Hauling target frames (NRA HP / F-class)

[memilanuk]

We've got a kind of weird setup at our range, where there is no storage in the pits - and not a lot of good prospects for getting any. For the last oh... 4-5 decades or so our NRA HP target frames have been stored in a big building about 50 yds behind the 600yd firing line, loaded into the back of someone's pickup and drove down to the pits. The road winds down through a ravine, up a slope, etc.... it's about a half mile or so of two-track road. Not super rough, but enough so that it bangs the frames up a bit when they're stacked on top of one another in the truck bed (6 ft wide frames in a typical 4 ft wide bed). More of a concern now with e-targets and the sensor mounts in the corners.

The club has a UTV that doesn't get used enough, and we do have an old folding trailer - one of those little Harbor Freight jobs that is rated for about 500 lbs max. Perfect for the load we need, actually.

I'm curious if anyone has any ideas for some sort of transport 'frame' that would fit in the trailer and hold up to a half-dozen targets so they don't bang into one another - but that's still somewhat easily removed as other disciplines at the club also use the same trailer (primarily the Junior Smallbore group in the warmer months). I've got a few ideas in my head, but I figured I'd see if someone else has already solved this particular problem first.

Thanks!

 

[Todd-67]

Without a drawing this will be tough to explain but you could use PVC pipe and make a frame that slides between the wheel wells of the truck bed. Think of a rectangular frame with PVC dividers spaced so you can slide the frames in on their side but straight up and down. Legs facing out the tailgate.

I would imagine you could fit quite a few divider sections in 4ft of bed width. The dividers keep the target from hitting each other and banging off the bed. PVC could be slid in and out of a truck bed by one person and left outside for whomever to use.

 

[dthomas]

If you're having trouble picturing what tod is saying, just think of a windshield company hauling windshields in the back of a pickup.

 

[memilanuk]

It's actually similar to what I had in mind... but I was originally thinking in terms of 2x4 rather than PVC. The PVC would likely be lighter and/or smoother to handle.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

How about fixing the road? Maybe save some money for a small shed downrange?

 

[memilanuk]

Not really a reason to blow the club's budget for a year or more just to improve the road if a simple frame in the truck or trailer will do the job. Most of that ground is about 2" of dirt over crushed basalt. Not something that you just up and change without *heavy* equipment.

We've discussed sticking a small conex box back there. Not much point in putting anything less permanent there. Anything taller would stick up enough to where it'd get shot up by the 'casual shooters' aka general club membership. Getting something like that delivered and set in place is not cheap, not around here.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Not really a reason to blow the club's budget for a year or more just to improve the road if a simple frame in the truck or trailer will do the job. Most of that ground is about 2" of dirt over crushed basalt. Not something that you just up and change without *heavy* equipment.

We've discussed sticking a small conex box back there. Not much point in putting anything less permanent there. Anything taller would stick up enough to where it'd get shot up by the 'casual shooters' aka general club membership. Getting something like that delivered and set in place is not cheap, not around here.

If you have a volunteer with a tractor and disc you could smooth it out a bit by discing and dragging a pallet back over it. As far as a connex those folks that sell them around here will drop them off for $5500. Friend of mine just turned 2 of them into a camp cabin. They hauled them 100mi then into the woods