DIY ultra portable/cheap steel target stand

[ALCOAR]

Hey guys, another installment of my DIY themed threads, this time around it's making an ultra portable/cheap steel target stand on the super cheap.

Goal:

Create a longer term steel target stand solution focusing heavily on three aspects.

A. It must be incredibly portable, in order to be humped into LR shooting locales vs. drive up shooting ranges.

B. Must be able to be constructed very easily, or with very minimal effort, tools, and time invested in the DIY process.

C. The overall cost of the finish product must be on the super cheap....for me the definition of super cheap is around $20 or less.


I'll be overall brief here, since the video hopefully will portray the general idea better than I can by typing it.


DIY: Ultra portable/cheap steel target stand

I'll be happy to elaborate on anything, or answer any particular questions for those interested.

[RMiller]

I made a fold out frame out of 2x4's.

My main reason is that the ground is pretty frozen at times recently and realy dry come summer. Neither of which like posts.

That and the wood soaks up the shrapnel and fragments pretty well.

[kdcgrohl]

Looks absolutely excellent.
Two things, first, where did you get the target, and what is your opinion of it?

And second, if you apply the torch to a piece of tubing the size of the hole needed in the nylon strap, and press said hot piece of tubing through the nylon, the hole will not fray and hold it's shape better.

[ALCOAR]

Valid point in regards to frozen ground....just another reason why it's great to be a confederate in the deep south

kdcgrohl....

Good suggestion on the different method to obtain a better hole in the tow strap.

RE: Target info.....I bought that particular target several years ago from Custom Metal Products (CMP).

My actual target can be found here specifically....IDPA 2/3 Size Torso

It's 12" x 20"...and weighs 22lbs. AR500 / 3/8"

I've had a few others take my recommendation on the above steel target, and all have been totally satisfied like myself with it. This particular product/company is worthy of my highest recommendation for several reasons as listed below...

1. First and foremost, the product itself is stellar.....super clean edges/cuts which matters greatly in a steel target. The durability of their steel continues to amaze me as well, as I've been hammering this particular target heavily with 5.56/7.62 now for a few years, and it doesn't even have real poke marks yet on it. It will no doubt out live me several times over.

2. When first getting it, I did quite a bit of homework....nobody could match the quality (2/3rd ar500 3/8") for the price ($90) that I could find.

3. Shipping...believe it or not, this aspect when steel shopping matters more than one might think. CMP nails this aspect, they charge you the actual cost of shipping, not some inflated rate....and they ship that day, or the next. $15 to ship a 22lb steel plate to me in less than 3 days IIrc.

4. Lastly, I got to know the president of CMP, HR Eddens after reaching out to him informing him on how satisfied I was with his product. He's a real gentlemen, and treats me like I bought 100 targets from him. Super receptive to feedback, and has offered to do one off stuff for me whenever.

Between the steel product, and Mr. Eddens awesome CS....CMP no doubt has my steel business for life.

[ALCOAR]

Hanging steel is an art form, and science imho......and one can really tweak their setup in order to refine it to their particular needs.

Previous DIY stands of mine...

Shepard's hook.....terrible solution



Wood stand....half ass solution / it broke before seeing 500rds or so



Longer term wood stand/saw horse....too damn heavy




Folding steel saw horse....proper solution / still run 2 of these at my LR locales. Really a prefect solution minus the weight.





XM856 on it...

[Ready.Fire.Aim]

I like the saw horse design. I got a box of target steel in from Wideners today. I planned to weld frames from some used T posts I have.

[Ready.Fire.Aim]

When shooting steel, What do you consider the minimum safe distance for 9 mm pistol 124 FMJ and also 5.56 FMJ in 55g?

Thanks

[Scoby]

[QUOTE=TRIDENT82;1593150]

Longer term wood stand/saw horse....too damn heavy







Your sawhorse idea was the inspiration for mine.
They are heavy but mine don't get moved around.

[sinister]

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...y/IMG_1310.jpg

Damn nice looking range, Mr. Scoby -- looks like a golf fairway. Beautiful.

[Joe Mamma]

I've used a similar setup for swinging steel and it looks like other guys do too.

One thing I do which may help you guys is to use automotive hose clamps (standard worm gear type clamps from an auto parts store), and put them on the horizontal bar on each side of the target mount.

It takes an extra step when you are setting up. But it is a very cheap and effective way to keep the steel from sliding off to the side of the stand after you shoot it.

Joe Mamma