Where do you buy your target

depends also on were the targets are stored, heated or non heated storage, how often targets are ordered. Temperature and humidity variation can be a cause of broken birds. If a club is shooting everything it buys in less then a year, the breakage would be minimum.

We were a smaller club, and an order would generally last us two years in a non heated sea can.
 
Wow, I can't believe some of the breakage that you guys are seeing. We throw about 1,600 targets every Wednesday night and usually don't see any broken targets. Twice in the winter months we host an interclub and throw 5,000 or more targets and see perhaps 2 broken targets. In the warm weather, we host a number of registered ATA shoots and perhaps have a couple of broken targets all day. I've seen us throw upwards of 8,000 targets on a good day. Our main machine is a Pat and the other machine is a GMV Superstar. Both machines have been kept in top notch condition by a couple of our members. When we got our Pat trap, we retired a Canterbury machine ... now that machine broke a lot of targets. The lack of broken targets makes a huge difference to the bottom line and it also affects the scores.

Our trap machines break maybe 1/1000 targets. Its sporting machines that break more due to angles of the machine,movement of machines, possibility of getting wet etc.
 
When I was president of the North Bay Skeet & Trap Club a full truck load would last us two seasons. After we amalgamated NBST with the Rockcut Shooting Club we stepped up to a truckload each season. At the NBST we had still been running the old westerns where a trap person sat in the house and fed the machine. Breakage was minimal with a good trap loader. At Rockcut we used a Beomat automatic and it worked fantastic. When we amalgamated in 2000 the counter on the machine showed 30,000 targets cycled through. By the time I left the executive in 2006 it showed over a half million and the distributor told us not to worry about sending it back for a maintenance check over until it hit 1,000,000 rounds. It worked flawlessly year round.
 
Thank you for all the answers.

We have been shipped straight from WF factory a few years now and no horror story like i read here.

Like a few said, maintenance is key.

As a reference, with transport, taxes, breakage (99% of breakage happen when thrown) and useless "show me one", we usually have a cost of 0,09$ per "fired at" target. Its from 80% AA mixed with speciality clays for our sporting section (trap vs 5-stand are about 50-50).
 
The machines receive pretty much zero maintenance, and they break more targets than they should, but we used to order enough targets to last two years.

sorry stubble, when i replied with quote, I assumed Beretta687's quote would also be included.
I maintain my machine, and try to keep things working, replace the carrier once it gets all chewed up.
I buy a pellet at a time from the states, so it takes me a few years to use em up.
But, I do get breakage, actually more then i should, and kind of blame that on the temperature fluctuation, sweating, and time.
 
Thank you for all the answers.

We have been shipped straight from WF factory a few years now and no horror story like i read here.

Like a few said, maintenance is key.

As a reference, with transport, taxes, breakage (99% of breakage happen when thrown) and useless "show me one", we usually have a cost of 0,09$ per "fired at" target. Its from 80% AA mixed with speciality clays for our sporting section (trap vs 5-stand are about 50-50).

That is a very low price. Based on $0.09 per target and assuming only HST, pallets, wrapping and duty, with no brokerage, shipping or breakage that amounts to about $7.30 per case in USD, FOB factory. If you allow for shipping, brokerage and breakage the base cost FOB factory must be close to $6.00 per case USD. I need to recheck costs FOB factory, maybe they have gone down as in 2010 the base cost of WF AA targets, FOB California factory was higher. Our cost with taxes but without any breakage is $0.1323 per target, at least 50% higher than your cost. Anyone know if you could ship a semi-load, ie about 50,000# from Quebec to BC for say $3,000.
 
I have noticed ALOT of breakage issues at the Lloydminster Gun Club. They run WF targets through Pat Traps for the trap ranges and the old original Western machines for the skeet field. I would put the breakage issues at hand though at about a 95% lack of maintenance and cleaning of the trap field machines and 99.9% on the skeet machines as opposed to the targets. I have never seen machines in such poor condition.

You must be a very active volunteer at the club to know first hand and have such excellent insight on what the club could be doing better.

Let me fill you in chief, it is all volunteer.

If you aren't happy with the Lloydminster Gun Club, put in some effort to do this cleaning and maintenance, or find a new club.

Put up, or shut up.
Bill Stephens
 
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