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DIY sticky shooting bags

Eric_F

Fake Internet Rank Here
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 22, 2013
290
154
Minneapolis
I've been really liking the looks of the sticky pint sized GC and pump pillow but would rather put the funds towards guns. So I decided to try to make my own.

I bought some 1000d cordura (Amazon), some Toughtek non slip fabric (Etsy, surprisingly, was the best supplier I found) and some no name buckles on Amazon. Bulky nylon thread I saw recommended so that's what I used and it worked well though it unravels easily as just a string.

I guesstimated designs, drew them up in GIMP, and printed patterns which helped a lot. I left 1/2" border around the pattern for stitching the seams. I double stitched all edges and more so on corners.

The imitation sticky gamechanger I really like how it turned out. Filled with some weighted poly pellets from Joann (32 oz worked perfectly). Strap was some extra cordura folded up, though in hindsight I should have just used some extra length of the actual straps I had. The darker sections are the Toughtek and it's really grippy, it performs comparably to the real thing in that barrel angle test they like to show off.

The pump pillow was much simpler to make a pattern and sew. I haven't seen a sticky bag this big but figure it can only add to stability. If I had enough fabric I would have just made the whole thing with Toughtek, I don't see a downside to it. Theoretically not as strong as cordura but time will tell if that matters.

The complicated part here was self inflicted, I decided to make it modular too, on the last edge I sewed in a zipper, which I'm not showing in the pictures as it is one ugly sewing job. Then last night I got impatient and just filled it with the Poly-fil mini micro beads. The tiny Styrofoam ones that get everywhere. I should have actually done it right and put those in bean bags but oh well. It needed maybe 0.35 cu ft. The final product works and it is adjustable fill just much more messy if you unzip it. I'll probably put a stich in the zipper to make sure that can't happen accidentally.
 

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Total cost:
Cordura - $12 for a yard (used much less)
Straps - $5.50 for the two
Toughtek - $15 shipped for 18"x32"
Yarn - $9 and used only a fraction
Weighted beads - $6 (on sale, usually $10)
Micro polystyrene beads - $9 for two 0.28 cu ft bags, usually $30 ea. I got really lucky there but the giant 2 cu ft bags are like $28, or less on Amazon but then you're stuck with 100 L of it.
I'd skip the zipper, but that was $4.

So my total was $60.50 and I've got a lot left over. If you got everything not on sale it would maybe be $80.
 
Killer idea. I like making my own stuff and I've been making my own Vickers style slings for a while. I might have to give this a try.
 
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Well, I finally figured out how to sew a zipper (protip: keep it zipped) and I made some bean bags for secondary foam bead containment and fill adjustment. The bean bags were from a cut up athletic shirt, so very fine weave and lots of stretch, but even loosely filling them the resulting pillow is a little more lumpy than the first one. The upside is its not leaking tiny Styrofoam pellets everywhere (which was happening with the first). The zipper is somewhat exposed but I don't think it will end up being uncomfortable.

Bcamos, you should post on your DIY slings, I would be interested in how you did that.
 

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These make the ones I made look like crap. Need to up my game it seems. Good work!
 
Killer idea. I like making my own stuff and I've been making my own Vickers style slings for a while. I might have to give this a try.

Would also like to see some of your sling work I’ve been ranting to make one, as I just can’t find a way to shell out over $100 for one.
 
Was this hand or machine stitched?
And did you try them out yet?

Great winter time project, AND I'm not breaking the bank. Thank you!!
 
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Machine stitched every seam on the bags with zippers, hand stitched the last seam only for the mini GC style.

I've taken them to the range and I'm really happy with them. Just some casual shooting, but a friend and his wife also used them in a couple NRL 22 matches. After one of those matches, the seam around the bottom strap on thr full size GC style came out. It's a heavy bag and they had it strapped to the gun. I think what's going on is the Toughtek has some stretch and that seam is Toughtek on both sides. So when it stretches, the only rigid thing is the nylon thread. The fix might be to stretch (more) when sewing or to keep cordura on the outsides, limiting the Toughtek to Toughtek seams.
 

