# Catch Box II



## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Scrap lumber, i.e. concrete form wood leftovers from our wood kitchen project + need for a new box = new box. Will add handles and wheels for mobility, it's a heavy fella...idea drawings included here.

Bottom is "v" to aggregate ammo, under that 2 stash cubby holes for ammo, slings, with trays made of cast off 4" PVC pipe, cut, flattened, formed. Was trying for zero investment here...just to show what can be done for free.

2 horizontal scrap rrebars for targets, 1 removable shelf below them for "slam down" targets.

Door over the stash cubby holes while shooting and after to keep my dog Alfie the slingshot eater from invading my stuff.

This is quite a shooting gallery. Targets made of innter tube rubber, silhouettes of squirrel, rabbit, generic bird and discs 3.5" and 4.5", my range is 15m. I don't hunt but the "thunk" sound from hitting the rubber targets is about what you'd hear hitting live game.

Camo of course, I think it's going to be called (from a poll elsewhere) "Camo - Ground Zero" ..painted with my sprayer outfit from tads of paint clutter in the shop about to dry up, painted interior white for reflectivity..pics don't show the catch cloth behind the targets...blue jean legs, the box is the subject, not rags...

Just ideas to pass on.


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## inconvenience (Mar 21, 2016)

Awesome. I could almost live in that one.

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## BC-Slinger (Jan 6, 2013)

Very nice catch box Chuck. !!

Cheers

Matt.K.M aka BC-Slinger


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## WindLvr (Jul 16, 2014)

Now that is one nice catch box, Chuck! This is the kind I need to build next. My little plastic box has taken quite the beating! Thanks for sharing the photos!


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## WindLvr (Jul 16, 2014)

I forgot to ask something. What are the silhouettes made of?


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## inconvenience (Mar 21, 2016)

WindLvr said:


> I forgot to ask something. What are the silhouettes made of?


I missed it the first time too. Inner tube rubber.


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## WindLvr (Jul 16, 2014)

Thanks, Inconvenience! I am really tired after my day shooting in the 89 degree humid weather today lol. I should have read it over again lol!


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## E.G. (Mar 27, 2014)

Wow Chuck, that's a catchbox! Great work :bowdown:


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## Phoul Mouth (Jan 6, 2015)

Better than my plastic storage tub that's for sure. LOL


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Geez thanks fellas, Inconvenience, BC, WindLvr, E.G. & Phoul Mouth. Sorry for the corny Poltergeist Grin in Pic 2, Susi snapped me waving to a neighbor passing by on the road.

Here's a little "HOW TO" for DIYs amongst us: Skip if you aren't going to make one.

Catch boxes sort of develop in the mind after a year or so of shooting. We all make one or maybe two make shift ones then eventually go whole hog on a Waldorf Astoria or Paris Hilton model (not the winsome rich chick, the hotel).

Silhouettes - truck inner tube rubber, thicker than car tubes, free @ tire changing places. Longevity & a "thunk" sound like hitting real game. In a year I've only devastated 1 and patched that with contact cement and a scrap of rubber. (Geez am I cheap or what?)

Hangers like giant paper clips - coat hangers - targets twirl. Squirrel/rabbit has 3 hangers to hang right.

I've thought about this design a while, Catch Box I will be modded into a dog house.. happy II went together OK.

IMPROVEMENTS:

1. Slant the V bottom forward, spherical ammo rolls out of a hole in the front door into a downward slanted tube attached to the door, into a recipient in front. My V bottom isn't slanted. Why? I use exclusively steel cylinder slugs that only roll sideways, not end over end and wouldn't roll out..but most shooters use spheres (marbles, steelies, lead balls) that roll any direction, so slanting the V floor makes retrieval automatic like a pinball machine.

2. 3/4" lumber like I did, heavy, unless you have a gob of scrap junk lumber like I did which is why I used it..otherwise it'd be fire wood. Suggest 1/2" or 3/8" plywood, firing strips or 2x2s as internal framing, dry wall screws & cheap white wood glue & nails first, then predrill for screws to fasten it together...much lighter, easier to make than boards...only 7 pieces to cut incl V floor, vs 22 boards.

3. Save time/money: use a gifted (big box stores have them to give/throw away) palate for the base, filling in the open spaces on the top 7 bottom, attach wheels/omnidirectional casters, use the cavity between the top and bottom boards of the palate as storage with trays to access your stuff, as well as the space between the V bottom and the actual base. I had a bunch of palates once, thinking I could disassemble them and use the lumber...no joy,were put together w/ weird twisted glue nails which didn't want to come out and the lumber broke...so sawed 'em into fire wood.

Not shown: locating pin on latch side of door near the latch - the heavy door droops, I only had 1 stray yet big door hinge.. so a locating pin(I used 1/8" steel rod sunk into the frame) and hook latch works for me. It's dog proof (issue: curious dogs eat my SSs). I didn't have to buy a thing to make this, just stuff/clutter/old paint.

For plywood, glue & nail (1 inch nails to not split plywood) first to get it plumb & squared up, then drill & use self countersinking sheet rock screws (cheap and work well) to really do a good fastening so it doesn't wobble/deform. The wood glue will assure it stays plumb while installing predrilled screws. If you don't predrill into ply it can separate. I'd use only 1" screws on 1/2" ply and 3/4" screws on 3/8" ply. Decking only has 3 plys, "1 side good" is cheapest but ugly, decking will separate easily so be careful.

