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Clay bird thrower


bodene 5

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I'm running an OLD Herters manual trap mounted on a rim and tire from the junk yard. It's heavy enough to no move too much, but still light enough to carry over to the location that you want to use. i think that my dad was into it about $25 back in the early eighties. There is a real cool one at Cabela's that is electrical and has a magazine, but the old KISS principle still stands. The more complicated something is, the more there is to go wrong.

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  • 1 month later...

if you have the coin, an atlas or doall electric is way to go. you can place it out at 16 yards, you can move to the left and right to get practice on different presentations. a manual thrower, no matter how good will always be at the same line you are at.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Regarding the Do-All thrower that I have.

My unit is an older one, a Red Aerial Assault model. The original arm was basically a piece of crap. I added a length of vinyl tubing to it and bent it just so. It then worked fine. Usually had to re-bend the arm after storage. The major issue with the older model was that you could not release the spring. It was stored loaded. VERY SCARY.

Moving forward, Do-All has added a much improved arm and also a de-cock position on the thrower so that you can remove the spring. On my unit I just added a much longer bolt to the spring so that I can release the tension, I added a wobbler and the extended magazine. I also installed the intermediate models throwing arm. The newest arms are an actual shelf, the bird is dropped onto the arm and thrown, not dropped onto a plate and swept off. As it is currently I am breaking to many clays in the machine, I need to adjust where the arm indexes. At that point I will have a decent unit.

If I were buying again, I would look at Atlas and also the newer Do-Alls. When I got mine it was the only game in town. Good news is that hte prices have actually come down!

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I have the do all white wing thrower. When I first got it, I had a lot of issues with throwing broken clays, clays not dropping on to the arm all the way. The tray that held the bird from being dropped on to the arm wasn't retracting enough. The clay would break as it dropped. Couple minutes with the dremel and the thrower has been 100%. I went from absolutely hating it, it loving it. I run a very long extension cord, so I can do crossing, quartering and incoming shots. When I go with a friend, we add a manual thrower Do-all clayhawk that does all different arching shots. Occasional I will use that thrower by myself. Adds a little pressure to release the clay, grab and mount the gun

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I also use a 100 foot cord to allow me to set the trap where ever I want it. I am looking forward to the snow melting so i can put the thrower out in front with a shield and simulate trap at our SG filed. That should be fun. As for broken clays and Do-All, I think that the occasional broken clay is a given, even the three trap ranges I go to have the occasional thrown crumbler.

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  • 1 month later...

I started with a manual do-all and moved up to a better manual do-all. I tied a rope to the pull lever and my left leg. The traps operated well, put the rope pull didn't. I moved to a do-all aerial assault. It proved to be unreliable. I bought an AT50 from Atlas. I should have bought the Atlas AT50 first. It is an excellent trap and I now have an AT250 along with it.

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I bought a Champion Wheelybird and added a remote control for another 100 bucks. I can get up to 100 yrds from the thrower and still activate it. Offers lots of different practice options.

Other than an occasional broken clay, its been really dependable after a couple years and has seen a lot of use. I've been very pleased.

ccL

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  • 2 months later...

There are tons of option when it comes to clay throwers. But I recommend you checking www.claytargetsonline.com for you to see the closest Trap/Skeet/Sporting Clays/ FITASC club near you. I had 3 different throwers but once I found where to shoot clays near me, I gave them away. There is nothing like shooting the "real deal". Shooting fees at the clubs are not bank breaker either. Goodluck.

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An update on my Do-Al thrower. After changing the arm, adding a wobbler, adding an extended magazine, changing a few additional parts and spending a considerable amount of time,today I was able to get it up and running. Ran nearly a full box of clays virtually flawlessly. I would still look at other throwers before buying another Do-All. The newest ones might be better, but do to will the rest.

As for heading out to a Trap Range, $5-7 a run of 25 is neither cheap nor expensive. Birds cost about $0.10 each, so $2.50 for the birds and $3.50 to the club average is not bad and that is regulation birds. Sporting Clays is about $40 for 100 birds. You can't duplicate this with one or two throwers so SC is a valid alternate. I think of it this way, I can take my thrower out to the club, toss 100 birds and go home. I don't have to wait in line, of only shoot Thursday at 6PM,Tuesday at 10AM and Sunday at Noon. I can practice when I can get to the range, not a replacement ,but a ice addition.

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US820,

I agree that shooting 'real' trap, skeet, 5-stand or sporting clays is the way to go and it is not too pricey, well all but Sporting Clays. However if one has a place nearby to shoot, maybe even a backyard, then a decent thrower, the key being a decent thrower, can get you a lot of practice without a lot of driving. Where I am as an example, i can drive to my club in 35-40 minutes and shoot anything I want to for the cost of ammo, targets and gas. Or I can drive at least as far and shoot trap for $5-7 a round on the days that the ranges are open or I pay $42 a round of 100 for sporting clays coupled with a 3 hour round trip.

Both options are good. Now if you really want to be a AA top of the game trap shooter, then you pretty much have to go to a place where the speed, angle and distances are precise and you have to pay for the birds and the AA fees and all the rest. But if all you want to do is bust clays and have a good time, then there are far more choices available.

Just sayin

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Agreed.I started with a Tirus? on a tire.We shot that a bunch and had a ball every time.We thought we were getting to be dead eyes so we went out to a club and got humbled.20 years later I'm shooting 15-20,000 targets a season and floating between AA AAA with the ups and downs.

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Don't be afraid to ask at the local clubs - you never know what you'll find. I've seen clubs that have upgraded their old Winchester machines that will practically give the old machines away. My local range sold some Beomats…but they neglected to let me know which really torqued me off! I would have paid a lot more than they got for them!

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  • 2 months later...

If anyone is still looking, the wheelybird is a nice thrower and they have been having rebates and some good sale prices. One of the local shops gave a free flat of shells a case of birds and a $30 rebate.

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  • 4 years later...
On 12/1/2014 at 7:59 AM, bodene 5 said:

Just getting into clay birds what is the best clay bird thrower for beginner ? Thought about the one you push down with you're foot the truis one step . Any input would be great

 

Gunpowder Gear is suitable for novices both in terms of price and use. After several games with the clay thrower that you made yourself, the shooting has become simpler and more fun. We are absolutely very excited! We've used it once, and it's performed very well so far.

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On 12/11/2019 at 12:51 AM, sandrooney said:

I have WheelyBird 2.0. Works every time I push the button.

It’s way better than the original wheely bird too. 
 

If you don’t mind spending 500-700 the atlas patriot 50 or at50 is a very good machine for the price. Get it when they have the 10% off sales. 

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