Canadian Airgun Forum

Hey guys, been doing abit of thinking about building a moving target, and incorporating some sort of game into it. Pretty much a long silent pellet trap with a conveyor belt floating above it. Im thinking ill stick some velcro tape on the belt to make attaching targets easy. After abit of thinking I've come up with the idea of mounting 4" long, thin wood dowels to the belt, then attaching 3" of really light fishing line or sewing thread to the dowels and the other end to the target. the idea is that when the target gets hit the line breaks and the target goes flying into the back of the trap. This way, minimal shock will be put on the conveyor belt. I can even cut notches into the dowel to make attaching the line easier. (after acouple years of hardcore fly fishing, i can tie loop knots in my sleep). If a dowel gets hit from a stay pellet, no problem, a new dowel and a bit of velcro is a quick replacement. I originally got the inspiration for this project from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtVHj54sryA

At first i was going to hang ping pong or foam balls but im thinking small cork balls would probably be better as they are probably more durable and come in alot of sizes. From 1/2" to 1" they are quiet cheap, however for the 2" size they get a bit expensive. Anyone have any experience shooting corks? Do they last acouple shots. I have hear that foam filled ping pong balls last acouple pellets. Anyone have any ideas as to what might make a better target. I will be shooting inside from 10-20m non pal guns.

As for the fun/game part, 3 different colour balls, you can mix and match sizes to handicap better shooters, last shooter with targets left wins. I might just have to go pick up acouple of crosman 357s

Has anyone done anything similar or have any other cool shooting games they would like to share?

I think cork will get shot up pretty quick. Ping pong balls shatter and are pretty much useless after 4 or 5 shots. Makes quite a clean-up mess too. Foam balls take quite a bit of punishment before they start breaking up. Probably 50 to 100 rounds. For something longer lasting you'd need to go hard, like steel fender washers, but then you'd have to deal with the pellets bouncing off. Small steel padlocks take a huge amount of punishment too...

I'm not sure that you'd get the line to break reliably, so you might have to figure a weak link - maybe a magnet? Or maybe it's enough just to see the target bounce around. I quite like the idea I've seen where the track is horizontal with hinged targets that you knock down on the top side. As the targets follow the track onto the lower surface they auto-reset, so there's always something to shoot at

And at some point we're going to have to get a duelling tree made for GTAC

Neat idea... down do what the guy in the video did...using a family car as a back stop and at one point you can see a kids standing back there almost behind the car but not quite.

Good this he was using an airsoft.

Jim Helipilot Dave has trees he made and is going to bring in hope some day. PS I get to stay longer now at eh range!!! well past when the street lights come on if I wish.

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Keep you powder dry and your seals oiled.
Shoot straight and safe.

http://plinkercases.ca/

I picked up a bag of yellow foam fake golf balls once. They were really cheap - I think they'd do well. Give the local golf shop a call.

(I use them for creaping out the local kids )

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- Doug
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QB79 .177 (PCP) X 2

Tennis balls take a good beating.

+1 for tennis balls, 3 for a buck at the Dollar Store and take a beating!!

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Weihrauch HW97KT .22 + Hawke Varmint 4-16x44 SF
Crosman357 .177
Crosman Phantom .22
Crosman 2240
Daisy 953
Ruger Green Mountain Laminate 10/22+Hawke Airmax 3-9x40 AO
1950 Russian SKS
Remington 783 30-06 Hawke Vantage 6-24x44 SF

Cool idea.. I wanted to make a moving target for myself too.
I have no idea what I will do for the conveyor belt though.

I have a remote control heli that doesnt even fly but the motors still work..
if I could make some pulleys and rig something up it could even be remotely speed controlled.

What ever happened to the idea of the windshield wiper arm bolted to something stationary?
Ha, found it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5acxkYlQc7U

Another one. get it moving side to side would be cool. Thats what I though he was gonna do in the vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MNeGWWWo4k

Hey guys so a bit of an update, I've changed afew things around with my design. I found a bike chain on ebay that has a piece of steel with a hole in it, attached to the rollers.



I reckon that would be a much better base vs a rubber conveyor belt. Ive also designed a flip up target using rubber coated magnets to "catch" the target after its been hit. I can also add a removable rail to the outside of the box that can flip the targets back down as they pass for solo practice shooting.



as for a backstop ,Im not sure whether to use duct seal as it may be too heavy, so i might end up making the box alittle deeper and using rubber mulch.

I dont have any experience working with metal so i may have to wait afew weeks until my buddy get back from abroad to get this thing put together.
I have taken a look at the caldwell moving target gallery but i dont like how the targets are automatically reset after each cycle. I also believe my design will be better for non-pal indoor shooting as if put together properly there shouldnt be anything for pellets to ricochet off of. Also this design is very modular as targets can be replaced easily if damaged or for different sizes. I can also add a dimmer switch to allow for different speeds.

What do yall think, cool design?

Yes, definitely cool, but pretty complex if you are going to make more than a few of those flippers. You may also find that a "swing up and catch with a magnet" approach is very fussy about the energy of the pellet vs the weight of the flipper. Too much and it will bounce off and come down again, too little and it won't make it.

When the flipper is in the hit position, doesn't the arm lie horizontal, pointing back towards the backstop? You'll need to make sure there's clearance all the way around when they're in that position if you're not going to do an immediate reset.

Looks like a great fun idea, I'd love something like this. Maybe we should build a shooting gallery as a group project at GTAC - a couple of conveyors, a wheel or two, and a load of stuff that pops up and disappears

I'm thinking that silicon or rubber covered high powered neodymium magnets will work. Silicon/rubber to absorb the engery/vibrations and the neodymium magnets I reckon will be strong enough to catch the bar




Already on it bud , gonna cut out a sit in the side of the box.

man, ive put way to much though into this thing, now to get a prototype up and running :S

I wouldn't expect that cork would sustain many hits plus the wind would toss it around making it hard to hit.

Golf balls would stand up better to hits but the ricochets would be lethal.

Myself I'd use Dollar Store ping pong balls or old music CD's.
Say how about soup can lids.

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i have a ping plate that i have hung from a tree with a cord. it swings back and forth in the wind, as well as spins so it can be a trick to shoot.
low tech.

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my other coil is a sub ohm
sub 500 .22 Crosman Phantom 500 open sites
sub 500 .177 Crosman TR77 NPS 4-16x40 UTG
sub 500 .177 Hatsan mod 33 with Quattro trigger open sites

It's a great feeling though isn't it - when you bring an idea to life.

The moving target (military target and others):
http://t-media.msk.ru/b_07_shop/bp_07_misheni.html