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Cardboard on a Moving Target in Wind: The Lower Cable Fix

6 days ago
3 min read

A cardboard target on a moving cable swings in wind until it is unshootable, and the shooter who drew the morning slot gets a different match from the one who drew the afternoon. Anything much under 8 lb does it; heavier steel does not. The fix is a second cable low down that the target lumber rides on. There are two ways to rig it. A slotted bracket on the back of the lumber riding one low cable works on a short span. A cable in front and a cable behind, with the lumber running in the gap, works on any span, and that one came from a range that runs the system.

Watch: Our Targets Were UNUSABLE in Wind: Here's the Fix (8:53) on YouTube. The wind before the fix, the bracket rig, the sag problem at mid-span, and the run afterwards.

The full range from the firing line with the target on the cable between the two posts, no longer swinging
After the lower cable: the target that was near horizontal in the gusts holds still.

Fix one: a slotted bracket and one low cable

  1. Screw a slotted bracket to the back of the target lumber. The shop version is plastic with a slit; on a public range it will be shot by the end of the day, so a strip of hardware-store metal strapping with a bolt hole in the middle and a screw top and bottom does the same job.

  2. Find the height for the low cable. Take the carriage to the end of its run, where it sits highest, and measure from there; on this range that was about 25 inches. The bracket has to reach the cable at that point.

  3. Put an eye bolt in each end post at that height. A bigger eye bolt than the tiny ones in the video is better.

  4. Run the cable through the slot and tension it. A ratchet strap off the far post does it without a second hand winch.

A small eye bolt screwed into the wooden end post to carry the lower anti-sway cable
The eye bolt for the lower cable, set at the height of the target's highest point at the end of the run.
The cardboard silhouette on its lumber with the lower cable passing through the bracket on the back, ratchet strap tensioning it
A ratchet strap tensions the lower cable when a hand winch is more than the job needs.
Close view of the slotted plastic bracket on the back of the target lumber with the lower cable through it
The slotted bracket. Plastic here; on a public range it gets shot, so metal strapping with a bolt hole does the same job.

Why it only works on short spans

The top cable always sags. The carriage rides low at mid-span and high at the ends, so the lumber rises and falls a few inches as it travels. On a short run the slot has enough travel to let the low cable move from the bottom of the slot at the ends to the top of it in the middle. On a long run the sag is more than the slot, the bracket binds on the cable, and the friction stops the carriage.

The lower cable sitting at the top of the slotted bracket while the target is at mid-span
Mid-span the carriage sits lower, so the cable rides to the top of the slot. At the ends it sits at the bottom.

Fix two: a cable in front and a cable behind

Two low cables with nothing attached to the lumber at all, one just in front of it and one just behind, with a full gap for the wood between them. The lumber cannot swing forward or back, and it is free to ride up and down as the top cable sags, so span does not matter. A longer span also lets you hang a longer piece of lumber. This is the one we use now.

Two things to know before you rely on it

  • The carriage can lose its zero on a slick cable. Drive it to where zero should be and hold the zero button on the remote; it resets in place, and nobody drives an ATV to the 600 m berm to push it three feet.

  • Watch the drift when tracking at speed through a magnified optic. The target creeps a little lower toward the middle of the run and back up at the ends. It is small, but it is enough to pull a shooter off their natural line if they expect a flat pan.

The earlier version of this fix, with the first build of the lower cable, is in We Built a Target That Doesn't Move in Wind. The carriage and cable are the X1 Pro (AR500).

 
 
 

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