Dan Burwell Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 I was wondering if anyone had any tips or ideas on how to make a linear moving target. Our club has very limited resources so buying one is out of the question. We were hoping to make one from home improvement store type parts. thanks in advance for any replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Cheapest is probably "Pulley on a clothesline" (use wire) and suspend the target from that. Trigger by yanking a clothespin off the line from in front of the target. Not the most robust solution though. I've also seen some garage-sale-skateboard based systems that worked pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWGUN Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 I'm in the process of building my 2nd generation mover. I built the first unit a year ago for our August 2002 Washington State IDPA championship, and it was sort of slow and clunky. I used a geared-down motor and a motorcycle battery in a metal case I welded up out of aluminum (3/16 6061 Al is pretty much bullet proof to most pistol rounds used in IDPA). The driving wheels were 5in lawnmower wheels, and the mover ran on a plywood track. It was actuated by dropping a steel popper to which a lanyard was attached, and stopped at the end via a microswitch. 2nd gen unit is in work for our 2003 Washington State Championship (you're all invited!), and should be much improved. Much faster, reversible, and is actuated via an old garage door remote control. The track is made from sections of 10ft chainlink fence pipe, and the trolley runs on it like a train rail. Kind of a fun project ala "Monster Garage". Things to consider. To avoid arguments, you want to contrive a system that is consistent from shooter to shooter. It needs to be DURABLE. In the Northwest, it needs to be MUDPROOF, and hopefully not bulletproof, but I'd plan for it. Otherwise, set your system up shielded by timbers, tires, etc. Good Luck, and come shoot at mine (that is, the target) at the Renton Fish & Game Club in Beautiful Washington State this August! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Our local club usually has this setup for a mover (not very sophisticated, but really cheap): - Two wooden poles (kind of 4"x4" base, at least 6' tall) connected by a wire rope (suspension rope). - One wooden frame for targets (size according to what has to be put inside), hinged on top to a pulley put on the suspension rope. - Barriers to hide starting point and (if needed) ending point. - Activator PP. - Activating wire rope. The suspension rope, connecting the two poles, has to be tied with starting point of the target frame higher (at least 3') than ending point, to allow gravity to drive the mover: the bigger is the height difference between start and end points, the faster is the mover. The suspension rope has to be really strained, otherwise the mover will slow down at the end of the movement. The target frame is held in place as follows: the frame has a hole in its lower corner, matching a similar hole in the staring pole, to allow a big nail (tied to the activating rope) to be placed to secure the frame. The activator works like this: the activating rope is pulled by the activator PP and the nail is separated from target stand and pole, thus allowing the mover to start its movement. The only drawback is that you will need a quite high berm behind this mover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capizzo Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 One of the simplest movers I've ever seen was built with an old lawn mower body. 3" diameter pvc pipe was cut in half for a track. The mower/target stand rolled from an elevated platfom and along the track to wherever the track and gravity would take it. Worked great, cost little. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 to add to skywalker67's design.. add a bottom guide wire to keep the target array from swinging back and forth. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jveg Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 From the nice folks at EHPSA: Add (1) 5 lb weight, one more cable, one garage door pulley, one eyehook (as a cable guide/redirector) I modd'ed the previous design's picture for a "bad" re-representation of what it might look like. ehpsa mover allows for less angle for those with lower backstops. jveg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Burwell Posted May 12, 2003 Author Share Posted May 12, 2003 Thank you everyone!! I am definetly going to use this advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scandog Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 I built one using 3 treated 2" X 6" X10', 3 treated furring strips, 8 small caster wheels and either a couple pulleys with a counter weight or a pair of adjustable bungie straps. It is a little heavy, but it works great. We switched from the Bungie to a counter weight and Boat pulleys as they are ceramic bearinged. The Bungie didn't work as good when it got cold. I can either use a car door lock motor to release it or a popper pulling a pin. We are going to start work on a new version that will be built more like a roller coaster with at least two targets that will run in either direction. We don't use motors or will use DC motors as don't have power at our outdoor range. Car batteries or counter weights have to make it happen for us. There is another posting below about making targets. check that as there were others building things. Also we have built the cable version. I used a block of wood about 18 - 20 inches long with a pulley attached to the top of each end. This will keep it from swinging. If I get a chance, I will post pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Jveg, thanks for perfecting the original design. Sharing ideas on props design is a good thing, because everybody could point out flaws and suggest corrections. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vluc Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 From the nice folks at EHPSA: Add (1) 5 lb weight, one more cable, one garage door pulley, one eyehook (as a cable guide/redirector)jveg hehehe, I shot that one and liked it. Good post Justin and welcome to the forum. Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Burwell Posted May 23, 2003 Author Share Posted May 23, 2003 Thanks again guys, Myself and another guy made several of these designs and used them in our IDPA macth last weekend. Everyone agreed best match yet, not to mention loads of fun to shoot something moving while moving yourself. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jveg Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 Skywalker67, I can't rightfully take credit for the design. it was MTrout40 (board member) and Ray at our club ehpsa. They're the genius behind this one. My idea was a little different...and wouldn't have worked nearly as well as that one. Thanks for the welcome, vluc: I can't wait to shoot a stage with this prop again...that must be the sign of a good design! danial97, glad to hear it worked well for your club. [thread drift] I was thinking maybe we could lobby Brian to start a "props" forum for ideas like this? It would be a good thing to get fellow shooters to critique and share prop ideas. jveg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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