DIY bullet trap, Capture your lead

[mdxdm]

I really want to start casting my own lead for reolading so i took to the drawing board to design somehting that "may" work..



I shocked myself at how well this box did, all for around $100



Rounds captured at 50' .22, 9mm, .40, .45, .223, 7.69. (mossin )



My box is 20"x20" and 24" deep.

first step was to cut the plywood and the supports

http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-02-28_14-19-18_75.jpg



next, attach the supports to the sides

http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-02-28_14-56-39_576.jpg



attach rear pannel and baffle (creates an area to put sand if need be)
http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-02-28_15-01-43_116.jpg
http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-02-28_15-15-22_819.jpg




I decided it would be smart to include something hard in the box, so a piece of 1/4" steel from lowes found its way in as well


http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-03-01_16-56-02_528.jpg


Fill box with rubber multch
http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-03-02_13-41-30_604.jpg




salvaged rounds from the day


http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-03-02_17-42-10_727.jpg


The steel plate only had markings from the steel core rounds (7.62x59)

http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-03-02_17-39-30_305.jpg



difrent calibers of bullets fired (all at 50')



http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/fishnub/bullet%20box/2013-03-02_17-42-04_945.jpg



So to conlude cheap way to collect fired lead, and surprisingly strong.


total material list:

1 sheet 1/2" plywood
2 2x2x8'
6 bags rubber multch
12"x12" steel plate
scrap 2x4 (total of 40")
box of screws
liquid nails.

adding the parts up online total comes to

Estimated Total
$86.20

[mdxdm]

some improvements i would like to make are:
1. find some "self healing" material for the front, once the plywood front had about 30 rounds in the center the rubber multch started to come out.
2. This thing is heavy! need to add handles of some sort.
3. bring cost to less than $75

[cloakndagger]

I wonder how sand would work in there, also, id try one of those rubber work mats you can get from industrial suppliers as a front, they seem to self heal when punctured.

[xs11jack]

Where do you get the rubber stuff? Garden centers?
Jack

[geargnasher]

A old mudflap off of a large truck works for a front cover if you can find a good way to support it. IME the box needs to be about twice as deep as you have it for capturing .30 caliber boolits at 2K fps and above. 6" of fine sand will stop a lot of things too.

Gear

[mdxdm]

Yeah max fps of the day was about 2000, also i got the rubber Mulch from lowes

[John Allen]

I wonder if you could put packaging stretch film across the front. It is cheap and easy to replace.

[pacomdiver]

#1 on the mudflap idea and a while back i got some 3/8" thick sheet rubber laying on the hiway. its from the tractor trailer dump bodies (its one continuous flap across the back instead of 2 mudflaps. ive used that for the 7 yard backstop at my club and it takes a pounding, heals fairly well untill you get alot of rounds thru it, then it just falls apart

[smoked turkey]

Excellent idea. Good design. As said a few modifications here and there will make it work for different applications. For the cost and availability of lead these days, recycling it is a good idea. How do your go about reclaiming the lead? Looks like you just have to empty out the media and sort the lead out. Is that correct?

[Kull]

Very nice. The bullet trap ideas using rubber mulch are my favorite. I'd think you could cut the cost down if instead of wood you went with just a cheap plastic trash can and packed that thing full with mulch.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDrEK8WOIA

[mdxdm]

Excellent idea. Good design. As said a few modifications here and there will make it work for different applications. For the cost and availability of lead these days, recycling it is a good idea. How do your go about reclaiming the lead? Looks like you just have to empty out the media and sort the lead out. Is that correct?

yup, just dump it out and sift through it. buddy of mine sudgested dumping it into a kiddie pool, lead will sink and rubber will float to the top, skim off rubber and walla! lead

[mdxdm]

#1 on the mudflap idea and a while back i got some 3/8" thick sheet rubber laying on the hiway. its from the tractor trailer dump bodies (its one continuous flap across the back instead of 2 mudflaps. ive used that for the 7 yard backstop at my club and it takes a pounding, heals fairly well untill you get alot of rounds thru it, then it just falls apart

sweet thanks! there is a concrete mixxing plant locally so ill swing by and ask if they have any junk ones laying about.

[geargnasher]

I use a steel barrel for my mulch trap, but it was free. That plastic trashcan idea is fantastic.

Another good one is a 5-gallon bucket filled with fine sand, like #4 blasting sand. Pack the sand in tight, put a rubber sheet on top, and snap on the lid. Secure the lid with duct tape or similar (it will try to blow off when shot due to "hydraulic" shock) and tape targets to the outside of the lid and shoot into the bucket lengthwise. Use 1/4" hardware cloth and another bucket to recover your boolits.

