airgun bell target that I just finished... shown with my little 3 inch bell target for closer distances for air pistols and 10 meter air rifles.
Weighs in at about 18 pounds due to the 3/8" thick steel angle plate... with 3 holes in the faceplate, 1/2", 1 1/4", and 3/4".
Here's the 3-inch bell target that also recently completed, along with a stand for it that includes two spinner targets made from flattened spoons !
♫♫She just loves my big ten inch…record of my favorite blues♫♫
Love the Aerosmith tie-in Ken.
I think the main reason I prefer air to powder is that you can actually hear the impact. What you have created exemplifies that. I love it. Totally reactive target to boot. You have a very nice setup there for sure!
♫♫You can ring my beee eee eel….ring my bell♫♫ ?
@straitflite Thanks Bo !
When I run across certain things, like these old bells, I can't resist buying them and turning them into projects, like reactive targets.
My wife just looks at me and says "Not another target !"
Then I have to explain to her about shooting and sighting in at various distances... but I don't think she appreciates my "mansplaining" !
?
Love the Aerosmith tie-in Ken.
Ha ha...Aerosmith was the first thing that went thru my head when I saw that title, too!
Those look like a lot of fun, Ken. Wish I could shoot in the backyard, I'd be on the lookout for some bells if I could!
Good job on them too, BTW!
That is an awesome reactive target! Pavlov's response to bells from now on!
That is an awesome reactive target! Pavlov's response to bells from now on!
I suspect that anyone within hearing distance away will be checking there smart phones when they hear a bell ring !
But there's usually nobody really close except my wife, maybe someone walking on our road, which is a dead-end road, and pretty quiet most of the time... and a few squirrels.
Those look like a lot of fun, Ken. Wish I could shoot in the backyard, I'd be on the lookout for some bells if I could!
Good job on them too, BTW!
Do you shoot mostly indoors ?
I'm thinking on making an indoor one, using a small bell from one of those old wall phones, similar to this one, probably 2 or 3 inches in diameter.
It will probably have a metal target strike plate that pivots and strikes the bell, and enclosed to catch the spent pellets.
@straitflite I agree... I try to explain certain things to my wife, but I usually have to keep the explanation to no more than 4 words... or she looses interest... so I have to speak like Tarzan... "I go shoot now" !
Yep, most of my shooting takes place in the basement where I have roughly 9½yds. And most of it is punching paper. I'd love to be able to do some plain old fashioned plinking but it creates a big mess indoors. But, I'd be interested in seeing how you make your bell target for indoor use. My main concern with something like that would be ricochets followed by lead splatter. So would definitely be interested in seeing how you deal with something like that.
@jim-in-swmo My indoor basement range is about 14 yards... One of my targets is a magnetic duck target with a reset paddle (shown in the photo), so I do get some pellets flattening and splattering a bit on the misses, but not too big of a problem... so I only shoot lower powered pistols and rifles at that one.
I do have a target full of electricians duct seal, so I would probably hang the bell target from it over the center of it... have to put some thought into that... picking pellets out of the duct seal is kind of time consuming, but I found that it is best to pick them out after a shooting session then wait until there are way too many embedded in it... see the ones that I picked out before I learned my lesson !
I have seen photos of old bell targets that would hang in pubs... again lower powered pistols were probably used.
I suppose I might be able to make a wood box big enough and deep enough to contain the majority of ricochets and splatter. But then getting enough light on the target could be an issue. But a top made of plexiglass or polycarbonate might work and be strong enough to contain a wayward pellet.
I gave up on the duct seal before I even made a trap with it, lol. I bought a couple plugs of it just to see what it was like but after shooting one of them a few times I quickly saw what a pita it was going to be to clean out the spent pellets. So I went with a rubber mulch trap instead and haven't looked back, lol. The mulch is much easier to clean pellets out of. Some who use the mulch simply put it in a bucket of water and let the spent pellets sink to the bottom. I just put on a pair of gloves and "sift" it thru my fingers and left them fall to the bottom of the trap. When I've got the majority of the mulch out I dig out the pellets at the bottom and then put the mulch back in the trap. Then it's good to go for a few hundred shots again.
