Moving, Charging Type Targets

[bula]

I've mentioned several times wanting to rig up some kinda incoming, moving target. Seeing Max on TV and the motorized rig the place in Texas has reminded me to move forward with this idea. Have drafted two nephews and a young friend into the project. We are wanting portability, light weight. Simple and cheap good too ! Current thought trend has a length of PVC pipe over a length of para cord. This tied between trees and can be set up anywhere at camp. A 2nd cord to the the PVC to pull by hand or ATV winch maybe. From the PVC, a suspended cardboard target. Making progress, will be fun. 

[magnumwheelman]

a lot of the local clubs do a sliding deer shoot in the fall... would think what you are talking about would work, kinda like a sliding deer shoot coming head on, instead of sideways...

[sixshot]

At the bigger USPSA matches held around the country they have lots of moving, disappearing, drop turning, swinging, running type targets that are a real challenge to shoot & shoot fast. Some are activated by a steel target that you knock down & it has a steel cable attached that pulls a pin & that activates disappearing paper targets. Some of the paper targets face you twice, usually for about 1 1/2 seconds each & you have to shoot them twice each time they face you.
Doing that with a revolver can keep a shooter pretty busy! I've shot targets where you are running inside a building & shooting targets through windows & doorways as you run & towards the end of the hallway your body breaks an electronic beam which activates moving targets out the back door which you have to shoot twice each before they disappear. Again, this keeps the revolver shooter pretty busy because you have to do some very fast reloading before they are gone!
Moving targets on a sliding cable are always fun, especially when there are more than one target & they disappear, some are gone very fast, hitting them twice double action can be tough. Jackson Hole Wyoming & their "Hole" match comes to mind, usually draws shooters from 4 western states.

Dick

[bula]

It's all in fun,and to raise awareness. Years ago we chose as our favorite backpacking/camping area, the same area Penn chose to release bad bears. So lots of experience gained fast and the hard way, but without having to kill a bear. Years later, now, the bear population is a good bit higher there and here,my house. The lengths of cordage and a piece of PVC found here and put aside. Saturday eve around the fire will broach the subject and move things forward. We have one or two "shootfests" at camp, and will schedule the testing for one of them. 

[contender]

Dick has it right. Visit a few USPSA matches that use moving targets.
I too have done it for many years, and still do it,, at my range.
Here are a few ideas.

Garage/barn door track & rollers can be set up in a way to provide a left or right movement with gravity. OR,,, it can also be done moving forward or away from you. Build the frame for the track high enough to where errant shots won't damage the track system. The PVC pipe idea will be "slow & require a lot more angle to get it moving. Think pulleys vs friction items.

Next,, another idea is a pair of pillar block bearing sets, with a bar between the two, mounted high, and a longer bar, welded on the bar between the pillars in a "T" fashion. Creates a pendulum swinging target. Think like this. A pair of pillars, with a 1" diameter bar, about 12" long, mounted to the 2 pillars. In the middle of the 12" bar, a 4 ft to 6 ft long 1/2" bar welded to it in the middle. Mount the pillars about 10 ft off the ground. Then off the 1/2" bar, build a frame to hold a target. Place this in the middle of a pair of fake walls, where it swings left & right, appearing & disappearing at each end.

More complicated,,, a battery operated motor,,, like a garage door opener type, with a sprocket pulley system, and a matching chain, attached to a long base, where there is another sprocket pulley. You can mount a target frame to a plate on the chain assy, and have a moving target left or right, or front to rear. It just requires an operator to turn it on & off for the shooter.
Just a few ideas.

[clintsfolly]

Or take a old lawnmower and remove the motor and push handle. Mount a target frame have it pull by rope. To go sideways run the rope around a smooth steel stake.

[bula]

The ideas are creative ! Thanks. This will be used at camp. Camp is 3 hours away, at the end of a long gravel road. All parts will be stored there in an unheated shed. Likely it will come out twice a year. As there is no budget, all parts to be scrounged. 

[bradshaw]

AERIAL TARGETS provide serious challenge to marksmanship. While the target is going away, or from side to side, to hit requires flexible BALANCE and fast SIGHTING. One gallon milk jugs make excellent targets, as do half-gallon and quart containers. Have described the technique on Singleactions, and Seancass has posted short Youtube videos. My emphasis is on CONTAINING SHOTS BELOW THE HORIZON LINE, against a safe backstop. A moving target is much more difficult to register against the visual “noise” of a berm or terrain, and more easily registered against the sky. Places where bullets may be launched against the sky are few.

FIRE DISCIPLINE governs trigger control, and aerial practice in which shots are made only between horizon a ground require TRACKING, fast SIGHT ACQUISITION, perfectly timed SQUEEZE, and FOLLOW THROUGH. To omit one ingredient is to miss.

