Who has a dueling tree or a plate rack?

[diverdon]

I have always wanted a dueling tree or a plate rack. But every time I've shopped for one I had to back away because it always seemed to be priced just a bit too dearly.

If you have one: whose did you get? Have you found it to be worth the investment? Has it lived up to your expectations?

 

[spife7980]

By “plate rack” do you mean you knock ‘em down and they fall back and then they will auto reset when you pull a lever or hit a final plate?
Or just a line of inanimate hung plates?

My inanimate plate rack is just an old weight rack someone was throwing out that’s bolted together and then welded some hooks onto and then bolted it to some wooden a-frames. Total cost was just the plates themselves from wherever they were cheapest at the time

 

[TonyTheTiger]

I've got both. Kinda.
I made my own plate rack. AR500 for the targets, arms and front plate to protect the main shaft and reset mechanism, mild steel out of the scrap bin for parts I thought wouldn't get shot and treated 4x4s stuck in the ground for legs, obviously permanently located in my backyard.
This was back in the day when ammo was cheap, friends were single and I was shooting over 25k rounds a year. Guys would come out on a weekend and easily go through 2k rounds.
Well, it turns out that no matter how hard you think it would be to hit everywhere on a plate rack but actually on the plates, that's where people would shoot. Even my reset rope safely out of harms way got shredded. It got to where I spent several hours at least one Saturday a month cobbling and welding it and other mechanical targets back together.
So I ended up turning my plate rack into more of a KYL rack using rubber straps.

Moral of the story, if you buy one make sure every piece of steel is rifle rated. If you build one do the same. Expect to see it get damaged either way. And be cautious about who you let shoot at it.

 

[stefan73]

I was never really fond of a dueling tree.

The Texas Star is probably one of my favorites for pistol.

 

[hero's machine]

We have a dueling tree for 22lr and large pistols....it's a blast.

Ours is home built with swap out plates for 22 or bigger.

 

[roostercogburn98]

Have a dueling tree, texas star, and currently building a plate rack. Later on down the road I plan to build a polish plate rack as well.

If you have the ability , I’d say build it. There are a few sights that offer “kits” and you just do some mild welding and cutting. My tree and star were built that way

 

[lash]

While I agree with @stefan73 that a Texas star is my favorite, they are very high maintenance to keep running if they get regular use.

A dueling tree is probably the lowest maintenance of them if built with plates to protect the swinging sockets. Just buy any decent set of plates from somewhere and weld up your own. A friend did that and it’s great fun. Just make sure that you angle it forward a bit so that frag goes downward.

 

[cas6969]

I like the stars just fine for matches, but I can't see shooting them for recreation, resetting it would get old fast. Polish plate rack the same. Besides big bucks and a pain to move about.

I bought an MGM spinner years ago, for no good reason. A middle of the night "oh what the heck" purchase. Used to keep it in the trunk of my car. A fun all around target (if you put it far enough away) But I just looked at the current price, yikes.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

I like the stars just fine for matches, but I can't see shooting them for recreation, resetting it would get old fast. Polish plate rack the same. Besides big bucks and a pain to move about.

I've have a star. I pretty much never shoot it. A few seconds of shooting followed by a minute of finding plates up in the berm and then resetting it gets old fast.

I don't have a problem with stars, death stars, polish plates racks etc. in matches from a shooting perspective, but as a has been MD I hate them for other reasons. They can absolutely kill an otherwise decent match in numerous ways.

 

[Hoser]

I have both.

Cry once and get the MGM.

 

[zeroz]

Got the old lady a dueling tree last year for Christmas. It super fun to just be able to walk down the hill and whip her ass. Every time I win I get one less round the next time we shoot. Ive won some good favors with it, definitely got my moneys worth out of it and it has a ton of life left. Doesn't suck having a significant that wants steel instead of diamonds for Christmas. And lead, lots of copper washed lead. Woman goes through 9 like its her job. I'm pretty sure she thinks the ammo fairy comes at night to refill her ammo can.....because he does.

 

[hafejd30]

I have plates, dueling tree and kyl rack. KYL is awesome for 22 and airguns

I bought a kit of plates a while back for the dueling tree. Buddy wanted to make a setup so he asked to borrow the plates. As a thank you he welded up this entire stand and tree setup. Also made me a set of .22 plates and another full set of AR500 or 550 rifle plates

Works awesome. Have used it with AR’s and .22. With .22 it’s an absolute blast. We’ll do timed/limited round comps with 5 rounds in 3 seconds type of thing. Ruger 10/22 and MP 15-22. You can dust a box of cheap federal bulk ammo in a hurry

Has 6 plates. Shown here with 5 obviously

 

[MediumSpeed]

I have a couple of dueling trees. The older one is from MGM and has been amazing - tons of rounds both rifle and pistol on it and it has held up. I have a new one from grizzly targets that I got because it was a bit more portable - seems well made so far - wait for a sale like shot show or black friday.

The MGM Texas star also holds up great and is a blast to shoot.

 

[gebhardt02]

I have a Big Dog Steel dueling tree. Use it somewhat regular, but not constantly. Have had it several years and it is still in great shape. Well worth the money.