r/canadaguns • u/Sma11ey • May 23 '26
Misc Drawing up plans for a DIY target stand, any suggestions?
Trying to figure out the best way to go about building a target stand for hanging targets and something to staple cardboard/targets to. This is what I came up with.
The idea is, the legs can slide into the feet, and the single 2x4’s can slide into the legs for easy disassembly. Can easily fit in the back of my SUV, and carried out by two people. Distance will be anywhere from 100-1500 yards on crown land.
Anything you guys think I’m missing? I’ve never really built anything with wood like this before lol
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u/Bull-RunTheJewels May 23 '26
Use t posts and chains. “T post chain targets” put that into google and go to images. This is safer and I t will save you some time and money. Also using bolts on the metal targets to attach the chain causes the metal target to angle downward which is a lot safer as well.
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u/smittybadcall May 23 '26
Oddly enough and it could have just been cheap chain but my friends and I found heavy weight Paracord better for holding the target, we've shot through the chain but have yet to shoot the Paracord
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u/Bull-RunTheJewels May 23 '26
Some people like to use rubber strips as well. Cheaper to replace. Also you want to use grade 8 bolts as well as they are harder to break as well.
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u/TopLemon3678 May 23 '26
I use two saw horses as a base. They fold up pretty flat and might cost less than the wood in your design. Up to you though bud it looks good.
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u/Psynapse55 May 23 '26
Same here. Saw horse legs stay, generally, angled out of the spall from the steel.
I use these brackets...
s-l1600.jpg (1461×1498)1
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u/Minimum_Leg5765 May 23 '26
You drew yourself like that last who makes comics on Instagram about how bad dads are at parenting and its all I can see.
Looks great tho. Mine are similar but don't hang. I've shot lots of pellets (target and BB) at my thin ass wood and it's holding up fine but my aim isn't that bad.
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u/ReturnOk7510 May 23 '26
That guy is a part of Sketchup, he's there for scale by default
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u/Lashiech May 23 '26
Missed opportunity for a birds eye picture showing his feet at the bottom of the frame
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u/PhonedZero CCFR Member May 23 '26
I just use saw horses. Cheap and you can likely reuse the hinges to rebuild it a few times.
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u/DougMacRay617 May 23 '26
In the time tou took to render this you probably could have made some. Its pretty straight forward and as another guy said yoi can often improvise with saw horses or similar things, also the wood will get chewed up pretty quick. I recommend a metal frame with 2x4 or 2x6 on the inside to take the spall from the rounds hitting steel. That wat it protects the metal frame and when the wood its chewed out you can just replace the boards
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u/CNo4MK1 May 23 '26
I just make the A frame things used on construction sites or to block roads. Three pieces you can make to your desired length or height. They come apart easy to transport and with length you reduce shrapnel in the wood and gain stability.
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u/FrozenReesesPieces May 23 '26
Add two braces on the back from the L to the top, on the firearm side it might be worth it to gorilla glue some steel.
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u/_axeman_ May 23 '26
I just have a street barricade sign. It's two end A frame pieces that are just bent rebar and I can throw any old 2x4 between them to hang targets off.
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u/BrotherLefthand May 23 '26
Widen the target location. This will help prevent fragments destroying your support. Lower the target height. This will help to keep fragments staying in the ground close to your stand.
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u/Ok_Rush_246 May 23 '26
You can’t have the legs vertical like that. The spalling will cut them up in no time. You need the legs in an “A frame” shape
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u/AMC4L May 23 '26
If that’s a steel target make sure you angle it downwards to prevent ricochets going towards you.
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u/pooshlinger May 23 '26
I like the DIY but i know a guy who uses those metal folding sawhorses as a target stand and it folds up tiny. U can get a 2 pack at home depot for like 40 bucks. They are cheap tho and will probably fall apart but he said hes had his for a couple years
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u/Old-Equivalent8393 May 23 '26
Bro that looks bulky AF. It'll be a struggle lugging all that around. Do what others said, which is also what I use, 2 saw horse stands and then get a 2x4 for them to hold. I cut the top 2x4 in half and put a door hinge on it so it can also collapse in half. But measure the width of your trunk first to see if 4' + the sawhorses clamp (maybe 3") can fit sideways in there. Otherwise it will have to go diagonally in and take up alot of space. So I made all my pieces, including the top piece, about 3 1/2'. It all collapses nicely and fits sideways in my trunk.
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u/tmwildwood-3617 May 23 '26
Generally good idea for a base where 2x4's can be slotted in. I had 4 or 5 of similar ones on my range.
Couple of notes...spalling will cut through wood pretty quick...so either have sacrificial scrap pieces to take the brunt or else hang the metal plates off of a post/t-post angled towards you so the spalling doesn't chew up the support. (Don't leave your paint can in the grass off to the side either....)
On your frame...even a pair of cantilevered arms out front to hang a plate when you're not shooting paper would do that.