The Achilles' heel of any of these designs is shooting small groups. Boolits stack up and hit each other, and repeatedly drilling ragged holes does murder to the front-side containment panel so the sand or mulch tends to leak out.

Gear

[7Acres]

A old mudflap off of a large truck works for a front cover if you can find a good way to support it. IME the box needs to be about twice as deep as you have it for capturing .30 caliber boolits at 2K fps and above. 6" of fine sand will stop a lot of things too.

Gear

I made a 24" pistol cube with rubber mulch. And 30-06 will not exit the rear of the trap. I was surprised. Apparently 24" of rubber mulch is sufficient. And I have no steel plate in mine. Just 5/16" plywood on all sides and rubber mulch inside (12 bags of it).

[nekshot]

Wow your lead is really full. I have a 10 inch deep sand box and I lose alot of lead, especially the wheel weight stuff. Pure lead slugs stay whole but alot of my lead disappears in the sand. I think I am going to do some changes. Thanks for showing this to us!

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

carpet scraps would be a good front as well,

[Kull]

I made a 24" pistol cube with rubber mulch. And 30-06 will not exit the rear of the trap. I was surprised. Apparently 24" of rubber mulch is sufficient. And I have no steel plate in mine. Just 5/16" plywood on all sides and rubber mulch inside (12 bags of it).

Good info, thanks.

[geargnasher]

My .308 and .30-'06 will easily penetrate a 55-gallon drum full of rubber mulch lengthwise and blow holes in the bottom. 180-grain cast boolits at 2,000-2400 fps depending on gun and load. Penetration depends on a lot of things, so be careful of making positive assumptions on limited data.

Gear

[7Acres]

My .308 and .30-'06 will easily penetrate a 55-gallon drum full of rubber mulch lengthwise and blow holes in the bottom. 180-grain cast boolits at 2,000-2400 fps depending on gun and load. Penetration depends on a lot of things, so be careful of making positive assumptions on limited data.

Gear

Good point, Gear. My only experience is with factory 180gr Jwords in my bro-in-law's Savage edge XP at 100 yards.

[Kull]

My .308 and .30-'06 will easily penetrate a 55-gallon drum full of rubber mulch lengthwise and blow holes in the bottom. 180-grain cast boolits at 2,000-2400 fps depending on gun and load. Penetration depends on a lot of things, so be careful of making positive assumptions on limited data.

Gear

I hear ya. I don't make assumptions, there's lots of things to consider. Me personally I'd never use a bullet trap without a backstop, interested in it more for reclaiming pistol rounds.

[Lizard333]

I use carpet on the front of mine with a piece of cardboard I replace when it wears out. My cube is 18x18 with a half inch steel plate for a back stop. I use it in my garage for testing loads. It catches all the pistol rounds including 44 mag.

[pipehand]

yup, just dump it out and sift through it. buddy of mine sudgested dumping it into a kiddie pool, lead will sink and rubber will float to the top, skim off rubber and walla! lead

Not quite. The rubber will sink too. However, if you add say 25 pounds of salt to five gallons of water(really strong brine) the rubber will float to the top. So far, I haven't been able to add enough salt to get the boolits to float.

[tenneesse]

I use a 18"x10"x10" plastic catlitter container, my neighgor uses a 5 gallon paint bucket, pack it with rubber mulch. I made a wood framed cover that I bungie cord on and at the top of the mulch behind the cover I just lay squares of cardboard 5 or 6 and and it helps compress the mulch. I did pour 10# of wheel weights into a cake pan and layed the wafer in the bottom. Interesting at 15yds full of sand I tunneled right through it at 1100 fps 124gr lrn it shattered a hole through the lead wafer it was about 3/8" thick. When I replaced the sand with the mulch Ive never lost another bullet. the mulch doesnt seem to create a tunnel that sand tends to do. I hoped the sand thing would work cause I could just dump it in my sifter and the sand would pass right through and leave my lead. Still the mulch thing is great. It doesnt weigh anything . I print my own targets and have 2 bungie cords stapled accross the front of the lid and all seems to work just fine.
Im shooting 9mm and 45acp 44mag and 357 and 22 and its all staying together. the card board layers work fine to contain the mulch and the front of the lid is pretty much gone. You cant see the stakes but I have it marked off from 15 to 35 yds right now its at 25yds. Tried to delete some of the pics but having a problem. the bucket thing investment was $7. for the mulch

[Cap'n Morgan]

I think an efficient self-sealing front frame could be made with a simple crisscross woven pattern of bicycle inner tubes or similar.

