Another great article by Bob Mcnally

Sensible Summer Fun: The Plinkin' Revival

Read it in it's original form here...

Bob McNally | July 09, 2008

With urban sprawl rampant throughout America, it’s no wonder that “plinking” has sort of died out with other old, fun and sensible pastimes.

Plinking has a wide definition, but essentially it’s just unsophisticated target shooting at objects like tin cans and water balloons, stump tops and pine cones. In the not too distant past, a couple of youngsters with a pair of .22 rifles could spend a rural day afield, walking and carefully target shooting without fear of hurting anyone or anything valuable, nor getting into trouble with landowners or local authorities.

Those days are gone in parts of suburban America. But in vast areas of rural countryside, plinking still can be done easily and safely, and it’s a great way to spend a summer day with friends and family, especially kids and beginning shooters.

I’ve long lost track of the times I’ve invited ladies and youngsters who have never fired guns to a low-key morning of plinking. Everyone, and I mean every single person, has thoroughly enjoyed rolling tin cans with a .22. It’s safe and wholesome, inexpensive, and a great day outdoors for the whole family.

When I go plinking, I bring a wide variety of .22 rifles and handguns, and include some heavier firearms, too, like .38s and .380s, .45s and sometimes a .223 or .22-250 rifle or two. And I always have a new or young shooter along to show that guns are nothing to be afraid of, and that safe, rural plinking is as much a part of heartland America as apple pie and proudly waving Old Glory.

Having a good place to plink can be a problem for many outdoorsmen. Hunt clubs, and large tracts of property or farms owned by friends, are potentially good plinking locations.

Air rifles and bows-and-arrows can be substituted for .22s in small tracts where safety is a concern. But getting out and shooting is what it’s all about. Time with friends and family, far from television and air conditioning; where the air is clean, the flowers are wild.

It’s good for the soul, and for the active people involved.