New heavy duty target stands

[Captain Kirk]

A little bit of a DIY thread, but I thought I'd post it here since many most likely wont take this project on. I wanted to design a target stand that was fairly light (emphasis on fairly) but very heavy duty, it will see a lot of 338LM and 338 Edge. I started with the concept of quick assembly and tear down as well as portability to the target site, so it needed to come apart and assemble easily. The yolk that holds it all together is made of heavy gauge steel 1.675" tubing, and is turned down to 1.60" to accept the legs and cross section. The legs and center sections are made of 1.75" thin walled steel, I used this for its strength and its harmonics, I want this stand to ring. I made 3 total to start, center lengths are 3' and 5', leg height is 42". The yolks are drilled and will be tapped to accept machine bolts, all together a very solid setup and not nearly as heavy as it looks.

here is a pic of the completed yolk

3' and 5' sections assembled

I will post up some more pics when they are painted and in use, as well as the design for the target hangers

 

[WTW]

Those look good. What is the weight on them assembled?

 

[Chris@InterstateGuns]

That's pretty slick. Wish I had skills to do something like that

 

[Captain Kirk]

Those look good. What is the weight on them assembled?

I will weigh them, I guess around 15-20 lbs with the 5' section.

A few more pics

 

[Roddd]

Those welds look like a stack of dimes. Very good work and a simple idea. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[rideHPD]

I don't have much experience shooting my own steel stands, but I'm curious why you made the legs so upright? The ones I've made flip over unless they have more of an aggressive angle, so I'm interested to hear others experiences. Also important, why targets are you hanging from it (shape/weight/etc.)?

 

[Captain Kirk]

The targets hang a foot or so below the upper post, the center of gravity is pretty low and I didnt have the test stand fall over, even with hits from the 338LM. Target sizes range from a know your limits rack of 8,6,5,4,3,2" all the way up to 100% IPSC targets

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

i have something similar for my shoots with the same idea as yours (easy/ quick setup), but with perforated road sign type square stock and the legs (round conduit) going away from center, like a swingset bracket, so the weight of the targets sort of bites in without any rocking or needing pins to keep the legs and crossbar together. i put 18 & 12 on one, 8,6,3or4's on the other X 2 per distance

having to set up 12 racks every month wasn't as quick as i had first thought.

but they are easily transported and set up if you only have a few to do. like you, i found 5 ft wide to be a good size.




yes, that's my bike and scooter


last year's pictures, doubled the quantity since then.

 

[LVshooter]

Great job on both types

 

[LVdubbin]

Have you tried to notch the top of the legs to the horizontal cross bar? Looks like it would fit and give the legs a wider foot print. Just giving you some constructive criticism. They look great though! Good work sir!

 

[TimK]

Nice looking stands. It's going to suck when someone shoots one.

 

[ScudMarket]

Good looking stands. Easy to put and and take down.

 

[rleffel]

A lot better that the rebar version that I have seen

 

[JC Steel]

Kirk, those look really nice! Well done

 

[03bulletstopper]

Those look good. I have made some similar one. We are always looking to make the setup lighter. It looks like you could use some closet hanger rods or large wood dowels as well. I know when I would take my kids out with their friends and it would become a spray and pray situation they would shoot the crap out of my stands. That usually would make me look at a better or cheaper way. Now they are a little older both can weld and I make them fix any of their own hits

 

[Shoottothrill]

Has anyone tried 2" pvc pipe? Its super cheap, light, and snaps together in seconds. I carry mine in an extra tent bag I had laying around. I bring some extra pieces in case it get shot, but so far no problems.