My friend and I removed some targets from a piece of land we have the privilege of using outside hunting season yesterday. One of them was a moving target we had concocted. I recommend it, for something different that requires fairly minimal effort; all you really need is a good length of cord, a buddy, and a bit of creativity.

We had a length of cord pulled as tight as possible between two trees that stood about 50 yards from each other. We made a "target carrier" out of a piece of plywood with a length of PVC pipe attached to the top of it; this allowed the target to slide easily enough, on the tight cord, and hang low enough that the cord wouldn't be shot. We drilled four holes in the carrier; two on the bottom edge, for attaching the steel plate, and one on either edge toward the tight cord, for attaching the pulling cord. The terrain, in our situation, allowed us to reconfigure the target to be shot from both sides, and pulled in either direction; how you wanted it to travel, and the side you were engaging from, dictated how you attached the carrier pulling cord. Using a couple short lengths of cord, we made little loop "pulleys" to customize the route of the pulling cord, to enable deliberate placement of the target pulling man. What resulted was a situation in which the target puller person stands a few yards behind the shooter, who engages the target moving laterally about (in our case) 40 yards away. Shooter position can be customized by creating more pulleys and longer cord.

We had one event, with multiple shooters, and I was the target puller for multiple runs for multiple shooters; it was hot and it sucked ass. Now that we have dismantled it, I am working to install a modified version, for use with paper targets, in a CQB context, which will allow the target to be manipulated in both directions on the fly; I am optimistic.

Long story short: if you've got a spot with some trees and terrain enabling the safe engagement of a mover, and a buddy, it's pretty easy to get one set up, and it makes for a fresh practice circumstance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KSGM,

I would be interested in knowing more about your setup, but I’m not sure I understood everything in your description. Can you post any pictures (especially after whatever changes/improvements you make)?

I have an improvised moving target system that also includes pulling cords and pulleys to allow a pull perpendicular to the firing line to move the target platform laterally. The platform was made for me by a former trainee, and I developed some drills to take advantage of it.

I believe that moving target practice is very valuable for LEOs, and for most I have trained, even a relatively short amount of training results in significant improvement—but only after the training.

The first photo shows the target stand positioned for the platform to be pulled directly at the shooter. More commonly the stand is rotated 90° for lateral movement.









The pulley setup to change the target movement direction.

I recently employed pulleys much like the one you pictured, in setting up a moving target on a smaller, more conventional "square range".

I used my same cable suspension foundation I had employed in the woods: the target frame hangs from a section of 1" PVC pipe that the guide line is passed through, and then pulled as tight as possible. The "action" lines are then tied to either side of the target frame, very near the guide line. These lines are routed in each direction, parallel to the guide line, until the length of the target's travel has been achieved at either end. Then those action lines are routed through pulleys, to enable them to run the perimeter of the range; they then get loops tied in their ends, to enable clipping together with a carabiner.

A buddy grabs the carabiner, and can move the target back and forth along it's allowable travel path downrange, from the back of the range. I had rigged it up and, and more-or-less proven the concept this past week; a friend and I put it to use this morning; it works very well.

The only catch is the target skims the backstop berm, so dirt running down the berm over the course of a session can obstruct the target's path; it requires periodic maintenance, but isn't a huge deal.