Nonpermanent bullet catcher?

[am44mag]

I'm wanting to build a bullet catcher that can be moved with relative ease (I can't really have a permanent catch on my range). Here's what I was thinking. I can build a box out of 2x4s and plywood. It'll be 24" tall, 18" wide, 24" deep, and filled with rubber mulch. I can build a stand for it to sit on, and the whole thing can be moved into the barn when I'm done shooting. The most powerful thing I plan on shooting it with right now is a 44 mag out of a 20" rifle. Should 24" of rubber much be enough to stop 44 magnum (I shoot a pretty good amount of it as my username would imply)?

[daloper]

I use a box made from 2X10 filled with rubber mulch and it did not catch my .44 mag from my SRH. I was loading them hot and shooting from about 30 yards. I changed the load over to a .44 light load and they caught fine. I would think that the 24" of mulch should catch them. On mine I put a rubber stable mat on the front and back before putting on the 1/2" plywood backing. the stable mat made it self sealing after I shot the plywood out. I will be watching this as I need to build another one that is deeper so that I can go back to my normal round and also shoot my .480 SRH. I took mine apart just before winter and recovered alot of lead and melted it down ready for the next run.

[Lloyd Smale]

I know you cant do it in texas but what ive done in my yard is take a cardboard box and fill it full of snow and pack it down a bit and it will stop most bullets. When your done dump the snow in a wheel barrow and bring it into the garage and let it thaw out and recover your bullets. It will stop most pistol bullets.

[Smoke4320]

Plastic 55 gallon drum filled with conveyer belt
chips will stop almost any RIFLE bullet i shoot at 50 yds
You willwant some hand trucks if you need to move it much distance

[Artful]

Post removed by user

[dverna]

I know you cant do it in texas but what ive done in my yard is take a cardboard box and fill it full of snow and pack it down a bit and it will stop most bullets. When your done dump the snow in a wheel barrow and bring it into the garage and let it thaw out and recover your bullets. It will stop most pistol bullets.

This post reveals the difference between a true Yooper and the slightly less demented Michiganders, of which I am one. If it is cold enough to have snow I do not shoot enough to justify reclaiming the lead. LOL

Back to the OP. If you have a barn, you likely have toys like an ATV or SxS or a tractor...even a garden tractor. Consider getting a garden wagon and building your bullet trap on it. Then it will be easy to tow around. Sand is a very effective medium to stop bullets but it is heavy. 12 inches deep will be plenty. Coupled with the stable mat idea it should not leak out too badly. I am looking at something like that for my range.

I also have some rounds from a maple tree I had to cut down. 12 inches of maple should take care of the calibers I shoot but I do not know if it would handle .44 Mag. loads.

[am44mag]

No snow to speak of, but I have started getting used to the 20-30 degree weather. We don't have a garden cart, but we do have an old Ford tractor from the 50s, and a couple ATVs. Not sure exactly how many pounds of sand I would need to fill a target as big as I'm wanting, but I think it might be a little more than I'm bargaining for.

[JBinMN]

I use an approx. 18x18x18 inch box made up of 2x2s & 7/12' OSB on the "tunnel" sides/bottom, with insulating foam as a top with cardboard across, stapled to keep it down, a 1/2" plywood front & a 2x4 + 2- 2x8s stacked for a back. All screwed together to make for easy repair/replacement if necessary for some reason.
Also on the front I put a 16x16" rubber paver screwed to the front so I can use thumbtacks to hold targets rather than staples ( Thumbtacks into plywood will work though) as well as it helps keep the rubber mulch inside as it sort of "self seals" behind the holes the boolits/bullets make in the center.

{ of course you eventually have to replace the paver & front plywood after enough use & dependant on where ya hit the box, but you can also just add a 2x8 or so "backing behind the plywood in the center if need be to get ya by a little longer if ya like.}

Inside I put rubber mulch to fill. I have 2 of them & one I ran out of mulch to put in it, so I put a couple cedar 4x4s inside to make up the difference. When I plan to shoot anything more than 357Mag or 45ACP at 15yds I also have a couple of 3/8 inch steel plates I put inside against the 2x lumber back and place another 2x chunk in to hold it tight & for extra stopping ability.

IIRC, it has stopped my 44mag at 15 & 25 yds without issue with steel inside ( using suggested load data to Max.), and also worked for 12ga shotgun out to 100 and also 30.06 has not made it out of the box yet.

I do not shoot over Max. suggested loads, so if you do, that should be considered, & the steel backing with extra 2x inside would certainly help.

I am guessing it weighs approx. 40-50 pounds & I have no trouble lifting it up to the hitch mounted carry rack on the Jeep & /or into the back of my 3/4 ton Pickup. Should not be an issue if you can lift that much from ground to about waist high.

I will also add as a separate light weight stop, that I also use 3- 6x6 cedar chunks about 16-18" long stacked & screwed together with 3" screws as a bullet trap for handguns @ 10, 15 & 25 yds, but I have not used a 44mag on that one. Only up to 357Mag/9mm & 45 Auto rounds. Worked fine...

It obviously is the lightest of all & recovering boolits/bullets is easy enough. Either pry them out or just splinter the chunks when done, more than they end up being splintered from getting hit & get the lead that way & you can always burn out if ya need to do so. The scrap splinters make good fire starter kindling as well...

BTW, I also put a short section of rope on both ends of the top of the box, & a paracord handle on the 6x6 stop to help carrying & setting up.

That 6x6 one is proly good for maybe up to 300 rounds shooting, but could be more and you can always replace the middle chunk with one of the others f you are pulverizing the middle/center a lot.


I can supply pics if needed, as I have offered before here, although I have to make a new 6x6 one as the other is now sitting on my picnic table under snow, as I was waiting to get some more 6x6 to make another and that one is pretty well shot up.

