Slingshot Backstop or Catch Box

by LeximusMaximus in Outside > Sports

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Slingshot Backstop or Catch Box

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I was having some trouble getting the energy and humility up to go outside and learn to hit a few cardboard boxes I kept for slingshooting, so I decided to step it up and make a bigger, more impressive target.

This way I look like I'm a professional while I learn :)

Materials

32 feet of 1” diameter PVC Pipe cut to the sizes below. (This is what I chose to use. The dimensions of your project may vary if you wish to use a different size layout. I had to buy 35 feet in order to get the cuttings worked out correctly.)
3 cuttings 4 feet long
2 cuttings 3 feet long
4 cuttings 2 feet long
6 cuttings 1 foot long

PVC Pipe Connectors
6 T connectors
4 Elbow connectors

Queen Bedsheet – Top Sheet
PVC Cement
Heavy-ish Wire
Cardboard Cuttings

PVC Assembly

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Assemble the Pipe Cuttings as follows:

Feet:
Connect a 1 foot pipe and a 2 foot pipe end to end with a T-Connector Make 2 of these.

Right and Left sides
Connect a 3 foot – Tee connector – 2 foot – Tee Connector – 1 foot – Elbow. Make 2 of these.

Back Piece
Connect a 1 Foot – Elbow - 4 foot – Elbow – 1 foot

Assemble pieces according to diagram.

Sheet-nanigans

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Overall, this fabric will need 3 open pockets that the 3 horizontal crossbars will be inserted in. Imagine it like a set of drapes, but instead of the curtain rod going at the top, there are also rods in the middle and at the bottom.

Here is how I made my fabric backstop.

My queen sized bedsheet had a top-folded seam when I bought it so I opened up the sides of the seam with a seam-ripper. This is the top section of the backstop. Attach it to the top of the PVC structure by threading the 4 foot PVC pipe through the looped section of material.

Next, I found the appropriate length for the lower seam.

With the sheet on the PVC Frame, I measured the distance needed from the top of the sheet around the back of the rear PVC cross bar. The goal is to sew a new space in the fabric that the rear pipe can be threaded through. The goal of the top section of material is that it will billow and slack so that ammo will not bounce off the back bar.

I chose to make this somewhere between 30 to 35 inches from the top of the sheet. It may be different for you based on your preference of how much billowing fabric you want to have draped across the top portion of your backstop.

Then, make one more seam across the bottom of the sheet by folding over 2-4 inches of fabric from the bottom of the sheet. The bottom cross bar will go through the sheet here.

Once the material is sewn, the Backstop is almost finished.

Targets

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I used the wire to make some S-Hooks from which I could dangle targets. This will work just fine with soda cans and any other smaller targets, though I will dangle them with some string so they stay in the middle of the backdrop targeting area. I am not terribly accurate yet when it comes to shooting my slingshot, but I have not had any issues with a target space this large.

I also poked some holes in a piece of cardboard and attached a page torn out of a magazine to use as a target. I will likely print out some bulls and other similar paper targets to tape to cardboard to work on more precise aim.