So... any of our members here have an interest in firearms?

noelekal · Oct 4, 2024

I've long admired the M40 from a distance. Would be fun to play with one and field strip it for edification.

Omegafanman · Oct 16, 2024

So I have been tasked to look at a target retrieval system.....This is for a 25 metre indoor 7 lane UK rifle club.
It is a community sports club so on a budget, they want to better support their older and disabled members, and reduce the need for people to go down the range. They are able to self-install equipment. Some of the systems I have found are super slick..... and super expensive. The Police and Army must have very, very deep pockets thanks to us tax payers. A turning target option would also be nice, but I suspect out of the budget range. Roof mounted Wire and rail systems look the best for cost. Anyone got a recomendation?
Thanks in advance.

Wryfox · Oct 16, 2024

Omegafanman
So I have been tasked to look at a target retrieval system.....This is for a 25 metre indoor 7 lane UK rifle club.
It is a community sports club so on a budget, they want to better support their older and disabled members, and reduce the need for people to go down the range. They are able to self-install equipment. Some of the systems I have found are super slick..... and super expensive. The Police and Army must have very, very deep pockets thanks to us tax payers. A turning target option would also be nice, but I suspect out of the budget range. Roof mounted Wire and rail systems look the best for cost. Anyone got a recomendation?
Thanks in advance.

As in everything in life, it's a matter of cost.

You can literally make your own wire and rail system with hardware store supplies and your own labor.

There are kits available to set up on your own lumber(Gopher Targets) 500/lane.

If you want cheap cheap(150/Lane), Zip Targets runs on any common cordless drill and uses Paracord. They are on Amazon.

Super Target Systems is a common higher end system, probably 1000s/lane

These are free hanging target systems so close fire will wiggle and swing them.

25m is a long way to keep a target stable at intermediate distances so you'll need way point supports as well.

Also assume on day one someone will shoot the supports or hangers, so keep a healthy portion(I'd say half) of your budget for maintenance and repairs. Any system you install WILL get shot. I've never seen a shooting range without impact on walls, ceiling, and mechanisms.

I belong to a member owned club(outdoor) so we do our own work. I keep this sign in my garage as a reminder. It's posted on the leading edge of the ROOF 🤦

We tried a couple ways to do target retrieval many years ago but the maintenance was ridiculous so we gave up.

Pastorbottle · Oct 16, 2024

Wryfox
As in everything in life, it's a matter of cost.

You can literally make your own wire and rail system with hardware store supplies and your own labor.

There are kits available to set up on your own lumber(Gopher Targets) 500/lane.

If you want cheap cheap(150/Lane), Zip Targets runs on any common cordless drill and uses Paracord. They are on Amazon.

Super Target Systems is a common higher end system, probably 1000s/lane

These are free hanging target systems so close fire will wiggle and swing them.

25m is a long way to keep a target stable at intermediate distances so you'll need way point supports as well.

Also assume on day one someone will shoot the supports or hangers, so keep a healthy portion(I'd say half) of your budget for maintenance and repairs. Any system you install WILL get shot. I've never seen a shooting range without impact on walls, ceiling, and mechanisms.

I belong to a member owned club(outdoor) so we do our own work. I keep this sign in my garage as a reminder. It's posted on the leading edge of the ROOF 🤦

We tried a couple ways to do target retrieval many years ago but the maintenance was ridiculous so we gave up.

Yeah at the rural pistol club we were involved with, they had a rather agricultural system where by the multiple targets were mounted on a frame that rolled on along on steel rails, the purpose of this was so that the targets could be pushed up closer to the firing line to vary the range as required
It wasn't a retrieval system, you had to leave your firearms open breached and unloaded behind the firing line and walk up to the targets.
Woe and betide anyone how fell foul of he range safety officer by not obeying the procedures!
We would shoot at 50 and 25 meters
It was an open air range (there was a indoor 10 meter range for air-pistols) and there was a long roof over the targets for weather protection at the extreme end of the range with a series of large thick timber beams across the range to prevent stray shots from escaping out, thick walls down each side and a large earthen bank behind the targets, so in theory if the safety rules were obeyed, no stray rounds could get out, but we had problems with complaints of stray rounds,
we couldn't figure out why, until we realised the the local coppers would use the range for practice and training, they would shoot at much shorter range (7meters) than we would and they were too lazy and stupid to push the targets closer, they'd ignore the safety rules and just cross the firing line and shoot from there. As a result there were rounds escaping the range only at the times that they used it. And the fact that there was always brass in the calibers that the cops used laying close to the targets.
We found out for ourselves when Dad and myself went in to do some maintenance and the cops turned up to use the range, once we saw them start that shit we left, for our own safety. Bunch of bloody cowboys!
Jeeze they must've been shit shots as there were bullet holes every where, well wide and high of the targets, even in the target covering roof which couldn't be hit if they shot from the behind the firing line!
If they couldn't even vaguely hit somewhere near the target at 7 meters the crooks wouldn't have much to worry about!

Omegafanman · Oct 16, 2024

Wryfox
As in everything in life, it's a matter of cost.

You can literally make your own wire and rail system with hardware store supplies and your own labor.

There are kits available to set up on your own lumber(Gopher Targets) 500/lane.

If you want cheap cheap(150/Lane), Zip Targets runs on any common cordless drill and uses Paracord. They are on Amazon.

Super Target Systems is a common higher end system, probably 1000s/lane

These are free hanging target systems so close fire will wiggle and swing them.

25m is a long way to keep a target stable at intermediate distances so you'll need way point supports as well.

Also assume on day one someone will shoot the supports or hangers, so keep a healthy portion(I'd say half) of your budget for maintenance and repairs. Any system you install WILL get shot. I've never seen a shooting range without impact on walls, ceiling, and mechanisms.

I belong to a member owned club(outdoor) so we do our own work. I keep this sign in my garage as a reminder. It's posted on the leading edge of the ROOF 🤦

We tried a couple ways to do target retrieval many years ago but the maintenance was ridiculous so we gave up.

Thanks for the reply which is very helpful. I will let you know how we get on. Probably after Xmas based on club speed (which is the total opposite of warp speed ;0)

Pastorbottle · Oct 16, 2024

Omegafanman
Thanks for the reply which is very helpful. I will let you know how we get on. Probably after Xmas based on club speed (which is the total opposite of warp speed ;0)

Ah the technical term for that is the speed of dark!