Making swingers?

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kent23

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I'm trying to design/build a swinger(s) for our club for IPSC shooting. They cannot be made of steel as it is for an indoor range.

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, do any of you have ideas?

As usual, thanks in advance:D
 
only concern with making them out of wood would be the reliability if it gets shot up.... anything that could stand up to large caliber projectiles would be too heavy and not swing long enuf or to fast.....

make more than 1 and keep them handy as back up... or you may need to scrap stage if it gets shot up beyond repair
 
PVC pipe.

Choose your glued joints carefully and precut some replacements for the most likely destroyed parts and keep a pot of that glue close.

2 mins to repair, very tough and cheap to boot.
 
I made a bunch for a class last month out of wood. I found a bearing for the pivot at Princess Auto and used 5lb dumbbell plates for the counter weight. They worked great and nobody shot them. If they had, most of the parts were easily replaceable.
 
because of ricochets on an indoor range maybe? once you clad them in wood, they become huge and heavy. PVC ones or just plain old wood ones, would be the best.
Any pics of the ones you made Rob?
 
If this is the club I'm thinking of (RA Centre?), this is something that the club had to agree to because the RA Centre is worried about liability for ricochets; JR had a swinger set-up made out of 2x4s, but they get shot all to hell on a regular basis. As long as you've got the space to store it, I think you could probably make a doorway-shaped frame that suspends a swinging target by way of some thin PVC pipe or the 1/4x1 target sticks they use.
 
Slavex said:
because of ricochets on an indoor range maybe? once you clad them in wood, they become huge and heavy. PVC ones or just plain old wood ones, would be the best.
Any pics of the ones you made Rob?
Click to expand...
I don't, but I'll try to take one tomorrow night. If I get it done you'll have to tell me how to post it. They are made from 1 X 2's on the upper, and 2X4's for the base. They come apart so you can trow them in the car.

You can prevent people from shooting them by insisting that anyone who does so must perform 500 push-ups. That should do it.
 
Thanks for the advice so far. I believe the problem is that the RA Centre is not 'certified' by the Ontario CFO for metal targets.

JR's previous swingers did get shot up, but they apparently lasted awhile, so I figure it would be worth my while to construct some more.

PVC or wood are the two materials that come to mind. Another option might be plastic or PVC 'lumber' of some type. Maybe the composite stuff wouldn't splinter as much.

I'll definately have replacement parts, or separate units available for match situations.
 
oh god, I hate ask, but......... since when does the CFO have the authorization to certifty what kind of targets can be shot at a club? there is nothing in the range regs for that, that I can find at least.
 
Slavex, I don't know about BC, but the Ontario CFO mandates minimum distances that steel can be shot, and steel must be covered for splatter.
 
yeah the Ont. CFO makes up it's own rules. there is nothing in the law giving them this power.
we don't shoot steel inside as we know it'll take out our lights, but that's for us to decide.
 
"...yeah the Ont. CFO makes up it's own rules..." Yep and there's nothing new about politically appointed officials making their own rules either.
If you can't use steel, nothing will last. So you need to think cheap to replace. Nothing is as cheap to replace as 2 x 4 studs, plywood and some chain.
 
even with the problems we have had at Oxford there has never been anything said about steel swingers as long as we are the required 10 m from the target
 
In the past I have used the 2x4 method with a bushing from Princess Auto with windshield washer bottle full of sand to weight it. To make spares I just used a piece of wood like the scales of justice to make sure each weight was identical. Then make sure they are attached identically on the swinger same way. I made like a shelf that held top and bottom on the main stick and secured with duct tape or zip ties.

This would be a good article for your new magazine slavex.
 
kent23 said:
Slavex, I don't know about BC, but the Ontario CFO mandates minimum distances that steel can be shot, and steel must be covered for splatter.
Click to expand...

I had to make a shroud to cover the .22 lr spinner that I shoot at 50m and 100m. Ontario CFO sucks donkeys! They claim it is for ricochet protection.
shroud3mail.jpg
 
Could be worse, we could have that big province to east rules. You know the one who has their provicals here every year for the last few.
 
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