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Fake Shots


Aunt Jen

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Hello all --- Idea for "Fake Shots":

 

Shooting SASS can be a lot of fun, especially when we integrate a little humor into stage. I remember one stage, long ago, where we were to stand in the house, fire revolvers out the window, then rifle, throw the dynamite into the well (a red stick), run behind the boulders and holler, "Don't worry Roy! I'm here to save you!" Then jump out from behind the boulders with the shotgun...

 

Yet, there is one thing missing from all this: The *other* guy's shots spiking near me as I shoot.

 

So I'm wondering: Is there a reasonable way to rig up something that would harmlessly --- poof, spit, pfft --- up a little something near the shooter, sometimes, to add a little sensation of being shot at, while he's shooting?

 

I don't think it should be much. It must never be harmful. Just something that would be a tiny motion in the sshooter's periphery:

 

a flap on a gadget that pops open, with a little dirt on it...

something pneumatic...

computer-controlled something that goes pop....

 

I know these ideas are rough, and I don't have it right. But I wonder if some genius in the group may have a better idea?

 

Aunt Jen

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I know I'd certainly enjoy another layer of fun added to our game but, I fear I may be in the minority and you're getting ready to get hit with a whole lot of push back.

 

But keep coming up with fun new ideas. Hopefully some will stick.

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But it's not 10-10-4, and it adds complexity and some guys run faster than others and if the machine doesn't throw the dirt clods the same it isn't a level playing field and...that should get things started. Sounds like fun to me!

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A couple of local clubs used to share a set of poppers that activated catapults to shoot "flaming arrows" (like nerf sticks) back up range.

No danger of injury (or paint stains on a $300 hat) :o

...actually had to DUCK! a couple of times when they were working properly.

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I think it's a great idea!

 

a small hopper with saw dust in it and a small air charge - even if it's just a foot pump someone steps on - would probably give the needed effect and would be a fun addition to a stage.

 

the nerf arrows - thats genius.

 

Alas, I am sure someone will come along and explain how this added complexity somehow could make a stage unsafe for fear of someone breaking the 170 or something.

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I do accept that this idea of mine is likely too far afield, and unlikely to find inclusion, but it's a curiosity. SASS is rather a mix of real old-west heritage, western movies dramatization, real shooting competition, and enjoyment.

 

I kind of imagine a laptop with wires coming out of it (out of sight), connected to little poppers of some kind that would POOF something small, low velocity, of small effect. Such poppers could be taped on the door-frame of a prop/front, on the ground near sshooter's feet, etc.

 

Then when a shooter begins, someone could press "enter" and at a pre-determined interval (same for all shooters), the end-poppers would go off to help give the shooter a feel of the encounter/stage.

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Nerf "flaming arrows" is a really cool idea and if you triggered it with a falling plate from a pistol or rifle shot and aimed in the transition area to where the shotgun was staged......

 

Cool idea, man you guys are creative!

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I think it's a great idea!

 

a small hopper with saw dust in it and a small air charge - even if it's just a foot pump someone steps on - would probably give the needed effect and would be a fun addition to a stage.

 

the nerf arrows - thats genius.

 

Alas, I am sure someone will come along and explain how this added complexity somehow could make a stage unsafe for fear of someone breaking the 170 or something.

 

Oh, now there you go. See, my computer setup is too complex.

 

Sawdust in the ends, foot pump... Good ideas!

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A couple of local clubs used to share a set of poppers that activated catapults to shoot "flaming arrows" (like nerf sticks) back up range.

No danger of injury (or paint stains on a $300 hat) :o

...actually had to DUCK! a couple of times when they were working properly.

Now that sounds incredible. I'd love to shoot that stage.

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how about a fake explosion? a big boom and a box full of styrofoam, or nerf "boards" that get hurled into the air and onto or near the shooter

 

Or maybe a stage where shooting a target would set off such a contraption leading to "blowing up the box of nitroglycerin" using an air canon would make it easy to reset and cheap to operate. and make for a heck of a final stage!

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Several years ago, at the Fort White annual match, Kid Hawkins and his crew came up with a way to hook-up a scuba tank, and a regulator hose, in a tub full of water. It made it look like someone was shooting at you into a pond.

If you could get one of them to email you they might be able to help you with your problem. Look for either Kid Hawkins, Major Mishap, or Deadly Sharpshooter.

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A couple of local clubs used to share a set of poppers that activated catapults to shoot "flaming arrows" (like nerf sticks) back up range.

No danger of injury (or paint stains on a $300 hat) :o

...actually had to DUCK! a couple of times when they were working properly.

Now that would have been something to see.

 

I think the Nerf Arrows/bullets would be a lot of fun. I could see a foot or target actuated puf of air to launch bullets, arrows or create explosions out of little pieces of foam. Would be harmless and add a new dimension to a stage.

To get a lot of use though it would have to be easy to re-set.

 

I remember a talk of a stage before my time that had the shooter set off a simulated blast with one of the old time plunger boxes. IIRQ is was a small BP charge set into a pipe burried in the ground pointing up and away from the shooter that was set off electrically by the blasting plunger. Created lots of smoke and a small boom.

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My shooting partner & compañera is a state-license pyrotechnic (family business).

For the past couple of years at the OR State match, her stage featured a reactive target that set off a 12ga blank (BP & chalk) with a falling SG popper.

