Experimental Spotlight Rig

[bigfellascott]

Since I do a bit of spotlighting on my own and find shooting out of the Driver Side a tad difficult (Read to f***ing fat to do it properly) so had to come up with a solution that would allow me to still get out and spotlight on my own.

This one is primarily set up for spotlighting foxes ie stopping getting up on the back of the ute or off the bonnet and whistling them in from there, with a bit of luck it should work ok (not going to be as flexible as just driving around and spotlighting them and shooting them from the vehicle as such but better than not doing it.

I can turn the light just like any other spotlight setup ie up down, left right etc so all good there too. Anyway that Tripod sure has come in handy

[Jack V]

It's a joke right ?

[NukeBOMB88]

It's a joke right ?

Why would it be a joke? This seems to be a great idea

[tom604]

It's a joke right ?

dont think so , i have the same trouble, not so fat just can get my body to move into a position that i can see the fox and i have to put the spotty away while i get the rifle ,get the whistle, then the fox moves and i pull my hair out put a chair in the back of your ute and you have a winner just one more thing i have to make now

[on_one_wheel]

I had the same problem but I put it down to not having three arms, its blody hard to hold the light and shoot at the same time.

My soulition was a lightforce bracket, swivel and a home made detachable pole.

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It folds down so you can open the door and is adjustable for tightness on the pivot.

I chopped the original wiring off and replaced it with some very heavy stuff to give me minimal voltave drop over the length of wire.

thats got the light sorted but I still struggle to get my eye over the scope when I'm hanging out the window.

[Die Judicii]

Hey there Scott,
Don't spose you've got an old ute or similar for the following suggestion ?????

What we used to do years back when pro shooting bunnies was,

Get a vehicle similar to what we used (a Suzuki sierra) and take the windscreen right out.
Then get a frame (we used a flat bus window) or similar with sliding panes.
Then pop rivet the frame into the windscreen aperture, and a bit of Selleys All Clear to make the perfect seal against wind, rain, or snow.

You can easily slide whichever one you want open, (we found that just the driver side was usually good enough),, and a surf bar across the bonnet close up to the window was a perfect steady.

Probly wont get thru Roadworthy but its perfect for a country / property shooting vehicle.

Whadaya reckon ?????????????????? M8

[Jack V]

[quote="NukeBOMB88"][quote="Jack V"]It's a joke right ?[/quote]

Why would it be a joke? This seems to be a great idea[/quote]
A tripod sitting on the bonnet ?

[bigfellascott]

It's a joke right ?

Nope! I went out last night and shot 2 foxes and 30 or 40 bunnies - I do a report later.

[Westy]

I have a set up very similar to one wheels and can hunt to the we late hours of the night no problems!!!! I turn the car to the right position to take the shot? Works well for me

[bigfellascott]

Hey there Scott,
Don't spose you've got an old ute or similar for the following suggestion ?????

What we used to do years back when pro shooting bunnies was,

Get a vehicle similar to what we used (a Suzuki sierra) and take the windscreen right out.
Then get a frame (we used a flat bus window) or similar with sliding panes.
Then pop rivet the frame into the windscreen aperture, and a bit of Selleys All Clear to make the perfect seal against wind, rain, or snow.

You can easily slide whichever one you want open, (we found that just the driver side was usually good enough),, and a surf bar across the bonnet close up to the window was a perfect steady.

Probly wont get thru Roadworthy but its perfect for a country / property shooting vehicle.

Whadaya reckon ?????????????????? M8

No ol paddock basher mate, I used to have a FJ40 SWB that was the perfect spotlighting rig, sadly I sold it this setup I used last night worked well for the most part so will mod it a bit and it will be my setup for solo spotlighting trips from now on.

I didn't use my little Spotlight/Tripod setup as the window mounted light worked well with the setup I used, I will however give it a run next time out to see what the good and bad are with it, it will work fine I'm sure (perfect for shooting bunnies off the bonnet with under lights).