G'Luck! whatever ya decide to do!

[JBinMN]

BTW, I "downsized" from a 18x18x 24" deep due to the weight & awkwardness when lifting the box. & BTW, that steel is best placed in the box after you set up the box. to save lifting weight in one lift & that is also the reason for the lightweight top on the box.


YMMV on that sort of thing, but I don't think "I" will ever need a portable one bigger than the one I mentioned above...

Once again... GLuck!

[35remington]

Rubber mulch packed in a container works very poorly especially with small group shooting. The repeated impact in the same place makes a tunnel in the mulch and the bullets whiz thru unimpeded.

Ask me how I know.

[dverna]

Rubber mulch packed in a container works very poorly especially with small group shooting. The repeated impact in the same place makes a tunnel in the mulch and the bullets whiz thru unimpeded.

Ask me how I know.

Most of the pistol shooters I see will not have that problem LOL.

When I build mine, I will use sand as the medium. I literally have tons of sand so I will dribble more into the top as the level goes down. I am fortunate in that I have a huge back stop that came from the excavation of my pond so I have no worries about a pass through anyway. My goal is to reclaim lead.

[JBinMN]

Rubber mulch packed in a container works very poorly especially with small group shooting. The repeated impact in the same place makes a tunnel in the mulch and the bullets whiz thru unimpeded.

Ask me how I know.

We shake ours up when we change targets by tipping on its sides a few times. So, I reckon "my" experience(s) with these, is not the same as yours... And when the steel plates are in there with the 2x "backer" between it & the front, the boolits/bullets have not bounced back yet, far enough to hit the front, nor obviously, gone thru the steel. That is another reason for the rubber "paver" in the front. To help "seal" the rubber in when the groups around the bullseye tear up the plywood, but the rubber keeps the mulch in for a longer time.

I guess I do things a bit different than others do when I experience issues, as I try to solve the issue(s) instead of no longer trying.
Just a lil
LOL


------------------

Here is a pic of the one I have sitting at my house. Side view so you can see the construction method & materials used. There is a new "front & rubber paver on this one. The other is at a friends house for the last few months as he has been working on some 38spec. loads & using it there at 10 yds.



Do as ya like, but these types I mentioned has worked for me so far. Even though some folks don't seem to like & use them...


BTW, the pic is sideways & I have not yet figured out how to turn it here. I will work on that... Right now the "back" made of the 2x lumber is at the top of the pic...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

This sounds like a special project.

PS, I moved your thread from Our town, to Special Projects

[am44mag]

How about a hybrid catch? Hear me out on this. From what I've read, 6" of sand will stop just about anything you shoot out it, including 45-70. The problem is that it's heavy though. What if I was to make the box so that the front part is rubber mulch (18" cube), and the last 6" was a separate, removable box filled with sand? The two boxes would be lighter than one big box, and I would have extra insurance that all my lead would stay in the box.

[JBinMN]

Try it. Sand would likely replace the 3/8th+ steel plate I have used.


"The world is your oyster!"... It depends on "you", to find out if ya have a "pearl" in the oyster, or not.


GLuck! I wish ya the best!


BTW.. I forgot to add...

"We" use snack or dessert paper plates as targets @ 25 yds. or less, since they are about the same size as a mans head.... & if someone is worried about the "center" of the "box" getting torn up, you might think about how 4 paper plates placed in the 4 corners that makes things last a bit longer & doesn't form just "one" tunnel just right in the center..

But.. YMMV, once again.


LOL

[am44mag]

Try it. Sand would likely replace the 3/8th+ steel plate I have used.


"The world is your oyster!"... It depends on "you", to find out if ya have a "pearl" in the oyster, or not.


GLuck! I wish ya the best!


BTW.. I forgot to add...

"We" use snack or dessert paper plates as targets @ 25 yds. or less, since they are about the same size as a mans head.... & if someone is worried about the "center" of the "box" getting torn up, you might think about how 4 paper plates placed in the 4 corners that makes things last a bit longer & doesn't form just "one" tunnel just right in the center..

But.. YMMV, once again.


LOL

This is my favorite type of target. As you can see, I have plenty of places to aim, so they won't all be dead center.

[JBinMN]

It doesn't take that long, nor do ya need a lot of skill to make one & if ya go to some jobsite where they are building a house & ask for some scraps & tell them what you are building.... I would bet that you will get more than what ya need to build just one. ( I use to be one of those guys & I would have loaded ya up... )

You just have to get the screws( fasteners) and the rubber stuff & do the work to build it.


Get 'er done & try it out. If ya need to figure out a better way to make things work.. try some more things, but don't quit...

[Lloyd Smale]

heres the one I built but it isn't light and easy to move

[rosewood]

Lloyd, that is more what I was thinking. Is that armor plate you made it out of? Or just heavy gauge steel? The pipe out the back, is that a steel pipe? Do you shoot rifles at this or just pistol? Jacketed or only cast?

Thanks,

Rosewood

[Good Cheer]

My catchers tend to be temporary constructs fabbed from castaway materials.
If a sample needs to be recovered for examination something gets cobbled together like milk jugs of water backed by either soaked bundles of waste paper, shredded paper or whatever it takes to catch the slowed down projectile.
Something that works for the final "catcher" assembly can be an unsecured (free to move) container filled with shredded paper that can absorb the boolit and translate the bollit's movement into motion of the container.

In testing a .458 muzzleloader with a heavy boolit I used multiple water jugs lined up in front of a cardboard tube filled with shredded paper. The water slowed it down and then the tube filled with shredded paper flew across the yard in catching the boolit. Have also used a big box filled with shredded paper so that the paper builds up in front of the boolit to create an ever increasing deceleration. But, what works is a function of diameter, weight and FPS.