No Spin~~No Swing

[The Essex Hunter]

Hi All,

This is an account of how i came to make a home made rotary, i will post the how to build part to follow.

 

No Spin ~~ No Swing

 

 

 

 

Most of us have read articles in shooting magazines touching on how the “credit crunch” is affecting out sport and may have taken a few steps to economise - like buying cheaper cartridges – during these lean times. There are other ways to optimise your sport with out breaking the bank – read on!

 

Following a pressing invitation from a ferreting friend last season, I was persuaded to accompany him on a pigeon shoot. A great deal of my shooting has been a mix of rough and clays but it had been quite a while since the Browning has seen the light of day. Having been a reasonable shot in the past, I was quite disappointed with my performance over the following weekends and I quickly realised that I need to practice by my self to regain, which in the past was pure instinct.

 

We had been shooting over a high-end market rotary, which had proved its worth at attracting the birds. Treating myself to one of these machines was financially quite out of the question so I determined to see what could be “knocked-up” in my workshop. I’ve spent most of my life making or fixing things and finding the necessary parts was not to challenging – a trip to a friends auto breakers for the motor, the steel from the “that will be handy pile” and the batteries from a friend in the trade. I studied a couple of different types of proprietary machines and was surprised on how complex some of them were – cords and pulleys everywhere! In my experience, things that are simple and work well in the field are all you need to give you that edge. Finding the balance between weight and strength is the eternal challenge but, after a couple of refining modifications, I was happy with my creation

 

My first attempt using electricians’ crocodile clips to secure the lead wing feather worked well, but I found that during transport they were susceptible to snapping off so a, Mark 2 version soon followed, this gives a greater scope to “tweak” the wing to look very life like. I have used five sharpened wires that secure the bird to the cradle one for the throat, two locate either side of the breastbone, and the other two hold the “elbow joint”

 

Just a couple of hints, should you decide to head off to your garage. I have found windscreen motors (from Japanese cars) to be superior, coupled up with two 6 volt gel-cell batteries (wired in series). Unless you are prepared for involvement with NASA, make sure that you connect the motor to run at its slowest speed as I came close to a pigeon launch on my first attempt!

 

This article is not intended to persuade pigeon shooters to dive in to their shed and bypass their local gun shop but it is very satisfying to use equipment that you have made yourself and to see pigeons change direction from hundreds of yards away and head to your pattern. I cannot say that my “home-built” is the best there is, but it’s inexpensive, effective and I still enjoy using it!