper before with better luck on sound?



EIDT: After some googling I think any paper that can be put through printer has to be of certain strength so look like my quest for soft printable targets might be futile. Now I'm thinking just tape some napkin or paper towel with a few sharpie dots on it. Need to give it a try later. 

 

[dizzums]

i bet if you attached it to something it would quiet down ... like say stretch and attach an old sheet or towel on the front of your box then use a spray adhesive to stick the paper to it .. i used to use one for sanding disks that stays tacky so its not like a hard glue .... 'spray tack' ...

 

[Calbarry]

Go to the local fabric store and pick up some scrap material. Make a template for a circle and spray paint some dots on the material. Should be nice and quiet

 

[theLBC]

mist a little water on it so it is damp.

 

[JungleShooter]

Printable quiet paper? ➔ I wish it existed! Maybe it does — please let us know when you find some!



In the meantime — a workaround:

Use kitchen towel and add your favorite paper target bulls' eye using a stencil cut out from cardboard with an exacto knife or carpet cutter.

Mount the kitchen towel to your pellet trap of clothes or rubber mulch with a couple of magnets that connect to simple metal square attached to the pellet trap.



Matthias

 

[austin870]

The less dead flat your "material" is the worse your target shooting will be. It is very important to keep the surface dead flat. Once it starts getting little or big rises and dips your target POI will suffer and you will start looking at your gun, scope, pellets etc. Same with something mushy like a towel. It will give distorting impact points where your pellet hit. The stiffer and more stretched the paper is the better it will present your target shooting.

I can't imagine the sound of a pellet blowing through a piece computer paper being some big annoying sound for the family/neighbors complaining etc. Inconsistant accuracy would bug me ten times as much. Misting the paper sounds like the least obtrusive idea but it would probably tear inconsistantly with groups.

 

[DonC]

Woodwork supply stores sell veneer softner. Prolly will work on paper too.

 

[Healthservices]

Use some white fabric and then shine a projector at it with your favorite targets?



guess you cant see it in the day time then...

 

[SAZ]

I've never tried it through a printer, but if you clip / pin it over (I use duct seal putty) your backer it's pretty quiet......

I use the little 1" orange sticky back targets or I suppose you could use a sharpie and draw dots or whatever.

Blue shop towels.

 

[qball]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Fabric won’t really work because they don’t stay flat easy and really hard to see POI. Will try misting with water but the color changes and wrinkles up but I’ll try again. This little problem of mine is rather interesting and got me scratching my head. I was thinking about just white paper towel with sharpie dots but will try shop towel too with only concern being visibility. 


Been busy with work all day so haven’t tried anything on this topic but will try to squeeze in some time to try different things tomorrow during lunch.



Thanks everyone!!! 

 

[Windmill01]

Qball I haven’t tried this myself but what about placing your target filled with clothes etc inside a cardboard box lined with sound deadening. May work, may not.

Gary

 

[qball]

Qball I haven’t tried this myself but what about placing your target filled with clothes etc inside a cardboard box lined with sound deadening. May work, may not.

Gary

Hi Gary

Up until a day ago both of my target boxes are filed with old clothe with duct deal behind it just in case. The problem has been the snap sound of the printer paper, I tried everything and only worked was taking it directly onto duct seal but that’s a hassle to put on and remove then have to constantly pluck out pellets from the duct seal. 


think I need to stop by arts and craft stores one of these days. LOL 

 

[qball]

After some testing I think I found at least a temporary solution, fancy napkins. Fancy napkins have nice and flat surface which makes POI very easy to see and they are completely silent. How do I know? I shot at the paper and then then area isn’t covered by paper and the sound is the same. No more that sharp snap sound! Think as long as the paper doesn’t make crumbling sound it should be silent. 

This obviously pushed the problem to the backing material as I can still hear a tap sound, lower in tune and volume but still pretty audible so I think I’m going back to old clothes because that was very quiet. Basically silent if I put soft clothing in the front. Not really happy with rubber mulch performance. 


More experimenting to come, hope this would help fellow urban/suburban covert airguners! LOL 

 

[oldsparky]

This could sound like I am making a wise crack. But I am serious. It sounds like you are doing everything you can. Could you also turn on a radio? Would a little noise coverup the pellet hitting paper?

 

[JungleShooter]

This could sound like I am making a wise crack.

On the contrary, your suggestion is just good field craft — even if the "field" is your backyard.



People have been known to turn on vacuum cleaners, shop equipment, popcorn makers, anything, to camouflage shooting noises — both shot and impact! 

This would be especially effective if you wanted to hit some critter without your neighbors getting skittish — since controlling shot noises is much easier than impact noises — reason for the current thread.

It's just field craft — or yard craft / suburbia craft.



Matthias

 

[oldsparky]

I had to put down a horse in my yard. I had the table saw running, air tool triggers taped on. Everything I could think of to make noise. I used a 357 carbine. I didn't have any neighbors say they heard the shot. But they probably would have been ok with it anyway.

 

[qball]

This could sound like I am making a wise crack. But I am serious. It sounds like you are doing everything you can. Could you also turn on a radio? Would a little noise coverup the pellet hitting paper?

good suggestion, do have AC by my 20 yard shooting area so now it’s summer I’m using that as noise cover but the 34 yard box is at the end/corner and not near any natural noise source. My neighborhood is very quiet so it makes things are a bit tricky. 


You are right about I can only get everything so quiet. Now that you got me thinking, maybe I should get a large fountain near the target box. this could get expensive……

 

[oldsparky]

Sometimes when practicing shooting field target in my yard. I have a one of those apple speakers in my gun cart playing music. It helps me relax. They can transmit pretty far and a cheaper one could just sit in the box of rags. Just singing away while you shoot.

 

[shoot44]

Build yourself a small tool shed, say 4 X 8, to keep your lawn tools in.

Insulate it well and put the door facing your shooting position.

If you install your target box in the far end it should absorb the sound.

 

[theLBC]

by the way...PSA: that duct seal i quiet, but it doesn't work that well if you stack pellets on top of each other.

8 shots in about 2.5 seconds. if you slow down to .25 speed, you can see the shake of all 8 hots.

started hearing it about shot 4 but kept going for the clip. went through 22ga steel sheet.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od8kOn29J1c