[RoginaJack]

This looks a much simpler and vertilie set up, not sure of the cost but may save a lot of mucking around. -

http://www.sportingshootermag.com.au/ne ... and-review

[bigfellascott]

Yep that looks like a good setup alright, mine didn't need anything more than a screw to bolt it all up so cost nothing to make. I want to get one of those maxbox things for shooting off the roof, I used one a mth ago (shooting off the ground) and it worked fine for that too.

[North East]

Looks like you have pretty much sorted it out. Bugger all rabbits down here and I don't worry about them. Love the .204 Ruger though, a great caliber.

[bigfellascott]

Looks like you have pretty much sorted it out. Bugger all rabbits down here and I don't worry about them. Love the .204 Ruger though, a great caliber.

Yeah plenty of em around this property at the moment, which is good as I like blowing em up! There's nothing like live targets to at long ranges to test you out.

[RoginaJack]

Yep, the MaXbox shooting rest looks great. I watched a bloke st the range a while back using one and it worked real well - could use it as a rest while cleaning rifle too..

Cheers,

[bigfellascott]

Yep, the MaXbox shooting rest looks great. I watched a bloke st the range a while back using one and it worked real well - could use it as a rest while cleaning rifle too..

Cheers,

Yeah they do seem like they'd be flexible when it comes to different situations, I like the fact it stayed attached to my rifle when I moved from one spot to the next, no need to carry it at all in that situation

I wonder what it would cost to buy the foam and make it myself?

[bigfellascott]

I also knocked this up the other day for my solo spotlighting trips (I have trouble shooting out of the drivers side door so with the help of a fella from AHN I came up with this simple solution for shooting out the passenger side, it worked well and I will build a more purpose built version - for the 5mins it took from start to finish it was really a handly little setup.

I'll make one that has a notch cutout so it can slide into the metal headrest poles, the other end will be chamfered down to rest up snugly into the windscreen area so it can't move about (which was the main prob with this version) and I'll mount a live ammo box and also a empty case bag and some permanent padding etc then she should be all sorted.

[Antie]

When I first looked at the picture I didn't click that the light was sitting forward on the bonnet, scale made it look about 2 feet wide

Looks like it'll do the business

[Rocker]

Yeah, nice work Scotty.

[Jack V]

How can you use that light with it sitting on the bonnet ? How would it even stay there while driving on a rough track ? How could you even reach the light from inside the cab ?

[bigfellascott]

How can you use that light with it sitting on the bonnet ? How would it even stay there while driving on a rough track ? How could you even reach the light from inside the cab ?

You can't be serious surely?

You use it as a stationary setup - ie you know where the bunnies are and park the vehicle, put the light out on the bonnet, set your rifle up etc off bags, hit the switch and start searching for em, find em in the scope and shoot the the little bastards.

The other option is put it on the roof and shoot out of the tray off the roof - remember all this is being done on my own and because I find it difficult/impossible to shoot out the drivers side, so it is one of my options to overcome this limitation, the other is this



That's what I used the other night and worked fairly well, so will go this way I think for most of my mobile spotlighting duties, but the light on the bonnet or off the roof shooting should be another good option too from a high vantage point of view - time will tell and I'll let you know how it all goes when I get around to giving it a run.

[Jack V]

I see, but that is not what you showed in the first post.

Now it makes sense.

[bigfellascott]

What didn't I show mate, the board inside the cab? that was an after thought when I was speaking to a fella in AHN about my issues of shooting out the Drivers Side, he came up with that suggestion (that's what he uses as he has the same issues).

The light idea was what I was originally intending to use and I will still use it - as I said its for stationary use off the bonnet or off the roof, which it will work fine for I'm sure.

Cheers

[Hinky]

Nevermind.

