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Gun Cart Design


Buckshot Bear

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G'day all,

 

Didn't think that a gun cart was going to be on the cards, but after a few shoots thinking now its not a 'nice thing to maybe have' but more under the necessity of a 'must have' there's lot of gear to move around for two people (myself and my wife Jenorado).

 

The two clubs that we will be mainly shooting at have a lot of concrete pathways and concrete slabs before we get to the grass, gravel, sand and sometimes mud so I'm thinking of going for four wheels? Good idea or poor idea?

 

These are the wheels I'm thinking of getting, they are just under 15" in diameter.

 

dcce00d0-553e-4f2c-a1de-77222a25c74d.thumb.jpeg.ad041d2d48e78a11554454bdf19419d0.jpeg 

Not sure about the angle to have the uprights and the handle. Which do you think is better Leonardo Da Vinci's drawing A or drawing B?

 

Untitled.thumb.jpg.149b7ed58abe069f58f846b570c78e63.jpg

 

Like all blokes I'm guilty of over engineering things and want to make this as physically light yet sturdy as possible. and try to stay away from 1/2 plywood and incorporate 1/4 ply and even 3/16th plywood with some strengthening stringers.

 

I know a lot of you cowboys have made carts and more than one on your journey to the best one for your needs so if there's any hints that you could pass along it would, as always be really appreciated. I won't be going down the converted baby stroller method, I do want to make one from scratch out of wood.

 

Thanks all,

Bear

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The best cart advice I got when starting to figure out carts was to be prepared to modify and/or replace at least 3-4 times. Also, to keep as light as possible due to lifting in and out of trucks. I started with a jogging stroller I found used and have reconfigured it 3 times so far. I still get evil thoughts about the next steps on it.

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Rugged gear gun cart and a stool to sit on.

I built 3 gun carts over the years. One was a wagon that I needed a winch to get into the bed of a truck. One was built rostered joints and peg construction. Only screws in it was in the hinges. 
Then I bought a Rugged gear cart and life was good.

 

Edit to this is then I bought a Polaris ranger and life I’d great.

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Bear  I have used several 2 wheeled carts and one 4 wheel in nearly 20 years of CAS. My current cart has 2 wheels. I have made a couple of wood carts, one was  3/4 inch marine plywood, no worries about rain but god awful heavy. I would suggest that if you are going with a 4 wheel design, you combine both of your sketches. A rack to hold long guns with the bores vertical and the handle further back to keep your feet from constantly hitting the cart. Also wagons are a lot easier to pull than push, so maybe a T handle. This then brings up casters instead of solid mounted front wheels. Since you are going to construct this from wood make the handle/LG support removable, both for weight and ease of loading/storage. Good luck and dont be afraid to re-do/rebuild more than once.

 

Imis

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I'd go with two wheels. I made a very inexpensive one about 18 years ago from plywood. should be a "shows us your cart" post here on the wire to give you ideas.

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The wheels look good.  Consider weight when building as well as folded size.  Make your cart be a work in progress till you get what you really like..  Seems for many it may be the third one they make and there’s nothing wrong with not making the perfect cart at first.  Enjoy the adventure.

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Unless you will transport it in a pickup, consider taking the added design time to make it foldable/collapsible, without having to carry around a disassembly/reassembly toolbox.  (Hint;  the rear axle can make a good pivot joint).   Also, consider including a strong seat of some kind and a place to carry a squib rod. 

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I had tires like the ones you posted on my cart but found that in sand and pea gravel that they didn't do well.  Swapped them out for these and love them. They come in several different sizes.

You probably don't have a HF down under but I bet you can find a similar tire. 

 

10" Solid Rubber Tire

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29 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

I had tires like the ones you posted on my cart but found that in sand and pea gravel that they didn't do well.  Swapped them out for these and love them. They come in several different sizes.

You probably don't have a HF down under but I bet you can find a similar tire. 

 

10" Solid Rubber Tire

 

This is our H&F SD -

 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/products/building-hardware/general-hardware/wheels-castors/wheels

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i like the spoked wheels , a friend needs 4 of those to replace whats on his cart ......

 

much like you he overbuilt even after warned that everything is rough terrain and uphill everywhere you go , weight is the wearisome part but small diameter wheels are also tiering , when asked i always suggest less is more , 

 

those above do indicate some very nice amenities that i would never discourage but everything is a balancing act 

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1 minute ago, Snakebite Dust SASS 75484 said:

Do you have plans for these with dimensions? 

No Sir, found the picture on the internet can't remember here or in a search on google. Sure wish I had the plans or at least the dimensions for it. Figure I'll just make it to whatever size I think will work.