[Lizard333]

I use an old piece of carpet with cardboard in front to attach targets to.

[uscra112]

I like the brass catcher.

[geargnasher]

+1 on the layered cardboard over mulch idea and the brass catcher.

Gear

[tenneesse]

I like the brass catcher.

Could have been another 6" deep they bounce occasionally but all in all it catches 99%. I slit some carpet to buffer the brass and it generally falls straight down.

The seat is in need of widening to fit my wide butt, like maybe a piece of 2x12 instead of 2x6. I had some old salvaged treated lumber and it came together pretty solid.

[psychicrhino]

@ Tenn - I really like the brass catcher. I shoot 32 auto that I am lucky to find 75% of my brass.

[tenneesse]

@ Tenn - I really like the brass catcher. I shoot 32 auto that I am lucky to find 75% of my brass.

Thanks Rhino,
Its a great brass saver when sitting but I am working on another that will save my brass when Im shooting off-hand and portable. I found an old minnow seigning net at the flea market about 20' by 4' of light nylon material so it should take care of the annoying tarp on the ground which always gets blown away when you least think it will (along with the brass). Im thinking something more along the lines of a square dip net maybe 4' x 4' by 3'deep. on an upright. I'll post it when I get it done.

[psychicrhino]

Thanks Rhino,
Its a great brass saver when sitting but I am working on another that will save my brass when Im shooting off-hand and portable. I found an old minnow seigning net at the flea market about 20' by 4' of light nylon material so it should take care of the annoying tarp on the ground which always gets blown away when you least think it will (along with the brass). Im thinking something more along the lines of a square dip net maybe 4' x 4' by 3'deep. on an upright. I'll post it when I get it done.

That is a neat idea too, sounds kinda like one of those soccer ball practice - kick back net. Another idea if a body didn't have a seine might be the rolls of burlap they sell in alot of landscape areas of home improvement stores. I bought a roll of that a while back in teh Wally world garden section and used it to make a dipnet for my boys using the top3-4 inches of a bucket I cut off a 5 gallon bucket with a skil saw. Then just made a big plastic needle by whittling the he head off of a plastic spoon and sharpening one end of the handle, boring a hole in the other with my pocket knife. Then used some twine I had laying around for the thread. Boys caught a slough of minnows and bream with that thing :)

[jeepyj]

Plus one on this thread there is a lot of good feed back. I share mine after completion.
Jeepyj

[tenneesse]

hey Rhino that burlap idea is great. It should resist bounce back and let the brass fall into the catcher. Cool idea, like to see what other have come up with too. Dip net sounds pretty creative.

[lmfd20]

I need a basement with one big wall sized bullet trap.

[Springfield0612]

I was using a 5 gallon bucket with 3 layers of rubber backed carpet in between the rubber mulch ($.99 for a sheet of the carpet at Homedepot). It does pretty well to stop mid to high loads of cast 9mm and .45 ACP. Once the carpet got big holes in it I got some pass throughs as the bullets started mining holes in the rubber to follow each other to freedom out the back side. Also was having issues with bullets going in straight and coming out the sides of the bucket resulting in a couple burst buckets (not fun to clean up). But all in all was getting 95%+ lead recovery. I then tried some anti-fatigue matting from Harbor Freight as a self healing component. It works quite well especially considering I shoot all flat points. The more impressive thing was that I put a piece at the bottom of the bucket, and you can see the indents of where the bullets hit at the back of the buck so it acted as a last shock absorber. Very interesting. I was wanting more out of my bullet buckets to stop and keep ALL of my lead and was reading another post on here yesterday where a gentleman took an old propane tank, cut the top off to have a straight wall, inserted the upper 5" of a cut off 5 gallon bucket and screwed it to the propane tank, he used sand, I'll be using shreded rubber, but now it is a metal bullet bucket! You can still attach the lid as before, I bought some handles at Home Depot yesterday to be able to carry them for $3/ea, and I picked up the propane tanks local used for $10/ea! So all together with the tanks, buckets, handles and rubber comes in under $50 for two bucket tanks. I'll re-sell the good valves off of the tanks and make a couple bucks back. They should weigh about 30lbs ea? I'll post some pics once assembled.

[Suo Gan]

Will it last long enough to justify its expense. One can buy quite a lot of alloy for $100 or so. What will that thing look like if it has been shot ten or fifteen thousand times?

With the current price of alloy I don't see the cost justifying the expense. But that is just a hunch.

[markshere2]

Here's 33 pages of DIY bullet trap posts...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?26627-Bullet-trap-ideas-for-recycling-lead