Pit Safety

[FatBoy]

I ordered 400 today. 200 1.5" and 200 3". Not sure of exact cost yet, as they have a tiered price system depending on how many you order, but it's something along the lines of $.45 each for the 3" and like $.35 for the 1.5". Will update when I get the invoice, but it seemed reasonable to me.

I was advised that if you directly hit the spindle it will destroy the spotter and rip the target, but they don't explode. The spindle folds to 90° and is pulled through the cardboard, ripping it like a butter knife. I can live with that.


These will be at AEDC and hopefully Henry County for the next match.

 

[dannyjbiggs]

I just keep on wearing my broad-brimmed Tilley with safety glasses, long sleeved shirt, and avoid looking up at the target face as much as possible.

Dan

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I thought I was the only one with a Tilley hat.

 

[FatBoy]

I just keep on wearing my broad-brimmed Tilley with safety glasses, long sleeved shirt, and avoid looking up at the target face as much as possible.

Dan

Says the man who probably blew up 5 or 6 this Sunday.

Whomever was relay 3/4 target 9 was wearing the spindles out.

 

[20-practical]

My dad and I made the Molds for both 3.0" and 1.5" diameter plastic spotters and we are still making them. Please call George at 763-441-3030 or on his cell at 612-723-7303 to order or ask any additional questions. thanks, Russ

 

[BIG D]

I've used these and they are the best thing since sliced bread. I have witnessed spindles and Gulf tees draw blood and in some cases almost take out an eyeball!!! I purchased 1,000 from George last year in elk river. very nice man and a great BSer. The ones I've had experience with are the 1.5" spotters they are white on both sides ,but that's an easy fix with some black spray paint. the beauty to these is they do very little damage to puller or targets. out of the 1,000 I purchased I gave most of them away to the ranges here in Wisconsin for 600 yard f class. George and his son Russ are both f class competitors and have a very good product here. Not sure how heavy they want to go on sales but if you can buy them they are well worth the money. Buy with confidence. Great guys great product.

 

[20-practical]

View attachment 999959View attachment 999960 I've used these and they are the best thing since sliced bread. I have witnessed spindles and Gulf tees draw blood and in some cases almost take out an eyeball!!! I purchased 1,000 from George last year in elk river. very nice man and a great BSer. The ones I've had experience with are the 1.5" spotters they are white on both sides ,but that's an easy fix with some black spray paint. the beauty to these is they do very little damage to puller or targets. out of the 1,000 I purchased I gave most of them away to the ranges here in Wisconsin for 600 yard f class. George and his son Russ are both f class competitors and have a very good product here. Not sure how heavy they want to go on sales but if you can buy them they are well worth the money. Buy with confidence. Great guys great product.

Big D. Thank you for your kind words. Russ

 

[BIG D]

Big D. Thank you for your kind words. Russ

No problem Russ. Good product you and your Dad have and it shouldn't go unnoticed.
I hope to see you guys at some of those mud puddle shoots again this summer. I had fun being a cheese head in with all those mud ducks. lol
I should post a picture of your bump stop but I will leave that up to you as I've misplaced mine at this time.
Hope all is well with you and your family. And please tell your Dad I say hello. Jeff Dick

 

[Berger.Fan222]

I just keep on wearing my broad-brimmed Tilley with safety glasses, long sleeved shirt, and avoid looking up at the target face as much as possible.

Dan

I wish I could avoid looking at the target face, but I'm not very good at hearing or feeling the crack, so at ranges without a berm, I end up looking at the target face to see the new hole or paper raining down. I appreciate the new technologies (electronic and improved spindles) that reduce the risks. If I recall, AEDC doesn't have a berm to watch. Kudos to Chris for ordering the new spindles.

 

[JBO]

Really a great product and also real money saver for clubs too ! Once you use them you'll never go back.

