From our September/October 2025 Issue
DIY shooters rejoice! Nordic Clays, based in Denmark, has developed the TrapMaster, a handheld, battery-powered thrower that has the potential to reinvent “backyard” target shooting. The family-run business, founded in 2021 by Andreas Peter Wilhelmsen and his father, Friis Arne Petersen (Danish Ambassador to the US from 2005— ’10), refined and scaled the gyroscopic device originally invented by a friend of Petersen’s.
The dark-green, 4.4-pound thrower fits comfortably in your hand. Once the unit is switched on, one button opens the locking mechanism to hold one or two targets, while a second button activates the gyroscope, powered by a drone motor for a period of three seconds. When the device reached full speed, the target launches. Unlike a traditional clay that is pushed off the trap, these targets literally fly away. The 4.375" -diameter, injection-molded orange or black targets are made of biodegradable potato starch and can withstand temperatures of 130° F. They stand vertically, like the face of a clock, and spin at an incredible speed of 15,000 RPM. The thrower has nine firing speeds for shooters of different abilities. The built-in battery takes about five hours to fully charge and can launch up to 600 targets per charge.
I first saw the TrapMaster at the Orvis Sandanona Game Fair, in Millbrook, New York. I marveled at its build quality, its ease of use and the various ways that targets can be thrown. According to Wilhelmsen: “We spent more than a year perfecting the TrapMaster. We then started selling in Denmark and Sweden before taking it to the UK and now the US. The EU has very strict environmental standards, so we’re constantly working to make the targets both reliable and biodegradable.”
I have shot several hundred targets from the TrapMaster, and I’m having a blast trying all kinds of presentations. With proper safety precautions, we’ve thrown targets resembling driven birds; soaring teal; fast crossers (up to 37 MPH); and even rabbits. Depending on wind speed and direction, we’ve had targets travel beyond 100 yards. As Editor at Large Reid Bryant recently wrote, “This may be the greatest innovation in shotgun target shooting in the last 50 years.”
A Nordic Clays starter pack costs $699 and includes the thrower, a case, charging equipment, a cylindrical carrier for the targets and 400 targets. An additional 200 targets cost $50. The company has distributors in the US, and more information is available at nordicclays.com.
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