Target stands...

J

Jiggy300

New member
Just wondering what everyone uses as a target stand or frame. The outdoor range I use will not allow wood backing so I use real estate signs with cardboard backing and binder clips to hold the cardboard on the frame. They are kinda cheap and last for awhile till the kids start hitting the frame but a plus side is Home Depot sells them.
 
I use the wires from political yard signs. Just got a bunch last Nov.

I bend them to the size of the target and attach with clothes pins. Uber cheap.
 
My shooting range is my yard, the fields around my house and my brother's 70 acre farm. I use 2 metal fence posts (3 sided that drives into the ground). I drive them into the ground 6-8' apart. I tie two large strong nylon strings between them about a foot or so apart. I use wooden clothes pins to hold the targets. I usually use styrofoam plates from Walmart with the 1" dots in the middle. The plates run 3 or 4 cents each and the dots are 300+ for a dollar at Walmart. I infrequently hit a clothes pin or one of the strings but the repair doesn't take but a minute or less and costs pennys. It has worked well for me for the last 2 or 3 years.
 
I use my cousin Willie.

He holds the targets at arms' length.

His quivering makes hitting the targets more challenging.
 
Political yard signs on their wire holders are excellent. One can staple the targets right to the sign -- they last longer than you'd think.
 
I bought a stand - H frame that lays on the ground and a couple of 1X2" furring strips sticking up. Cut up cardboard boxes for the target backing.
 
I almost exclusively use steel. Buy once and forget it. A few cans of cheap paint and you are good to go. I took a fairly heavy plastic sign and drilled a one inch hole in the center of it. White paint background and I use the 1 inch hole as a stencil with black paint as the target dot. I hang them using regular metal fence posts. Drive them into the ground, drill out one of the small holes and use a nut and bolt to attach the steel plate. Another trick is to find two trees close together and tie a piece of rebar between them. I hang the steel from them and I imagine they would work fine with clips and paper targets too. I buy the poster board that the kids use and a small pack of those stick on white dots to cover the holes. They'll last quite sometime. But I shoot private land. I have no idea what folks do in gun clubs and public ranges. Gives me the creeps thinking about it. :rolleyes:
 
My choices are:
4' tall Plastic fence posts with stakes at the bottom, the kind meant for gardens.
Two per target with cardboard wire tied between them.
Just jam them into the ground.
Light weight, quite sturdy, cheap and very easy to set up.
And, if the range allows, steel spinners of various sizes.
 
Three 17" length of 1" angle iron, welded into an 'H' shape, then two 8" pieces of 1"x2" tubing welded upright. Slip a couple of wood furring strips into them and staple/binding clip a carboard backer to the furring strip.

Quick, light, easy to transport and set up and about $12.
 
for hanging plates, I like using the steel shepherds hooks from Home Depot. They are relatively cheap and are skinny enough to dodge all but the most wayward bullet.
 
I use the wires from political yard signs. Just got a bunch last Nov.

I bend them to the size of the target and attach with clothes pins. Uber cheap.
Click to expand...

Yep, BUT................

Political yard signs on their wire holders are excellent. One can staple the targets right to the sign -- they last longer than you'd think
Click to expand...

This is much easier and better.

I also take two of those signs and tape them to a piece of cardboard for the indoor range where they have to be 2' x 3' - it makes them perfect for stapling any type of target to them.
 
I save a box whenever I get a good sized one that will fit in my SUV. I tape targets on it or use the sticker type targets. When I get done shooting in the woods, I take it back with me. When a better box comes along I recycle the old one. Sadly, I've had a new box in my truck for six months now :(
 
A lot of good ideas and I might have to use some. I wish I had property of my own to put a small range on, I grew up in North Dakota were only had to go 10 minutes to go shooting, now I live
In Colorado were it takes 45 minutes to a hour to get some where to shoot.
 
Last year (I think, could've been two years ago) someone on the forum posted a thread about how he used an old camp chair, a couple driveway markers, and four metal binder clips, and a piece of scrap cardboard to make a target stand. As I had a couple old camp chairs I couldn't use as chairs anymore, I gave it a try.

It works pretty well, and costs almost nothing. The driveway stakes, which I think are called snow pole driveway markers cost $2/piece at Home D. and the clips are $3/4 pc. set. I don't count the chairs, as I've had them for almost ten years, so the $15 that they cost brand new cancels considering how long I used them before the seats fell out of them.

I guess they cost a tad more now, as my brother's son somehow managed to hit one of the clips over turkey day, and blew the driveway stake to bits in the process.

I was going to try to explain exactly how to make one, but I found the thread. Just search: DIY portable target stand by RolandD.

Roland took the back of the chair off, but I'm kinda lazy about stuff like this, so I just left mine on, and just drilled through the nylon into the plastic caps of the chair, so I could insert the driveway marker poles.
 
here's the thing to remember... anything you leave behind will only give the anti-gunners a reason to shut down your favorite shooting area. BTW, this is for folks who shoot on public land. DO what you want on your own private property.

As an AZ resident, I am lucky enough to have some great BLM areas to shoot on, but too many people leave their trash behind. Even wood splinters and bits of paper left behind are enough to cast a bad light on the folks who shoot on public land. Now, because of some ding dongs making a mess, some of the areas we use to shoot are in jeopardy of being closed. Laugh if you want at this idea, but it only takes a few soccer moms with too much time on their hands to throw a wrench in the works.

So whatever choice you make, please be sure to leave no trace. Hence my choice to ONLY use steel. It leaves no mess and lasts for a long time.
 
That's right, I've encountered lots of crap left behind in the Gifford Pinchot national forest, my wife and I sometimes pick up as much as we can fit into our car to help remove it.
 
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