American Airguns Blog
The Random Ramblings Of An Airgun Addict

I have been putting a lot of thought into a field target design that wouldn't go down with a split but could still be spring loaded. I have commented in this space before about how many of the spring loaded targets that are based on a 4 bar design like the Gamo and Knockover targets can be powered down with a split. This design works fine with a lower power limit like like the 12 ft. lbs. limit used in UK field target. However in this country power levels vary a lot from rifle to rifle and some shooters choose to set their rifles up to the max power limit to increase their chances to power down a target. Most of the 4 bar target designs are setup to trip at pretty low energy levels regardless of the size of the kill zone which really determines how far the target will be set out on a course. The low level make it pretty easy for a higher powered rifle to split a pellet but still take down the target. What should be a miss is scored as a hit, this isn't the fault of the shooter, it is the fault of the setup of the target.

I have made several metal targets that are based on my wood target design. This design does better at stopping the split problem but if it isn't made right, the sear may have to be set light enough that the split problem still exits. On top of that I haven't figured out how to eliminate the sweet spot that nearly all of these metal targets seem to have. The sweet spot is a spot, usually low on the target and on one side that when shot will take down the target. Usually the sweet spot is small and far enough away from the kill zone that it would be harder to hit than the kill zone itself, still as an engineer I would like to find a way to eliminate it from the design.

The only target design I have seen that deals well with a split pellet are the older gravity fall target that allow the face of the target to be driven backwards and lock up the paddle arm which stops the paddle arm to moving. Howver the flaw with the gravity targets is that they much more care must be used to set them up for them to work properly throughout a match. They work great when setup properly, but if the aren't setup properly they can be a real headache.

What I have been contemplating is a design that would allow the face to lock up the paddle arm like a gravity fall target while still being spring loaded so that the setup isn't so critical. It may be like trying to find the holy grail (NI!) of field target designs and may not be possible, but I do enjoy the challenge and design process. Ultimately a 4 bar based target design may be the answer, perhaps a bit different arrangement of the connecting linkage and an adjustment screw so the trip level can be adjusted might help eliminate split trips of the target. I don't know what the answer will be, if there is one, but I sure enjoy thinking about it and testing new designs.