I Call It "The Sawfish"

[TMH]

I think that there is some resemblance between my new target array and the fish of that name:

I won't be able to shoot it at home as my backstop is not high enough. But I can shoot it with friends at the range during the next Cowboy match weekend.

Targets are coffee stir sticks with painted ends. Require a little labor to paint, but cheap to purchase at $7.50/1,000. They should be an adequate challenge at 25-35 yards, and there are a total of 86 targets, or a 2-shooter challenge with 43 targets each.

Now that I have sticks painted, it takes me less than 10 minutes to re-set/refill the target array.

Things may get shot up, but it is all scrap wood anyway.

 

[L.Leon]

Very nice, I like it... Looks like a fun time will be had shooting them up.

 

[Ranchibi]

Very ingenious target set up! Very nice.

 

[Matt247365]

That would be a fun target with a Taipan short .22 at the distance you stated

Nice job!

 

[JimNM]

Said it horizontal, and then don't worry about how high it is.

 

[yenniedn]

How are you painting them? Are you actually "painting" each individual stick by hand or could you just dip the ends into the paint to make it go faster? Cool idea either way.

 

[TMH]

How are you painting them? Are you actually "painting" each individual stick by hand or could you just dip the ends into the paint to make it go faster? Cool idea either way.

I lay a bunch out on a piece of cardboard, even them up with a straightedge and tape them on with masking tape (both ends) trying to get about the same length of color on each. Then just hit with a quick spray of paint. No worry whether paint gets on the middle - that is covered up by the board. And no worry about getting the back painted either.

It is definitely not the most fun you can have with your clothes on, but after a few 'boards' it seems to only take 2-3 min to set up the next one. And you really don't have to be too accurate. The brighter the color, the better though.

 

[yenniedn]

Ahh, pretty smart! Nice job!

 

[Ezana4CE]

Oops wrong post. 

 

[Glem.Chally]

I like it! That would be fun and challenging no doubt. Is it a piece of laminate flooring?

 

[TMH]

Yes it is a sandwich of wood flooring pieces - scrap from when I helped a buddy install wood flooring in his new house. Pretty tough stuff actually.

 

[boscoebrea]

 I see another use for my pop-stick stirrers;Thank you a great idea.

 

[Skip-in-WV]

The picture showning the back shows sticks that are one piecs. Do you cut the sticks in half get twice the targets? Are the groves all ready there or do you cut them into the flooring?

 

[TMH]

Sticks are still full length - the width of the boards was cut so that about 3/4" of the 5.5" sticks stick out from each side.

There are no grooves in the board - what you see are just lines so that I can load the sticks kind of straight.

That board marked 'back' does have a layer of very thin double-sided adhesive film on it. I lay the sticks onto the adhesive surface and they stay in place when I close the Sawfish back up after loading it.

The stuff I used was a rejected component from work, and I've been using up that roll for the past 40 years. You want real thin, and without too aggressive of an adhesive. Maybe something like this (put down a strip about an inch from each side of the board):

https://www.amazon.com/BYUEE-30-Yards-Adhesive-Scrapbooking-Wrapping/dp/B07MZR2452/

 

[OOgsAggie]

Respect the ingenuity.