Bullet trap ideas for recycling lead

[geargnasher]

Shawn, if you make a sifter out of 2X6s and 1/4" hardware cloth you can sift them out of the sand very quickly and easily over a wheel barrow. I made a new 2x3-foot frame that sits across the sides of a contractor-grade barrow and I just park the whole thing under the trap when I dump it (by removing the front a little bit at a time).

I'm not sure why you used the Lexan, looks like it tore up the panel behind it pretty badly as the shards cut through it.

All you really need in the front is some sort of wooden panel (osb, plywood, etc.) and either the mudflap like you had or felt paper, or even asphalt shingles behind the wood to act as a stopleak, and a front layer to pin the targets to. I use 1/2" asphalt sheathing on the fronts of mine, held on with a few screws around the edges.

Anyway, for general trapping (not forensics) a little sand does a lot of stopping, prevents fragmentation, and it is super-easy to sift the boolits out. Only downside is weight, but then again it doesn't take much thickness to work well.

Gear

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Gear,

I was hoping the lexan would just allow the boolit to make a hole, and the rubber flooring would seal the hole . . . obviously it didn't work good for the bigger heavier swc hp's!

This is actually lighter in weight than my rubber trap, (less than half the weight!) which I don't dare shoot my 270 into . . . 7.62X39 mashes the back wall on the rubber one!

[grumman581]

Even the "bullet proof" glass that the banks and armored cars use can only withstand a certain number of shots in the exact same place before it is compromised... You want something that will stop any round, then you need to use the entire planet as a "backstop"... If you want something portable or something that you can easily recover the lead from, then you have to make compromises... Such is life...

[O9Tacoma4x4]

My previous post (353) shows the one I built since I did not have a welder. This, although it'd probably be a bit heavier is what I'd eventually like to build. Hopefully Santa brings me a Lincoln Ranger this year. I seen this posted on another forum quite some time back.

He stated "I had some free 1/2" x 16" tall x 24" long steel plates available at work so after searching other available bullet trap designs I came up with this one. It works so nice, that I may look into building some to sell out of lighter material.
It consists of gradually sloping side plates that terminate with a 1/2" slot that is then attached to a 4 1/2" diameter slotted tube mounted at an offset. The bullets hit the side plates and are directed into a tangent entry into the round tube where they spin around losing energy then they simply fall into a coffee can at the bottom of the tube. If I start producing them, I will use a larger tube and reduce the angle even more to keep bullet fragmentation to an absolute minimum which will further reduce lead dust."
And these are the pics. posted.

By o9tacoma at 2010-07-07

By o9tacoma at 2010-07-07

By o9tacoma at 2010-07-07

By o9tacoma at 2010-07-07

By o9tacoma at 2010-07-07

By o9tacoma at 2010-07-07

[frankenfab]

Looks like great design to me.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Similar to to the one I had built , only i used 8" pipe & top & bottom slop as well as sides reducing wight. then it has 2 wheels & can be moved like a wheel barrow.

[ilcop22]

I've read through quite a bit of this thread, but have a couple questions.

I have a 1/4" and a 3/8" steel plate sitting around collecting sawdust which I bought years back to start a backstop project. I shoot a lot of heavy caliber (7.62x54, 30-06, etc.) and .45 ACP both cast and Mil-surp FMJs. I'm not too concerned with recovering boolits intact, since any lead recovered beats digging through the berm any day of the week!

Which design do you think would best suit my purpose? I shoot a lot, but I am not overly concerned with recovering 100% of my scrap. Is it even safe to shoot heavy (165-180gr) fast movers at a backstop? I am fearful of richochet which is what stopped my build in the first place. I would shoot pistol at a mimimum of 50 feet and rifle at a minimum of 50 yards (my club's ranges go out to 600 yards, so anything up to that distance). Thanks for the advice.

[Jim_Fleming]

ILCOP, personally I made my recovery trap out of blue polyethelene barrels filled with sand...

I am very sure that even .50 BMG can't penetrate my barrels when firing from 100 yards or what ever, at the 24" diameter end of the barrel... The military teaches that bullets can't pass thru 18 inches of dirt, and my barrels are 36 inches long front to back and filled with sand.

Sure they're not portable, but I don't run any risk at all of ricochets...

[gunstocl]

Lots of great ideas on this thread.
For my situation (do not have to move it, tons of free sand and a tractor with loader) the blue plastic barrels placed on their side shooting into the 24" dia end seems best.
What ideas do you have to cover the open end of the barrel to keep the sand from slumping and falling out?

