Champion Traps and Targets, Trap, Skybird 3/4 Cock Trap w/Tripod (WaistHigh) (40906)

We love this product. Easy to set up, well built, stable on uneven ground.

The clay thrower is a great idea in that it can throw regular birds as well as rotated to throw rabbit clays. The problem is the throwing arm stop started bending after less than 100 clays. The concern is over time, the stop will completely break off over time. It was being used regularly and not mistreated. Need to redesign or use stronger materials.

As with all champion products there is excelent customer service and product quality. this thrower is on a tripod which i thought would make it unstable or that it would shake and just be not effective but i tried it any ways, and i have to say i am thouroughly impressed, it ways almost twice as much as anyother thrower that and has the kind of quality parts you expect. the powdercoat was extremly thick giving it a matte finish, who really cares, but the bolt holes are not comprimised as a result. throws any combination of clays any distance you need.Update after 5 years in use it is still working great, when it does break but the way it is going it looks to be indestructible.I will buy a new one from the same company you can’t beat this clay thrower.

Purchased this thrower to practice sporting clays. All components come preassembled. The only assembly required is attaching the thrower to the tripod base, the handle to the thrower's base and the main spring & release cord. The tripod legs are easy to set up. The plastic tube protection ring is not required for operation. I am not using the ring as the unit is more compact for transporting without it. I also release the clutch wratchet to deload the arm from its 3/4 cock position so the arm and base are in a straight line for ease of transporting.The unit comes with a stamped closed-end box wrench that fits the spring adjustment bolt and the elevation bolt. The thrower assembly is attached to the tripod base with fixed bolts & wing nuts. The wing nuts facilitate turning the thrower 90 degrees so the arm moves in a vertical plane to throw rabbits and chondelle targets. I have not used it in this mode, yet. Vibration from launching targets causes these wing nuts to loosen. I added locknut washers under the wing nuts to better secure them. Adjusting elevation is awkward. The contact surface of the thrower and its mounting bracket, around which the elevation is adjusted, are radially grooved. One has to really torque down the elevation bolt to lock in the desired elevation position, else it slips & loosens.The thrower must be held down using the handle when cocking, especially the first time when there is no 3/4 cock. Because of the ratchet clutch, there is no risk that the arm will swing back as it is being cocked. The arm should be brought down gently to rest against the release plate. The release plate includes a thumb position to launch the arm, but it takes a lot of pressure to activate. I find it easier to use the string routed through one of the quick disconnect clips on the tripod leg. Release involves pulling up on the string rather than pushing down on the thrumb release. It is much more stable to hold the launcher down by the handle while pulling up on the string. I found it easier if the trapper is sitting down in a chair while cocking, loading and launching targets. Even with the 3/4 cock capturing excess spring force, the tripod wil move and the legs will dig into soft ground.The launcher will send standard clay birds out to a range of 70 yards depending on elevation and spring force. I have been using it to launch single birds. I have not tried doubles or other types of clay targets. I have been using biodegradeable clay targets which may may be thinner and more prone to launch breakage than standard birds. Launch breakage has been minimal but more frequent using recycled birds. After launching about ~150 birds, the breakage frequency began to increase. I found the rubber guide strip on the launch rail had started to come out at the end of the rail. I trimmed the rubber strip profile back to a straight edge using a box cutter knife and this solved the breakage problem.It's a good idea to lubricate the bearing surfaces and pivot points before use and periodically. The components do not come prelubricated.Customer service and technical support are very good. I had several operational questions which I emailed to the company. Responses and focused answers come back fairly quickly. All parts are available from the manufacturer.

As with all champion products there is excelent customer service and product quality. this thrower is on a tripod which i thought would make it unstable or that it would shake and just be not effective but i tried it any ways, and i have to say i am thouroughly impressed, it ways almost twice as much as anyother thrower that i own, trius doo all ect, and has the kind of quality parts you expect. the powdercoat was extremly thick giving it a matte finish, who really cares, but the bolt holes are not comprimised as a result. throws any combination of clays any distance you need.

Save your money. This swing arm is made out of flimsy aluminum and was bending after 50 launches. We have had it for 1 week and used it three seperate times. The 2nd time we used it we had to bend the swing arm back out because it bent so bad that it was warping the whole piece of aluminum. By the 3rd time it broke off the stop that was rivetted to the swing arm and the aluminum is so warped you can see stress fractures in it. This thing is junk and not impressed with the company because they obviously did zero product testing.

A gift for my son-in-law. Very sturdy and loads of fun!! Now my husband wants one!

All in all this is a very good product; it worked well, was easy to use and we had a lot of fun with it. There are however some cons:Cons: 1. The carrying handle came off after the first 5 clays. There is not nut provided to secure this.2. The instructions are not very clear regarding some items (see number 1)3. The part that stops the trap at the 6 O'Clock position (Not sure what it is called - retention bar?) is held onto the trap by 2 pop rivets. (See photo for part location) They broke off after about 40 clays. I can repair it by drilling out the rivets and installing 2 more or small bolts with nuts ans lock washers, but it seems Champion should have a better solution to this. Luckily we had a back up so we did not have to stop for the day. Note, when this piece come loose, the trap DOES NOT stop at the 6 position, it goes all the way around at full speed, so be careful.Con 3 is why it didn't get 5 stars.Pros: 1. Very easy to use once it is set up.2. Portable and not too heavy3. The design is good, except for the above.4. It is much easier to operate than many other models - easy to cock from the 9 O'clock (3/4) position.I would recommend this anyone even consider the 3 cons

Nice thrower, easy to use and assembly was easy