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4 minutes ago, Slapshot said:

Yes whenever I can get a chance. I'm thinking one like the above. I want one to hold the long arms and ammo. but to be light as possible, and easy to maneuver. 

 

That's a'what I'm a aiming for as well. Some of the ones that I've been saving the pics of in a folder on my PC are just magnificent but I'd need a mini crane on the back of a pickup to be able to put 'em on and take 'em off.

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LOL, BB you sound just like me. I've been looking and saving pics trying to figure out what I want to build. But the more I look the less I want in one. That one would work nice if you made it with a removable handle. 

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Mustang makes a really nice 4 gun cart. Choice of wheels and other options and a removable ammo box with seat cushion. A little more expensive these days but a very well built, light cart. And great customer service IMO. You might give it a look on their add on the SASS main page. 

Jax T

106617L

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16 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

That's a'what I'm a aiming for as well. Some of the ones that I've been saving the pics of in a folder on my PC are just magnificent but I'd need a mini crane on the back of a pickup to be able to put 'em on and take 'em off.

The ones that I build are very lightweight, break down into 3 pieces by pulling a pin and numerous women that have them load and unload them by themselves. I used to have a Ford Escape hybrid and I’d haul one of my carts and another pards cart that I’d built in the back of the hybrid, worked very well. Loading one takes about 20 seconds and unloading about the same. It takes longer to lash them down and unlash them than it takes to unload them. I haul mine in my wife’s Subaru Forrester quite frequently and when she had her Toyota Prius I hauled one of my carts in her car  to many matches to save money on gas.

4586CF48-5B83-491E-9A3C-D9BE158D1ECA.jpeg

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2 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

The ones that I build are very lightweight, break down into 3 pieces by pulling a pin and numerous women that have them load and unload them by themselves. I used to have a Ford Escape hybrid and I’d haul one of my carts and another pards cart that I’d built in the back of the hybrid, worked very well. Loading one takes about 20 seconds and unloading about the same. It takes longer to lash them down and unlash them than it takes to unload them. I haul mine in my wife’s Subaru Forrester quite frequently and when she had her Toyota Prius I hauled one of my carts in her car  to many matches to save money on gas.

4586CF48-5B83-491E-9A3C-D9BE158D1ECA.jpeg

 

If I lived in the States I'd buy one of your works of art in a blink of an eye Yul Lose

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1 minute ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

If I lived in the States I'd buy one of your works of art in a blink of an eye Yul Lose

The young lady isn’t included as part of the cart:D. Thank you.

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The Yule Lose carts are the absolute cream of the crop in gun carts. I wouldn't trade for my Tombstone version. 

Jax T

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All of those are good to great.  But to my way of thinking, less wood is less weight.  Here's my modular cart which started life (a very long time ago) as a double-wide baby stroller.  I got it for free and stripped it of its baby parts to salvage the lightweight collapsible folding frame.  The chest is light sheet metal and holds everything for me and Bullion Rose, and just sits on the shelf.  Then, the shelf itself, with the gun butt slots, also just lifts off the frame.  Easy to assemble and disassemble, easy to lift the three parts out of and back into my truck.  And it balances fully loaded with the center of weight far enough in front of the rear axle so that there is no chance of it falling over, even when I hang empty shell bags or ammo pouches on the handle.

20210116_074142.jpg

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1 hour ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

All of those are good to great.  But to my way of thinking, less wood is less weight.  Here's my modular cart which started life (a very long time ago) as a double-wide baby stroller.  I got it for free and stripped it of its baby parts to salvage the lightweight collapsible folding frame.  The chest is light sheet metal and holds everything for me and Bullion Rose, and just sits on the shelf.  Then, the shelf itself, with the gun butt slots, also just lifts off the frame.  Easy to assemble and disassemble, easy to lift the three parts out of and back into my truck.  And it balances fully loaded with the center of weight far enough in front of the rear axle so that there is no chance of it falling over, even when I hang empty shell bags or ammo pouches on the handle.

20210116_074142.jpg

I thought the shotguns had to be in the open position?

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12 minutes ago, Slapshot said:

I thought the shotguns had to be in the open position?

Not in my living room.  But yes, of course, the rack holds the long guns with actions open when in actual use.  The shotgun just breaks open and is held that way, and there's enough room (intentionally, by design) for the levers to be in their open position without hitting the back of the storage chest.

Like others, I too am always looking at the cart to make improvements. I realize that the picture I posted is not its most current configuration.  I'll post another photo later today.

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