@jim-in-swmo Lighting, especially in a basement can be a problem... I've had pretty good success using a couple of gooseneck flexible extensions in the ceiling light fairly close to my targets with bright LED bulbs...I can get more direct light on the targets this way.
I also use the extensions in various lengths and spots over my train layout and shooting bench, that is near the train layout.
I have too much invested in the overload of duct seal in my trap... probably used too much to begin with... LOL !
I haven't tried the rubber mulch yet... I mainly just use old clothes and rags stuffed into cardboard boxes since they are pretty available.
Those flexible extensions are pretty cool. Don't think I've seen any like that before. But the kind of box I had in mind would end up being fairly deep to help contain ricochets and splatters. Might have to figure out some other way to light up targets in something like that. Then again, lining the box with some light colored carpet scraps might help to brighten up the inside and help contain ricochets and splatters at the same time. ?
great work for someone with only a drill! Give you a welder and there would be no stopping you!
sell that phone on ebay, get a bell for $3 off Amazon: Service Bell on Amazon
@air-gun-channel Thanks!
Yeah, I have thought about getting an electric welder!
I could do all kinds of stuff!
Yeah, I have thought about getting an electric welder!
You should. I have a wire feed welder and it's easy to use. I wear a 3M mask and have a normal 20 inch fan that I put near my welding to suck the fumes away...it's not even unhealthy. Stick metal together like super glue. Just line stuff up like your doing carpentry...and zip it together. Tons of fun!
welding mask: 6200 Respirator by 3M and P100 filters 2097 3M filters
Today I'm painting up one of the first things I welded together.
after 3 months of welding I was making these:
@air-gun-channel
How do you cut your steel?
How do you cut your steel?
with a hand grinder... 4.5 inch from harbor freight. The chicken was already cut from a stand up knock down target. The 4 inch square plates are already cut as well, they are just called base plates. Here is a 6 inch version for big bores. Precut 6 inch base plates, precut square washer, Everything else is cut on an 11 inch chop saw w/ a $8 carbide blade. Pretty simple.
The chicken head is the hardest part. and if you grind to far it's lame, but you can drop a bead of weld along the edge if you grind too far and regrind it....for like 1/8 to 1/4 inch mistakes. I had to do that trick to get the circles just right on the MOA circle targets here. You would think 1/4 of a circle out of the corner of a square would be easy...for some reason it's not, (orange target).
I got pretty good at those but they were too much work, even selling at $299.
I'm saving for a $7k CNC plasma cutter. So far I have $96. I just paid for my Delta Wolf today, that's why, the first HP .22 in the USA. I need to buy a target from myself to shoot with it. There's no way I'm paying $300 for a target though. Get real.
...just kidding.
@air-gun-channel Interesting... just got back from a weekend trip... I was wondering about the steel cutting myself.
Those are really nice targets !
I've been getting my steel angle plate in various sizes from Speedy Metals in Wisconsin... they will cut the metal to your desired length, at least the ones that I have ordered... Mine have been all 1/4" thick steel, except for the one on my 10 inch bell, which is 3/8" due to the 6"x6" size, cut to 12 inches.
If could weld, I could just get 1/8" steel plate... but I'm not sure how many more of these I will make.
I like setting them out at various distances from 10 yard to 50 yards (or more)... great for getting my scope settings and trying out various pellets.
I don't really plan on selling them... just made what I wanted with the size bells that I came across while looking for antiques with my wife.
I have given one to my brother, and plan on giving another to a good friend of mine, whose wife loves to shoot chipmunks with her Gamo air rifle.
I don't really plan on selling them... just made what I wanted with the size bells that I came across while looking for antiques with my wife.
I wanted to produce some bell targets...apparently people really go crazy for those....but I could never find any heavy bells to buy. If you could find heavy guage bells from China or something, that would be a good seller.
@air-gun-channel Yeah, not cheap from what I have found... that's why I buy them when I run across them, if the price is right.
My first bell target is the one that I bought from Frank Bobbio, many years ago... but he stopped making them because the bells were expensive, and some people were being stupid and shooting steel BBs at them, even though he had the warning on the target... here's what it looks like... it's a great fun target !
