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Help!!! We are building our field target area and need some advice and tips

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Willie14228

Willie14228

Member
Jul 16, 2015
1,648
64
TX, United States
First the details

We are located in Tyler TX and have a 100 yard range, next to that we have a road/path running up hill that is another estimated 200 yards that will allow shooting lanes to be cut into the wooded area that would place the lanes parallel to the range. FT shooters will be shooting into a natural area with woods and stuff allowing for some added difficulty including actual off limb and tree shots. I can easily see 15 to 20 lanes being cut into this area without being to close to each other, Further the lanes would be angled so that the shots would in no way cross over the range itself. We are planning our event for April the 4th but that is still open because we are still in the building phase and I still have to get all the lanes cut out. At this time I am the only one doing this 

ANYONE INTERESTED IN HAVING AN ACTUAL FIELD TARGET AND AIR RIFLE CLUB please please contact me. I need help, 

We have a club house that is heated and airconditioned 

We have a range

We have Water and Electricity 

We have all the tools we need, Tractor, Chainsaws, Bandsaws workshop the whole nine yards!!!! 

We DONT have is bodies!! Come folks I have heard from so many of you on how great it would be to have a club and area to shoot but when it comes to showing up and being a part of the creation everyone disappears

I am going to go with wood field targets first simply because I can cut them out with our bandsaw, THAT BEING SAID, If anyone has some field targets that are for sale cheap or would consider donating to the club it would be great. 

My first question what size washers should I use for the killzone Inside diameter? our should I use different size washers for different size animals and yardage? 

Can someone link me to some more detailed plans for the sear and knockdown release trigger system? 

To be blunt there is so much I do not know about the sport of field target I do not even know the right questions to ask. 

What I do know is that everyone who contacted me said that they wanted a field target area 

Please East Texas get involved and help me make a great club and range




 
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"We DONT have is bodies!!"

Once you get access to a suitable range, that becomes the main problem.

I went through the same thing as far as targets. I considered making some for our FT range, but since we had lots of other work to do and not enough bodies, I bought targets. Cheapest I could get at the time (Gamo) and am still using them seven years later.

Air Venturi, Crosman, and Umarex field targets are $20 ($17 if you wait for a sale and free shipping). And they include strings. It's hard to match that price, even building targets yourself.


 
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I have a field target range on my property. We have some of the better targets and a bunch of the gamos. They have lasted several years. We have a work day every spring and clean, straighten, lube and paint the targets. You can't do it alone. We leave our targets out all year as we are too old and broke down to put targets out and shoot the same day. We shoot weekly if possible. Lot of times it is just 3 of us, but we have had 10 or so a few times. I shoot poorly anymore but want to keep shooting as long as I can. Good luck with your club. My advice would be to travel to a couple big shoots and then get your friends together and give it a try, if there is enough interest. It is a big job just keeping grass trimmed in the lanes.


 
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Question on the Kill Zone area, Is it relevant to the actual location on the animal http://www.airguns.net/ft_woodfieldtarget.php 

For example I notice that none of these have any head shot kill zone
Click to expand...

KZ can be anywhere on a target, just depends on how the laser cutting of the faceplate was done. 

KZ size relative to distance (how far out the target is placed) is much more important than location on the faceplate. That chart that 18.13 provided is quite useful. Our clubs average Troyer factor for a monthly match is typically around 30. We occasionally have someone shoot a perfect score, but not often. Our club has a handful of Nationals champs too, so some really good shooters. 

Our courses are never the same either. Part of the fun is all the interesting ways targets get set up. I think a static course where you shoot at the same targets, same distances, same location every month might get boring. Part of the challenge is ranging the distance correctly. I don't have anything approaching a photographic memory, but the second month shooting an identical course and I'd start to memorize distances. Same targets from month to month would be fine of course, just moving them around on the lanes and reconfiguring the course is gonna help keep it fun and challenging.
 
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The around $65/target is for the heavy duty ones that should last a couple decades. There's a member in our club with a plasma cutter that makes some really nice heavy duty targets. PM me if you're interested in spending that kind of money and I'll get you his contact info (after I check with him to make sure he's okay with it).
Click to expand...

So far 100% of the cost of doing all this is coming out of my pocket wish I could but not right now
 
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Of the budget FT targets available out there, the "rat on the run" target are best IMO. Maybe slightly limited in kill zone sizes, but the hardware is better and they work well. Check them out on Amazon- you can sometimes buy them used on Amazon for $16 (as I type this). Only difference I've seen from new to used ones is sometimes the box is a little torn- target has always been fine. I have a video that reviews some of the FT targets available out there. 

Good luck!

1579613952_17498211825e26ff00626809.55384410_Screen Shot 2020-01-21 at 8.38.12 AM.png


https://youtu.be/5gcB0Wn30C0
 
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You can have lanes in the open field if you are not able to finish cutting all 10-15 lanes in the woods. You can 5 lanes in open and 5 lanes in woods. You can even start with just 20 targets instead of 30. Start small and work your way up. Advertise on the FT forums. Maybe offer club memberships to people who work or donate field targets.
 
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Hey Willie,

I bought several of the Gamo targets and had a friend of mine tack weld (4) some washers on them.

The washers were made from a hard metal and have done fine. Just get several different sizes to

put at the different yard markers. These targets only cost about 20-30 dollars each and come with the strings. .

Get the wide washers. They may cost a little more, but are well worth it and they will last forever

The strings come with them.

Hope this helps.

Pat

FireMarshal





















 
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We just got a huge amount of area cleared 

For those that go to the Arlington FT and thought that Jeff could be evil when he puts targets out 

👹👹👹👹👹👹👹 You ain't seen nothing yet

We now have land cleared butting up to a dry creek bed that is cut down 10 - 15 feet in some places . So we will have plenty of room for down angle shots, past the creek the ground elevates higher than the shooter.

There is some spots with rolling hills that is going to really mess with your yardage estimations 

Oh this is going to be a lot of fun 
 
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