DRY FIRE is the way too start. Until the shooter learns to SEE the sight picture, sighting remains an abstraction. To swing sights on a moving target against a chaotic background takes determined practice. There is nothing casual about it. The same rule applies to shooting a running deer target at a local field & stream club fortunate enough to have such a setup.

I never tell someone to just mash the trigger to achieve speed. SPEED is the compression of SMOOTHNESS.

A thrown aerial target must be shot much faster than a target “running”: on a track; this includes a “charging” target. The head of a running animal remains level, insofar as terrain allows. This gives the animal amazing adaptability to terrain, obstacles, and to his prey. To aim a bit low is better than to aim dead on or a bit high. A low shot may enter the nose and course up through the brain. A perceived “brain shot” is apt to ricochet off the skull or horns.

A shooter practiced only in traditional marksmanship shares a weakness of the novice----to focus on target when it is very close. This mistake is instinctual, requiring intention & practice to overcome. However, SIGHTING is not abstract, and this provides the traditional marksman a huge advantage over the novice. We force ourselves to read the sights. Instinct tells us to focus on the danger. Practice enables us to override instinct. And, in that moment, to control fear.
David Bradshaw

[bula]

"Speed is the compression of smoothness" Nicely put. Camp is a group of 12 grouse hunters. I have a Trius and cases of clays there and here. While we progressed, as boys from slingshots to bows to..we always had half inflated basketballs and footballs to shoot. We grew up rural and could shoot that way, sorta safely ! My only want at this point is the ability to make a cardboard cutout of a bear advance on the shooter. Rigged as simply as possible. I will take these ideas, one and all, to camp this weekend and discuss around the fire, beer in hand, and see what comes of it ! Thank You.

[sixshot]

I've shown this photo before, it was at a hunting preserve in Paridise, Utah a few years back. My old friend Myron in the photo had several birds paid for & we "punched" all the tickets. I took 3 with my TC Contender 410 & my other 3 with my 617 S&W revolver. At that time I was very well practiced at moving targets from shooting USPSA every weekend & the flying Pheasants were quite easy to hit.
A Pheasant comes up & levels out pretty fast & getting on them, if you're practiced isn't too tough. The dog handler made sure we had a hillside in the background before he would allow me to use the revolver. I did have to shoot twice on one bird.
Pop cans, with a small rock inside for some added weight makes for great aerial targets, throw them with your left hand & quickly make the shot (or two) when the can reaches it's peak. You can see my 617 in my hands, it has a Leupold/Gilmore red dot on top.



You may have also seen this old photo taken about 10 years ago. We had been to a friends private shooting range & were headed home right at dark. I had my 4 wheeler in the back of the trailer & one of the grandson's wanted to ride on the 4 wheeler in the trailer. We had the headlights on when a big Jackrabbit busted out onto the dusty road & started right down the middle making pretty good dust as he ran.
I was packing my OM 357 shorty & told my son Shane to swing to the left side of the dirt road as I rolled down the window. I'm not sure how fast a Jackrabbit can run but this one was the Jesse Owens of Jackrabbits, he was flying. I sent one of Elmer Keith's finest 173 gr cast bullets along with 13.5 grs of 2400 (38 special case) his way & when the two of them connected he started doing cart wheels down the road & we could hear grandson Ridge on the 4 wheeler whooping & hollering!
The big Jack had taken it right in the seat of his pants & the tumbling show was pretty spectacular! Ridge is in the photo with me.



Dick

[bula]

Yup, pheasants launch nearly straight up to get outta tall grass/ brush, then at about 6-8', transition to forward flight. vulnerable at that transition point. Arrowed some that way, and best place to whack with our first shotguns, .410's. 

[bula]

My first bird dog, a Britt would launch straight up too. Friend almost shot her. She had a good collection of tail feathers herself. 

[bula]

Still think pheasant the most flavorfull game bird. 

[rjm52]

Don't have a picture right now but a group I shoot with made a platform about 2.5x2.5' and put large rubber tires on it like from a good size two wheel dolly. They can be had from Tractor Supply or Harbor Freight. We then built a frame on top to hold a fairly large target and bought some charging bear targets from LE Targets. The target is I believe part of the Alaska F&G qualification program.

shop.actiontarget.com/content/asp-bb-alaska-state-parks-bear-target.asp


We then put the target out about 20 yards from the shooter and run a rope from the target to right past the shooters knees. Another helper then simply backs up at various speeds and the target "charges"...

The frame can be turned 90* and used for crossing shots using a pulley system.

[jfs]

" My old friend Myron in the photo" Dick
You put a face to the voice..... Thanks Dick