Manually operated clay throwers

[Gatehouse]

What are some recommendations for a manually operated thrower? (Not electric) Needs to be somewhat portable via vehicle and one/two men able to lift it into place.

Throwing in one direction at a time is fine, this will mostly be used by beginner shooters so no need for a wobble style machine. I've seen some smaller machines that don't work very well, don't throw the clay very far, that sort of thing, so not looking for one of those cheap models.

 

[Westward1]

Lincoln

 

[Ashcroft]

There are lots of different really good battery powered sporting clays machines available. Most will provide 1/2 day or more operation on a full charged car, boat or rv battery. Most will throw doubles and most are very adjustable for elevations, angles, etc. Contact some sporting clays clubs in your area, most are constantly upgrading and sometimes have older machines available at a reasonable price. All will meet your portability requirements, some are on wheels. J

 

[DT741]

We use a Champion, Do All Outdoor and another no name one. All three cost less than 35$ before taxe when bought, they have thrown 1000s of clays in numerous "gravel pit clay blasting tournament"

The Champion one throws very high and very far when adjusted

 

[Kenny]

Lincoln SC 90, best manual I have seen. The price reflects that. Thrower with a sit down stand are north of a grand. Very tough very reliable. Keep your eyes open you can sometimes find a club that is going to auto throwers and have a bunch of manuals for sale.

 

[the spank]

Lincoln is by far THE BEST manual machine out there. They aren't cheap but they are designed for sporting clays courses where they will be in service for many years.

 

[zenmagic]

Trius One-Step is the best I have found for a $150 thrower. Bird is thrown by the step of your foot. Solid construction, adjustable angle. Throws bird as far as my club's trap machine. You can launch the bird and shoot it by yourself. Don't need 2 people.

 

[VictoryXC]

I picked up a Trius One Step for under $100 on Amazon. It works quite well.

 

[Gatehouse]

What do you guys think of these?

http://www.championtarget.com/traps/recreational/manual/skybird.aspx

https://www.amazon.ca/Trius-10201-One-Step-Trap/dp/B0000C53F6

 

[Gatehouse]

Trius One-Step is the best I have found for a $150 thrower. Bird is thrown by the step of your foot. Solid construction, adjustable angle. Throws bird as far as my club's trap machine. You can launch the bird and shoot it by yourself. Don't need 2 people.

Is the one I posted above the same as yours?

 

[Scotty454]

I've been rocking a trius one step for a few years now. I had to drill and pin one of the pivot points. The throwing arm would want to come off. But it still works great. It will throw doubles as well, albeit not nearly as far.

 

[sfp]

Trius 1 step is great. Has worked for 5000 + clays. Only reasonably priced one that throw's doubles as far as I know.
I have 2. 1 guy can throw 1-2-3 or 4 clays at once in 2 different directions. In my group it is cheating to look at the thrower. You never know what is coming.

 

[Mulby]

Just picked up the Trius 1-step yesterday. Put it together and had a ton of fun. It seems really solid, and from the reviews I've watched and read, will last with minimal mantenance.

 

[Wellse]

I bought a champion thrower (the style with the 3 legs you stick in the ground) but was never impressed because it always worked it's way out of the ground, or the ground was too hard (we shoot a fair bit in the winter as well). So I ended up making a "frame" with 2" square tube looks like a L with a brace in the bottom corner, made a swivel part way up with some plate and 2 bolts, and bolted the thrower to the top of it. Fits in the hitch of a truck, sits far enough out to drop the tailgate, and the thrower sits high enough that you can sit in a lawn chair while you load clays. Everybody who has seen it has asked for one.
I don't have a picture on my phone to upload, but can email you one of you want one (just message me)

 

[Claybuster]

What do you guys think of these?

For light, casual use the Champion isn't a bad thrower. I've also used the Trius and didn't think they stood up well.

As noted previously, Lincoln sets the standard for manual throwers and with many clubs transitioning over to the Promatic and similar electric machines there are Lincoln manuals available on the used market.

 

[canucklehead]

+1 for the Trius One-step. I use my Atlas AT-50 mainly now, but for casual clays, the One-step is hard to beat!

 

[Gatehouse]

This will maybe throw 1000 Clays a year, tops. More likely half of that. Sounds like the Trius is a good option. All I really need is to have decent presentation. Some of the cheap throwers I've seen look like you would be better off throwing the clay like a frisbee.

 

[zenmagic]

Is the one I posted above the same as yours?

Yessir! The benefit of the foot pedal is that you can go to the range by yourself and use it as well. Awesome for singles. Not so much for doubles.

 

[Kenny]

This will maybe throw 1000 Clays a year, tops. More likely half of that. Sounds like the Trius is a good option. All I really need is to have decent presentation. Some of the cheap throwers I've seen look like you would be better off throwing the clay like a frisbee.

Our throwers have to be able to handle well over 100,000 targets a year. but for personal use there are many options

 

[Gatehouse]

I went with the Trius, perfect for my needs. We were busting clays with an MKA 1919 using a Vortex spitfire 1x optic. It has a dot int he middle and two circles around the dot. Put the clay anywhere inside the circle and you get a hit. It was just tooo much fun when we tried it out yesterday.