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Making a Portable Metal Target Box


uscmCorps

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Didn't want to resurrect any super old threads, so I just wanted to contribute my take on this issue: Making a Decent Portable Target Box for long term use.

 

Like many of you, I don't have access to a decent outdoor area to test fire my guns... at least not an area in which the neighbors wouldn't readily call SWAT down on me. So I'm stuck shooting in the garage. I tried the card board box approach but I eventually shred them especially with full auto fire. And I was getting pretty tired of picking up used BBs off the floor with the shop-vac.

 

So I decided to make an Indoor Target Box. I had a general idea of how I wanted to construct it, but I gave myself certain criteria to adhere to: (a) Shouldn't be over engineered, (b ) easily made using found objects and/or items found in hardware stores, (c ) relatively cheap and robust, (d) light and relatively portable, and lastly but also most importantly (e) the Target Box had to use 8.5" x 11" printed targets (basically A4 sized). This last criteria was the most important as there are so many really decent free printable targets that can be downloaded off the internet, and once I downloaded one, I could simply photocopy it at work so that I'd have an almost limitless amount of targets to shoot at.

 

Step 1: The Frame

With that in mind I began construction, starting with the frame which comprised of 4 pieces of aluminium Bar stock (1/8" thick x 1 1/2" wide) cut into lengths so that when assembled into a frame, the hole in the center would be just a little wider than 8.5" wide, and about 9 to 10" high. The reason why it's shorter than the paper is long is because I needed enough of the paper to overlap with the frame so that I can clip it in place easily.

 

Step 2: Holding the paper in place

To hold the paper in place, I bought two clip boards from Staples. The clip part of the clip boards are simply riveted in place so I just drilled the rivets out and the clips popped right off. I then bolted one clip to the top of the frame, and one clip (turned upside down) to the bottom of the frame. This system held the targets very firmly and because the top and bottom bars of the frame was behind the side bars of the frame, the paper was held somewhat recessed which deterred BBs from flying out the side of the paper during ricochets.

 

Step 3: Making a support / stand

To keep the frame upright I used two steel L-Brackets (12" x 14") that are normally used for shelves. These brackets were bolted to the back of the frame keeping it perfectly 90 degrees upright. The loose ends of the two brackets were bolted together using another piece of Bar stock (the same as used for the frame) which keeps the entire structure SOLID.

 

Step 4: making a catcher for the BBs

While at Staples I came across some office trash cans made out of steel / aluminium mesh. They're more often found in the round variety. I lucked out and found a square one. I also lucked out in that when I bolted the brackets to the frame, I unwittingly made them exactly the same width apart as that of the corresponding edges of the trash can. The trash can was then directly bolted onto the backs of the brackets and is also rock solid. A hand towel is used to slow the BBs down when entering the catcher and it's held in place by having the top edge of the towel wedged between the top of the frame and the trash can. The rest of the towel is simply allowed to hang loosely in the catcher.

 

What you can't see in the pics below is the addition of some black card that funnels all the BBs that roll out the trash can into a choke point in the space between the bottom edge of the trash can and the back of the bottom of the frame. These BBs roll out into a box or a can below making disposal easy. (I'm still trying to figure out a better, more elegant solution for this, but for now... it works ;) ).

 

3 Quarter view:

 

targetbox1jb1.jpg

 

 

Front view:

 

targetbox2hy3.jpg

 

 

Front view, no target:

 

targetbox3sc2.jpg

 

 

Side view, Hand Towel absent:

 

targetbox4fy2.jpg

 

 

Side view, Hand Towel in place:

 

targetbox5tt9.jpg

 

Typically I have the Target Box sitting on top of a large Trash Can in the garage. I made sure to make it sturdy enough to with stand being held firmly in place on the trash can using bungie cords. But further testing showed that I didn't need the bungie cords and the Box stayed nicely in place even during full auto fire using fps above forum limits.

