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< 16ga. General Discussion ~ Clay Target Throwers |
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Posted:
Wed May 18, 2005 8:06 am
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Member
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 609
Location: Sothern Illinois
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I was thinking about getting an electronic clay target thrower. Cabellas has an Atlas portable one for about $800. Has anyone used one. Any thoughts about the value and reliability. |
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Posted:
Wed May 18, 2005 9:27 am
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Member
Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 6535
Location: massachusetts
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Unless there is some physical ailment that prevents a person from setting a manual machine, then its hard to beat the Trius Trap at a considerable savings. Trius has an attachment available for a tow ball that lets anyone throw targets right off the end of a pickup or suv. just back up to a safe area and let em fly. It throws very nice singles and even decent doubles. Its easily portable, can be attached to an old tire and rim, a tree stump, or staked to the ground with the boring screw included. You can even get one with a built in seat. The tow ball attachment and the seat elevate the trap so you don't have to bend over to cock it. A stack of old tires does the same. You can also throw soda cans filled with sand. You can even operate it by yourself with a trip line to step on.
I learned basic shotgun handling over a trius trap. I was able to add some fender washers to the power spring screw in front of the adjustment knob to get some very fast targets too. I'm sure a person could get a used one, because they've been around for years. Once a person learns basic gun handling, and has access to a trap and/or skeet range, most portables end up in the cellar or for sale. I've got two I'd let go reasonable myself. |
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Posted:
Wed May 18, 2005 11:21 am
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Member
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 609
Location: Sothern Illinois
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I've gone through a couple of Trius throwers and I'm well beyond basic shotguning techniques. The trouble with hand set traps is you spend more time cocking and loading the thrower than you do shooting. Try shooting a couple hundred rounds. It's way too slow. When I say I like to shoot, I mean it. Actually I prefer shooting Skeet and Sporting Clays but the nearest club is 40 miles away and only open 4 days a week. I just want something faster. The money doesn't matter. I'm too old to wory about saving a few bucks. It's time I'm concerned about. |
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Posted:
Wed May 18, 2005 2:38 pm
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Scolari, I've wondered about those Atlas traps myself. My buddy and I shoot a lot of informal clays with a combination of hand throwers and a Trius "One-Step." Although we throw as many challenging to sneaky-rotton presentations as we can, it's still pretty much limited to variations to "straight-aways" or shallow angles.
I'd love to have something like that Atlas with a remote control to groove in on various crossing and incoming shots.
It might be worth a post on a big shotgun web site like shotgunworld.com
I'll tell you what. I'll post the question over on shotgunworld.com and see what develops. I'll then post the link to the thread here at 16ga.com.. |
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Posted:
Wed May 18, 2005 6:48 pm
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I did some seaching on shotgunworld and shotgunsports and I'm finding that there just isn't much feedback out there on the Atlas trap. Here is a link to the question I posed: http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=49427
Hopefully some Atlas owners will chime in over the next few days.
