Boolit Trap-Will need to try again.

[milrifle]

I followed a link from an old thread to a website where a guy had built a box from a 2x6 frame with sheetrock faces. He built four of these and stacked them in front of each other and filled them with sand. His experiment was to see how much sand it took to stop a bullet. He fired 9mm, 45 ACP, 223 Rem, and .308 (all ball ammo) and nothing exited the first box.

So, I figured I'd build a boolit trap using a 2x8 frame and a couple of sheets of plywood for the face. Figured I'd shoot it until the front piece of ply wouldn't hold sand anymore then recover my boolits and replace the plywood. I built one, filled it full of 'dirt', fired a couple of 185 grain .30 cal boolits from my 03-A3 (100 yards, 1800 fps) into it and they didn't come through. I dug one out, it was closer to the back than the front, but it was fairly intact. Gas check had come off, but I found it too. So, I stapled a target up to it and fired 10 more rounds. When I walked downrange, there were two boolits laying on the ground. They had exited the rear and split the plywood pretty good. 10 more rounds yielded another two boolits on the ground. I assume the other 8 (or 16 as it were) are still inside. I guess they may have passed on into my backstop, but probably not.

I just used 'dirt' that I dug up with a shovel. I'm thinking that one boolit left a void in the dirt, which was damp and had grass and roots and pine straw mixed in, and when another boolit hit in the same general area, there was not as much there to stop it. I may buy some play sand and try it again, as it may be more willing to collapse back down and keep the voids filled in, but I'm thinking I will end up going with a 2 x 12 frame and give it another 'shot'.

My other idea is to build a rack to hold a couple of 5 gallon buckets full of sand on their side and shoot through the lid. The lid will be somewhat self sealing and not allow a lot of sand to pour out. It would hold up for a few sessions of shooting.

[Mal Paso]

Dirt is not as resistant as sand and moisture Increases penetration. I read a report of tests on various materials and 2 feet of Dry Sand, the best of what they tested, stopped a 50 BMG. I wouldn't put too fine a point on it as they didn't say what sand and there are hundreds of types of sand.

[fecmech]

I've fired max loaded .357 Keiths into a 5 gal bucket half full of sand, none ever went out the bottom.

[rogn]

I use 30 gal plastic drums filled/ DRY sand. The barrels are around 18'' in diameter(estimate). They will stop most anything you can carry and shoot from the shoulder. Damp sand cavities and leaves a track. The second 375 300gr FMJ has to find a place downrange to stop. The front of the drum needs repair or a new panel after several hundred bullets in the same place. The bigger the bullet and bigger the meplat the sooner repairs are needed. The other advantage is the drum confines lead contamination--and recovery is facilitated. The challenge is keeping the sand dry--fliers arenot your friend.

[newton]

I saw that same thing too. But what I did was built the frame, 2x6, then put a 3/4" horse stall mat in the front, but behind the plywood. The back was plywood, dry sand in the middle. I have shot hundreads of rounds at it. Enough to just about completely shred the front plywood, no shots out the back until sand had leaked out the bottom and left a void in there.

But until then the rubber held the sand in, and it was thick enough to stop anything I shot it with. Full house 30.06, and full house 45 colt.

Sand will stop boolits easy, but it needs to be dry and 6" thick.