 

Being relatively portable, this could easily be used indoors as well as outdoors (for those environmentally conscious guys and gals). All in all was relatively cheap to make: about US$60 in parts, but it could probably be cheaper if you find some of the items like the trash can and clip boards at a yard sale or some other used item venue. And it didn't take long to construct: about 4 - 5 hours (mostly because I'm super compulsive about angles and measurements and I kinda winged it for the most part). If I made it again it'd probably take a lot less time.

 

Here are some links to some free downloadable targets:

* MyTargets.com

* ReloadBench.com

* ProTargets.com (You'll need to scroll down)

* GlockFAQ.com

They should all print at 8.5" x 11" (I think they do, but you may want to check first).

 

Anyway there you have it! :)

 

-Alex

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that's nice! I have something along the same lines, on a few sustained fire tests I was getting BBs flying back out of the target box so I hung a bit of thick curtain like material at the back. Now the BBs go through the paper target and smack into the curtain and loose all their energy :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the kind words! I've since put a few thousand rounds through this BB catcher, and I can't even imagine how I used to practice target shooting without it. Between the compact size, robustness of the design, speed in changing paper targets, and not having to pick up loads of BBs off the floor... I'm having a fun time zeroing my targets! ;)

 

I heartily recommend this kind of build to anyone looking for a simple BB Catcher!

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Very nice man. I like the idea of using the retaining parts from a clip-board. Very smooth. I am actually in the process of making a catch out of 16-guage steel plate in my Ag-Mechanics class at school. The design is pretty much completely different in all aspects, so we shall see how it works out. I should be done soon, so I will put up some pics somewhere.

 

Once again man, very creative. It is good to see different stuff out there.

 

-Jake

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Thanks guys! The clip board idea came to me when I sat down and thought of quick and easy ways of replacing the paper target. Traditionally, I'd use masking tape to tape the target to the opening of a box and just shoot that. But that solution was both time consuming and materially wasteful (go through a lot of tape as you'd imagine). Plus, when you think about how often you'd want to change targets (one mid-cap would pretty much shred any target), it'd be great to have a quick and simple setup method. I had looked at target catchers that are commonly available on the market, but a lot of those require you to sandwich the paper on all four sides between the catcher's window and frame. Plus they couldn't use letter / A4 sized paper as that was too big and long. This solution worked out perfectly for me.

 

I was thinking about painting the whole thing matte black but I kinda like the brushed metal look too.

 

Please feel free to post your own results in this thread! I really look forward to seeing what others come up with :)

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USCM - My garage's drywall wants to thank you in advance from the bottom of its heart. I have tried all manner of cardboard and whatnot before, but even my stock guns tore right though, and decimated the wall behind. I'll definitely have to put something together similar to what you did - my landlord isn't really happy with me :(

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  • 1 year later...

I was thinking of solutions for the "bb drainage" problem. One thing that came to mind was taking L-shaped pieces of metal and screwing them into the part of the trashcan in a V shape, then, in the area were most of the bbs will collect because of this V, take a large diameter drill bit(ie the ones that make like 2 inch diameter circkes or something), or a saw, and cut a hole a bit larger than the top of one of those BB feeder bottles that come with most purchases of crappy bbs. Take the top of of one of these BB feeders, cannibalize it, so that the rounded part with the little feeding tube(which never work properly anyway<_< ) is completely cut off, and only the threads remain... Glue/epoxy/jb weld in so it is just about flush and at the lowest point where all the bbs collect. Then, take one of those smaller BB bottles, like the ones that come with ICS bbs or airsplat BBs, whathaveyou, and screw it in.... You you have an easy method for getting all the bbs out and if you have a claymore or something, you can use them as fodder Also, I was thinking some hard rubber or something would be good to put at the back, so that if anything does impact the trashcan, it isn't a jarring bb on metal sound and the ruber will cushion it. I am sure the stuff they use for tool chests that is cutable and adhesive would be perfect for that....

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That's an excellent project there. I myself have the same issue with not having immediate access to a shooting area. This would work quite well in my apartment so I may consider copying your design in some way.

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Quality design, very posh. Have you considered back lighting the target sheet so that the holes are illuminated? Useful for snipers who would use this at greater distances.

