boolit trap idea

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

i am thinking out loud here ok in writing

i am thinking a 55 gallon plastic drum shoveled full of wood chips then laid on it side open end facing the shooting lane mounted so that from sitting or standing the boolit would go basically into the center axis of the drum.

adding more wood chips around the barrels and on the face of the berm to keep weeds down , wood chips are free for the hauling here , they do break down but form a nice soft under layer , that should absorb bullets well

to reclaim i figure tip the barrel up put a hose in it add water the chips should float the lead sink and i have the lead separated

[geargnasher]

I do that with a single steel barrel filled with rubber mulch and a couple of old mudflaps on the front to shoot through and keep most of the mulch inside. It works ok but is a PITA to empty.

My local range uses mulch piles in front of the berms to trap boolits and reduce ricochets, but being loose it's one of the most mine-proof traps I can think of. The barrels might work, but I wouldn't count on them holding water by the time it came time to recycle the lead!

Gear

[runfiverun]

oiled wood would help slow things down a little better.
and make good flux when the time comes too.

[44man]

I do that with a single steel barrel filled with rubber mulch and a couple of old mudflaps on the front to shoot through and keep most of the mulch inside. It works ok but is a PITA to empty.

My local range uses mulch piles in front of the berms to trap boolits and reduce ricochets, but being loose it's one of the most mine-proof traps I can think of. The barrels might work, but I wouldn't count on them holding water by the time it came time to recycle the lead!

Gear
That's what I have but I use thick cargo belting screwed to each end.
Mine needs emptied but is too heavy for me, have to get help to pour it onto a big tarp.
Oh, it's a plastic barrel.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

how far in do most bullets go?

[geargnasher]

Boolits usually go 18-30" into the rubber mulch, but some approaching 3K fps went clear through my barrel. Haven't shot J-words in years so I can't say about those.

For most of my shooting I use sand traps composed of 2x8 lumber boxes and plywood or OSB front/back and the front covered with asphalt sheathing for a nice target backer. When they get shot up too much I pull the screws out of the front panels and let the sand/boolits dump into a screened frame over my wheelbarrow for sifting. I replace the front panels and shovel the sand back into the boxes from the top. 7" of dry sand in containment will stop most anything that expands.

I use the rubber trap for boolit recovery/analysis and the sand traps for general shooting backstops, including backstops for self-healing targets or the ever-popular "cans".

Gear

[BulletFactory]

I used a bucket full of sand, but the bullets started coming out the sides. I would up cutting a hole in a propane tank to fit the bucket inside. A couple screws to hold it there, and presto, bullet trap. Just shoot through the lid, and collect old ones from painters and construction sites.

[Wolfer]

Mine is half of a plastic drum filled with sand. Wet or dry it depends on how much it's raining. Even big boolits make a small hole in the plastic but once the barrel gets shot up enough that sand is leaking out pretty bad I'll seine it out and turn it around. I'll put something against the holes in the back, shingles,mudflap, etc.and go back to shooting.

I have to empty it about twice a year anyway because I need the lead. A barrel cut in half around the middle, and rotated as needed is good for many many thousand rounds. Like Gear I have a 1/4" screen box that sets on my wheelbarrow that I shovel it through

[joken]

I have been thinking about several pieces of stall matt with a space between them. I don't know how many it would take to stop a pistol round.

[olafhardt]

Use a steel drum full of saw dust. Every so often shovel it into a cast iron wash pot. Add 50#or so of WW and a can of charcoal starter and set on fire. Cut little divots out of the turf on one side of the pot to form ingots when you dump the mess out. An old shovel with 3/8" holes drilled into itwill skim the clips and steelies out. When the dump out solidifies cut it up with an ax. I hope every one reading this realizes that I am joking and that my reply here is total BS.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

it sounds like sand might be the easiest to get boolits out of , i will have to check and see what sand will cost.

[blackthorn]

Cost of sand----A few buckets, a shovel, a piece of old window screen and an afternoons' outing in the hills!

[Wolfer]

I personally prefer the 1/4" screen it let's the sand through easer and still catches most 22 rounds if their mushroomed a little which they will be.
I have to add to my sand on occasion but I'm in construction and whenever I'm on a job site where their laying block I can always get a couple buckets from around the edge where it's got mixed with gravel. When their done laying block you can usually get whatever's left. Otherwise I just go down to the creek.

[cmkiefer]

Here in the UP of Michigan we have something in abundance that is perfect for a backstop...snow. Pile it up good. Shoot all winter. In the Spring go pick yer lead up off the top of the ground.

[whisler]

Almost makes me wish we had more snow. ALMOST!!!

[41mag]

I picked up a few plastic buckets from work, which are closer to 6 gal than 5 and have screw on lids. The grandson and I filled one up with some dirt, (sandy loam) out of the pasture yesterday morning. We then set it atop of an old 55 gallon barrel at 50yds and I went to work on it with several different handguns.

The bullets weighed in between 250 and 310grs fired from 41, and 44 magnums, and several from a 14" Contender. Guessing, the muzzle velocities were in the 1200 - 1250fps range for most shots except for the Contender which was probably easily another hundred fps due to the sealed barrel and length. We ended up with 16 holes in the bucket lid, 4 of them either went out the bottom of the bucket or the side. The rest were all found within an inch of the bottom.

[44man]

I have been thinking about several pieces of stall matt with a space between them. I don't know how many it would take to stop a pistol round.
Depends. The .475 and .500 will go through 16" of seasoned oak and 14 gallon jugs of water. They also exit my mulch barrel now and then.
The .44 has a lot of penetration. Even my .45 Colt has gone through a 16" tree.
Sand can work for smaller guns but can turn some boolits to dust. Any steel can also ruin a boolit so much you can't collect lead. Most of what I shoot would laugh at a bucket of wet sand! :mrgreen:
The larger you shoot, the more good stuff you need to stop boolits.
If you shoot small calibers, still hang a whole lot of stall mat. But as you poke holes, it gets worse.

[10x]

Here in the UP of Michigan we have something in abundance that is perfect for a backstop...snow. Pile it up good. Shoot all winter. In the Spring go pick yer lead up off the top of the ground.

25 years ago I put up targets in front of a snow berm at our gun range. On range cleanup day in the spring the presidents kid picked up 4 one gallon buckets of my 45 - 70 bullets and sold them back to me...

[rogn]

A foot of fine dry sand will stop most of the things you can carry. Wet sand on the other hand is great for the first shot but the cavity left behind gives follow up shots a running start. I use pastic 30 gallon drums and these have stopped everything except one 375 full patch at 2700. This got away due to the sand having gotten wet, and one of the successive shots got a free run. This type of bullet will make a real impression in the dirt on the far side of a 36" hickory tree. The heaviest cast 45s I shoot are 270 gr Kieth style at abt 1400. Thus far there have been no escapees. Ive been shooting 255gr cast flat pt 0.375s at 1450 and haven't had any problems, range has been 100 and 200 yd. Temporary back stop at 200 is cedar and chestnut logs. When the logs get chewed up I just pry the bullets out. The barrels are screened to reclaim lead. I either replace them or screw a 1/2 barrel panel in the shot out space. I ilk them because they keep the lead in one place and out of the soil and they stop everything we throw at them.