[Oldnamvet]

Anyone have plans for a portable, durable, cheap, patterning frame to clip paper onto? (don't ask for much do I). What should the minimum dimensions be?:confused: I need something to take out to the club to check out new loads, guns, etc. Despite 2 skeet ranges and a trap range, the club never has a patterning frame for long. They are made of 2x4 and some yo-yo's invariably shoot slugs at the framing and cut it in half in no time.:fire: So I want my own.

[Ohen Cepel]

I don't have plans for you. Our club has plywood frames and are hell on anyone who shoots them with slugs:cuss: As should be!!!

For portable, I would think a pvc pipe frame/base would work well. Portable and light. For size, I think that's really up to your range that you wish to shoot at. The pvc pipe would take a lot of abuse if you shot wide so it shouldn't be a real issue.

Sorry I don't have better specs for you.

[sm]

Yeah kinda hard to find Velvet Elvis's for $3 anymore, darn things worked great tho'....
...weedwhacker line top and bottom, clothespin a piece of free blank newspaper to the line, shoot, make notes in paper and notebook and repeat.

--

--36" always seemed good enough for me.
PVC works well to fashion - however portable you need. Think "Ladder" or Easle", front flat, hind legs pull out to stand. The "H" stand used for Teddy's work well.
PVC base, allowing smaller PVC to fit into.

Again WeedWhacker line top and bottom, clothespins or bindary clips to hold targets.


--Real cheap and easy, discarded boxes from grocery stores, fold 'em to tote, unfold , shoot and burn at range. I f they burn target boxes, if not easy to fold a tote to where you can discard.

--Pallets: Always someone got these as gimmee's. Best kept secret for Pattern Board, and target board in general. WeedWhacker line again, and lean-to using berm, 2x4 from behind, ...etc.

These things hold up really well. Again at range if they burn trash boxes, just save these for the bonfire done for get togethers and let kids roast hot dogs, marshmellows and such...my version of recycling.

Six and Nine inch paper plates are great too. I figure by now I can tell the difference in a Wad, a slug and a pellet hole. So I stick a 6" inside a 9" onto a pattern sheet.

I get pattern density and slug groups figured out.. Ya'll can walk back and forth it ya want...I ain't thru yet, I want to shoot my pistol before I make a 21 yard trek ( or whatever distance) ...:p

Pattern at distance YOU are going to use that loading for.

HTH

[TrapperReady]

A setup I've thought about, but haven't tried yet, consists of a couple length of rebar (cut at an angle, so they can be easily driven a foot or so into the ground), chicken wire and some zip-ties.

Drive the rebar poles into the ground, secure the chicken wire to them with a few zip ties and then use clips to attach the paper to the chicken wire.

[pete f]

If you live near any type of larger town look in the yellow pages for for WEB offset printers or call your local news paper. I get "roll ends" which are the ends of the giant rolls of paper for taping off floors on my houses so the trades do not stain or trash finished floors when they comeback to final a house. I get these for free and I get 63 inch wide rolls as well as 36' or 40 rolls" All i want for a twelve pack of beer. they usually enough on each roll of paper to easily cover the floor of a large room. so you get plenty for a patterning paper. If you are shooting where you can lean the pattern up a gainst a tree or a stump, the aforementioned pallet and a stapler can make all the pattern target backers you can want.

[Oldnamvet]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll have to see what I can cobble up in the garage as a prototype.