2x2 or 2x4 walls for 3Gun/IPSC?

Hey Rugerman, sounds like you're getting ready for a DSSMatch!

I really like the 2x3 using Corplast walls... makes the walls light , opaque and robust against ignorant muzzle brakes. The supports aren't overly heavy. You should come down and conduct some more research!

Hopefully you can make it to the Lower Mainland for 3 Gun on August Long Weekend... You know you have a bunk with us!
 
trailskinpat said:
I’ll throw out a few pics of some examples of the walls we’ve used here for Tac Rifle , same ones get pulled out for IDPA.
Click to expand...


Our range is fairly open and can get windy with big weather blowing in quickly so plastic solid walls or mesh with to tight a weave catch the wind like sails and are easily blow down unless staked and braced like the Grest Wall of China.

If you are building new or replacing old walls I strongly suggest using a plastic mesh that allows the wind to easily pass throw.

Other reason is safety. When you set up a large stage with lots of solid walls and nooks and crannies in it it’s harder to see if some guy is patching or daydreaming back there. You really have to do a good walk through and ensure all the nooks and crannies are clear before you start your next shooter.

Just sayin, there’s less overall issues with see through mess walls than there are with solid plastic walls.
 
Yes we get the wind blowing into our valley too sometimes. You’ll see that the bases we use have holes drilled in them for spikes to keep them in place. If a stage starts to get walls that can hide participants that are taping up our SOs employ the sound off method of determining if every member of the squad is back behind the firing line where everyone belongs before the next shooter is brought to the line.
 
We have 2x4 walls at CHAS. They're heavy, but I don't think we've needed to repair any of them over the last 3 years and we've got a lot of use out of them.
 
2x2’s with plywood bracing and landscaping mesh.
Super light and easy to set up or tear down but they do need to be stored out of the weather.
The Terrace R&G guys did a bunch and it’s the first place I saw them, so we copied the idea.
The lower metal pockets and upper metal connectors tie it all together and make it a solid, safe and manageable system.
IwH8ALX.jpg
 
tiriaq said:
Don't overlook coroplast for making walls, target frames, etc.
Click to expand...

Coroplat is one of if not THE worst things to make walls out of.

1) you cannot see through it making traps

2) it is too light and make for great sails.


What you want is VEXAR plastic filter mesh.

http://www.masternetltd.com/vexar-other-vexar-products-04.php

I like the 7mmm version you can catch shoot through.

Oh and Snow fence while cheap does not allow detection of shoot throughs.
 
wasrupzuk said:
2x2’s with plywood bracing and landscaping mesh.
Super light and easy to set up or tear down but they do need to be stored out of the weather.
The Terrace R&G guys did a bunch and it’s the first place I saw them, so we copied the idea.
The lower metal pockets and upper metal connectors tie it all together and make it a solid, safe and manageable system.
IwH8ALX.jpg
Click to expand...
nice work!
 
Sometimes the opaque nature of coroplast is desirable. The competitor cannot see what lies ahead of him, and must solve problems as they present themselves.
 
We use 1x3. Cut two at 6ft lengths - those are the verticals. Then cut up 3/8" plywood into 12"x12" squares. Cut those squares diagonally, and use them as corner reinforcements (attach one to each top corner and 4ft down on the uprights, finally either attach two 8ft horizontals, or two 4ft horizontals, depending on what size of wall you're working with. The triangles wind up between the horizontal and vertical 1x3s. On some of the walls, we put in additional lengths to frame-in ports. We have a couple types of stands we built for them, and use long zip-ties at the tops. They're solid, work beautifully, easy to carry. Take care of them, they'll last a long time.

Snow fence isn't bad, and is relatively inexpensive, but we have a couple rolls of a fine black plastic mesh (4ft wide, 1/4" screen, I think). Expensive, but is lasting much longer than the snowfence (which fades, dries out, and breaks).

We generally have no opaque walls running across the range, (parallel to downrange) only mesh. We do use opaque in an up/down range direction as hard-cover. The no-opaque-across makes clearing a range super easy (no hiding spots). We don't find this makes anything easier for the shooter - actually they see all the targets, but have to then figure out where to shoot them from.
 
These is my walls.



34 stacked - now 50 + 11 with windows. The crib is 2 feet deep.



Materials list.

The material list is:-

2x2x72 – one each for the top and bottom rail. Get 2x4x144’ and cut them in half and then rip them lengthwise to get 4 – 2x2.

¼” x 3 ¾” lag eye bolts – Canadian Tire – 61-1961-0 – 2 for each top rail.

Large eye bolts - Canadian Tire – 61-1194-6 – 2 for each bottom rail.

Orange Warning Barrier Fence – Home Hardware - 5422-367

Ball bungee loops – Princess Auto – 8204661

2x2x72 – or whatever height you want to achieve – I suggest a wall height of 6” 6”.

#10x3” wood screw – screwed into the top of the post.

The base would be determined how your range floor is. We use a socket and a rebar rod spike driven into the ground.

Zip ties to join the bottoms of the rails and the post, especially if you are leaving the stages up over night.
 
Northaways said:
Our range is fairly open and can get windy with big weather blowing in quickly so plastic solid walls or mesh with to tight a weave catch the wind like sails and are easily blow down unless staked and braced like the Grest Wall of China. If you are building new or replacing old walls I strongly suggest using a plastic mesh that allows the wind to easily pass throw. Other reason is safety. When you set up a large stage with lots of solid walls and nooks and crannies in it it’s harder to see if some guy is patching or daydreaming back there. You really have to do a good walk through and ensure all the nooks and crannies are clear before you start your next shooter. Just sayin, there’s less overall issues with see through mess walls than there are with solid plastic walls.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Wind is an ever present issue in this part of the world, and its a struggle even with target stands and walls heavily weighed down.
 
stormbringer said:
I would rather not have problems like this.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUzTIKAbI3k[/youtube]
Click to expand...

Although I agree on the point of visibility for easily seeing workers, this is a complete case of CRO/RO failure to check the range before LAMR, count or confirm his tapers back behind the line, and a dufus brass picker not paying attention.

As RO you can take a few seconds to check around walls and offer some extra visibility challenge to competitors while also recycling some materials for walls. Even with walls using screen or landscape fabric, Im going to take a couple of seconds to make sure.

Anyway, 2x2 walls with 2" aluminium tube on a 3"wide alum plate woks well. Zapstrap the middle and tops of walls together or minimal screws makes them last longer. Cheap, easy to build, light.
 
The RO was kicked out of USPSA because of that incident.

While vision barriers are nice, the risks are not worth it.

Landscape fabric will become a sail in the wind. I saw that last year in New York. Had to cut holes in the screen to keep them from falling down.
 
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