World’s Most Expensive Plinking Targets?
My friends at AccurateShooter.com reported on the fascinating story of a 2,500 year old solid gold cup, thought to be made of brass, that was once used as a air rifle plinking target! Accurate Shooter reports ...
John Weber, a 70-year-old from England, was given a metal mug by his grandfather in 1945. Though his grandfather had a “good eye” for antiques, John never thought the metal mug was worth much. He played with it as a child, and even used it as a target for his air rifle. The mug, assumed to be brass, has languished in a shoe box under Weber’s bed for decades.
The cup sold for about $250,000 USD!
I did some googling and discovered that Andy Warhol's portrait of Mao sold earlier this year for $302,500! The painting 'features' two bullet holes made by actor Dennis Hopper.
Do you know of any other priceless items that were once used for plinking?
The Elgin Marbles were used for target practice by the Greek Army.
They were bought and brought back to England before the Greeks had a chance to destroy their own priceless treasures. They’re now in the British museum.
OMG, Roy! That is the funniest ND story I have ever heard!
The White House – http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-30/news/mn-56685_1_white-house-grounds – was used as an apparent plinking target by a Colorado man. After his first magazine full, he was persuaded to stop firing by the interpersonal skills of other tourists on the sidewalk, especially the two who tackled him.
Apparently, one of the two who tackled the gunman was an independent candidate for president, who just happened to be walking a baby in a stroller, on the same sidewalk in front of the White House at the time of the shooting. Or so the article reports.
The White House was patched up in no time and shows no ill effects from the plinking. Of course, this was nothing compared with its treatment at the hands of British tourists in the early 1800′s.
I found this:
http://www.worldhum.com/travel-blog/item/elvis_robert_goulet_and_a_shot_out_25_inch_rca_television_20060323/
Where did Elvis’s old T.V. end up?
OK, this is terribly embarassing.
The most expensive plinking target for me?
I was 18, and driving in my Chevy. I had just gotten a flare gun (because, erm, I’m an idiot. Not like I had a use for one), and for some reason I decided it was a brilliant idea to pull the hammer back, then press the trigger and carefully let the hammer down manually. Did that a few times.
Oh, did I mention I was driving?
At some point, I pulled the hammer back to cocked, then pressed the trigger and somehow missed holding onto the hammer.
And that’s when I realized the gun was loaded.
The flare hit my windshield (leaving a nice 12ga broken indent in it), then bounced back into the cabin. Drivers around me got to see my car suddenly absolutely full of smoke (when flares are unconfined — and flying in the air, it’s hard to estimate how much smoke they produce).
It gets better.
The flare bounced back against the driver’s side door, then bounced off of it to land in my lap.
So to recap:
windshield
car door
my “equipment”
That was my most expensive plinking target.
(the equipment aforementioned was not noticeably or permanently harmed, thankfully)
This is embarrassing to admit—The most expensive plinking target I ever engaged was the windshield and side glass of a 1937 Ford Coupe that was sitting out behind my grandfather’s barn. My 11 year old brain thought it was a bucket of rust. Turns out it was a future restoration project of my grandfather’s.
Also turns out, it takes quite a bit of 11 year old hide to pay for those two pieces of glass. A lot of hide a and a lot of milk barn waste management duty. A whole summer’s worth in fact. Whew.
I like the Mao target every American and Aussie needs one.
Someone has to be pretty dense to not know the difference between gold and brass.
@Eric SPHINX!
I love Dennis Hopper, RIP.
The sphinx.