Durable and Cheap Target Frames

[AJMD429]

I noticed some threads about having to pack up and go to a range-away-from-home, and some comments about target stands. Here's what we've finally found most useful and durable.

They're made of 1/2" re-bar, welded in four places. Even with my lousy MIG welding skills, I managed to make them sturdy enough you can stand on them if needed to push the legs into the ground.

Several advantages we were shooting for (nice word choice, eh? ):
- Durable (the left leg 'bend' was from a .30-06 nearly direct hit at 50 yards, and we've run over them with tractors, etc.)
- Cheap (one ten foot piece of re-bar per frame) enough that if someone steals one or you manage to break it, who cares
- as Lightweight and Compact as we could get without adding the fragility and cost of 'folding' somehow
- Any cheap cardboard backing will do, held in place with cheap replaceable 1" binder clips
- We made them fit the most common commercial targets from around here (WallMart)
- You can always get them LEVEL on uneven ground, just by poking one leg in farther
- they are so thin that you can put them in a car trunk or even behind the seat (just watch the sharp edges or wrap them with a blanket)
- Weatherproof enough we leave them out all year long - two at 25, 50, 75, and 100 yards.



Once a year we throw them in a wheelbarrow and up to the barn to use a wire brush on and spray with zinc paint at the joints. If you don't have a welder, I'm sure something as easy as welding re-bar would cost next to nothing to have someone do for you. I've made several for friends who 'donate' a box of ammo or sixer of good imported beer .

[Ben_Rumson]

AJMD429 Well done! I used the same materials as you have there.. Rebar and binder clamps and cardboard, but my set up required no welding.. There's just two rebar stakes with points ground on one end.. Step one: Drive stake 1 in the ground.. attach cardboard to it with the binder clamps..Step two: Drive stake 2 in next to the cardboard and attach the binder clamps..

[Streetstar]

Not bad ---- I'd love to have a couple of those around -- far more portable than my setup- just lay 'em flat in the pickup bed until needed

mine is not metal, but i'll share it anyway ---- i was extremely happy with how it worked out, but i did not have any levelling issues at my range --- my opinion would be different on uneven ground. I admit it will be humorous if and when i hit one of the uprights with a poorly placed .45-70 405 gr slug though , but its 18" wide, so i am hoping it will be a cold day in heck that i cant keep it in 18" at reasonable shooting distances, but you never know.


Cost was 9 bucks ( 2 2x4's at $4.00 each) plus a handful of 2.5" wood screws.

[AJMD429]

AJMD429 Well done! I used the same materials as you have there.. Rebar and binder clamps and cardboard, but my set up required no welding.. There's just two rebar stakes with points ground on one end.. Step one: Drive stake 1 in the ground.. attach cardboard to it with the binder clamps..Step two: Drive stake 2 in next to the cardboard and attach the binder clamps..

That sounds even MORE portable, and unquestionably durable. I like the re-bar better than wood anyway, in the "rare" event that someone else hits the frame.

...but its 18" wide, so i am hoping it will be a cold day in heck that i cant keep it in 18" at reasonable shooting distances, but you never know.

Ha! I seem to manage to "pull" at least one shot every session - I've replaced so many of those little black clamps I'm on my fourth or fifth carton and I think they're 48 to a carton! I had made some really nice frames with 2x2 sides, and after destroying both of them in a few weeks I made another out of scrap 1x4's with the thin edge facing the range - I joked with my son that they'd be "too narrow to hit" since the wood was only 3/4" wide. Halfway through the first cylinder of .44 Mag I FRIED it! I did hit one of the re-bars directly with a .444 Marlin at 50 yards and cut it 'clean' but just welded a short section overlapping across the gap.

BTW - here's what a .444 Marlin does to the 3/8" gong at 100 yards with ordinary factory load soft points - clean as a paper punch...!

[Old Ironsights]

I just collect the corrugated plastic political signs after the elections to use on those few times I decide to shoot at somthing other than a gong...

[Ysabel Kid]

Great idea AJ!

[Bigahh]

That seems nicer than all my "BORROWED" Political sign/target frames.

[Travis Morgan]

JB Weld will stick rebar together, too.

[Andrew]

JB Weld will stick rebar together, too.

You could even use mechanic's wire to wrap it up.

[Old Ironsights]

JB Weld will stick rebar together, too.

You could even use mechanic's wire to wrap it up.

Which actually works quite well if you make sure it properly conjoins with the knurls in the rebar...

[Jaguarundi]

I just collect the corrugated plastic political signs after the elections to use on those few times I decide to shoot at somthing other than a gong...

Amen Bro.I do the exact same deal.Just fill up the back of the pickup truck.(although the Obama signs were small )

[Travis Morgan]

JB Weld will stick rebar together, too.

You could even use mechanic's wire to wrap it up.

It'll vibrate loose in the truck and not want to sit square, or come loose when you're trying to stomp it into the ground.