[JIMinPHX]

I am very sure that even .50 BMG can't penetrate my barrels when firing from 100 yards or what ever, at the 24" diameter end of the barrel... The military teaches that bullets can't pass thru 18 inches of dirt,

Jim, I hesitate to question information born of military training, but from what I have seen so far with different calibers, the heavier &/or faster slugs penetrate deeper. 30-30 is about the hottest thing that I have tested so far, so I don't have empirical information on the .50BMG, but it would stand to reason from what I have seen that a .50 BMG would sail right through your barrel. I can believe that 18" of dirt would stop a round from an AK or an AR & maybe an M-14, but the 50 seems way too powerful. Perhaps that 18" rating pertained to common battle field rifles that were approved for use on troops? It was my understanding that .50BMG is only supposed to be shot at equipment like tanks, jeeps, radios & structures due to some treaty governing rules of engagement.

[ilcop22]

Found this regarding the .50 BMG:

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/50BMG_ammo_Primer.htm

Towards the bottom he discusses penetration, including sand-filled drums.

[AZPaul]

Nice, I'll take one.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Jim,

I shot my 270 with factor jsp 130 gr into my little sand trap with 5.5" of sand, it stopped it! From 27 yards . . . stops 357, 45 acp, 44 mag from 15 yards . . . I've shot my 7.62X39 fmj into my rubber trap . . . stops them in about 16" - 17" . . . course that is where I have a old road sign, and 1.5" of sand behind it, but they dent the metal . . .

[JIMinPHX]

What kind of sand are you guys using? Wet? Dry? Coarse? Sharp? Play Sand? Etc.?

Does the depth of penetration vary with the height in the barrel that you shoot at? For example, If you shoot 2" down from the top of the sand pile, do the boolits go further than if you shoot at an area 2 feet further down? I'm wondering if it makes a difference that the sand 2 feet down has the weight of more sand on top of it.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I just used some I scraped up in the desert . . . look at post #352 & #360 . . .

Mine was settled as best I could, but shooting into it really made it hard! It was dry, since we have had very little rain!

The 44 mag hollow points really tore up my lexan (I was hoping it would just drill nice little holes, like the 22's did!) I think I'm just gonna use the rubber flooring and card board and see if that will work . . .

[markinalpine]

Those corrugated plastic campaign signs work pretty good. Just be careful you don't get accused of committing a hate crime, maybe by painting over the candidates name or logo or whatever. Also, I wouldn't recommend taking any signs during an active campaign. Wait for the campaign to end.
Mark

[grumman581]

Those corrugated plastic campaign signs work pretty good.

That probably has the added benefit of giving you an unending supply also...

[JIMinPHX]

Every now & then I just seem to have a moment of clarity, when something, that should have been obvious, becomes apparent. This morning it happened to me when I was at the steel yard picking up material. I saw precut steel disks piled up on racks & it dawned on me, a 5 gallon bucket is just over 10" at the base. They had 11 gauge 10" disks for about $6 & 1/4" thick 10" disks for about $13. All you need to do is drop a disk in a bucket, fill the bucket with crumb rubber, sand, or whatever else you want to use, snap on the lid, turn it on it's side & tape on a target. Then you have a trap for less than $20 total investment. If you want to fire something really hot at it, just get a few buckets of whatever, line them up in a row & only put the steel disk in the bottom of the last one. I can't believe that I did all that construction work on my earlier traps.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

And a couple little wedges to keep it from rolling . . . and a few spare lids . . . My first trap was a five gallon bucket filled with sand, very heavy and I noticed they were only in a few inches of the top.

[Jim_Fleming]

Mr. JIMinPHX:

Thank you sincerely, Sir, for your caution and courtesy... I was merely reciting what they told us from one of the Basic Infantry Field Manuals that used to be the bane of troops that were digging in and making "overnight" foxhole positions...

However ilcop22 did in fact post a VERY interesting link that corroborates the stuff I was reciting about 18 inches of sand and a .50 BMG round... Don't get me wrong, Jim, I dang sure ain't gonna be silly enough to trust even 36 inches of sand wet or dry if I don't have to!

I had to use a screen capture and attach it as a .jpg image rather than just copying and pasting the text, but you'll get the idea...

It's hard to conceive but I guess that each and every grain of that sand dissipates quite a lot of energy... Personally I have a hard time believing it, too....

Jim, I hesitate to question information born of military training, but from what I have seen so far with different calibers, the heavier &/or faster slugs penetrate deeper. 30-30 is about the hottest thing that I have tested so far, so I don't have empirical information on the .50BMG, but it would stand to reason from what I have seen that a .50 BMG would sail right through your barrel. I can believe that 18" of dirt would stop a round from an AK or an AR & maybe an M-14, but the 50 seems way too powerful. Perhaps that 18" rating pertained to common battle field rifles that were approved for use on troops? It was my understanding that .50BMG is only supposed to be shot at equipment like tanks, jeeps, radios & structures due to some treaty governing rules of engagement.