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I have to give credit where it's due.
I'm a most fortunate soul to have a wife who is constantly thinking of enhancing my interests and hobbies. She actually came up with this idea for me after seeing a snap cap.
She also came up with nice flannel protector bags complete with draw strings and labels for my completed stock projects.

Here's another goodie which has become very popular. The two tiered seat/ range bucket/ ice chest/carry all! It dices.....it slices... it chops...it blends!





SD

Not to further hijack this thread but...that seat is a multi-tasker when shootin' targets or varmints! A cushioned place for my "double wide" and all the volume necessary for the goodies we all NEED to carry.
We set up the field equivalent of an office when we get "varmint" serious!

SD

That's a sweet set up.

If we want a thread on home made shooting helpers I can split this topic into a new one. It is no problem for me. I like seeing new inventive ideas.

R,
Bullseye

My apologies for the "derail". The subject gets me all enthused.
Bullseye, I think that would be a great one!
We all have some ideas, items or clever use for the ordinary which helps enhance shooting.
I'd like to see what others are doing.

SD

No apology necessary, I figured anybody looking at that thread later on may get confused by the course of the titled discussion. I moved these to an open ended topic. Post your new ideas away!

R,
Bullseye

Often we get ideas from others and embellish on them.
Such is the case with the set up pictured above and below.

We took basic shooting table plans and then I put my own amenities to it including a side tray which accommodates the Akro bins. The bins keep "stuff" out of the way but close enough to grab when necessary. Bullets to beverages! The table covering is another of my wifes ideas. It very thin carpet type liner attached via velcro. The shooting bag rests on a lazy susan which helps old guys with bad backs move better from one side of the field of view to the other off the table. Another one of her's and that darn thing works great!


The bucket was a discarded chlorine container THOROUGHLY cleaned. A plywood insert bolted to the lid after foam and vinyl covering.
Another round of 1/4 plywood with a drawer pull which is held in place by the narrowing shape of the bucket It provides a first level for items like earing protection, glasses, gloves, range finder etc. The lower area for darn near everything.
The two furnished holes in the bucket accommodate an old sling for a handle on buckets not so equipped. My shooting gang razzed me at first and then insisted on having their own!




The table with a bi-poded NS 522 .22lr





SD

this isn't a 'shooting aid', but seeing "Song Dawg"s photo with the
mountain in the distance... I had occasion to shoot at this range
recently... and you can see the 'mountain peaks' because
there ain't no trees to spoil the view ...

This is one of my homemade 'inventions' for target practice, teaching aid, competition shooting (first to finish off a color or entire rack, etc. The bottom left balloon is inflated to the full 7" diameter. When using a scoped .22 rifle, I can easily fit 3 balloons per skewer for a total of nearly 100 balloons. I usually drill 15-20 holes per side and stagger them (as you can see).

And they are very inexpensive



A dead fall yucca stick, many drilled holes, a package of kabobs skewers and as many el cheapo 7" balloons as you care to buy. I normally have 3-4 sticks, 400-500 skewers, and 2-3K balloons at any given time.

The sticks 'can' last several seasons unless you happen to be shooting with someone that just 'has' to shoot the stick, then is can be rendered useless in just a few outings. Needless to say, anyone that disregards my instructions does not get to come back out with me again.

That's a real nice shooting tree. I guess you can shoot those balloons all day long or until you're out of breath.

R,
Bullseye

LOL Bullseye.

I usually blow up about 40-50 at a time (in the evenings) and then take several large garbage bags full when I go to shoot. Makes cleanup easier too (having an empty bag handy).

That picture is from one of my pistol ranges (from 15-50 yds) and just to the left of there I have a medium rifle range (from 50-200 yds) and just around the dry river bed I have several other very nice long range areas for up to 1000 yd shoots. It all depends on what I want to practice that day.

My favorite 'game' is filling half the tree with red balloons and the other half yellow. Two shooters with 5 full magazines 'compete' to see who can pop the most balloons with their 50 rounds. I use very small balloons for this and have them three per skewer. Using 20 skewers per side makes 60 targets (for 50 rounds) and tons of fun.

Another variant is to have a 'caller' say the balloon color and you have 'x' number of seconds to pop 5 of them.

For kids, I use fewer skewers and larger balloons so as they become more familiar I can add more skewers and smaller balloons. A plus is the kids love to blow up the balloons should I use up my prepared stock.

AZ Hermit,
That's a great one! As a retired guy I often take newbies shooting mostly younger folks ......that would be a real bell ringer, I mean ...ah, balloon popper!
Thanks for the pic too!

Toyfj40, That looks like a great shooting area. I like trees but not when shooting varmints or targets.

SD

Reactive targets can make a first time shooting experience a fun one. Balloons are great for this purpose. You can make them as big or small as you like. I think you're really onto something there Hermit!

For anyone who doesn't have a unlimited supply of Yucca stalks, a bamboo pole would work almost as good.

R,
Bullseye