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Do newbies need gun carts?


Quizcat

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27 minutes ago, Charlie Plasters, SASS#60943 said:

I converted a $50 Harbor Freight welding cart.

Thanks for the recommendation to look at a welding cart.  I never really considered that until reading your post.  This one looks interesting, costs around $50.00, but it does weigh about 30 lbs, maybe a little too heavy, not sure? 

 

If this is the model you purchased from Harbor Freight, how do you like it for weight? 

 

I do like the large wheels, a feature that others have mentioned that would allow the cart to roll nice and easy over uneven ground. Seems like it would be pretty easy to clamp some ATV long gun holders on the frame, another good recommendation, and those would be lite.  It already has a tray on the back, which according to the specs, will hold up to 35 lbs. (of ammo).  I assume you can wear your revolvers in their respective holsters on your gunbelt, unloaded of course, and you wouldn't necessarily need a cart for those, although if you built a lock box for them on the base, you could secure revolvers there instead of wearing them.  

Welding Cart.jpg

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1 hour ago, Quizcat said:

Thanks for the recommendation to look at a welding cart.  I never really considered that until reading your post.  This one looks interesting, costs around $50.00, but it does weigh about 30 lbs, maybe a little too heavy, not sure? 

 

If this is the model you purchased from Harbor Freight, how do you like it for weight? 

 

I do like the large wheels, a feature that others have mentioned that would allow the cart to roll nice and easy over uneven ground. Seems like it would be pretty easy to clamp some ATV long gun holders on the frame, another good recommendation, and those would be lite.  It already has a tray on the back, which according to the specs, will hold up to 35 lbs. (of ammo).  I assume you can wear your revolvers in their respective holsters on your gunbelt, unloaded of course, and you wouldn't necessarily need a cart for those, although if you built a lock box for them on the base, you could secure revolvers there instead of wearing them.  

Welding Cart.jpg

that wwill work with a little effort on your part , enlist a friend if need be with wood working skills , i think you will be happy till you build something you like better , i never look back only forward - once you have this set up , keep track of what you might do different to make it better , one day you will get to your perfect cart [if lucky- probably not] presented as an architect that always looking at everything you do and seeing the flaws 

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20 hours ago, Noz said:

Yeah!    but... then every stage had gun racks provided by local club.

 

Sitting or standing loving on a couple of boxes of ammo, a 97 or 87 or double shotgun with a 73 plus lunch a a half a dozen bottles of water and a fully loaded gunbelt  for 6 stages makes a $300 guncart look cheap.

Actually, only some of the clubs had racks and not on all stages.  I made it work but wouldn't recommend it for the long haul.

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11 hours ago, Quizcat said:

Thanks for the recommendation to look at a welding cart.  I never really considered that until reading your post.  This one looks interesting, costs around $50.00, but it does weigh about 30 lbs, maybe a little too heavy, not sure? 

 

If this is the model you purchased from Harbor Freight, how do you like it for weight? 

 

I do like the large wheels, a feature that others have mentioned that would allow the cart to roll nice and easy over uneven ground. Seems like it would be pretty easy to clamp some ATV long gun holders on the frame, another good recommendation, and those would be lite.  It already has a tray on the back, which according to the specs, will hold up to 35 lbs. (of ammo).  I assume you can wear your revolvers in their respective holsters on your gunbelt, unloaded of course, and you wouldn't necessarily need a cart for those, although if you built a lock box for them on the base, you could secure revolvers there instead of wearing them.  

Welding Cart.jpg

That looks like what I started out with. I added an extension of plywood at the base to hold a wooden box and behind it a padded 2x4 with recesses for long gun stock bases. At the mid point I added another 2x4 with cutouts for long gun barrels.  The swinging tray works good for ammo during the match. I put a couple of hangers on for used brass bags. Recently replaced the bolts holding the two pieces together with knurled caps for easy assembly disassembly so it would fit in the jack of the jeep easier.And painted it.

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I started with a metal cart but it had two problems.  One, it had smaller wheels.  Two it was heavier than needed.

So I went to buy some replacement wheels.  I found they cost more than the plastic based cart with good wheels (wider and a little larger), so I have used that for about 12 years or so.

 

I do not have a pick up so it must fit into the trunk of my car.  Since we travel some, I always look for a little larger trunk so I have a Ford Taurus and a Chevy Impala, both with adequate trunks.  The Chevy's was a little shorter, so I shortened the handles to more easily fit.  If I had an even smaller trunk, I can use quick disconnects to hold the metal handle, then just remove them for a much more compact fit.

 

I have my box always loaded,  A few small tools, hearing protection,and replacement parts, about 75 rounds of shotgun shells and plenty of room for rifle and pistol ammo.  That really helps so I can just load the box into the trunk and I'm ready to go.  So it is a great time-saver before I even go to the range.

