Tin cans are fine. A paper plate stapled to a cardboard box is fine. But fine gets boring, and boring sends you back inside before you've put in the reps that actually make you better. The solution is to make the shooting a game — because games have stakes, and stakes keep you out there.
These are the target setups and backyard games that have kept the range interesting across years of afternoon sessions. Some are competitive, some are solo, some are just an excuse to keep loading cylinders. All of them will improve your shooting more than punching holes in paper ever will.
Safety First — Every Time
- — Know your backstop — what's behind every target, at every distance, at every angle. Non-negotiable.
- — Eye protection — always. Pellets and BBs ricochet. Steel targets especially.
- — Minimum distance for steel — 10 feet minimum for airgun pellets. Closer than that and fragments come back at you.
The Can Pyramid
Six cans stacked in a pyramid — three on the bottom, two in the middle, one on top. Six shots, one cylinder. The goal is to clear the pyramid before the gun is empty. Sounds easy. It isn't, especially from the draw, especially under any kind of self-imposed pressure.
Variations: clear top-to-bottom only (no shooting the base until the top is gone), clear in a single draw without re-holstering, or race a friend — two pyramids side by side, first one cleared wins.
The Distance Ladder
One target — a paper plate works fine — and a measured range. Start at 10 feet. Put three shots on the plate. Step back to 15 feet. Three more shots. Then 20, then 25. Each station you miss from, you have to come back and clear before you move on.
The distance ladder forces you to confront where your technique actually breaks down. Most people find out at 20 feet. Some find out at 15. Getting honest about your real effective range is the first step to extending it.
The Poker Hand
Five playing cards tacked to a board, face out. Five shots, one cylinder. Each card you hit, you keep. Each miss, you fold. At the end of the string, flip your cards — what's your hand? Score it like poker. Try to beat your hand next cylinder.
The poker hand game works because it turns each shot into a specific target rather than a general direction. Hitting the center of a playing card at 15 feet from the draw requires real accuracy. It also gives you a running score across a whole afternoon that's more interesting than counting holes in paper.
"The best practice session is the one you didn't want to stop."
More Games Worth Running
The Spinner. A steel spinner target — hit it once and it spins. Hit it again before it stops. Three consecutive hits in a row counts as a clear. These are infuriating and perfect.
The Clock. Six targets arranged in a circle like a clock face. Draw and engage them in order — 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 — one shot each, one cylinder, as fast as you can. Time yourself. Beat your time.
The Reload Race. Start with an empty gun. On a self-timer or a friend's signal, load five rounds using the cowboy load, holster, draw, and engage one target. This is less a shooting drill and more a loading drill — but loading under pressure is its own skill worth building.
The backyard range is only as interesting as the games you run on it. Change the setup, change the game, change the stakes — and you'll find yourself out there long after the light goes sideways and the neighbors start wondering what exactly is happening over the fence.
The Backyard Cowboy
March 13, 2026