Screw the ply onto the 2x2 or firring strip frame, don't screw edgewise into plywood. I'd make the panels all laid out of the floor to make sure they are flat, then fasten them together.

No aesthetics, afterall, it'll prolly sustain fliers as I increase range. As a cabinet maker I'd starve to death, LOL...Ground Zero Camo!! About as ugly a camo as I've ever seen.


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## brucered (Dec 30, 2015)

You've inspired me Charles, it's time to get off my butt and replace my small, worn out box.










I had some old cedar fence posts from a buddy, that have been sitting in my yard for a few years. They were going to be firewood, but plans changed.










Here is the new back.










And one side.









I ran out of proper screws and scrap 2x4 for the frame, so have to put it on hold for now.

Normally, I would have measured and precut everything. But being a catchbox, I'm not going for pretty, just functional and cheap. I'll cut the excess pieces later and add the finishing touches.

Thanks for posting and explaining the details in your work.


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## jazz (May 15, 2012)

very nice catchbox, lot of smart ideas you've put into it!

cheers,

jazz


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## brucered (Dec 30, 2015)

Now I have to find a way to make some of those fancy targets Chuck made.

The kids would love those....A Chicken, Zombie Head, Pig, the possibilities are endless :naughty:


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Thank you Jazz! It's sort of crude but fun..I had four sessions today in fact...can't get away from it for long.

Hey, welcome to the shooting gallery club Brucered! Yeah, those planks look perfect...we think along the same channel, I was going to use all those board sections for fire wood too but a light bulb lit up and now it's a catch box. I'm going to make another stand to shoot from also, have some wood left.

Oh boy, the kids will love making innertube targets. Make some cardboard patterns so they can trace around them on tube rubber and snip out some wicked silhouettes. I can think of a political figure as well but best not to get too far into that..heh heh. Imagine putting a kid near a wall, shine a lamp so it makes his shadow silhouette...get them to make targets of each other so when there's a spat, go shoot it out!

Your previous catch box doesn't look worn out at all...rather nice if you ask me, better carpentry art than the monster I just made.

Tubes of course are not flat so I hang the somewhat curvy targets using three points of suspension along the hanging bar to keep them straight. Long targets such as a squirrel running or a rabbit running, place the pattern on the tube along the length of the tube so it hangs straight from head to tail. Zombie heads...spray paint seems to stick to inntertube pretty well.

Leather, say, 4mm-6mm thick would make dandy silhouettes, or glue/laminate a couple thinner sheets together with contact cement and cut them out from that.

There is a flat thick sheet of rubber they use for shoe soles, I bought a couple square meters of it for fairly cheap..about 6mm thick..used it for mud flaps for my 2ton truck, a dolly (top padding) and heal inserts for shoes for my short leg (broken and healed 3/8" short!). That would make ideal targets buy you'd want to band saw them out. Use regular scissors for inner tube and try to get truck tubes, they're thicker than car tubes.


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## inconvenience (Mar 21, 2016)

brucered said:


> Now I have to find a way to make some of those fancy targets Chuck made.
> 
> The kids would love those....A Chicken, Zombie Head, Pig, the possibilities are endless :naughty:


Michael's crafts sells a giant bag of scrap leather for 7 bucks. Would be excellent target material as well. Some of it is quite thick and would pop right back up.

Just throwing that out there. Lots of good pouch material in each bag too.

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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

thats a nice catch box.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Thanks Ghost! Your vid on swamp cabbage stuck in my head...we live a fair distance from that palm here darnit..my mouth waters every time I think of your vid and eating that wonderful stuff. Best I can do here in the high Andes is to buy it at the store. I could eat my weight in it...but it's corn harvest now and I'm fat'n sassy with corn on the cob.

BTW Ghost and the rest of the vets, A Happy belated Memorial Day. We're the lucky ones.


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## inconvenience (Mar 21, 2016)

Actually looking at it again, I like the size and look of that box. I rarely need more backdrop than that for 10m shooting.

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## fsimpson (May 13, 2014)

as an old IHMSA silhouette rimfire and bigbore pistol shooter i`m really liking those targets -chuck nice work !


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## alfshooter (May 11, 2011)

:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:


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## truthornothing (May 18, 2015)

Now THAT is a catch box!!


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## brucered (Dec 30, 2015)

I haven't got a floor on it yet, no rails for targets and it's just on a DIY canoe stand now....but it's coming along.

Old box in front, new box in back. If I can't hit this box, I need to retire early from slingshots.

Thanks for the inspiration Charles and hope you don't mind me posting mine in here...It's all your fault by the way. 

I know it's overkill, but it was easier and less messy them ripping boards or cutting them to a smaller length. It will sit approximately 16" off the ground on some sort of base or wheels. All boards are sxrewes from outside or easily accessible from inside, for replacing damage.

Overall dimensions of actual shooting area in box, with where I envision the floor to be:

Height: 36"
Width: 48"
Depth: 24"

I know, it's time to cut the grass....just waiting for the rain to stop and ground to dry out.



















Edit...added some rails:


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## aiping (May 31, 2016)

HUGE! Just right for me, so that I have at least the chance to hit the catchbox, that's so far about my actual sniping capability in full butterfly....


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## brucered (Dec 30, 2015)

Added some dado cuts to the rails because I was bored. I may just end up anchoring wire from side to side and using clips to hang targets to avoid hitting the brace, we'll see.

They won't all be in use, but here is how I spaces them. The towel bar will be above and 8" from the back.

If nothing turns out, I'll give it to my wife as a giant, homemade, pasta drying rack.


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