 

And since it is two & possibly 3 pieces, it is easy to load & unload, and distributes weight well.

 

I see many great carts, but you must have a pickup or SUV to use them.  Then you have to load them into the vehicle - which is normally awkward.  Since I'm getting older, I have to think of such stuff more.  So I find module is much more versatile.

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You're going to be much happier with a cart.  Petey made his first one from stuff he found in the dumpster behind the grocery store in the office complex where I worked at the time,  plus a couple of plow handles (don't know where he got them).

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I like the looks of the wood framed cut-outs for rifle and shotgun, but it seems like I could get started just transporting the long guns on the cart in their protective cases, and bungy the cases to the frame.

 

When I read some of the reviews on the Harbor Freight Welding Cart, the biggest complaint was the pnuematic tires not holding air.  Has anyone had a problem with that?  Of course, the wheels could probably be replaced with hard tires, they run around $37 each at Northern Tool, but I'm wondering if there is something I can spray into the tire tube that would fill the air space in the pnuematic tires that come with the cart, virtually turning the pnuematic tires into hard tires, instead of having to worry about tires deflating.  I guess I could bring a bicycle pump with me to meets, but that seems like an inconvenience.

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11 minutes ago, Quizcat said:

I like the looks of the wood framed cut-outs for rifle and shotgun, but it seems like I could get started just transporting the long guns on the cart in their protective cases, and bungy the cases to the frame.

 

When I read some of the reviews on the Harbor Freight Welding Cart, the biggest complaint was the pnuematic tires not holding air.  Has anyone had a problem with that?  Of course, the wheels could probably be replaced with hard tires, but I'm wondering if there is something I can spray into the tire tube that would fill the air space in the pnuematic tires that come with the cart, virtually turning the pnuematic tires into hard tires, instead of having to worry about tires deflating.  I guess I could bring a bicycle pump with me to meets, but that seems like an inconvenience.

 

You can get puncture proof inserts on Amazon for most sizes of cart wheels. 

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7 minutes ago, Quizcat said:

I like the looks of the wood framed cut-outs for rifle and shotgun, but it seems like I could get started just transporting the long guns on the cart in their protective cases, and bungy the cases to the frame.

 

When I read some of the reviews on the Harbor Freight Welding Cart, the biggest complaint was the pnuematic tires not holding air.  Has anyone had a problem with that?  Of course, the wheels could probably be replaced with hard tires, they run around $37 each at Northern Tool, but I'm wondering if there is something I can spray into the tire tube that would fill the air space in the pnuematic tires that come with the cart, virtually turning the pnuematic tires into hard tires, instead of having to worry about tires deflating.  I guess I could bring a bicycle pump with me to meets, but that seems like an inconvenience.

Check these out. They are the ones that I use on the tube tire wheels I use on my gun carts. I use 20” but they are available for other sizes also. They take a little work to install but we’ll worth it, you’ll never have a flat tire again. I buy them on amazon and they are usually at my house the next day.

113CB16C-C954-4156-B46B-8B665E3FF52A.jpeg

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8 minutes ago, Quizcat said:

I like the looks of the wood framed cut-outs for rifle and shotgun, but it seems like I could get started just transporting the long guns on the cart in their protective cases, and bungy the cases to the frame.

 

When I read some of the reviews on the Harbor Freight Welding Cart, the biggest complaint was the pnuematic tires not holding air.  Has anyone had a problem with that?  Of course, the wheels could probably be replaced with hard tires, they run around $37 each at Northern Tool, but I'm wondering if there is something I can spray into the tire tube that would fill the air space in the pnuematic tires that come with the cart, virtually turning the pnuematic tires into hard tires, instead of having to worry about tires deflating.  I guess I could bring a bicycle pump with me to meets, but that seems like an inconvenience.

 

Yeah; I bought the foam filled tires from Northern Tool after the first season of use; makes you wonder how all those Chinese folks keep their bicycle tires inflated.... .

 

LL

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2 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

Check these out. They are the ones that I use on the tube tire wheels I use on my gun carts. I use 20” but they are available for other sizes also. They take a little work to install but we’ll worth it, you’ll never have a flat tire again. I buy them on amazon and they are usually at my house the next day.

113CB16C-C954-4156-B46B-8B665E3FF52A.jpeg

What are they called?  Sorry, I tried a search on Amazon.com and couldn't seem to find them.

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2 minutes ago, Quizcat said:

What are they called?  Sorry, I tried a search on Amazon.com and couldn't seem to find them.

Stop A Flat foam inner tube.

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I did order one of these carts from Harbr Freight yesterday.  I fully expect to have to beef-up this cart based on the reviews I've read at Harbor Freight, but overall the design seems like it will be a good base to start from.

