TargetTalk

Anybody have ideas on how to build a cheap target changing system for a home range? I shoot 10m air pistol and in order to get 10m in my basement I have to set my trap back in the crawl space. So the only way to practically change targets is to use a pulley system. I appreciate any thoughts you have - better to spend time shooting than fixing mistakes. thanks......JJ

realisitcally you only need some pulleys and some string and few odd bits of wood and metal.

if you want something withouth the work, we have the cheap to the expesive systems. http://www.pilkguns.com/buildrange.shtml

jjgun wrote:better to spend time shooting than fixing mistakes. thanks......JJ

- so buy one !

the are some intersting manual ones for example

http://www.schuetzenwelt.de/shop/4/schi ... _hl_10_56/

Not sure who supplies them on the US though

Julian

I see pilkguns and I posted at the same time, so there you have it some one in the US that supplies them

J

Or you could use 6m targets if you have at least that much space. Simpler than building something that extends from a room into a crawlspace.

depends how much vertical space you have. If you have enough vertical space, I recommend the one Pilkington sells. If you don't, like me, then you have to build one.

I shoot in my crawl space, and at the 10m mark I am literally crawling in the dirt. I had to build a track and pully system. Not elegant but it works. You have to be handy with home tools to make it. And there is a lot of jury-rigging to make stuff do what it was not meant to do.

If you want to have a little fun while shooting use an electric train.

You are only limited by your imagination. The tracks could go straight from you or you could circle the tracks out to 10 meters with a straight away parallel with the firing point having several cars holding targets.

This system has been used for running target.

Have fun,
Ray

Thanks to all for replies thus far. I was hoping to keep expenses down - put money saved away for next pistol purchase. :) I shoot at 5.5m now, but would like to shoot at full 10m. I'll probably start tring to find pulleys and putting something together this weekend. If i come up with anything good, I'll post some pictures..........JJ

That's a good one Ray! My daughter suggested using a radio-controlled car. But then she also suggested putting peanut butter on the trap so we have a fun alternative to mouse traps. I'm starting to worry about that girl !............JJ

If you are handy with home tools and hardware, go to a good hardware store and roam around. You might be able to cobble up something. The hard part is the pully. I used a clothesline pully, but the problem with that is...no handle, so I have to pull the cord.

If you don't use a track system, you need to have sufficient tension on the cord so the target will be held. If the target is suspended the tension is needed to keep the cord from dropping into the line of fire. If the target is held above the cord, the tension is needed to keep the target from flipping over.

Some times the time and effort to make something yourself is not worth it. It took me 4 weekends to make my tracked setup, and it is still not as good as the one that Pilkingtons sells. I need to rebuld one end and figure out how to put a handle on the pully.

If you want to try making a D.I.Y target changing system, a cheap cordless electric drill makes a great motor unit. The battery pack means you don't have to worry getting mains power to the rig, the switch to change direction of the drill moves the target forwards / backwards and the chuck makes it easy to attach a bolt or rod from which a pulley or similar can be connected. Their relatively slow speed is good for targets -unlike a mains-powered drill which is far too fast. The only tricky bit is finding a way of anchoring the drill which still allows the operating trigger and reverse switch to be easily reached - but where there's a will...
An option which could make anchoring the unit and operating the switches easier is to open and discard the drill case, and rebuild the internal components into a more suitable housing.

For electric powered drives, you will need to rig a limit switch at the end, or the carrier will crash into the end stop. I thought about a low voltage motor, but decided that with a hand pulley I slow down cranking when I'm near the end, and I can feel when the carrier has reached the stop bolt at the end of the track.

I have 2 suggestions -
1)go to a 2nd hand dealers shop, and look for an old hand grinder. you can rig it up as a pulley to go forwards or backwards, and usually you can clamp it onto the table. then you just wind the handle back or forwards. An old washing machine will have some gear systems, which can be rigged up to the grinder.
Obviously you will have to be a bit handy, to assemble it together.
2) Go to a car wreckers, and get a 12 volt windscreen wiper motor, which has a good pulling power.
This can be rigged up with a finger switch to change the polarity of the motor. It can be worked with a battery charger connected up to an old battery which will give it enough current to operate it.
Once again, the pulleys can be organized from an old washing machine, or, if you have a wood-turning friend he can make you the right size of wheel.
Hope this helps.
Alex L.

I have a clamp which can hold an electric driller with a 1/2 inch chuck to a table's edge.It is meant to turn the driller into a rotary power source for attaching grinding bits, flexible drives , etc , yet leave both hands free at the same time. This clamp attaches itself to the driller on the collar just behind the chuck.
It is available in most hardware shops and is not expensive.

You can buy it outright...or you can build 90% of it using stuff from a hardware store and substitute the motor.

Email me or message me for the website...

ernie the eyeball

hi!
there is a really good and cheap one for crawling spaces at

Moderator note:- Link removed as it was associated with repeated blatant advertising.

Bringing an 8 year old topic back from the dead to try to sell your system is pretty darn close to spam in my opinion. Couldn't you find anything more recent than 2007 to relate to?

jmdavis wrote:Bringing an 8 year old topic back from the dead to try to sell your system is pretty darn close to spam in my opinion. Couldn't you find anything more recent than 2007 to relate to?

One post, promotional username, it IS spam.




OP, Crosman Arms used to make a target trap called the "targlite". It's a metal box with a pulley type target retrieval system, and I have to assume they are pretty rare. Mine is missing everything but the trap, so it's not really worth much.

Here is someone elses pic, maybe you can make one similar.

https://www.google.com/search?q=crosman ... yjeB1hM%3A

BTW, this is my setup.