Here's another idea. A couple years ago I had to return a broken bark collar to Cabelas and I asked the customer service rep which collars had the best track record. He was able to pull up return data on all of the bark collars and show me which one had the lowest rate of return. Why don't you call Cabelas and ask for a product specialist, and then see if you can get the customer satisfaction data for the Atlas trap? It's worth a try! |
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Posted:
Thu May 19, 2005 7:07 am
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Member
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 609
Location: Sothern Illinois
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Dave, I was out at a rifle and pistol club I belong a few months ago. I was talking to a guy that competes in a combination game that includes shooting some clay birds with a shotgun. He told me that he bought one of the electric portable machines so he could practic for that event. He had a long extension cord that allowed him to practice just about any angle. Thats where I got the idea, but I forgot what machine he said he had. I think I'll call him and I'll let you know what he says. |
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Posted:
Fri May 20, 2005 8:19 pm
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Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 225
Location: San Rafael, CA
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Scolari: My neighbor has an electronic thrower; I'll check with him on make and model and let you know. I use a Trius "one-step" and shoot several hundred clays a week; I can easily shoot 100 clays / hour as you don't have to set your gun down to cock a "one-step", one finger does it. |
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Posted:
Mon May 23, 2005 8:06 am
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Member
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 609
Location: Sothern Illinois
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Parker, I didn't realize Trius had a one step. I don't need anything too fancy but I'm tired of cocking the one I have. When I had the kids around, it wasn't too bad because they liked to do it. Now, it's just me. |
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Posted:
Mon May 23, 2005 11:53 am
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Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 225
Location: San Rafael, CA
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Scolari: The one-step is great; you just bend over and cock it with one finger. You aren't cocking the mainspring by hand but by foot when you launch the clay.I can shoot 100 clays/ hour shooting by myself. I'm still going to check with my neighbor on the electric model. |
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Posted:
Mon May 23, 2005 8:55 pm
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Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 76
Location: western canada
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Scolari
You might want to check around with your local gun clubs or the Internet for a used skeet machine. Several years back, a friend and myself heard of a gun club that was phasing out their skeet range. We purchased a Western skeet machine and mounted it on a small trailer. I had a converter installed in my pickup to provide the 120V to run the machine.
I tell you we never had so much fun in our lifes. Depending on the grade of the land you parked on, or if you jacked up one side of the trailer axle, you would not believe some of the angles you can create. We rigged a timer on the contoller and just walked around the machine as it fired. Almost like grouse hunting. Wished we would of kept it.
Regards
John |
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Posted:
Tue May 24, 2005 5:43 am
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Member
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 609
Location: Sothern Illinois
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Parker, I called the Atlas company and they sent me some information. I sort of figured out the options I would want and it comes out to over $1200.
Thats a lot of trips to the skeet range at three bucks a round. If you had a club to share the cost, it would be great. Otherwise, the Trius one step looks like a nice option. |
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Posted:
Tue May 24, 2005 7:58 am
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Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 225
Location: San Rafael, CA
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Scolari: At $100 from Cabela's it's hard to beat. I don't think that you'll be disappointed. Good Luck and Good Shooting
"I will have have lived my life well if I'm as good a man as my dogs have been dogs" |
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Posted:
Sat May 28, 2005 7:02 am
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I've got a Trius One Step and it is an amazing little thrower. Just remember that it's going to be giving you ONLY straight away shots if you're shooting alone. That's OK, but it gets monotonous after a trip or two. It's a lot better than not shooting though. My buddy and I use it along with a hand thrower to throw very wacky pairs for each other. It take a ittle coordination to simultaneously tromp on the One Step and hand throw a clay, but it keeps your buddy on his toes!!
Here is another thread I started over on shotgunsports regarding portable automatic throwers. Truth be told, I'll probably never invest in a portable automatic machine, but one would be nice!
http://shotgunsports.com/cgi-bin/webchat.cgi?category=Shotgun_Talk&num=26717&startnum=1 |
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Posted:
Sun May 29, 2005 8:40 am
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Member
Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Posts: 69
Location: Colorado High Country
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I usually shoot alone and used a Trius One-Step for a couple of years before I bought my Outers SST. I've had it for almost 3 years now and have done nothing but clean it replace the rubber on the throwing arm once and recharge the battery.
I don't keep track of the number of birds I throw, but it likely has done a couple of thousand/year.
The SST holds just over 50 targets, has a 100-ft. cord with a foot pedal and in our thin air, will throw a standard target well over the advertised 70 yards.
There is an oscillating base and wobble attachment available but I haven't gotten either...yet. The machine adjusts vertically without the attachment and for horizontal changes I simply turn it the direction I want it to throw.
It seems to be easy on the battery. I normally charge it in the spring and again in the fall before I store it.
TerryS |
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Posted:
Mon May 30, 2005 9:48 pm
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Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 225
Location: San Rafael, CA
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Scolari: I checked with my neighbor; he has an atlas and with the extras that he has added[radio remote, wagon for transport and turret ] he has about $1200 tied up in the rig. He absolutely loves it and the only trouble he has had is a couple of broken springs. Hope that this helps. |
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