I had some ambitious ideas, but here's what I've got this boiled down to....
I wanted to make some more "paintball" related targets for shooters this year. This is the first... and I may... incorporate at least one... well, likely one more just like this, and maybe another similar one.
First, need some targets... here's the "silhouettes"
They're two-halves, cause they'll be partially behind something.
Next, testing the idea... hinging them so they "fall" back when shot. The door hinges didn't work well (tho I tested them earlier with just a square of wood and that worked... so the theory is sound).
So it was off to menards for some 2x2s to make the facade, and I got a piano hinge and some t-hinges to test out. Here's the first target using the t-hinges.
The facade is going to be 4ft wide and 3ft tall. It will eventually be put on legs so overall it'll be 5 or 6 fet tall. Not sure what I'm going to cover it with yet. I have some heavy cloth I may staple to it.. or plywood and just use the cloth for the "skirt" on the lower area.. not sure yet. Eventually, there will be the other half of the target on the left side of the window. I'm thinking one side would be mounted slightly lower than the other or something...? I thought about having them hinge on the bottom and actually "falling" but I figure even as these rotate back they continue to be a target for a bit... less time spent having to reset them all the time.
The t-hinges worked good. A few shots from my TPX using re-balls did move the target back.
From the rear... the target is on a 2x4 while the frame is 2x2, so the targets actually sit back a bit inside the window.
The theory is, I'll put holes in the lower part of the facade, run para-cord through to the target so when they "fall" from behing shot we can be at the shooting line and just pull the cord to reset the target.
I should be able to get two of these done, maybe even tomorrow yet, and the idea is to put one on either side towards the back corners in the shooting area. I'm also thinking of maybe in the middle putting something else, like a .. plywood tree or something and having it where a target will come out from either side of it. or maybe just a simple plywood bunker and have the targets come out on the ouside edges vs inside a window... we'll see.
I also want to put our shooting line further back this year.... we can have some "easy" and fun targets set up like we always do, but maybe for the shooting challenge (the three free shots) we make them hit one of these window targets.
I'm gonna skip playing at Splat-Tag tomorrow cause I have stuff around here (other than these) to work on, but will spend some time on this tomorrow as well.
I may head down to Morristown next Saturday... if there's some of the log boards that Larry could let me have, I may cover the fronts of these with that...
and I'll likely have to make a wing-wall for these to help them stand upright...and make it look more like a building or bunker.
