Champion Wheelybird Electric Trap

[billt]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Champion-WheelyBird-Trap/1325054.uts

 

I picked up one of these a couple of weeks back, and finally got it out today to throw some clays. I've got several shotguns that are not really good for 16 yard Trapshooting. Like self defense shotguns and the like with open chokes and short to medium length barrels. And with this I thought I could get more use out of them. I got a good deal on it at Cabela's, along with a $25.00 off coupon.

 

It's a nice, well built unit, that goes together nice and easy. The only changes I made were with the wheels. The one's they give you are cheap, molded plastic. I found a nice pair at Harbor Freight that had nice rubber tires with a Polypropylene hub that matched and fit perfectly. They're also an inch bigger in diameter and allow for more angle adjustment. I didn't bother installing that stupid circular "guard". If you're dumb enough to hurt yourself with this thing, you shouldn't be handling a gun in the first place.

 

I picked up a cheap lead / acid car battery from Wal-Mart, along with one of those "Battery Tenders" to keep it charged up. The thing ran perfectly, straight out of the box with no adjustments, tossing clay targets a good 55 to 60 yards. It never broke a single clay. It cycles pretty fast. I would say in under 2 seconds. The magazine holds 50 targets that gives you a lot of shooting. After that many you want to take a rest anyway. We threw 180 targets, and the battery only recharged for about an hour at 750 milliamps, (3/4's of an amp). So their claim of 3,000 targets on a full battery doesn't seem to be an inflated claim. However if you're going to put the machine through heavy use, you might want to invest in a deep cycle marine type battery. 

 

The unit isn't very heavy, and it fits nice in the bed of my truck. The target magazine clears the top of my Leer Top by a couple of inches. It won't throw doubles, but if you keep the pedal depressed, it will fire in pretty rapid succession. Fast enough to keep a pump gun shooter really busy. I've got to find a better source for targets besides Wal-Mart. They handle them too roughly, and in 2 boxes of 90 birds, I had at least a dozen broken one's. I'll try Cabela's for my next bunch.

 

I looked at the Champion Wheelybird, and the Do All White Wing. Both seemed good, but the Champion got better reviews, so I went with it. For anyone who likes to bust clay, this is a nice trap for not a whole lot of money.