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Too late to edit apparently? I've come to appreciate the Black Branch style now, I didn't understand the small nylon panels but this is definitely why, it limits the seams with stretchy sticky material on both sides. And I'd bet just based on pictures that they're using Toughtek.

My original pillow I was able to reinforce the zipper seam by hand sewing, and it's stable and not leaking foam pellets anymore but still ugly looking. So the zipper works for foam filling with or without the bean bags.
 
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I have a Black Branch also with the Elite fill, it’s my go to bag. My daughter didn’t like it and has stuck with the Gamechanger.
 
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Yeah if I make another I'll incorporate more of the Black Branch nylon panels and maybe the central stretch triangle, it's a nice design.

I've been following the Git-Lite lightweight fill thread, but $60 for just fill is steep. I spent way too long looking for alternatives that are that light, and just couldn't find anything rigid at 10 pcf or less (besides Spex-Lite which is the same price). Yes, there is a theme here, I'm cheap.
 
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Great post mate, I've been thinking about trying something similar. Any chance you'd still have the files for your pattern and be willing to share?
 
I've been really liking the looks of the sticky pint sized GC and pump pillow but would rather put the funds towards guns. So I decided to try to make my own.

I bought some 1000d cordura (Amazon), some Toughtek non slip fabric (Etsy, surprisingly, was the best supplier I found) and some no name buckles on Amazon. Bulky nylon thread I saw recommended so that's what I used and it worked well though it unravels easily as just a string.

I guesstimated designs, drew them up in GIMP, and printed patterns which helped a lot. I left 1/2" border around the pattern for stitching the seams. I double stitched all edges and more so on corners.

The imitation sticky gamechanger I really like how it turned out. Filled with some weighted poly pellets from Joann (32 oz worked perfectly). Strap was some extra cordura folded up, though in hindsight I should have just used some extra length of the actual straps I had. The darker sections are the Toughtek and it's really grippy, it performs comparably to the real thing in that barrel angle test they like to show off.

The pump pillow was much simpler to make a pattern and sew. I haven't seen a sticky bag this big but figure it can only add to stability. If I had enough fabric I would have just made the whole thing with Toughtek, I don't see a downside to it. Theoretically not as strong as cordura but time will tell if that matters.

The complicated part here was self inflicted, I decided to make it modular too, on the last edge I sewed in a zipper, which I'm not showing in the pictures as it is one ugly sewing job. Then last night I got impatient and just filled it with the Poly-fil mini micro beads. The tiny Styrofoam ones that get everywhere. I should have actually done it right and put those in bean bags but oh well. It needed maybe 0.35 cu ft. The final product works and it is adjustable fill just much more messy if you unzip it. I'll probably put a stich in the zipper to make sure that can't happen accidentally.
silly question maybe but what kind of sewing machine do you have? do you need anything special for the cordura material?

thank you
 
It's nothing special, a Brother brand a few years old my wife got for ~$100 on Craigslist. I got some heavier needles for it (I forget the kind but I'll post when I get home). I was also a little nervous about people saying you needed some beast of a sewing machine for 1000D but that's been working fine. Occasionally it would get hung up and I'd have to advance it manually but that's rare. I've sewed six of those bags now (and a bunch of masks recently) and no apparent wear on the machine.
 
I love diy projects and with a small pile of bags behind me that only ever sort of work . hope yours does what you wanted it to do for you .
 
For the toughtek to toughtek seams I wonder if the stretch thread would work better? We made neck gaters and used the special stretch thread they had at the local fabric store.
 
Stretch thread might work, but could also allow the whole seam to stretch open, you would have to try it. The heavy duty sewing machine needle I used is advertised as a denim needle.
 
It's nothing special, a Brother brand a few years old my wife got for ~$100 on Craigslist. I got some heavier needles for it (I forget the kind but I'll post when I get home). I was also a little nervous about people saying you needed some beast of a sewing machine for 1000D but that's been working fine. Occasionally it would get hung up and I'd have to advance it manually but that's rare. I've sewed six of those bags now (and a bunch of masks recently) and no apparent wear on the machine.
thanks man, some of these bags are just crazy expensive and unless i have to buy one making a good one will work just as well.