Winchester / Western Trap & Skeet Parts

Boomer686

Boomer686

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Looking for some parts for our aging Winchester / Western Traps. Anywhere in Canada to get them ?

Looking for two main springs either the assembly # XU40W or just the springs XU44.

Dealing with Western Retro in BC is like pulling teeth without anesthetic......
 
Boomer686 said:
Looking for some parts for our aging Winchester / Western Traps. Anywhere in Canada to get them ?

Looking for two main springs either the assembly # XU40W or just the springs XU44.

Dealing with Western Retro in BC is like pulling teeth without anesthetic......
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i've dealt lots with western retro, no problems. those parts should be on there website page. order them directly from there.
 
got our parts. This will most likely be the last season for our aging Winchesters. Looking at replacing them now with beomat, laPorte or promatic.
 
Boomer686 said:
got our parts. This will most likely be the last season for our aging Winchesters. Looking at replacing them now with beomat, laPorte or promatic.
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I’d suggest going with Laporte. No doubt beomats pretty well throw the best targets. But are quite expensive and need regular sometime intensive maintenance.

Our last set were Matarellis. Basically bullet proof reliability wise. Don’t throw a skeet target worth a darn. Very inconsistent. Disappointing.

Laporte seems to have the best combo of price, reliability and simplicity. And throw a decent target. They also seem to be quite active and engaged with clubs and consumers.
 
We seem to be talking back on forth between Beomat and Promatic. Any down sides to either?
Maintenance wise I have been reading that the Beomats seem to be the least problematic? Promatic machines are a lot more money too than the Beomats from what I saw so far. Is there that big a difference in the machines?

Our old Winchesters will probably be re-purposed to the sporting clays area where they will see considerably less once paired with other machines.
 
Can't comment on Beomat since I have never used one but I have heard they require considerable maintenance. We have about 30 Promatics used for sporting clays. I would pick Promatic over Materelli and LaPorte which we have used as well. Promatic has a very simple and dependable design, basically very little to go wrong or adjust. Parts are readily available although the only thing we have needed so far is spring fingers for the chondel machines and weaker springs for some sporting clays targets. They have a full time service dept which you can talk to as well.

One of the other clubs in our area purchased a Promatic trap package about 3 years ago and then found out that there was not enough interest to put it into service so as far as I know it is still on the shipping pallet. Advise if this may be of interest to you.
 
Boomer686 said:
We seem to be talking back on forth between Beomat and Promatic. Any down sides to either?
Maintenance wise I have been reading that the Beomats seem to be the least problematic? Promatic machines are a lot more money too than the Beomats from what I saw so far. Is there that big a difference in the machines?

Our old Winchesters will probably be re-purposed to the sporting clays area where they will see considerably less once paired with other machines.
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We around 12,000cdn a few years ago for a new set of beomats. New Laporte skeet set is around 6600usd.

If you’re looking for sporting clays machines promatic, Laporte both good machines.

I only suggest Laporte over promatic for skeet because I think the Laporte throws a more consistent target for skeet where it’s much noticeable.

That said if ultimate target performance is the goal for your skeet field. Beomats and the old westerns you have throw the best, most consistent target. It’s all about the spin on the target.
 
We primarily use Beomats at the Moncton Gun Club, ours are starting to show their age. When they are working right, they throw consistent targets, but when they are cranky they will drive you nuts trying to figure what their issue is. We do have some spare Winchester parts and old single trap unit around the club that could be parted with in case anyone is looking. The single traps haven't been used in some time.
 
Ian Brotherson at Western Retro does great work on the Winchester Traps.

I bought a DS100 with wobble and oscillation from him 10 years ago and it runs like a swiss watch.

With the Olympic Arm, it will throw wobble doubles almost faster than you can swing. Great fun.
 
We ran Beomat for many years at my former club, for trap and skeet. They didn't get much maintenance, and they were pretty much trouble free. The last machine we purchased was a Promatic, and it has also done well. My present club purchased some used Superstars a couple of years ago, and other than one motor, that had issues, so far so good. The one problem with the Superstars, is that they are no longer in production, and motors are nearly impossible to locate. It is certainly nice, not to have to refill the old single stack throwers after every round. If we need new machines in the future, we will definitely look at MEC, great prices, and American made, so parts should be easier to get.
 
It really depends what kind of targets you would like to throw. Do you just need targets in the air, or do you want targets to go where they are supposed to go? If your customers are competitive skeet and trap shooters, then you would fall into the latter.

For skeet, I would go with Beomat. The basic maintenance isn't that difficult, but must be performed to maintain decent skeet targets.

The trap guys seem to go with Pat Traps as the gold standard.

I think for sporting that you would want something reliable, but generally just "in the air" is acceptable. Not my area of specialty and I don't have a particular recommendation here.

Regardless of the traps you choose, you NEED to have someone dedicated to keeping them running. Maintenance by committee is a recipe for disaster, as is simply ignoring them (I've seen both methods used with similar results).
Brad.
 
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Listen to Brad as he knows what he's talking about. Those WW machines are almost indestructible and will throw consistent targets all day long if maintained properly. But constant refilling those buggers gets old fast. I was an active member at Max's club for more than 30 yrs. and spent many happy hours on the Skeet field. We had demanding shooters back then who wanted only the best targets. Today, Skeet is more a recreational activity at this club and so any good reliable multi stack machine will fit the bill. Laporte, Promatic and MEC multi stack machines are good choices. Parts and service as well as price range are all factors to be weighed. My choice would be MEC. Beomats are probably the premier machines but do require careful maintenance for top performance and are expensive initially. At the Charlottetown Trap and Skeet Club we have some of the best Skeeters around and they must have perfect targets. Luckily we have a dedicated mechanic/magician who keep those babies humming.
 
I was under the impression that Beomat are no longer in business. I have no experience with the Promatic machines, but the sporting clays guys love them. I would expect that their trap machines would be as well made.

In the eastern side of the North American continent, I expect that the only serious trap machine being purchased these days are the Pat traps. They are trouble free and very easy to work on. The only thing that I don't like about them is they throw doubles that curl outwards.
 
Beretta687EELL said:
I was under the impression that Beomat are no longer in business.
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Anything is possible, but their website is still active https://beomat.se/en/

Beomat America (I think it was a single guy out in California) retired, and my understanding is that QRP picked up the importing.

I think that is is still business as usual, but I haven't gone looking for machines in a long time, and could be wrong.

Brad.
 
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