How to make your own prone mat.

bdutton · Post by **bdutton** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:45 pm

My rifle team almost tripled in size from last year. During the indoor season, we were able to manage about 11 shooters with 6 prone mats by splitting the group over two week nights. Now we are moving outdoors and I was forced to save money by making my own.

I documented the process and have uploaded the file to my website for you to enjoy:

http://williamdutton.com/How_to_make_a_ ... ne_Mat.pdf

Abi · Post by **Abi** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:21 pm

Thanks for sharing.

scairns · Post by **scairns** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:01 pm

Congratulations on tripling the size of your junior team - and thanks for the directions!

remmy223 · Post by **remmy223** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:38 pm

Good stuff!...
Here's what Sergey was training on earlier this week in Minsk

stevehdz · Post by **stevehdz** » Thu May 08, 2014 12:57 pm

If you know anyone with sewing skills. Get some carpet padding. Can be had for free if you talk to a carpet place and tell them you only need 3 ft width and pieces are ok. A little begging helps. For old timers you can build these up in layers and still be regulation legal.

Then find a boat canvas shop and ask for scraps or cheap canvas. Boat canvas holds up really well to abuse and is waterproof so can be hosed off after lying in the mud. Plus they can add some Velcro straps to close it or snaps. Also you can get different colors to match your team colors, or pink for girls etc.

Alternatively home depot cloth tarps also work. Any cloth that will stand up to abuse and not soak in the water to quick.

Then fold it over and sew around the edges. Only problem is heavy tarps or canvas are tough and the seams are thick. Again the boat canvas (or maybe upholstery place) has the big sewing machines that work. Old metal singer sewing machines work great and are almost bulletproof. Be VERY careful with cheap sewing machines and think material. The gears in these machines are made of plastic and if you sew something to thick you will break these gears and it's a pain to get them fixed and you will get yelled at. (don't ask me how I know) I'm going to put together a little diagram to show how it's made. I've had better luck with flat folding ones that round rolled because it stacks better. The kids seem to keep these neater.