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I saw some pictures of a dueling tree, wanted one but the price was a little high for me. Even the weld it yourself model is expensive. I decided to try to make one myself with great success. All the metal was scrap lying around my grandfathers property so my only expense was my time.
I used three inch angle iron that is 1/2" thick for the front. Two inch would work better but three was all I had in a thickness that could withstand a shot.
the paddles are 4" flat that is 3/8" thick
Im not sure what size the tubing is but you want the smaller tubing to be 1/8 smaller than the inner diameter of the large tubing. Make sure the large tubing is thick so you don't weld through it.
For the paddles I cut the flat steel so it is a 4x4 square. I cut the smaller tubing 10" long, locked it in a vice and bent it with a hammer at a 90. The shorter end is about 3" long. I then welded the flat steel to the tubing making.
On the back of the angle iron I welded on the larger tubing. I need to space the tubing back a bit so that the pad els would move 180 degrees. If id didn't ad the metal spacer the pad els would only move about 120 degrees. I just cut some two inch flat one and a half inches long, welded it to the angle iron then welded on my tubing.
I left enough space so that I can pull out the paddles and change them if I want. I thought I would need replacement paddles if the steel bent from shooting but with a 9mm the paddles don't bend at all. I'll probably make a thinner set for .22
At the base I welded about two feet of pipe to help stabilize the target when I burry it in the ground. I also messed up on the inside of the angle iron here. The tubing I started with was thin and I kept burning through it.
This is what it looks like set up. I couldn't dig much of a hole because without any rain the soil is extremely hard and there was a rock about two feet under the dirt. Dumping a mound of dirt at the base of the target worked out fine.
I had to slant it forward a good amount because when I first set it up the energy from the paddle moving to the other side vibrated the target enough that all of the paddles would bounce to the other side.
The target works well and was easy to make.
I used three inch angle iron that is 1/2" thick for the front. Two inch would work better but three was all I had in a thickness that could withstand a shot.
the paddles are 4" flat that is 3/8" thick
Im not sure what size the tubing is but you want the smaller tubing to be 1/8 smaller than the inner diameter of the large tubing. Make sure the large tubing is thick so you don't weld through it.
For the paddles I cut the flat steel so it is a 4x4 square. I cut the smaller tubing 10" long, locked it in a vice and bent it with a hammer at a 90. The shorter end is about 3" long. I then welded the flat steel to the tubing making.
On the back of the angle iron I welded on the larger tubing. I need to space the tubing back a bit so that the pad els would move 180 degrees. If id didn't ad the metal spacer the pad els would only move about 120 degrees. I just cut some two inch flat one and a half inches long, welded it to the angle iron then welded on my tubing.
I left enough space so that I can pull out the paddles and change them if I want. I thought I would need replacement paddles if the steel bent from shooting but with a 9mm the paddles don't bend at all. I'll probably make a thinner set for .22
At the base I welded about two feet of pipe to help stabilize the target when I burry it in the ground. I also messed up on the inside of the angle iron here. The tubing I started with was thin and I kept burning through it.
This is what it looks like set up. I couldn't dig much of a hole because without any rain the soil is extremely hard and there was a rock about two feet under the dirt. Dumping a mound of dirt at the base of the target worked out fine.
I had to slant it forward a good amount because when I first set it up the energy from the paddle moving to the other side vibrated the target enough that all of the paddles would bounce to the other side.
The target works well and was easy to make.
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