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Clay Throwers, anyone have one?

4419 Views 24 Replies 1 Participant Last post by  ShotgunPro, 
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I had some friends over for a day of shotgunin' in the back yard (yes it is legal at my house and we had plenty of land to shoot). Anyways, I knew that we would be having 4 or 5 guys shooting and we would be throwing about 300 clays, so I bought a mechanical thrower, I already had the hand one, but its hard to get the hang of and I didn't want to throw 250 of the 300 birds soo I bought the other one.

I picked it up at Dick's Sporting Goods on friday and put it together and tested it.
Field & Stream Portable Target Thrower - Dick's Sporting Goods

So after about 250 clays, the weld on the pivot broke where it was welded to the throwing arm. We threw the last few by hand with the standard red thrower that you get at Wally World.

I just wondered if anyone had some experiences with any other throwers?

I was looking at getting this one... Do-All Outdoors Backyard 3/4 Single Target Thrower - Dick's Sporting Goods

And just so everyone knows. I took the thrower back on Sunday, money back no questions asked.
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No experience with any of the mechanical ones. I wouldve just bought a second hand thrower and had two people throw for the other three. If you all alternate you would only have thrown 60 clays each...we throw about 100 each when I go out shooting.
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Never used the mechanical ones before.

That takes some of the fun out of it, if you ask me.
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PlayFront36 said:
No experience with any of the mechanical ones. I wouldve just bought a second hand thrower and had two people throw for the other three. If you all alternate you would only have thrown 60 clays each...we throw about 100 each when I go out shooting.
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bowl443 said:
Never used the mechanical ones before.

That takes some of the fun out of it, if you ask me.
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+1.

With the mechanical it goes to the same place every time. With people throwing, you never know. It adds difficulty.

I also found something that might make it easier to throw. basically the thrower screws onto the the end of a long stick and it's more like using a bat from what I understand. Could be wrong though.
Check it out: Clay Target Throwers for trap shooting sporting clays EZ-Throw choke tube cases snap caps
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I have a the clay hawk thrower that they sell at bass pro shops. it's the green model. I've never had a problem with mine but have only had 200 birds through it. It allows youto adjust every angle you can think of. You can even adjust it to throw on the ground to practice for rabbits.
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i got the same one you got, just it was from walmart. from the looks of it they rolled off the same assembly line(in china im sure).

i got a box of clays through it, other than having a handful of the birds shattering off the launcher, it was OK. i got it on clearance. i do remember some part of it bent and i had to get a wrench and bend it back.. not bad for how cheap it was, it will be pretty good with some more welding/bracing.
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My friends are dumb and couldn't use the hand thrower and make it go down range.
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I have the basic model (think its a do-all). Bought it at wally world on the cheap, came with spikes to drive into the ground and a mount to clamp it to a loose tire. I bolted the thing to a base I built out of plywood and 2x4s. Works well, no problems so far. Have probably 1000 or so clays thrown from it at this point.

You say a weld broke, do any of your buddies have a welder you could just put it back together with?

I love the mechanicals, but yeah, clay goes to the same place everytime and they are fairly slow. I'd love to have the $$$ for an electric thrower and a good wobble head for it.
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gordonw1 said:
My friends are dumb and couldn't use the hand thrower and make it go down range.
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Practice makes perfect!

Hell, the first time we used my thrower we threw an entire box of clays BACKWARDS. After we got done we read the instructions that were clearly stamped on the thrower...d'oh!

Seriously, make them throw with a hand thrower. After breaking a few clays trying to put them in and swinging a few at the ground they will figure out how to do it. Easier, cheaper, and more fun.
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I've got a cheapo walmart thrower. it works fine.

I like throwing by hand too since you can choose your angle without adjusting anything like w/ the mechanical one, but while it is possible, throwing doubles with a hand thrower isn't as effective as it is with a mechanical thrower.
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chupacabrachus said:
I've got a cheapo walmart thrower. it works fine.

