portable shooting tower

[42769vette]

im not sure where this should go.

i currently have a 750 yd rifle range in the field beside my house. the field is 1150 yds from corner to corner, but due to hills i cant see my target @ 1150. if my math is correct i need a 20' tower to see targets from 1200.

now the catch, this is in a crop field so i have to have somthing portable that i can take out durring crop season. any ideas?

so far ive came up with building a tower on a hay wagon and buying a scissor lift. i think the scissor lift would be aful shaky up there with much wind.

any ideas?

 

[Jumper]

Re: portable shooting tower

An elevated tripod platform for bow hunting is about 20' tall, is portable and makes a good observation platform. I dont think its big enough to get prone on though.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Re: portable shooting tower

You will not be happy with a scissor lift at 20". It will be damn near useless as far as shooting. They have alot of "sway" in them, not only from the wind, but with minor shifts of body weight.

20" tall is gonna be tough to make solid (in regards to shooting) and yet portable. I guess it depends on just how portable you want it.

 

[pyplynr]

Re: portable shooting tower

Here's what I threw together for my range. It's not 20' like your needing but works well in my alfalfa field.

 

[HPLLC]

Re: portable shooting tower

Thats pretty nice.

 

[Disturbed]

Re: portable shooting tower

Could you not build it on the edge of the field? someting that could be permanent?

 

[42769vette]

Re: portable shooting tower

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: trevor300wsm</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You will not be happy with a scissor lift at 20". It will be damn near useless as far as shooting. They have alot of "sway" in them, not only from the wind, but with minor shifts of body weight.

20" tall is gonna be tough to make solid (in regards to shooting) and yet portable. I guess it depends on just how portable you want it. </div></div>

it has to be portable enough to take in and out of the field pretty often. ive never been on a scissor lift but as of now that idea is out the window. the hard part of this whole project is making somthing portable and stable at the same time.

 

[42769vette]

Re: portable shooting tower

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jumper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">An elevated tripod platform for bow hunting is about 20' tall, is portable and makes a good observation platform. I dont think its big enough to get prone on though. </div></div>

i thought about buying a tower like your describing and building a platform where your feet would go to shoot prone. thats still in the running

 

[42769vette]

Re: portable shooting tower

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pyplynr</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Here's what I threw together for my range. It's not 20' like your needing but works well in my alfalfa field.

</div></div>

thanks a ton for those pics. that is almost identical to what i had in my head. im thinking if i use good enough material that design (with more supports) could get me up where i need to go. the problem is going to be making it so top heavey that it tips durring transportation

 

[42769vette]

Re: portable shooting tower

the edge of the field is about 15' from a paved road. so i dont think i have enough room to build somthing there. my father (his field) doesn't want somthing permanate in the field due to the niebors having to look at it year round. i dont even remotly agree with his logic but i dont own the field so my opinion doesn't matter a whole lot

 

[ptaylor]

Re: portable shooting tower

You could buy yourself a top drive with or with out a lift. They do move around a lot in the wind though.

 

[42769vette]

Re: portable shooting tower

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ptaylor</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You could buy yourself a top drive with or with out a lift. They do move around a lot in the wind though.

</div></div>

i thought about that aswell, i wonder how much less they would move without the walls as i would not need those

 

[Rthur]

Re: portable shooting tower

You could build a "tower" with steel or wood. If you have access to a tractor with a bucket/loader. Build the tower to be moved with hay forks ect. Where you engage the forks is also important. The tower can be much taller that where the forks grab the frame if set up correctly. Our 4020 will only reach 10-11 foot for example. The bottom of the frame could be weighted to help achieve a bottom weight bias.

 

[nfresquez]

Re: portable shooting tower

Would a smaller tower work with a taller target?

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: portable shooting tower

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ptaylor</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You could buy yourself a top drive with or with out a lift. They do move around a lot in the wind though.

</div></div>

Holy shit! With equipment like that..... Are you looking to adopt? Us Canukians can only dream of infrastructure such as that.

 

[GardDog]

Re: portable shooting tower

Here's a good idea:

http://northtexasrifleprecision.freeforums.org/m-stomp-a-mobile-shooting-tower-we-made-t105.html

 

[beretta989]

Re: portable shooting tower

My last pickup had 6inchest of suspension lift and sat on 37's it worked in a pinch to shoot off of. Are there any Trees in the area?

 

[TacBlade]

Re: portable shooting tower

I bought scaffolding at an auction a few months ago. I paid $150.00. It can go up to 30'. New, these are thousands