It shoots the blast straight up in the air, far enough downrange that there is no "blow back" onto the shooter.

Keeps things interesting...and it's easy to reset with a dedicated stage driver or assigned posse member to do so.

I sent plans for the unit to Gawd Awful...expect to see some of those in AZ.

 

Target is shown in action @ :45

 

http://youtu.be/UIWfJxjPFJE?list=PLcdNdPK0ECdlvjz1UgVDyiaA0fpePSaON

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My shooting partner & compañera is a state-license pyrotechnic (family business).

For the past couple of years at the OR State match, her stage featured a reactive target that set off a 12ga blank (BP & chalk) with a falling SG popper.

It shoots the blast straight up in the air, far enough downrange that there is no "blow back" onto the shooter.

Keeps things interesting...and it's easy to reset with a dedicated stage driver or assigned posse member to do so.

I sent plans for the unit to Gawd Awful...expect to see some of those in AZ.

 

Target is shown in action @ :45

 

http://youtu.be/UIWfJxjPFJE?list=PLcdNdPK0ECdlvjz1UgVDyiaA0fpePSaON

 

 

My God man, you sent something like that to HIM?!?!? What were you thinking??? :o

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how about a fake explosion? a big boom and a box full of styrofoam, or nerf "boards" that get hurled into the air and onto or near the shooter

 

Or maybe a stage where shooting a target would set off such a contraption leading to "blowing up the box of nitroglycerin" using an air canon would make it easy to reset and cheap to operate. and make for a heck of a final stage!

Oh, cute! My kind of fun.

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I love stuff like this but I don't know if it's practical for your regular monthly shoots.

 

I think it would best fit in at a club annual like Duel in the Desert down in Tombstone.

They do all kinds of "old school" type stuff and that shoot is major league fun.

This kind of stuff would fit right in.

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I can't believe anyone would seriously consider launching objects toward a shooter so they have to duck or firing off an explosion so the shooter has ANYTHING falling on or near him/her. We are shooting real guns with real bullets. Even loud unexpected noises intended to startle a shooter doesn't seem like a wise thing to do. The video of the popper that sets off the firecracker straight up looks like fun. But some of these other things sound profounding ill advised.

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I can't believe anyone would seriously consider launching objects toward a shooter so they have to duck or firing off an explosion so the shooter has ANYTHING falling on or near him/her. We are shooting real guns with real bullets. Even loud unexpected noises intended to startle a shooter doesn't seem like a wise thing to do. The video of the popper that sets off the firecracker straight up looks like fun. But some of these other things sound profounding ill advised.

And yet it's been done, as has been posted several times above, without hordes of SASS folks getting injured at all. Amazing that.

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And yet it's been done, as has been posted several times above, without hordes of SASS folks getting injured at all. Amazing that.

People drive without seat belts too. So what's your point? It has been done and it depends on how and what is done. I've done it. But under very controlled conditions. Anything that causes an object to come toward a shooter is a bad idea. My opinion.

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I'm with Larsen, on this exploding targets down range is one thing throwing stuff at a shooter with live firearms is another. Now if it was triggered between firearms I might buy it since if everyone has done their job correctly the guns will be empty. Like if you have to move to the next firearm not just pick it up and definitely not between revolver shots.

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FWIW - The "arrows" were launched from the RIFLE targets...set at the middle of SASS recommended distances.

Every shooter KNEW they were coming (high arc flight pattern) and that they were basically harmless if they happened to make contact.

NO ONE lost muzzle control due to their use at either of the annual matches at which they were utilized; one of which was also a State match.

 

The "poppers" used at the OR State matches were also NOT a "surprise" to the shooters. Each posse got a "preview" of what to expect.

The only difference was a variety of different colors of chalk used.

 

No animals were injured in the production of ANY of those stages.

 

<_<

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My shooting partner & compañera is a state-license pyrotechnic (family business).

For the past couple of years at the OR State match, her stage featured a reactive target that set off a 12ga blank (BP & chalk) with a falling SG popper.

It shoots the blast straight up in the air, far enough downrange that there is no "blow back" onto the shooter.

Keeps things interesting...and it's easy to reset with a dedicated stage driver or assigned posse member to do so.

I sent plans for the unit to Gawd Awful...expect to see some of those in AZ.

 

Target is shown in action @ :45

 

http://youtu.be/UIWfJxjPFJE?list=PLcdNdPK0ECdlvjz1UgVDyiaA0fpePSaON

A few years back, I shot at a small monthly match that had something similar to what PWB is speaking of. it made me nerves to watch the MD bend over to load-arm-activate the very short, vertical barreled contrapsion that held the 12gauge BP SG shell. i mentioned to him to please stand aside a bit so his chest-head was not directly over the device. He did, but his upper body was still fairly close. We all survived that match and have not seen it since. Thank goodness.

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Here's what I would recommend. Get/build a water trough. Get a paint ball gun, secure it behind the trough, and run a hose from the muzzle to inside the trough. Pull the trigger with a string to cause water to splash up simulating shots. No need for paintballs, the air blast beneath the surface of the water should be enough.

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A local club had a safe that was rigged up with a shotgun primer. I can't remember how it worked now, I think it was a string on the door pulled when the shooter threw the dynamite to "blow up" the safe. Something like that can be done off the clock so nobody complains. It was a cool prop and lots of fun.

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