I like throwing by hand too since you can choose your angle without adjusting anything like w/ the mechanical one, but while it is possible, throwing doubles with a hand thrower isn't as effective as it is with a mechanical thrower.
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You know you can bolt two of 'em together for doubles?
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I do. I do not have two though. You can also just stack 2 clays and throw that way with decent results or just throw two by hand.
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I got the cheap walmart one and a few boxes of clays but I have nowhere to shoot. I figured the WMAs would let me but no luck there.
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I have a Trius Trap I bought probably close to 7-10 years ago. It has thrown untold number of birds and still works flawlessly. It's a hand cock model, I can't remember if it's it is model 10205 or 10220. It will whip birds way out there in singles. You can stack up to 3 birds on top of each other and throw triples. As for people saying mechanical traps always "throw the same place every time", I'd say they must not have much experience with mechanical traps. My Trius will throw any where from far left, straight out, and right. It all depends on where you sit the bird on the arm, the closer to the pivot the more right a bird flies as you move down the swing arm toward the locking catch the bird travels further to the left in flight. Adjusting the angle of flight takes only a second with the large adjusting knob. If I ever buy another trap it'll be a Trius with the foot pedal cocking/releasing lever, just for ease of cocking.
Trius Birdshooter 2 Clay Target Traps 10220. 10220. Trius Targets. 29$+shipping
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I had the same one you took back to dicks. Those are OK when mounted on something heavy (I used a septic tank lid, concrete). But they get boring, so then i bought one similar to the one you show that you sit on. The 3/4 cock but it has 2 arms and youc an throw rabbits, flyers, and straight up. It can be fun with some mini and midi size clays. Still boring with standard size beause it just cant throw them fast enough. Then we got the mother of all...we mounted a red cheapie on to a real heavy fishing rod (with duct tape of course) and once you get the hang of it you can fling the living crap out of them. So much so that i can rarely hit them. Now thats fun! If you have a sporting clay course around i highly recomend. Sporting clays is like golf but with a gun. You walk around to different stations and shoot multiple birds with different presentations. Great fun. I shoot once a week during the summer...
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I have the same one as well.

It works for what it is. A simple clay thrower. The thing I lake is that I can go out and actually shoot clays by myself if I feel like it. Just load, pull the lanyard, shoulder the gun and shoot.

I plan on getting another stake, a good length of 550 cord and a cheap pulley so I can work on crossing shots as well.

With enough lanyard and the correct setup you could actually do approaching shots as well (to simulate being a blocker on the end of a field) in complete safety. Provided, of course, you set it so the clays won't hit you. :)
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gsh341 said:
I have the same one as well.

It works for what it is. A simple clay thrower. The thing I lake is that I can go out and actually shoot clays by myself if I feel like it. Just load, pull the lanyard, shoulder the gun and shoot.

I plan on getting another stake, a good length of 550 cord and a cheap pulley so I can work on crossing shots as well.

With enough lanyard and the correct setup you could actually do approaching shots as well (to simulate being a blocker on the end of a field) in complete safety. Provided, of course, you set it so the clays won't hit you. :)
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+1 for being able to shoot clays even if no one else is around. I put a loop in the cord and slip it over the toe of my back boot, keep the front foot on the traps back support - a little toe twitch and the bird(s) flies.

I like the cross shot idea. Let me know how that works out, I might have to rig it up.
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Zombie thread. HAHA, just thought I would bring it back since I just bought another thrower today.
Do-All Outdoors Single Full-Cock Clay Target Thrower

Hopefully this one will stay together better than the last. From what I have read, Do-All seems to be a decent brand.

As for those that said mechanical ones are boring, that may be true, but when trying to teach a pretty lady to shoot, it makes it easier. :)
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I had one just like the one from dicks, but it was from walmart... mine ended up breaking pretty soon after getting it. we ended up getting a good one that mounted on the reese hitch, alot like the one you linked... it lasted a good 4 years of every sat and sun 200-300 each day over the summer.
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gordonw1 said:
I was looking at getting this one... Do-All Outdoors Backyard 3/4 Single Target Thrower - Dick's Sporting Goods
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I don't think it was this same model, but I have used a very similar one. Except the one I used was capable of doing 2-3 clays at a time. It was fantastic! Since you can lean back in the chair, you can adjust the height and such.
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