Boolit trap works!!!

[titaniumpyro]

First post so maybe this will all work.
I'm pretty new to this site but have found it to be a wonderful wealth of info.
One thread that really caught my attention was this one
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=26627
in which JIMinPHX had the excellent idea of using rubber mulch in a box
as a bullet/boolit trap. Well naturally I had to try this so I picked up a couple
0.8 cubic foot bags of shredded rubber mulch at Lowes for something like $12.47 a bag. I had only had the chance to try it in a small box, shooting .22 lr at it when I found this stuff at Sam's Club the other night.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5537/mulchbagvz2.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mulchbagvz2.jpg)
and it was cheaper, $8.54 for a 1.15 cubic foot bag.
Well 3 bags later and a quick box made from OSB, some cardboard and burlap, I was ready for testing.
My box is 12w x 18h x 26"d
with a plain OSB back because I wanted to easily see if anything penetrated all the way through.
It easily stopped multiple shots of the following
.22
9mm
.45 ACP
.223 remington
30 Carbine
1 ounce 12 gauge slug
Nothing even made it to the back of the box

This stuff packs really well.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/1351/mulchvz4.th.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mulchvz4.jpg)

and mining through it makes you feel like a "lead farmer"

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/2984/recoveredvc0.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=recoveredvc0.jpg)

This is the place that makes the stuff.http://www.americanrubber.com/mulch/

Anyway, much thanks to JIMinPHX and this entire community
for the wealth of info that you provide to us newbies.
Cant wait to start shooting my boolits now that I have a way to
catch them[smilie=w:

Tim

[44man]

You are a life saver! I have to go get some.

[MT Gianni]

Welcome Tim. What does the box weigh? Did you shoot through the burlap front? Any top to it or was it open?

[JIMinPHX]

Welcome aboard Tim. I'm glad that the info I posted was useful to you. Be careful with that thing though, Several shots in the same spot will go through it & come out the back side. Keep a safe back stop behind it.

Regards,
Jim

[titaniumpyro]

Well I can pick the box up with the mulch in it but I wouldn't want to carry it very far, my guess is between 100-120 lbs, but I will weight it tomorrow to be sure. Probably the best way to transport it would be to empty about 75% of the mulch into a rubbermaid container and carry the two separate. Yea I shot through the burlap, actually bullet goes through target, 2.5" space, 2 layers of cardboard, another 2.5" of space, burlap, and finally into the mulch. The burlap is to retain the mulch and allows it to be packed down good. The burlap seems to allow the bullets to "slip" through the weave for the most part, except for the 12 gauge slug which tore a good hole in it.

[titaniumpyro]

Forgot to mention that the box does have a lid,with a rubber door mat and weight on top to shed the weather. Funny thing Jim, ~70% of my shots were just below and right of center, and I fully expected to have some shots penetrate the back, but apparently I had the stuff packed good enough that it didn't start to tunnel, at least in the 100 or so shots it took. I do have a bank behind the box, that I normally shoot into, but it dosn't hurt to remind everyone that there is NO substitute for a proper backstop.

[Hotrod99]

I have been reading this site for a few days now. I am new to re-loading and casting... Got all new equipment for Christmas and scored a 5gal bucket full of WW yesterday from a local tire shop. :mrgreen:

I have a small single lane 10 meter indoor range. Right now, we only use pellets or 22lr. However, I have the range soundproofed and want to fire my handguns. So, these boolit traps sound great! I plan to build a large 3' x 3' x 24" box this weekend.

My question is, does anyone use these traps up close? as in 10 meters or less? Do I need to make the box deeper? The back stop I have in place is a soild 5" thick pine wall. (4x4's laid between the studs and covered bothside with 5/8" ply)

My range is for my little girl to shoot airguns and smallbore... but getting to shoot my handguns would be great!!!

Thanks!!