Jack just hadn't had his coffee that morning

[Bills Shed]

At the end of the day if it works for you, all the better. I have made many prototypes of walkaround,one person shooting rigs. Most were pretty average. Lead acid batteries, cables and barrel mounted heavy spotlights. As a kid there was not the choice- none- of what there is now with LED scope mounted lights and long life batteries. We are spoilt but I love the techknowlogy!!
When I got a vehicle licence; a vehicle mounted set up was the next problem to solve. I am a lefty and so driver side shooting is easy and natural.
I have had the privilage of seeing how machine guns are mounted to helicopters and how they manage to get then in and out the small windows for the load masters. With that in mind I set about building a triple articulated gun mount that could be operated with one hand was able to support the rifle when not in use, and not stick out the window to far while driving in close country. After several prototypes I came up with this mount for my paddock beast. The rifle is shown in the stowed position and when the door is closed the rifle is almost pointing backward and the rifle butt is next to the right hand side of the dash board. The door bracket has the standard support arm on the outside that sits against the bottom of the door to support the weight of the over hanging rifle and mount. It only take a second to lift the pistol grip out of its bracket and swing the rifle to bear. The other hand can operate the roof mounted light mounted over the drivers door if need be.

[Jack V]

At the end of the day if it works for you, all the better. I have made many prototypes of walkaround,one person shooting rigs. Most were pretty average. Lead acid batteries, cables and barrel mounted heavy spotlights. As a kid there was not the choice- none- of what there is now with LED scope mounted lights and long life batteries. We are spoilt but I love the techknowlogy!!
When I got a vehicle licence; a vehicle mounted set up was the next problem to solve. I am a lefty and so driver side shooting is easy and natural.
I have had the privilage of seeing how machine guns are mounted to helicopters and how they manage to get then in and out the small windows for the load masters. With that in mind I set about building a triple articulated gun mount that could be operated with one hand was able to support the rifle when not in use, and not stick out the window to far while driving in close country. After several prototypes I came up with this mount for my paddock beast. The rifle is shown in the stowed position and when the door is closed the rifle is almost pointing backward and the rifle butt is next to the right hand side of the dash board. The door bracket has the standard support arm on the outside that sits against the bottom of the door to support the weight of the over hanging rifle and mount. It only take a second to lift the pistol grip out of its bracket and swing the rifle to bear. The other hand can operate the roof mounted light mounted over the drivers door if need be.

It's a great concept Bill . The only thing that worries me is the potential to wipe the gun out on a tree limb or scrub as you drive past . Don't get me wrong , I am loving the idea and have thought about similar . In open country when you are driving your own truck it would be no problem .
How does the gun shoot locked in like that with restricted recoil tracking ?

[Jack V]

Nevermind.

Jack just hadn't had his coffee that morning

He never used the word "stationary " in the first post and showed the tripod sitting on the bonnet .
I though he meant driving around with a tripod just siting on the bonnet .

[Bills Shed]

Not to sure what you mean by restricted recoil. The rifle recoils normaly as the piviots are not fixed and are free to rotate as the rifle / gun mount moves. Recoil is still absorbed by the shoulder. Tracking is easy as all piviots are greased and swinging the rifle with one hand is effortless. It is a rock steady mount. The main draw back is engine vibration. The ignition key fixes that for the 150m+ shots. Recoil is very low as I mainly fit the 17 Hornet to the mount. There is not much that little calibre can not handle in Tas! I do not chase deer.
As for getting wiped out by a tree limb; while driving the butt is next to the right hand side of the dash board, inside the vehicle, and the barrel is only about 75 mm out side the window. The scope and action are about level with the window slit. You will wipe out you side mirror before you hit the rifle. If I am in that close country I should be using a shotgun.

[cruze82]

great design bills shed I might have to look into copying this one

we shoot in a lot of very open country so this would be perfect

[Bills Shed]

No dramas. Put the money on the fridge to cover the copyright. Just note that when building it you will have to experiment as to where you put the first pivot point (door mount) as that wil govern where the butt sits in relation to the dash board. When positioning the door mount you need to take into account the interior door handle and opening mechanism. The great advantage of this type of mount is that you do not need to remove the rifle off the mount each time you want to get out of the vehicle. Just clear the action and drop into the pistol grip storage mount. Please note that there are four pivots in order to keep it compact and flexable at all vehicle angles.