Riomouse911
Member
I coach my local high school JROTC 10m 3-position air rifle marksmanship team. We have a dozen regular shooters, with a few more who make practice when they can.
Over spring break I figured I would take the time to repair the 12 wooden framed-steel backed target boxes the school has. The box edges have taken a beating from numerous wayward pellets over the years. Most boxes have several embedded pellets stuck in them, causing some of the plywood to separate and the oak trim facing pieces to splinter, loosen, and on one box completely fall off.
(A couple, like box 12 below, even have pellet holes in the lane ID sheet above the targets. Clearly those shots were waaaay off!)
I pulled the 7/8 oak trim off the boxes that still had them attached and pulled the finishing pins holding them on, I reglued and clamped the delaminated plywood sections and the corners that needed it, and sanded the rough faces smooth.
To make these boxes a bit more beginner-proof, I went to the steel yard and bought some 10’ lengths of 1/8” x 1” rectangle and cut them to fit the outer frame where the battered oak trim used to sit.
A 3/16” hole with a 3/8” countersink were drilled into the steel pieces to allow them to be screwed to the boxes, and the burrs and sharp edges were smoothed on the bench grinder. Tan epoxy paint covers the steel pieces to help blend in with the box frames.
A thin line of silicone adhesive along the edges of the wood helps hold the steel to the frame along with 1 1/4” deck screws.
The CMP supplied Orion Scoring System targets are a bit smaller than these 10m targets I bought for myself, I have to cut the edges of these targets with scissors to fit in these frames. (The Orions have the bullseyes a touch closer together, so the outer bulls are further from the edges than these are. )
Looking forward to a week from tomorrow, the boxes will be better able to shrug off misplaced shots. I will hang them back up on their stands fresh and ready to go, and the kids will be back at it.
Stay safe.
Over spring break I figured I would take the time to repair the 12 wooden framed-steel backed target boxes the school has. The box edges have taken a beating from numerous wayward pellets over the years. Most boxes have several embedded pellets stuck in them, causing some of the plywood to separate and the oak trim facing pieces to splinter, loosen, and on one box completely fall off.
(A couple, like box 12 below, even have pellet holes in the lane ID sheet above the targets. Clearly those shots were waaaay off!)
I pulled the 7/8 oak trim off the boxes that still had them attached and pulled the finishing pins holding them on, I reglued and clamped the delaminated plywood sections and the corners that needed it, and sanded the rough faces smooth.
To make these boxes a bit more beginner-proof, I went to the steel yard and bought some 10’ lengths of 1/8” x 1” rectangle and cut them to fit the outer frame where the battered oak trim used to sit.
A 3/16” hole with a 3/8” countersink were drilled into the steel pieces to allow them to be screwed to the boxes, and the burrs and sharp edges were smoothed on the bench grinder. Tan epoxy paint covers the steel pieces to help blend in with the box frames.
A thin line of silicone adhesive along the edges of the wood helps hold the steel to the frame along with 1 1/4” deck screws.
The CMP supplied Orion Scoring System targets are a bit smaller than these 10m targets I bought for myself, I have to cut the edges of these targets with scissors to fit in these frames. (The Orions have the bullseyes a touch closer together, so the outer bulls are further from the edges than these are. )
Looking forward to a week from tomorrow, the boxes will be better able to shrug off misplaced shots. I will hang them back up on their stands fresh and ready to go, and the kids will be back at it.
Stay safe.
