It is spring of 2020, everybody is Kung Flu Fighting, toilet paper is nowhere to be found, and I learned that there is a name for my lifestyle, it’s called “social distancing”. My kids are doing school from home and I have been working from home. It is an interesting time!
My daughter has been bored being home all the time and has gotten interested in shooting again. She learned to shoot at an early age, but lost interest for a little while. During quarantine (or whatever we are calling the current situation) she has really taken to Pistol shooting and she is doing really well. She is a good shot and is a very safe operator.
I have wanted to build a dueling tree for some time and this was just the excuse that I needed.
I am quite cheap, so I decided to buy the AR500 paddles and then build the rest myself from scrap metal that I have salvaged over the years.
I bought the paddles from Make it Ring Targets https://makeitringtargets.com/ I have bought most of my steel from them. They have really good prices (Did I mention that I am cheap) and have been great to work with.
I spaced out the paddles to make sure that I could remove and replace them. I bought .250" thick paddles hoping that they would work for center fire pistols and rimfire pistols
Have you ever had one of those days where things just seem to go wrong? For some unknown reason my Mig Welder decided to spit out 40 feet of wire into a big rats nest when I opened the side panel to look at the feed table. Being cheap I tried to save it. After about 20 minutes trying to untangle the steel rats nest I gave up and cut it.
Once I got the welder up and running I welded the paddles in place.
Then I started on the base. All of the material was scrap that I have salvaged over the years. The angle that I used for the base used to be part of a workbench that I was given years ago. You can see the maple top from that workbench in the 2nd photo. Yes I am really that cheap...
I wanted to angle the tree about 10 degrees, so the paddles would always end up swinging to a side and not get stuck in the back. I did a little math and figured how high I needed to shim the upright and set up this little jig (when I day jig I mean, block of wood) to keep everything aligned when I welded it together.
I got is all welded together, so far I am happy with it.
Remember when I asked about one of those days? Well when I loaded the tree into the ranger to take it down to the range, I did not notice that this guy was on the dash right above the steering wheel. So I hopped into the ranger happy with my work and headed down to the range. Then I looked down and this snake was right next to my left hand. Well after screaming like a little girl, slamming on the brakes, and hopping out from the passenger side, I took this picture. By this time the snake had worked its way around the windshield and was sitting where you see it.
I am not ashamed to say that I sent a text to my wife to come out and remove the snake. Hey I grew up in the 80's, I learned it is OK to be afraid of snakes from Indiana Jones...
I wanted to test the tree out with a 22 and a center fire pistol. I got out my Smith and Wesson Model 41 22LR and my Smith and Wesson Model 28 .357 Mag. The 22 did not have enough power to reliably swing the paddles but the 357 firing 38 Special wadcutters worked great.
I ordered a set of thinner 22 Rimfire paddles so I will be able to swap them out and use both 22 and Center fire.
I cant wait to shoot it with my Daughter!
