A good home made target

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Masboy
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A good home made target

Post by Masboy »

now I shoot burlap bags filled with rags tightened down in my 4 foot x 4 foot press I made using 1 inch threaded bolt rods . I got it shot to pieces an rebuilding it now an was thinking about taking strips of carpet about 4 feet long an 14inches wide and laying them in my press flat an on top of each other like I use to do with cardboard an make a fine target cranking it down tight. I,m sure it will stop any arrow but don,t know how they will be to pull out? I guess I will try a small small one before getting lots of carpet.
colouredchameleon
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Re: A good home made target

Post by colouredchameleon »

I suspect you will find the carpet to be very abrasive to your arrows shorting their life. Or worst weaken the shaft to the point that failure could occur while shooting.
Depending on the type of adhesive and carpet material that makes up the carpet combined with arrow speed could result in friction melting .
Melted Residue could than attach to you arrow shaft or head changing the arrow weight as it builds up.

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Masboy
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Masboy »

I never thought of that but I will give it a try an see. I shoot mostly aluminum arrows an I clean them pretty easy. I hate foam targets because they don,t last . the rags are the best I,ve shot so far. but always looking for something better that will last longer as much as I shoot.
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Pydpiper »

Our range uses a form of carpet, but you have to be careful which kind you choose. As mentioned, the weave in the carpet base can be very abrasive, and will eventually wear down the OD of the shaft.
Some carpet has a rubberized base, I would think that is what you want to look for.
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colouredchameleon
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Re: A good home made target

Post by colouredchameleon »

I used the following which is a cheap an easy replaceable target option.

I used cardboard fruit boxes that I get from No Frills (grocery store) from the checkout bins.
The boxes I use are really well made and solid. Full size lid and matching bottom.
When the lid is slipped over the bottom section of the box I am able to compress enough Burlap filling dense enough to the point that arrows from my Equinox at the most penetrates halfway.


Replacement is simple as changing to another box by transferring the burlap filling.
I have a back up supply on hand. Plus I use a 4 box setup which I put one at 20/30/40/50 yds shooting distances.

If you use a Hunting broadhead removal is simple as opening the box and remove the broadhead prior to pulling the arrow shaft.

See picture for details

Image

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Image

If you want a larger target surface then just use the same compression method you mentioned by stacking boxes together
Mo wannabe
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Mo wannabe »

I am trying a new target myself . I got a third hand bag and am cutting my plastic feed bags in pieces to use as filler . Taking a lot of time to fill but it beats burning them . Will let u know how it turns out when I get it full . Anyone ever tried this or have any thoughts they want to share
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Masboy
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Masboy »

there good looking targets. I have a bag with the little carpet pieces that came in my morrel bag but they don,t stop arrows near as good as the rags do. I think this carpet compressed will be hard to beat if I can get the arrows out. an no arrows from any bow are going to penetrate very far I think.
colouredchameleon
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Re: A good home made target

Post by colouredchameleon »

Mo wannabe wrote:I am trying a new target myself . I got a third hand bag and am cutting my plastic feed bags in pieces to use as filler . Taking a lot of time to fill but it beats burning them . Will let u know how it turns out when I get it full . Anyone ever tried this or have any thoughts they want to share
Large pieces will create more drag / tension on the surrounding pieces which in turn will absorb the energy of the arrow better. Smaller piece may just move aside allowing deeper penetration or pass thru
unless you apply extreme compression.
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Mo wannabe »

Thanks for the advice
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Re: A good home made target

Post by strum »

Masboy wrote:there good looking targets. I have a bag with the little carpet pieces that came in my morrel bag but they don,t stop arrows near as good as the rags do. I think this carpet compressed will be hard to beat if I can get the arrows out. an no arrows from any bow are going to penetrate very far I think.
have you tried fiberglass window screen material ?
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Re: A good home made target

Post by DaGriz »

Over the years I have tried many things to make homade target stops. Bags stuffed with rags, compressed cradboard, compressed carpet, etc, etc. I tried lots of commercial targets also Sopme work but do not hold up over extennded shooting. A little better than three years ago I bit the bullet and spent the money on a Spyderweb target block and never looked back. I can't begin to count the number of shots it has from many brands of crossbow It appears to be self healing and stops the fastest of arrows with no issue Pulling the arrows out is so easy it's scary. They slide out with no effort Even at 390fps they do not penetrate more than 1/2 the arrow length.
The only down side is they DO NOT work for broadheads
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Geodehunter
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Geodehunter »

Where on Earth do you guy's find all the Burlap? I can't locate any here where I live.
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Masboy
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Re: A good home made target

Post by Masboy »

the spiderwebbs sound great! I just got done rebuilding my rag bags today an what a job . had to hang every piece on our big cloths line to dry good then stuff my bags . I get them so tight in my press my Amish neighbors barnett bows will bounce out at 20 yds.will be good now for my 16inch vixen arrows. never tryed the screen but sounds good if I can find a bunch. thanks! I find the burlap at agway farm an garden stores an use to get it at feed mills but most now have gone to smaller plastic bags.
hikerman
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Re: A good home made target

Post by hikerman »

The best homemade target is a old coffee bean burlap sack stuffed full and tight of old grocery bags ( my parents saved them and so did I). I can shoot at 10 yards in my basement. The arrow only goes in maybe 4-5". It gets a bit heavy to drag out target shooting so I made one and tied off the sack half way. I can carry the big one to 20 yards and kick the small one around for different ranges. But even at 10y there aren't pass throughs.
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robertyb
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Re: A good home made target

Post by robertyb »

hikerman wrote:The best homemade target is a old coffee bean burlap sack stuffed full and tight of old grocery bags ( my parents saved them and so did I). I can shoot at 10 yards in my basement. The arrow only goes in maybe 4-5". It gets a bit heavy to drag out target shooting so I made one and tied off the sack half way. I can carry the big one to 20 yards and kick the small one around for different ranges. But even at 10y there aren't pass throughs.
I tried a homemade bag stuffed with used plastic grocery bags. It works fine on my compound bows but I mostly get partial passthroughs from my crossbows which really messes up the vanes. I went back to old clothes for stuffing.
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