Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

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azgarand
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Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by azgarand »

We have just introduced air pistol silhouette matches to our local shooting club; this is the first venture into airgun activities at this club.

We have been assigned use of the practice pistol range for our matches; a range that is populated with many types of steel targets used by action shooters....some that can be temporarily moved for our matches and some that simply cannot be moved. Net effect is that many of our animals are hard to see due to the presence of target stands in the background or shadows. Additionally there is no chance of having dirt berms behind the target racks (which are ground hugging old target stands) rescued from another range. It is time to make a change...

Looking online I see that other clubs use elevated target stands approximately sawhorse height...that would serve the purpose of minimizing offending target stands or shadows. Since we will be committed to make a change I am researching the topic of resettable targets which would certainly speed up our matches and allow for more relays. I have searched Steel Chickens and see references to Stimson and Texas Silhouette as past sources of manufactured resettable target stands but neither of these sources appear to be currently viable.

Does anybody know of current vendors for 1/10th resettable animals or would anyone be willing to share plans on how to design such? We have some pretty talented club members who can probably fabricate resettable targets but subscribing to the philosophy of "not reinventing the wheel" I would welcome any/all suggestions on what type of target stands people are currently making/using or plans for such.. This would include thoughts regarding potential backstop material that might help for sighting in stray shots.

Best Regards,

AzGarand
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acorneau
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by acorneau »

Howdy "AzGarand".

Working backwards from your questions... Any regular target/backer can be used for initial sighting in. Air rifle/pistol doesn't take much to deflect so moderate sheet metal is fine (12-14 gauge, I'm guessing?).

I don't know of anyone currently making resettable 1/10 scale targets but that doesn't mean someone isn't out there. Maybe someone else will chime in with a source for you.

That being said, having stands with some kind of backer is really helpful in knowing where your shots are going, especially if the wind is up. They have some non-resettable stands that they use at the Hatch facility in Louisiana (home of the Chicken Coop Shoot) that seem to be well made. Maybe Danny or Garin can hop in and tell you more about them.

Good luck!
Last edited by acorneau on Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
Allen Corneau
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by thauglor »

I was under the impression that we (Hassayampa club at Ben Avery) have ordered air rifle resetable targets that will be able to be removed off the range. I will get more info and get back to you.

Where in AZ are you located?
azgarand
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by azgarand »

Thanks for your suggestions Allen.

I think the simplest and most expeditious change we can make is modifying the ground hugging stands to accept backerboard of some sort that we can spray paint whatever color we want. If done right added benefit would be to contain knocked down animals providing the knockdowns do not bounce back and knock down "innocent animals" :D

We will still be looking at future alternatives and I continue to welcome any additional thoughts that you folks may have.
azgarand
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by azgarand »

Thauglor: Happy to hear that Ben Avery is expanding match offerings.
We shoot at YRL/PAS range just north of Wilhoit off HW 89.

PM sent.
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by richard »

Very best wishes for you and your air pistol silo program. Easy to run and needs little space plus it is not very expensive to get into as a shooter. We currently run both indoor and outdoor air pistol silhouette. I really hate resettables but they do speed things up if that's what you want. We use resettables on our indoor range and I admit that they work okay and they do limit the trips required down range. I don't know who made the resettables but we mount them in Black and Decker workmates and clamp pieces of cardboard to the back to help see misses ( not actually required). Outside we use regular silhouettes on metal stands we had made. They are above the ground level but not as high as a workmate. We made wooden frames to put behind the target stands and have cardboard on them. They help to contain flying animals and show where misses go .
For all of our matches we set everything up before the match and take everything down and put it away when we are done. It is a multi use range so everybody including steel shooters and bullseye shooters do the same thing. There are only a very few practice targets left on the range.
We also run air rifle silhouette on the same range at the same time as we run the air pistol outdoors. It helps with attendance and helps justify closing the range for general use. There is a lot of competition for range use as we run up to six matches a month all on that same range.
If you need any more specific info let me know. Good luck and thank you for being willing to run matches.
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by Hawkeye7br »

Our club has a set of resets, made a long time ago by Mike Stimson in Texas. You might check or post on the IHMSA forum. They work well, have an integral metal backer, a round thing to wind the string around. They nest against each other in a 30"x40" space when not in use. I can take some pics if you need them for a DIY project.
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by azgarand »

Thanks folks for all the replies/ideas. With winter weather headed to central Arizona our group will concentrate on building up interest in our matches and make minor modifications to our current system primarily with trying different color paint for our animals. Hopefully this will mitigate some of the difficulties we have encountered due to shadowing from berms and immovable large steel targets.

Still contemplating resettable targets so I would always welcome some plans or suggestions regarding these!

Thanks again!

Azgarand
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by Hawkeye7br »

Pyramid Air sells a nifty biathlon airgun target that is a string reset. While based for 10 meter shooting, the concept is easy to copy, modify, and build or rebuild to your purpose. We have a couple for our 4H program and they work well. Although sometimes we have to tilt it a bit because the 10m rifles hit hard enough to knock down targets and then they pop back up. At $30, you can buy the first one and use the blueprint to build the rest. Just put a 1/16 inch thick (or appropriate gauge) steel backer behind the targets instead of in front of them, and there you go. Paint the backer any color you want. We use a sand color from Rustoleum for the backer with white targets.
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by curmudgeon »

Hi,

Any update on suppliers or plans for resettable air rifle silhouette systems?

Thanks,
-Steve
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by Shawn.curliss »

I can make them
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by danthebulldog »

I’m just getting into air rifle shooting. I’m curious how much would it cost to buy a set of your target and stands?
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acorneau
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by acorneau »

Dan,

Not to draw away any business from Shawn, but if you're just getting started then consider starting with a set of swingers such as this one...

https://www.qualitytargets.com/silhouet ... -10-scale/

At $65 for a set they are much more economical for an individual that is just dipping their toe into the air rifle silhouette waters.

:-bd
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by Shawn.curliss »

danthebulldog wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:17 pm I’m just getting into air rifle shooting. I’m curious how much would it cost to buy a set of your target and stands?
I can make a full set for 850.00 here’s my number 918-429-9760 I can send you pictures I was going to have a set at coop shoot this weekend but we Ives in
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Re: Time for new target stands...thoughts please!

Post by Grantmac »

Is a full set 4×5 targets or 4×10?
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