Experimental Spotlight Rig

[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.

[bigfellascott]

I've had the same idea for a while now Bill, with a slight variation but the same ability to pivot in all directions, just need someone to weld it up for me

[cruze82]

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.

no worries ill be back in tas around Anzac day this year to see the family ill drop the beers in then

I imagine there is a lot of tacking things in place to see how they work
just need to find a way to fit the spot light to the rig and it 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.

no worries ill be back in tas around Anzac day this year to see the family ill drop the beers in then

I imagine there is a lot of tacking things in place to see how they work
just need to find a way to fit the spot light to the rig and it would be perfect

Got that covered too!! If the wife wants come along she operates the light.

[Jack V]

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.

What I mean is the gun is not totally free to recoil back like it would be on say a big iron rest . Not talking about the weight of the recoil but the tracking movement which can affect accuracy . It may be no problem with a 17 Hornet , not that there is much recoil movement anyway in my 223 or 22-250 . I know engine vibrations especially Diesels can be annoying . I see what you mean now the gun is not out very far in the carry position . I guess I am thinking back to when I also had dogs and it was normal to spotlight and use dogs at the same time. So it was quite common to chase after the dogs in the vehicle and get into all kinds of narrow tracks and what not.
I am impressed it's a great idea .

[Warrigul]

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.
.

Yep, I started out with a sealed fergie tractor light and a motorcycle battery. Even three years ago I was using a SLA battery and big scope. Much easier nowadays.

I have had a few rests over the years but never something as good as that, if not on the tractor or 4 wheeler if I am on my own I now shoot out the drivers side window left handed- took a while(and it will never feel 100% natural) but worth it. Mainly use scope mounted lights nowadays.

[Bills Shed]

I agree Warrigul the scope mounted lights are the go. Unfortunatly they are facing the wrong way when driving if using this mount set up. What I do, if by myself, is to have the main spot light mounted on the roof which I scan with when driving. When I need to shoot ,I park the vehicle in the required position. I also have a light force, scope mounted, spot light on the rifle which I activate if my quarry moves out of the main spot light.

[tom604]

i dont think it does ,i think that its a pull up and set up type of thing when i first saw it i thought that it would sit on the tray with a strap holding it down and set at an angle


oops damm you second page

[Jack V]

I agree Warrigul the scope mounted lights are the go. Unfortunatly they are facing the wrong way when driving if using this mount set up. What I do, if by myself, is to have the main spot light mounted on the roof which I scan with when driving. When I need to shoot ,I park the vehicle in the required position. I also have a light force, scope mounted, spot light on the rifle which I activate if my quarry moves out of the main spot light.

That's exactly what I did in my old 4x4 . Have not set it up yet in my new one. Power beam on the roof and light force lance on the rifle.
Now you can not drive and use the rife mounted light effectively or safely . So you drive around using one hand on the wheel and the other on the roof light .
If you spot something pull up and leave the roof light on the game .
Take up the gun and switch on the scope mounted light ( I have a micro switch ) . If the game moves or other shots present follow with the scope mounted light . Also the scope mounted light can be used for walk about spot lighting . That's they way I do it when I can get away that is.

[Gwion]

Strike that last comment (deleted). Didn't see there was a second page of posts.

Re: rifle mounted lights. I use them a lot on foot or occasionally with someone driving the ute (shooter up top) and it is very handy but i don't like having to sweep the rifle over everything you scan. Looking for a good powerful head torch or method to mount a long throw torch to my head so i can search with it filtered and only turn on the rifle torch when taking a shot.

[Gwion]

Handy set up for a stationary position, though! Well done Scott.

[Warrigul]

I agree Warrigul the scope mounted lights are the go. Unfortunatly they are facing the wrong way when driving if using this mount set up. What I do, if by myself, is to have the main spot light mounted on the roof which I scan with when driving. When I need to shoot ,I park the vehicle in the required position. I also have a light force, scope mounted, spot light on the rifle which I activate if my quarry moves out of the main spot light.

I've got a lightforce swivel mounted with a folding T handle in the ute, on foot I just use the one mounted on the scope, plenty for what I do. The tractor and 4 wheeler(I am supplied them for my use when shooting on the respective properties) both have racks and lights permanently mounted.

I often take new people out for a shot and in that case it is the 4 wheeler(its a gator) sitting next to me(for safeties sake).

[JoeyJoe]

Question on spotlighting, having never done it before (hope to soon) you talk about solo shooting and having trouble of only have 2 hands to operate everything.
Would it not be easier to have side facing spotties on the roof like this?



Or does that much light scare the game away?

[ployer]

Is that I Am Legend?

[VICHunter]

Joey,

You can get adjustable mounts/brackets that sit above the driver or passenger window to adjust forward or sidewards as required. There is no need for a fixed sidewards setup.

A single powerful HID or LED spotlight lights up a lot of area. No need for such a wide array as anything like that.

[JoeyJoe]

Thanks guys, yeah that's I am Legend, obviously that many lights for spotting is excessive, in reality I'm just talking about 1 or 2 on each side to cover all vectors when driving down the road, rather then just covering 5% of the area in a single spot beam

[Jack V]

First off it would scare away game as they would get plenty off time to see you coming and make a decision to leave.

Even shining the light too far ahead or up into trees can scare away game further up the track. Good spotlighting is a skill . Many people think you just flash a light around and that is all it is. Well that will get you some game but you will miss a lot of game also.

Secondly your battery would die quicker than the game because you are driving at a slow pace for many hours .

The whole concept of spotlighting is to move along as quietly as possible showing minimum light out front and catch the game in full light before it thinks any danger is coming .

Once in the full light they can't see past the light so are not fully aware what is behind the light . If they see a carnival approaching from 100 's of meters away they get to see and hear more to identify potential danger coming .

Undoubtedly you would still get some game as they are pretty dumb but you would miss heaps.

[JoeyJoe]

Thanks Jack, was just curious about it. Guess time for thermal imaging then no need for spotlights hehe

[cooker]

Good spotlighting is a skill

Yes, still gotta get in a position to spotlight them and take the shot without running them off, as you say.