Use Instructions

Safety first. Remember the firearm safety rules below:

  • Always keep the barrel pointed in a safe direction.
  • Treat every weapon as if it was loaded.
  • Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
  • Know your target and what is beyond it.
  • Always wear appropriate eye and ear protection.

Prep and Paint

Our products ship to you unpainted. You will want to paint them. Products will need to be prepped. Use caution when handling. Metal is heavy and we do our best to deburr sharp edges, but If you find one, simply run a file or sandpaper over it. Remove any rust developed in shipping with sandpaper. Clean all pieces with a degreaser/cleaner. Standard spray paint cans are all you will need. It holds up quite well. Re-coat your paddles when you feel the need for a fresh surface for better sight acquisition. Our products are not intended to be left outdoors in the elements. If you feel you want to leave them outside perpetually, you will still get many years of use from them, but they will develop rust. If that happens, you can abrasive blast them back to clean metal and repaint for more years of use.

Use

*Shooting projectiles at metal is inherently dangerous. Users of DEFCON Targets products agree to accept the associated risk and take all necessary safety precautions. Only the paddles are AR500 and all other metal is mild steel which could eventually become damaged from projectile impact.

Assemble dueling tree as shown in photo.

A dueling tree is intended to be a competition between 2 participants. One person shoots the paddles on the right and the other person shoots the paddles on the left. The object is to have all the paddles on the opponents side indicating that you are the faster, more accurate shooter.

Place dueling tree on firm soil. If soil is soft, the target will likely wobble unnecessarily. Our targets should not be used on hard surfaces such as cement. This helps avoid ricochets. If the particular combination of caliber, bullet weight, distance to target, etc. is either turning paddles too aggressively, or not enough, you can sink the front or rear feet into the ground to make the tree more or less upright or increase your shooting distance if paddles are too aggressive. Note, impact on the outer edge of the paddle will have a greater swing affect than hitting the inner edge. This is basic physics and cannot be designed around.

See specific product details for information on caliber rating and distances to safely shoot.