Turning targets are a really good way to break yourself of any type of standard response. When I first started working with turning targets I would often stop shooting before the target had fully turned away. My brain was so used to shooting a predetermined number of shots that I was taking my gun out of the fight on my own. Turners are especially helpful if you use them with a shooting buddy. If you don’t know the exposure time you can’t even estimate the number of rounds to fire.
Which turning targets do those who use them recommend?
The turners I’ve used have been permanent fixtures on the range were they are located. After The Katar mentioned looking for a cheaper solution in the other thread, I started to think about how to make a turning target stand. If you made a target stand that could turn 90 degrees, then attached some rope to it, you could have a really cheap turning target solution. Only problem is that it would require a second person to operate the target for the shooter.
Here is a plan for a drop turner: Drop Turn Target. There is a link at the bottom of the page for a PDF of the plans, but the build does require some skills. Here’s the link to the main page of that site, which has some other target plans: FreeIdaho.org
If you wanted to trip it yourself, you could probably rig a large popper to fall on a wire and release the turner.
Several years ago, I speced out an eight station turning target system from the big names like Action Target. IIRC, Beacon’s cost was roughly 33% of the big names. There system is very simple and therefore easy to maintain.