 

Some have commented in the reviews that in addition to problems with tire inflation, the axle only has end caps.  Apparently, the axles aren't drilled/cotter pinned, so the wheels can fall off easily as is.  But, no big deal, I can drill the axles on the drill press, and cotter pin them. 

 

Some don't like the apparent flimsy box in back, but that can be better supported  by adding a couple of braces, no big deal.  Some complain about the quality of the bolts, screws, etc...I don't know about most guys, but when I am putting stuff together, I usually replace all the hardware with Stainless anyway, especially if I think there might be a corrission issue.  

 

IMHO, using the cart for a welding cart, havng to transport heavy tanks, would be much more demanding than I envision the cart needing to be for transporting a couple of guns and enough ammo to get through a stage or two of shooting, and no big deal even if you do have to run back to the car for ammo to participate in subsequent shooting stages, rather than piling too much ammo onto the cart with respect to it being excessive weight for the cart.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Quizcat said:

IMHO, using the cart for a welding cart, havng to transport heavy tanks, would be much more demanding than I envision the cart needing to be for transporting a couple of guns and enough ammo to get through a stage or two of shooting, and no big deal even if you do have to run back to the car for ammo to participate in subsequent shooting stages, rather than piling too much ammo onto the cart with respect to it being excessive weight for the cart.

 

Add a big enough box(or beef up the one that's there) to hold ammo for 6 stages. A lot of ranges the parking area is too far away to be going back to the car repeatedly and your shooting pards won't appreciate you not helping out with posse duties.

 

50 shotshellls and 150 rounds of 38 aren't going to stress out your cart that much anyway.

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2 minutes ago, Quizcat said:

I did order one of these carts from Harbr Freight yesterday.  I fully expect to have to beef-up this cart based on the reviews I've read at Harbor Freight, but overall the design seems like it will be a good base to start from.

 

Some have commented in the reviews that in addition to problems with tire inflation, the axle only has end caps.  Apparently, the axles aren't drilled/cotter pinned, so the wheels can fall off easily as is.  But, no big deal, I can drill the axles on the drill press, and cotter pin them. 

 

Some don't like the apparent flimsy box in back, but that can be better supported  by adding a couple of braces, no big deal.  Some complain about the quality of the bolts, screws, etc...I don't know about most guys, but when I am putting stuff together, I usually replace all the hardware with Stainless anyway, especially if I think there might be a corrission issue.  

 

IMHO, using the cart for a welding cart, havng to transport heavy tanks, would be much more demanding than I envision the cart needing to be for transporting a couple of guns and enough ammo to get through a stage or two of shooting, and no big deal even if you do have to run back to the car for ammo to participate in subsequent shooting stages, rather than piling too much ammo onto the cart with respect to it being excessive weight for the cart.

 

 

 

Actually, the frame is fairly rigid, and should easily handle the average shooter's load.

My axle was drilled; I replaced the cotter pins with hitch pins - much easier to remove and insert - i disassemble mine when transporting.

I left the rear box on its two swivels, adding a lid.  It carries a match-worth of ammo, handy and dry.

As you suggest, I replaced most of the hardware with SS; I also replaced the nuts on the handle with star head clamping nuts - again easy to disassemble/assemble.  I also used some brass, for aesthetics, where exposed on or near the mahogany.

I painted the frame with a Rustoleum product that looks like hammered metal - dark bronze, I believe,

 

LL

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The Harbor Freight welding cart is well balanced.  I almost bought one, but then I found a 3 wheeled baby jogging cart for $20 on CL.  Stripped off the baby seat and canopy, added two Kolpin rifle clamps from WalMart, and voila!  For $40 I have a great, lightweight gun cart.

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In the last few years, a lot of CAS shooters who used wooden carts have switched over to the three wheel buggy designs.  That should mean that some good wooden carts are out there looking for a new home, for not too much money.  Look around and let folks know you are looking.  

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im impressed with what can be done with off the shelf , i think near anyone can have a cart if they have the desire and a little effort in them , it makes life a lot less hassle on the range 

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I built my first cart of metal and incorporated a wooden box with rope handle. The handles formed the upright and A frame support and folded down. Then I bought a big wooden cart for $25. I thought it was great, but the wheels were small and the cart was heavy. Went back to my metal cart for a time. Then I bought a jogger for $20. Added tubes with the sealer inside and built the cart. It holds 4 long guns and ammo for two. I also added a box to hold our small cooler. It can fold up for a car, but now leave it assembled and throw it in the back of our truck. The part that holds our long guns is a simple rectangle made of wood and use quick pins (drilled bolts with spring clips) to attach to the tubular frame. It's light and rolls easy. 

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