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Fast Draw Timer Feedback & References
(Tips are listed in the 2nd half of this page)
I shot in the CFDA Montana state championship shoot and had a great time! The practice with the Speed Timer really paid off, it helped me refine my shooting and gave me a way to actually see I was shaving time off my draw. I had never tried fast draw until just four months ago, but with dedication, natural ability and lots of practice with the timer I managed to place 6th in the mens. I even pulled a .379 during the shoot.. :) I've recommended the Westerner Speed Timer to some other shooters in my area as a great tool for practice.
David Fisher
(pictured at left)
It does exactly what it was intended to do, for those it was intended to
help. That is, anyone who isn't planning on using it as the basis for
running a real contest, but simply to keep their performance sharp, while
driving improvement through increased practice time, without breaking the
bank... And for that purpose, I think it's about perfect!!!
Jan Owen
I am very happy with my timer. I had a 30" diameter round target made at a local welding shop. It has a 1 1/4" hole in the center for the light. The day I got it I couldn't wait to try it out. Now what are the odds of me hitting dead center in that 1 1/4" hole with a wax bullet on the first shot? Must have been pretty good cause I did it! Blew the guts right out of the light and they were in pieces on the garage floor. The damage was not as bad as it looked and I put it all back together, cut a round piece of Plexiglas to make a new cover for the light and then bolted a Plexiglas cover over the hole in the target. The timer still works perfect in spite of all that.
T. Michael Leonard
(pictured at left)
My timer has been working flawlessly. It's easy to use & a great asset.
Phil Peterson
I must say I am impressed with it. Before I got it I was certain that I would want/need a "real" timer to use in my backyard. Now I am not so sure. Your timer works much better than I thought it would. I do not feel that the extra money for a true competition timer would be well spent for simple practice.
Doug Hunter
I have really been enjoying the Speedtimer and display. Attached is a photo of your product incorporated into my basement bar/range.
The plywood target (with embedded light) is normally hidden in an alcove behind a bamboo curtain and the bright yellow display and timer storage is built into a dart board frame. A hinged door of 1" rough saw pine protects them when not in use. The wiring is strung through the ceiling and encased in plastic conduit where exposed near the target. I shoot only primer blanks and wax bullets so have had no problems with damaged equipment; but, I have armored the target in the timer light area with a piece of heavy temper glass (the bottom tray out of an old microwave oven) -- just in case -- it also gives wax "hits" a nice hollow pinging sound.
The timer and display have worked flawlessly. It is great fun and a big hit with guests invited to face the dude behind the curtain.
Rod Ford
I use the timer for practice, and if I have any friends over we find it a treat to use as it is well made, reliable and easy to carry about or set up. I have not used it in a competition although one contest I went to they did have your timer and it was just perfect. I am very happy with it and so is a friend who has one and in fact introduced me to your timer.
(Note: this writer is from the UK, where the Fast Draw Speed Timer is used in competition)
Alan Taylor
Fast Draw Timer Tips
Protecting the cable
One problem that Fast Draw people sometimes have is shooting the light cable with wax bullets, or burning it with powder when using blanks. A solutions that some shooters are using is to find about eight or ten feet of old garden hose, then threading the wire through it, usually by cutting the hose lengthwise and pushing the wire through the slit. You can also use "Wire Loom", which is a specially made wire protector that you can find at cabling and some car audio retailers. The hose or wire loom will protect the wire from the wax bullets or burning powder, and save you having to perform those wiring jobs to re-connect the light.
If you do shoot the cable or otherwise cut it in half, the easiest thing to do is to try and fix the cable yourself by stripping off the plastic coating and reconnecting the wires, covering each re-connected wire with tape.
Replacing the light cable
Although the wiring between the timer and light is a type of phone cable, it does not use the same type of cable jacks used on a normal phone extension cord. Our cables use the smaller jacks used between the phone and handset. Unfortunately the handset cords only use 2 wires, and the timer light uses all 4 wires, so you can't simply buy a long extension hand-set cable. If you need to make a new cable you can sometimes get the folks at Radio Shack to do it for you. If you're looking down at the two jacks in the same manner (looking at both of them at the same angle), simply make sure they wire the left position to the same left position on the other jack. Then go across, wiring the same position to the same position on the other jack.
Timer is registering echoes as shot times
Because the timer uses sound from the shot to register your time, if you are shooting balloons with loud full-powder blanks in an echo prone environment like an indoor range you may find that multiple shots are recorded each time you shoot (the timer picks up the echoes as subsequent shots). The first shot that is recorded will be the actual time of your shot, so you can simply use the arrow keys on the side of the timer to scroll back to view that shot.
There are a couple of things you can do to try and minimize the echo readings. On the timer you should find a hole drilled in the back that allows you to see a dial. This is the sensitivity dial that can be adjusted. Make sure to use a small screwdriver so you can feel when you get to the end. Turn it very gently counter-clockwise to make the timer less sensitive. Important Note: this sensitivity dial can be turned too far, so please make sure to do this adjustment very carefully and stop when you feel resistance. If you're not sure if you've gone all the way counter-clockwise, try going clockwise a bit, then turn back counter-clockwise to verify.
You can also place something over the two slots on the front of the timer. The sound pick-up is right below the slots, and taping a piece of foam or cardboard over the holes helps to reduce the sound vibration pick-up when shooting indoors.
Protecting the light unit
The plastic case on the light unit that comes with the Fast Draw timer was designed to be used behind glass or lexan shielding that is found on Fast Draw targets. The light unit was not designed to withstand the impact of a wax bullet, or resist the burning powder of a blank.
If you have any standard Fast Draw wax target you can mount the light unit behind the lexan where the "normal" light is situated. Many people simply affix the light behind the lexan with duct tape, while some people use a chunk of styrofoam that has a circle cut out in the middle exactly the size of the light unit. The styrofoam is affixed in some manner (duct tape, bolted, etc.) to the back of the target over the lexan, and the light unit can easily be pushed into the hole.
When using blanks, glass is the protection of choice. If you are using Fast Draw balloon targets with a glass dome covered light you can often mount the light unit to the back of the glass dome so that the light shows through the dome (you'll need to have an unpainted dome for this, or remove a small patch of paint on the back of the dome). You can also try mounting the light unit low enough behind the dome so you can just barely see the light over the top of the glass dome. Since most people fire the gun below their line of sight, any burning powder not hitting the glass dome should fly harmlessly over the light unit.
Target ideas
If you're just starting out in Fast Draw and don't have any targets, you can get started quite easily. One of the quickest ways is to take an old camera tripod to use as a light stand. The light unit comes with a standard camera screw-mount in the bottom, so it will securely mount on the tripod. From a hardware or glass store get a 6"X6" piece of thick lexan, then mount that to the front of the light unit (duct tape, etc.) to protect it from the wax bullets. Cut a small hole in the middle of a paper shooting target (available at any gun store, or just use any large pieces of paper you have lying around), then place your tripod and light unit behind that hole so you can see the light. After a few rounds of shooting you can use masking tape to cover over the holes in the paper. This way you can use the same target for quite a while.
For blank shooting at balloons it's best to use a piece of glass instead of lexan to protect the light. You can then tape the balloons to the glass just below the light.
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Another great target option is the E-Z Practice Target (pictured at left) designed by the Cowboy Fast Draw Association. This wax bullet target comes complete with a 24" lexan disc and all the hardware and accessories to connect the Westerner Speed Timer Fast Draw light unit. Click here to check out the CFDA E-Z Practice Target. |
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