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Trap setting for 5 stand

4K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  patm95 
#1 ·
Hi all. I'm thinking about setting up a 5 stand course on some farmland. I'm wondering if there are any templates out there or any advice on how to arrange the traps? For instance how far away should the traps be from the competitors and where should the be placed in relationship to the competitors? This would be a course that would follow the NSSA guidelines.

So it would include
a. Left to right crossing and/or quartering away target. b. Right to left crossing and/or quartering away target. c. Vertical target (Springing Teal).
d. Rabbit target.
e. Tower target going away.
f. Incoming target.

An overhead to scale layout of examples would be perfect but I can't seem to find any.

I can get an idea of where they should be generally but would like something more specific since I've never done something like this before.

Thank you!
 
#2 ·
patm95
I set up a five stand at our club with repurposed, old skeet traps. They were AC machines, so we ran conduit on both side of the intended field (an overlay skeet field) and placed outlets at 20, 40 and 60 yards from the firing line. Using the 12 foot cords on the traps, and adding extension cords as needed, we are able to set up a course that can be as challenging or as soft as we want, depending on the games that we program. I think that if you include the presentations that you listed, you can create a course that will keep new shooters coming back, or present a challenge to good shooters. It's really about target speed and trajectory. Put some curl in those clays.
 
#3 ·
I just some 5-stand this afternoon; this club utilizes 22 machines: crossers, quartering out, quartering in; chondelle, incoming, curling out from the outfield further out; outgoing towers, etc.

The nice thing about 5-stand is that there is no set template. Try a few presentations and then change them around now and again. One need not move a machine far to change things up. Start, for example, with a L2R quartering out on a straight line; next time add some curl to the left; after that add some curl to the right. You ca also leave the machines in the same place and mix things up by changing menus; the only limit is your imagination.
 
#4 ·
Thank you to both. Some good information in both of those posts. I can't imagine having 22 traps! I was thinking more of the line of 6-8. The placement of 20, 40, and 60 yards really makes sense. Not too close or too far.

What about placement in relation to a rabbit and teal trap. I would picture the teal being more in center of the field. But wouldn't the rabbit clay potentially roll in front of it? Where are those traps typically placed in respect to one another?
 
#5 ·
This club had a teal in the center and a rabbit quartering out out L2R from the side of the stand; it never crossed the teal, it ran out to the left of that machine. Folks will use hay bales, pallets, or other obstructions placed in the "sweet spot" to make you shoot it either fast or after it passes those obstructions.
One of the hardest targets is a VERY slow crossing very close rabbit; most folks will shoot so far in front it is amazing - and I am guilty of that as well.
Another fun one is to take a rabbit machine and throw the target like a chondelle
If you have the money, battues, midis, 70s and minis add to the challenge
 
#6 ·
6-8 traps is ideal. 22 traps is a memory test. Having 22 traps set out in a 5 stand field is a distraction. Five Stand is a great way to get a Sporting Clays like experience in a small amount of space, with very little walking. Clubs with limited space can easily set a challenging Five Stand over a skeet field. In which case you only need another 4-5 machines to go along with the high and low house. Use the right cages and you can easily convert back and forth for skeet and Five Stand.
 
#7 ·
Dealers choice :) set it up how you thinks best-then tweak/adjust as you see fit. 6 to 8 Traps is a good number IMO Have fun and enjoy. {hs#
 
#10 ·
If you start with 6-8 traps, you'll soon learn what you like and dont like. One thing that no one likes are targets that never change. So, don't be afraid to experiment a little, it's how you learn. I would recommend however getting a combo rabbit/chondell machine, that will throw either. And definitely a battue.

There are several other things to consider when building a Five Stand setup though. Maybe most important is the sun's position. If you can shoot facing north, that's ideal. Targets will be visible all day, no issues. Any other direction, and it's worth the time to really know where the sun is all day, or at least at the time you'll be shooting most often. There is a free app called sun surveyor many of us use. You can dial in a date any time in the future (like next winter), and it will show you where the sun will be in the sky at any point during the day.

These are lessons I learned the hard way. Unfortunately, the only option I had was to shoot ESE, which is probably the worst direction to work with. But since it was mostly Saturday morning SCTP kids, I didn't have much choice of times either. So.....in the winter I moved the stands south, so as to shoot East and faced them as far north as much as possible. In the summer, I moved them to the north end of the small field, and turned them as much SE as possible for a higher sun at 9am. Any time you spend planning that now will be well worth it to you later.

In the winter, however, afternoons were awesome. Direction didn't matter. I ended up with two sets of PVC stands, one facing East Northeast, the others facing Southeast. We often shot from one set, then moved and shot the same traps from the other location, giving everything an entirely new look.
 
#11 ·
Multiple stands works great if moving things is problematic. That club I mentioned earlier has 3 sets of stands for these machines - one facing due north, a second to the left on a 45 degree angle from the first facing NE and a third on the other side at a 45 degree angle from the first facing NW. Moving to each stand made these targets a totally different presentation from the others; some got harder, some a little easier.
I agree 22 is a lot, but it's what this place does. Most run 8 machines. If you have access to a high lift or tall forklift, you can add some fun presentations (assuming you do not have high natural terrain to begin with.
 
