Popular Science Monthly 



613 



Moving Targets for a Home 

 Shooting Gallery 



THE moving targets, now so common in 

 shooting galleries, are entirely out of 

 the question for home practice, owing to the 

 cost of the machinery and its bulky nature; 

 however, the same results can be obtained 

 with the device illustrated, which is not 

 expensive or difficult to construct. It con- 

 sists of a board placed on a slant on tw-^o 

 posts. On this board the moving objects 

 roll. These are made of plaster formed in 

 tin-can covers. To prevent the disks from 

 rolling off the board, strips are nailed on as 

 shown to make a groove for them. At 

 both the upper and lower end, facing boards 

 are fastened so that the marksman cannot 

 see the disks until they start rolling. 



Details of the moving target-stand and the 

 trap used for releasing one disk at a time 



A number of disks are set in the groove 

 at the upper end and one disk is released 

 at a time by a trigger operated with a string. 

 The speed of the rolling disks is governed 

 by the slope. — G. P. Lehmann. 



An Expanding Bolt for a 

 Bottle Stopper 



AN expanding bottle stopper can be 

 ,. made with an ordinary rubber or a 

 jcork stopper and a bolt of the usual 

 iexpansion type. The threaded end of an 

 iron screw is set in a mold and lead or 



babbitt metal run in about it. The mold is 

 made to cast a conical slug having threaded 

 sides. The opposite end of the screw is forced 

 through a cork or rubber stop- 

 per and bent into a circle, as in- 

 dicated in the drawing. When 

 a cork is too small to fit a 

 bottle, the screw is turned and 

 the expansion slug forces out 

 the sides. The cork is re- 

 moved by unscrewing the 

 slug. Such a device can be 

 used only on bottles which 

 do not contain acids; for the 

 acids would destroy the metal 

 screw. 



Conical screw 

 to expand 

 bottle stopper 



Sponsons for Motor Boat or 

 Motor Canoe 



EVERY one who has run a motor canoe 

 or boat against a head wind must have 

 noticed how the spray will come aboard 

 and make things unpleasant. The following 

 device is one I have used for a number of 

 years with great success, and it is also of 

 great value for fenders when running along- 

 side a pier or landing stage. Procure from 

 a garage two old inner tubes both the same 

 length and size. Cut them at one point and 

 cement the ends, or, better still, have them 

 vulcanized. I cemented mine but I found 

 that it was necessary to put wooden clamps 

 on each end to keep them from coming 

 apart. 



Make two snug canvas covers of 8 oz. 

 duck. These can be easily made on the 

 sewing machine. With a little manipula- 

 tion the tubes can be drawn through the 

 covers. Make a hole in the cover for the 

 valve. The tubes are then blown up and 

 either lashed or strapped to the gunnel of 

 the canoe starting from the bow. Besides 

 warding off the spray they will also help 

 considerably in case of an upset as the air 

 they contain would keep the boat or 

 canoe from sinking. — B. E. Dobree. 