 

[Tod Hendricks]

For our 300 yard F class, I make spotters out of card stock paper and a cocktail straw. I purchased a couple paper punches on Amazon, one 1/2" and one 1/8". Punch out 1/2" discs, and punch 1/8" holes in the center. Push the cocktail straw thru the 1/8" hole apply a dab of hot glue. I leave about an inch sticking out for a handle. Seems to work pretty good, haven't seen a center blown out due to this spotter yet.

 

[Ringostar]

The white injection molded spotters are great to use. I've seen many of them hit while shooting the Minnesota F class state championship. Non of them exploded. We were so impressed with them, we got some to take back home with us.

 

[skiutah02]

I will add to the consensus about the awesomeness of the molded spotters.

I've personally seen them hit 4 or 5 times without having to replace them even within 1/4 inch of center. If you do a true hole-in-hole hit they will get destroyed but the target damage is manageable. More than half the time a direct hit on spindle breaks one half off and you can turn it around and keep going.

For 300 yd comp, I have seen no better solution than sparker has described (except electronic targets! ). Covering most recent hole with round white paster and old white paster with black paster.

Drew

 

[Bob Sebold]

I have used them and they work great. We don't need them now at Lodi with E targets, but they really work great and usually last a very long time. First one I every tried blew out and just fell slowly down on the very first shot with it. And that is the only time that ever happened again. They can shot over and over again and the spindle can get hit but it will still work. Mostly just bends. You have to do an exact center punch to wreck them. The odds of it happening on first shot I ever used them must be small, I haven't had it happen again and have used them a lot.

 

[saunaking]

I believe these will be used at BSWN this year.

 

[Immike]

We have been using the 1-1/2" @600 in Missouri for around 2 seasons with good luck all around. The plastic is bright and vivid on the target with very few requests if any for a larger spotter. Hard Plastic spindles are pretty dangerous little devils and just a accident waiting to happen. Well worth the money and being all one piece makes them easy to handle also. They seem to punch out easier on coraplastic than cardboard or foam with the extra support it gives but no more big blowouts on any of them. We went through 500 in the last 2 yrs @ StLouis if that helps any.

 

[Cakes]

++ on the molded 1.5 & 3" spotters from George and Russ. They will take care of you and make a great product. These spotters are pretty much the "norm" in Minnesota and starting to see them in ND/WI as well. Had a wooden tee shatter and actually stick in my forehead and had one chip a tooth! I like the golf tees for 300/600 but they shatter way too frequently and as such don't see them too much anymore. Have to talk them into making a .5" version. Can't improve on these spotters and velcro attached scoring discs IMO. And of course I always wear a hat and glasses!

 

[XTR]

I just keep on wearing my broad-brimmed Tilley with safety glasses, long sleeved shirt, and avoid looking up at the target face as much as possible.

Dan

Danny, you are a prime example of why people should always wear glasses in the pits. I believe something like 7 spindles in one of the mid range matches last yr at Tullahoma.

Heck, I forget, but you and Murphy combined just about cleaned out all the spindles on my end of the pits.

Yes, in the pits I always wear glasses and a hat.

 

[Mike F H]

I am surprised that you persevere with hard brittle spotters,or as you call them,spindles.In Australia we used wooden pegs and card discs,if the peg was hit,the spotter could blow through the target,then it needed a repair to the target face,all this slowed down the shooting.For a while balsa wood pegs were used as they didn't shatter as much as the hard wood.The better idea is to use plastic/polythene tubing for the peg.Our club uses a 6 mm tubing,as commonly used for irrigation dripper tube.The benefit of this is that if hit by a bullet,all that happens is that the tubing may be twisted up a bit,but usuallyi you can continue on.The only time I was in the States,the first time a spindle was hit,it was a shock.In FTR or F/Open hitting a spindle is not uncommon these days.We use thin card for the spotting disc.

 

[FatBoy]

My spotters arrived last night. They are firmer than I thought and should hold up very well. Some thought definitely went into these. George made it real easy to figure out where to get replacement too