I've considered it. Trying to place a light on the inside to backlight the paper ... and not have the light get destroyed by errant shots has proven difficult. :(

 

That's an excellent project there. I myself have the same issue with not having immediate access to a shooting area. This would work quite well in my apartment so I may consider copying your design in some way.

This target box has still held up 100% to everything I've thrown at it. A tray that sits under the target collects all the BBs for easy clean up.

 

That is excellent! You've given me some inspiration to make my own now :) At the moment i'm just firing across a neighbours garden (with permission) into some private woodland, this will give me the option of doing it in the back yard without having to sweep up thousands of bb's lol.

Yep. It's turned my garage into quite the shooting range! :)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks guys! My target box is still holding as well as the day I made it and it gets a lot of regular use. I've been really pleased with it and it's kept my garage BB free this whole time. :D

 

As for how the idea came to me, I started by thinking about the target itself and how I'd hold it in place and the rest evolved from there. It's a shockingly simple design when you think about it.

 

DyNo, that's a cool looking target holder! Got any more pics of it?

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I've considered it. Trying to place a light on the inside to backlight the paper ... and not have the light get destroyed by errant shots has proven difficult. :(

 

Polycarbonate is your freind, and if you install it so BB's hit it at an angle, it will be even stronger and you can deflect BB's in a desired direction ;)

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Polycarbonate is your freind, and if you install it so BB's hit it at an angle, it will be even stronger and you can deflect BB's in a desired direction ;)

You know what... I might have to actually try that. I wonder if they sell polycarbonate waste paper bins. :D

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I should make one so I don't have to shoot outside all the time. Great work!

 

I used one of the sticky targets with my TM Thompson, and the sticky substance got holes punched through it, lol! Looks like this is a great replacement.

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I used one of the sticky targets with my TM Thompson, and the sticky substance got holes punched through it, lol! Looks like this is a great replacement.

 

Thouse sticky things are useless for all but the weakest and cheapest springer pistols made for 0.12g BB's (but they do work moderately well for thouse).

 

Personally i just bought a steel target box for an air-rifle ("box" may not be the right word though, it's more of a square funnel that leads to a collection trap), and that works just fine, although it is a wee bit messy, the BB's get mashed to a powder in there when they impact, and some of the BB dust allways end up on the floor when i change targets or try to empty the collection trap (but placing it on an old newspaper solves that).

 

The downside to this, though, is that it is loud, BB's impacting on steel makes alot of racket, so i may actually try and build something like this target box myself, it seems it would be more considderate twords my neighbours ;)

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Hey USCM, What the max FPS you could probably use on this thing before you start seeing some big dents?

Even with the occassional dent on the clip board clips, the dents are extremely minor/superficial. There's no noticeable dents on any of the rest of the target box (the aluminum frame is extremely strong). I've used this with 450+ FPS guns with zero problems. The design is really solid and I'd imagine it could take pretty much anything I could shoot at it short of live rounds. I'd have zero concerns shooting a 650+ FPS sniper rifle at it.

 

As for audible sound, this design is extremely quiet thanks to the towel inside. The only sound is from the gun firing, nothing else.

 

Most of the BBs roll out the crack at the bottom and are collected in a box below. The primary concern for me initially was having some kind of way to hold the paper in place securely, and make replacement of said paper target painless and quick. A lot of target boxes I came across when researching this seemed to sandwich the paper target between two frames locked together. I've used that years ago and the first frustration about it was that it was slow to swap out targets and the second issue was that you had to use whatever proprietary targets they supplied you with. So when I set out to make my own, I said that it has to be easy and quick to use (which thanks to the clipboard clips let's you switch targets in mere seconds). The requirement was that it had to use A4/Letter (8.5"x11") paper. That way I can make a target template and photocopy hundreds at a time when I needed more (which is free thanks to work :)). From there I designed the simple aluminum frame and the clipboards were available at any office supply store. Just kinda evolved from there. It was surprisingly simple once I figured out the design.

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