Two separate base/uprights will twist/yaw. I use scrap pieces of plywood/boards as a target backer and a crossbar lower down to keep them set up. The upright in the base will also tip forward/backwards...especially after a bit of use/knocking around.
If you're leaving them out day after day...definitely use PT if you can. Reg untreated will last about 2-3 winters before it just turns to mush.
My first ones were similar to yours...my current ones don't bother with slotting in the uprights. I just screw the uprights to the base and screw in a diagonal brace to keep them ~perpendicular. Less wood/cutting/etc
Over the years I put together year round pretty sturdy/fixed target stands for paper shooting...and just unscrew them/cut the rottent/shot up ends (like when you buddy puts his target too far over to one side to sight in his slug gun...) and either just remake a shorter target stand or use the pieces for braces/etc.
But for steel I just hang them from a T post put in at an angle...or screw their chains to a piece of 2x4 and screw that to a tree. Maybe just lazy but I never take them down.
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u/theawesomedude646 May 23 '26
my experience with hanging targets is that i'm stupid good at sniping out chains. you should probably pick some way of suspending the target that's more resilient to being shot.
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u/theawesomedude646 May 23 '26
personally? i'd just go for some thin metal rods to stake a sheet of cardboard upright like those lawn signs. push pins are enough to stick paper targets to it and it'd probably weigh like half a pound in total at most
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u/Fuzzy_Delay_2404 May 23 '26
Just get one of FB marketplace cheaper and better, wood is heavy, cumbersome and won’t last as long
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u/floppy_breasteses May 23 '26
Doesn't need to be fancy. My last one was made out of 2x4. Two 48" verticals, two 30" horizontals, and the feet were single thickness 2x4 at about 24". 3" screws to hold them together and I hang the gong from hooks for storing bikes. I think it took me 20 minutes and cost about $10. So far they stand up to the weather for 2 years and stay up in farm-force winds. Only one wants repair but I nailed one of the verticals with a .44 mag. It's still standing but can't handle another hit like that.
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u/Evilstib May 23 '26
The heavier it is, the more of a pain in the ass it’ll be getting to its destination.
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u/CanuckBard May 23 '26
Man, i havent seen Sketchup being used in a while.. throwback to my high school days lol
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u/Iokua_CDN May 23 '26
Should be good, rough shape is the same as the target stand I bought that's made of metal piping. Being able to break it down into a couple pieces is amazing for driving to the range
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u/LongRoadNorth May 23 '26
I did something very similar but with slots to slide OSB or plywood in to staple paper targets to.
I wouldn't bother doing something like this for hanging metal targets. As others mentioned, the wood will just get destroyed.
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u/Traditional-Pop-8748 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Lots of good thoughts. You can also buy metal sawhorse brackets that use 2x4 and just added a top piece. I am going make something similar but am using steel bar with targets on rubber, or welded. sawhorse
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u/Daedalus-N7 May 24 '26
Your supports are directly in line with your target the spalling will shred them. Also attach your target to the rack via rubber. Not chains. The impact will break chains regularly
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u/IPSC_Canuck May 24 '26
If you’re shooting steel, hang it out in front of the uprights a but, and put sacrificial 1x4 covers over the front bases.
When rounds hit, the spawl will not damage the uprights.
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u/Rogan403 May 24 '26
Id put angle iron on the fronts of the vertical pieces so that stray shots get deflected safely to either side protecting the wood underneath. Cost more upfront but should save money that would've been spent on repairs.
Next id move the cross brace to the bottom of the legs and just attach chain directly to the top of the posts. Alternatively ditch the wooden crossmember altogether and swap it for a metal pipe with a piece of angle iron welded on the front and 2 eyelets for the chains to hook on to welded on the pipe located 90 degrees to the plane that goes through the corner of the angle iron to the center of the pipe so that any weight from the angle iron is offset by the plate and thus holding the angle iron so that it stays in the proper orientation.
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u/Unlucky_Mc May 27 '26
My idea is similar but i plan on looking into used construction sign a frames. Worked for a rental place and sometimes they have old crusty ones dirt cheap
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u/Freedom762x39mm May 23 '26
Why not just hang a plate and chain from a tree llimb like a normal person ? Instead of over complicating things and drawing up plans like your designing a high rise building ?
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u/EDIsux May 23 '26
Maybe he’s one of those weirdos that don’t own a tree at the exact spot they want/can shoot safely.
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u/Sma11ey May 23 '26
Ill just plant a tree where I intend to set this up and wait a few years instead
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u/spicymeatmemes May 23 '26
With wood, spalling will be a big issue. It'll chew up the supports.
If you can, try and have the target supports canted forward in some way so the spalling won't hit the main frame. You could even try to clad some thin metal on the supports, but that will only last so long
Edit: if its not steel your hitting, completely disregard my comment.