#12 ·
Both very good points. I was brainstorming the sun position the other day. The best position to face due to the layout of the land is probably south-southwest without not planting some farm ground. This could be a problem in the afternoon. I plan on visiting the ground soon and scoping it out closer.

Another good point about moving the stands around. Could be very different based on where the shooter is standing.
 
#14 ·
Pat, trying to get a handle on what your objective is. Yes, you want to build up a 5 stand layout on some of your farm land, following NSSA guidelines. I don't know if NSSA has such info. as they are a national skeet organization.

I would suggest you inquire to NSCA and go to page 49 of the 2020 Rule Book which delineates what's what with the governing of 5 stand.

http://nsca.nssa-nsca.org/wp-content/up ... ookWEB.pdf
 
#15 ·
patm95 said:
Both very good points. I was brainstorming the sun position the other day. The best position to face due to the layout of the land is probably south-southwest without not planting some farm ground. This could be a problem in the afternoon.
There's a reason trap and skeet fields typically face north.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
#16 ·
Pat

Don't want to confuse things but you may like to have a quick look at the Compak rules (https://www.fitasc.com/upload/images/reglements/20191001_Rglts_CS_01012020_ENG.pdf)
It is very similar to 5 stand but is only based on 6 traps. What may be particularly useful is the menus in the annex at the end. This gives multiple choices depending on target difficulty/ shooter ability, and allows a variety of ways to attempt the targets whether from all as singles to one single and 2 simo pairs, ideal for practice.

Regards

Leigh
 
#17 ·
Compak is a lot more rigidly structured as to how to present targets compared to 5 stand.
 
#18 ·
4th. down said:
patm95 said:
Hi all. I'm thinking about setting up a 5 stand course on some farmland. I'm wondering if there are any templates out there or any advice on how to arrange the traps? For instance how far away should the traps be from the competitors and where should the be placed in relationship to the competitors? This would be a course that would follow the NSSA guidelines.

So it would include
a. Left to right crossing and/or quartering away target. b. Right to left crossing and/or quartering away target. c. Vertical target (Springing Teal).
d. Rabbit target.
e. Tower target going away.
f. Incoming target.

An overhead to scale layout of examples would be perfect but I can't seem to find any.

I can get an idea of where they should be generally but would like something more specific since I've never done something like this before.

Thank you!
Pat, trying to get a handle on what your objective is. Yes, you want to build up a 5 stand layout on some of your farm land, following NSSA guidelines. I don't know if NSSA has such info. as they are a national skeet organization.

I would suggest you inquire to NSCA and go to page 49 of the 2020 Rule Book which delineates what's what with the governing of 5 stand.

http://nsca.nssa-nsca.org/wp-content/up ... ookWEB.pdf
Ah thank you. That was the document I was referencing. I must have mistyped or got confused. Thank you.
 
#19 ·
LeighH said:
Pat

Don't want to confuse things but you may like to have a quick look at the Compak rules (https://www.fitasc.com/upload/images/reglements/20191001_Rglts_CS_01012020_ENG.pdf)
It is very similar to 5 stand but is only based on 6 traps. What may be particularly useful is the menus in the annex at the end. This gives multiple choices depending on target difficulty/ shooter ability, and allows a variety of ways to attempt the targets whether from all as singles to one single and 2 simo pairs, ideal for practice.

Regards

Leigh
That is very helpful. If nothing else that gives me a good starting place of how to set things up to see what we like. Thank you!
 
#20 ·
I read some where once that 8 machines was the max recommended because of the remembering where their at. I run the shotgun venue at my club and we had 13 machines and have now went to 9. The other four will be used for a FITASC course in the future. Where you put them is up to you. They're set too hard you hear about it real quick.
 
#21 ·
I'll echo the concern of facing a direction other than north. We have a 5 stand at my club that faces due south, been that way for many years. We are in the process of gathering resources to move it across the road to face north on one of our rarely used skeet fields. We typically shoot sundays around noon and wednesdays 5pm. Wed evenings are great, sundays are a b**ch and it doesn't get used very much because of it.
 
#22 ·
The new club I joined set their 5-stand facing due South. One target comes from overhead going out; depending on the time of day (and year) you can be looking directly into the sun. Unfortunately, it was South or nothing due to home development facing north.
 
#23 ·
There has been lots of good advice given here! I'll just add/emphasize a few things based on my limited experience. Get the basics right before you worry too much about the details: orient your range to optimize sun position and safe shot fall areas; have a convenient way to locate or transport full boxes of targets for machine refills; have safe footing and properly constructed stands at the shooting locations; put your machines on portable carts to the extent possible so you can move them; have a logical numbering (or lettering) scheme and label the machines so it's visible from all shooting positions; plan ahead for variety and change in target presentations; buy machines with reliability, maintenance and repair in mind (parts, access to expertise, etc.); and, have fun!
 
#24 ·
I'll add to the above post - if you live in an area with a lot of lightning, make sure to ground everything; one local place lost several machines and batteries to lightning strikes.
 
#25 ·
Thank you in regards to the previous two posts, very good advice. I plan to have all traps on carts as they will be stored in a building when not being used. This will be a personal course that will only be used for private events or whenever I have the time to practice a bit. I plan to use Atlas traps as I have an AT300 currently that I am very happy with (never had an issue). Good advice to have them numbered. I am looking forward to this project and appreciate all input!
 
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