[titaniumpyro]

Well I just weighted my box and it comes in at 135 lbs, with 3 bags of the above mulch in it.
Hotrod99 you may want to read this thread
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=16442
before making the decision, to shoot indoors, as it seems that one gets more lead in their system that way than by casting.
The closest I shot at my box was 15 yards, but I don't see why you couldn't be closer. A 3x3 box should be hard to miss at 10 meters however my question to you is what is behind your 5" pine wall. An errant shot could find its way through a crack
in the 4x4's only having to go through layers of plywood. Not questioning your judgment, just think about it, and be sure that everything will be safe. I don't want to be the cause of anyone getting hurt or worse.
If you build the 3x3 let us know how it works. I plan to build a much nicer box than the OSB one and may build it bigger.

[Hotrod99]

Wow... that was a very interesting read. I have a fan blowing down range and roof vent at the impact end of the range. Plus, I have a small window AC that needs to be installed for those hot Florida days... for fresh air.

Whats behind the wall... my house. Before I shoot anything larger the a 22lr... I will add to the current backstop. I was thinking about adding another 3/4" sheet of ply to the inside wall. Not sure if that will be enough. So an offset stack of 4x4's may need to be added as well.... then the 3/4" ply. Side walls will need to be beefed up as well at the impact end...

I will keep you posted and take a few photos as I build.

Thanks!!

[garandsrus]

Our club uses the rubber for backing in both a pistol and rifle range. The bullets (mostly) get torn up pretty badly. I wouldn't think that tunnels would be created. The rubber would just fill in any opening.

I would think that you would want the rubber relatively loose and not packed in tightly. The movement of the rubber will help absorb the impact. It should also fill in any voids when packed loosely.

There is also a theory that the movement of the rubber during a shot will cause the existing bullets in the mix to migrate to the bottom of the mix. I don't really know how well this works.

After a fair amount of shooting without removing the lead from the rubber we do get an occasional bullet/boolit that bounces back out of the rubber. We find them on the range floor from time to time. Keep in mind that this is probably after thousands of rounds. The rubber is loose at the backstop and is at about a 30 degree angle.

John

[JIMinPHX]

My question is, does anyone use these traps up close? as in 10 meters or less? Do I need to make the box deeper? The back stop I have in place is a soild 5" thick pine wall. (4x4's laid between the studs and covered bothside with 5/8" ply)


I've used the crumb rubber traps up close with no problems.

You might want to rethink your wooden backstop a little. I used to shoot .22LR at a bunch of pilled up railroad ties. One day I was shooting some Agulia SSS rounds (60 grain I think) & one of them hit right on the crack where two ties met. That little .22 went right past them & into the cement block wall behind them. Both ties had a pretty good gash in them where the bullet went through, so I don't think that there was a gap there or anything. I think that the bullet just pried the two ties apart & went through. the weight of a railroad tie seems to have been overcome. I've since used wooden back ups where I alternate 2 x 4's & stagger the joints. Several layers of that seems to be more reliable.

[JIMinPHX]

Hotrod99 you may want to read this thread
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=16442
before making the decision, to shoot indoors, as it seems that one gets more lead in their system that way than by casting.


The crumb rubber traps give you whole bullets back, not lead dust like my metal traps did. That should be a good start towards reducing lead exposure. Unfortunately, I think that the lead stypinate (sp?) in the priming compound is also a significant source of lead exposure for the shooter. You probably still need some good forced ventilation for any indoor range, even with a box trap.

[35remington]

I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but in many applications the crumb rubber doesn't work. This is in reference to a trap of limited size that is intended to be portable.

If packed loosely enough that the rubber can actually fill voids after the shot has passed, the box is quite large, and "tunneling" and throwing of the rubber to other parts of the trap can still occur, especially if the arm doing the shooting produces small groups. In these instance the bullet is almost in free flight to the back of the trap box.

In the case of several shots landing in close proximity that have considerable penetration (my .25-20 can easily outpenetrate pistol rounds even if shot at low velocities, for example, and groups are quite small at 50 yards) crumb rubber don't work so hot.

Packed, loose, or any way in between.

The rifle shooter, if using crumb rubber, better darn sure have a thick steel stop plate in the back, because it's gonna be needed, big time.

Small groups are the portable crumb rubber trap's undoing. Combining this with a deep penetrating bullet will unfortunately leave you looking for something else.

For rather scattershot handgun shooting, it's fine.