Steelplinkers Fun shoot

Had a small fun shoot this afternoon with a few friends, I set out a bunch of spinners, couple quad targets and random things to shoot at, as well as a brand new dueling tree.

Wound up slinging alot of lead at the dueling tree, even doing teams of 2 at a time on it, was pretty fun! I was
using my new QB79 .177, and later my R1 .177 and even a Benji 392 with red dot. I videoed all the matches, but they were pretty boring to watch. I added a short video that shows the target field and a short clip of testing the dueling tree before we started.

The tree was set at about 25 yards, and proved to be a bit of a challenge offhand with the 1.25" paddles. We started with matches of , first to clean all their paddles off their side, then changed it to 10 shots each, taking turns. Whoever had most paddles at end lost. I was able to win all my matches, although most of the shooters were fairly inexperienced. My favorite was one of the last, using my Benji 392 with red dot, vs a friends 410c from a trigger stick bi-pod :D I can't say I enjoy the pumping, but it sure does shoot well!

Hope to do more of these, We may have converted one of the shooters to airguns, although hes still uncertain what he wants. He seemed impressed with the pcp's.


 
James, The dueling trees are probably my favorite. I plan to make up some "handicapped" paddles, using 1" or 1.25" on one side and maybe 1.5" on the other. If I get too big with the paddles it will make a BIG handicap, as they could miss vertically and still hit a paddle lol. 

It seemed to work ok letting lesser skilled shooters use shooting sticks, or even just kneel down to shoot.

My 392 makes just shy of 10fpe with 8 pumps, I haven't chronied it at 6 pumps, but it seemed to still work the paddles fine. I'm not sure if you had a gun shooting closer to 40fpe or more, that you could get it adjusted to cover a range of 7-8fpe to 40 fpe or so, but it may be possible. It worked well with what we had onhand, 7-8fpe to 30 fpe guns.

I avoided a little work this evening before dark and did some shooting with our youngest. Plinking spinners gravitated rather quickly into focusing on the dueling tree again. I switched her from her .22 QB78 w/ red dot to my wifes Disco + 3-9x on a trigger stick bipod, but still no match for old dad yet. The QB78 pcp I picked up recently is a FUN gun for stuff like this. Who doesn't like tons of shots per fill!?


My wife and I had considered posting the shoot on the forum for anyone to attend, but figured no one would be close enough to show anyway. Its hard to schedule a shoot due to weather, its nearly ALWAYS windy as can be here.
 
The Dueling tree design should be able to handle similar fpe as the quadrant targets without damage. Basically, bulletproof to sub 45fpe airguns. If your shooting 50fpe at muzzle, your best to set the targets out past 30 yards or so for a bit of a "cushion". From what I've seen from customers stress tests on similar sized targets, even 80fpe only tweaks small areas on paddles, which can be straightened out with a vise/hammer.

The steel will handle 45fpe without damage, mainly what I was saying is I don't think you could get tension adjusted where you could have a match between a 8 fpe gun, and a 45 fpe one- atleast not without the possibility of some "failed" shifts. "Out of the box", the paddle tensions are as light as they go, and work with low fpe to 30fpe fine. Going higher than 30fpe, you might get paddles to "bounce" when they shift. Thats when you tighten the paddle tension down a bit. If you have to tighten the paddles to prevent bounce, it starts to raise the resistance, which requires a bit more fpe to shift fully.

Unfortunately, I don't have an airgun in the 40-50fpe range to be able to confirm settings and limitations. Most of my steel testing has involved firearms for the high end limits. (Using subsonic to HV to bridge the fpe gap a bit)


If you do go to buy one, just email me. I can make whatever paddles you want. I've made 3/4" for people in the past, although they just look like a round nub on the end of the paddle lol.
 
Hey, I'm trying!

I've actually spent a good bit (for me) on airgun related items this fall. 3 scopes, 2 guns and a good bit of pellets. All cheap ofcourse lol. (A used .22 Mrod a friend offered for cheap, a QB79 pcp cheap, and 3 various $100 UTG scopes.)

I have been secretly wanting a 100 yard capable gun, as my barn sits 100yards from my shop. Theres alot of opportunities for starling kills at the barn, that sure would be easier with 40+fpe. I've eyed the new Wildcats a bit, the "low" pricetag is enticing, I wouldn't feel too horrible spending 1300 on a pcp. The 2000+ stuff is just too much for my uses/tastes.

The main factor is air. Even with my automated pump, huge, air sucking guns aren't as much fun to shoot. I'd like to wind up with a compressor soon, that would open doors to more air hungry rifles.
 
Thanks Todd, 

The dueling trees are alot of fun! I've been taking the time to do some shooting now that the weather is turning, and the dueling tree has become my favorite. The cool "snap" of the paddle even makes it an enjoyable practice target for me, even solo. During our fun shoot I'd say 95% of pellets gravitated towards it!

Just a fun fact,

Theres 58 hand drilled holes, 30 tapped holes, and 25 bends per 8 paddle dueling tree!! Needless to say, you won't see these duplicated anytime soon at this pricepoint.
 
I love the dueling tree. I bought one for a friend, of course with the ulterior motive to visit his house and duel with him regularly! More visits, fun shooting, win-win for all.

You can use the dueling tree by yourself as a spinner, well OK slapper, or with another shooter the way it was intended. It is so much fun!
What is it about the smack of a pellet on steel and the paddle moving fast that I enjoy so much?
 
After all these Steelplinkers posts, I finally ordered a spinner set. The cheap ones I find at walmart suck!! I use them at 75 and 100 yards for daily practice. I am sure that I will be replacing all of mine with Steelplinkers before long. Haven't seen one in person yet, but based on all the happy customers, I am certain these are top quality products!!