pitted bore wrote:...snip...
Do you have any photos of your current milk-jug setup? I recall that you had some problems blowing apart an early model that was nicely constructed of wood. I'd like to see what your present rig is like, and take advantage of your hard-won experience. Recommendations for muzzle-to-jug distance would be appreciated also...snip...
--Bob
Take about a 7 foot piece of scrap 2x8 or 2x10. Don't use a 2x12. They'll split down the middle. Set it up on top of two bricks, one at each end. Line up thin-walled milk jugs of water, centered on the board and snugged up touching one another. I face all their handles away from the me, alternating every other one left corner, right corner, left corner, right corner... I run a length of duct tape around the group end to end to keep them snugged up. I then run a wrap of duct tape starting on top of each jug, down the side, under the board, back up the other side and overlap by a few inches on the top to keep them from kicking sideways when the fur flies. I use seven in a row. Nothing I've shot has ever made it to number 7. Some of those sod busters some of you shoot may require more. When in doubt, use more. The board and 7 jugs of water is heavy, but you can muscle it out of the back of the truck and onto a workmate or whatever. I take a knee about 15 feet away and aim my crosshair in the middle of the shoulder to put the round in the center of mass because as you all know, they'll shoot low. Needless to say, alignment is important, both the jugs and you. Still, I've had two FTXs go off course and exit stage left, despite my best efforts.
Heavens to Murgatroid! Know what's downrange and off to the sides. bring more than one test cartridge and extra jugs of water in case you need a do-over. Better to have them and not need them than vice versa. The further you live from the range, the more important that becomes.
Tip: Let everything sit out in the sun and get warm. It makes the plastic walls softer. If you're going to shoot right away, fill the jugs with warm water right out of the spigot. I fill them to where the neck meets the shoulder. If you pat the duct tape dry and /or set it in the sun, you can often reuse the strips that don't split.
Some times, low tech is the best tech.
Hoot