How to Make an Airgun Target

Air guns are low-velocity weapons that use manually-compressed air to fire pellets and BBs relatively short distances compared to gunpowder rifles. Often purchased as a first-time firearm, air guns are used to learn about firearms and start early practice on target shooting. Paper targets can be downloaded from the internet, then placed on target stands. When built from PVC pipe, these target stands are resistant to the elements and easily assembled and disassembled.

Things You'll Need

  • 4 PVC elbow joints
  • 2 PVC tee joints
  • 4 PVC pipes, 24 inches long
  • 4 PVC pipes, 20 inches long
  • 2 furring strips, narrow enough to fit inside the PVC pipes, 48 inches long
  • 1 furring strip, 24 inches long (optional)
  • 28-by-24-inch piece of cardboard (optional)
  • Blank copy paper
  • Permanent marker
  • Compass
  • Pencil
  • Tape
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Instructions

  1. Target Stand

    • 1

      Attach two 24-inch pieces of PVC pipe to opposite holes on the tee joint to make a 48-inch-long PVC pipe with a tee in the center. Repeat for the second tee joint.

    • 2

      Attach a PVC elbow joint on each end of these 48-inch-long assemblies, totaling four elbow joints.

    • 3

      Attach one of the 20-inch PVC pipes to one elbow joint. Then attach the other end of the 20-inch PVC pipe to the elbow joint of the 48-inch-long assembly. Repeat this step for the last 20-inch PVC pipes and the elbows on the other end of the 48-inch-long assembly, making a large rectangular base. Be sure the open ends of both tee joints point up when the base is set on the ground.

    • 4

      Attach each of the 48-inch-long PVC pipes to the open end of the tee joint, so both point directly upward, parallel to each other.

    • 5

      Slide the furring strips into the exposed ends of the 48-inch PVC pipes.

    • 6

      Tape another furring strip across the top of the stand for support, or tape a 28-by-24-inch piece of cardboard to the top of the furring strips for a place to attach your targets.

    The Target

    • 7

      Draw a dot in the center of a piece of copy paper.

    • 8

      Draw four concentric circles around the dot using the compass. Space the circles out from one another by one inch.

    • 9

      Trace your target with a permanent marker. Photocopy the target or construct more as needed.