Bullet traps to reclaim lead

[John Hill]

I want to reclaim as much of my spent lead as possible.

I shoot a lot of .22 LR at targets set up on my 25 yard pistol and 50 yard rifle range on my property. I have been using 5/32nd gauge steel back stops set at 45 degree angles to deflect the bullets downward to the ground. They seem to fragment a lot after impact. Since I have been reloading .38 sp again, I have used a cardboard egg crate filled with catalogs and magazines standing upright, facing me. I pin my targets to the box and the bullets penetrate about 1/3rd of the way through the box, creating confetti out of the magazines. The spent lead seems to work its way down to the bottom of the box. I plan on dumping everything into a wheel barrow and sort through it for the spent lead to re melt then fill a new box and start over.

If I change to have a sand pile as the back stop, will the lead hitting the sand pick up grains of sand that will be a problem in my melting pot?

I saw a Youtube video of a plywood box filled with sand and a heavy rubber horse mat front that would allow the bullet to pass through it and then be stopped by the sand. Has anyone used this set up? Is the sand a problem and how long does the rubber mat last?
Thanks
John

[Certaindeaf]

You don't have to worry about sand, rocks, wood, steel, rubber etc. etc. It'll all flux out/and or burn off.
I've heard of a few guys using a plastic storage bin filled with sand.. from what I remember, they'll take a lot of lead before they fail to pieces.

[willie_pete]

I use the 45 degree angle method but my box is filled with rubber mulch from Lowes/Home Depot. This has worked well for me. There is a great thread somewhere in the stickies that talks about all the methods that people have used. Edit.: It's in the Classics and Stickies Section

WP

[mdi]

Just don't smelt in your casting pot. My "reclaimed" bullets and scrap lead all get smelted in my 8" steel pot on my Coleman propane stove, and not in my "drip-o-matic...

[Jailer]

I want to reclaim as much of my spent lead as possible.

I shoot a lot of .22 LR at targets set up on my 25 yard pistol and 50 yard rifle range on my property. I have been using 5/32nd gauge steel back stops set at 45 degree angles to deflect the bullets downward to the ground. They seem to fragment a lot after impact. Since I have been reloading .38 sp again, I have used a cardboard egg crate filled with catalogs and magazines standing upright, facing me. I pin my targets to the box and the bullets penetrate about 1/3rd of the way through the box, creating confetti out of the magazines. The spent lead seems to work its way down to the bottom of the box. I plan on dumping everything into a wheel barrow and sort through it for the spent lead to re melt then fill a new box and start over.

If I change to have a sand pile as the back stop, will the lead hitting the sand pick up grains of sand that will be a problem in my melting pot?

I saw a Youtube video of a plywood box filled with sand and a heavy rubber horse mat front that would allow the bullet to pass through it and then be stopped by the sand. Has anyone used this set up? Is the sand a problem and how long does the rubber mat last?
Thanks
John

There is a very long thread in the stickies section with lots of ideas and solutions.

[jackmanuk]

i used some 22 lr range scrap and made some lead disks that i place behind my targets , that way they are the same harness as the elad im shooting and absorb the impact as much and the bullet deforms , so you have a no recochet backstop that collects all the lead since the high speed murges the metals , then you jsut chuck it back into your pot and make another..... also very good for air guns

[Duckdog]

I made a trap and filled it with 2 rubber pavers,(front and back), and filled it with rubber mulch and it will stop everything, including 30/06 @ 2100 fps and 45/70s! It is maybe 18" x 18" by 24" long and it really works well. I use a box made out of plywood and wood, but I started out with just a tote with one end opened up, (exposing the paver), where I attached the target, which is usually a grocery bag with a target on it. I went away from the tote because if I shot in the cold, they would tend to crack from the pressure in the box. I'm considering making one out of a 5 galled pail played on it's side for handguns, as they will not penetrate it more than 6" anyway.

This does really work sweet and the bullets are easy to find in the mulch.

[milrifle]

I shoot into a wooden box full of sand. The frame is 2 x 12's with plywood front and back. I did put a 1/4" steel plate inside the rear just in case, as the bullets do make their way toward the rear.

I have not emptied it yet, so I don't know exactly what I will find, but I have dug down into it to recover some bullets. I find that the front half of WCWW rifle bullets seem to just turn to dust. The aft half is usually recovered with the Hornady gas check still intact. That front half looks like a grey clump in the sand. You think it is a bullet, but when you try to brush the sand off, you find the whole thing just crumbles. There may be a way to recover that pulverized lead from the sand, but short of doing it in a gold panning pan, I don't know what it is.

I'm leaning toward fabricating a snail trap. At least the pulverized lead particles won't have to be separated from sand.

[John Allen]

I was able at one time to get used bowling alley conveyor belt. They gave the worn out stuff for free, I donated a pizza to the cause. It worked really well for 22's

[John Hill]

I made a trap and filled it with 2 rubber pavers,(front and back), and filled it with rubber mulch and it will stop everything, including 30/06 @ 2100 fps and 45/70s! It is maybe 18" x 18" by 24" long and it really works well. I use a box made out of plywood and wood, but I started out with just a tote with one end opened up, (exposing the paver), where I attached the target, which is usually a grocery bag with a target on it. I went away from the tote because if I shot in the cold, they would tend to crack from the pressure in the box. I'm considering making one out of a 5 galled pail played on it's side for handguns, as they will not penetrate it more than 6" anyway.

This does really work sweet and the bullets are easy to find in the mulch.

What are the "pavers" and what are their dimensions and where did you find them?

[Duckdog]

The pavers are rubber patio blocks and are like 16 x 16" x 1 1/2" thick. I was able to find everything a Menards, but Home Depot and Lowes will have them and the mulch too. The pistol bullets come out pretty much pristine, where the rifle bullets mushroom like the hit flesh, so you can tell what your alloy is doing.

[JWFilips]

Good info here:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?26627-Bullet-trap-ideas-for-recycling-lead&p=2554471#post2554471

[lksmith]

I actually did something like that today. Cost me a total of $5 and took about 10mins.
I got a bag of play sand, put it in a 5gal bucket, topped it off with a piece of 1/4 rubber (stall matting, Old doormat or any rubber would work too) I had laying around, put the lid on, turn it on the side and Voila portable bullet trap. I shoot into the lid so you have plenty of room to stop and not compromise the trap's integrity. The rubber keeps the sand in so it doesn't pour out, the lid keeps it all together and keeps the rubber pressed up. My sand was a bit wet, but it stopped my NOE 247gr 300Blk that has gone through 15, 1 gallon jugs without stopping.
To reclaim the lead all you have to do is either pour through 1/4" hardware cloth into another bucket or dig through it and rub your hands together until you feel a bullet.
I shot mine at 15steps with 44bp, Hot 9mm, 45ACP and 300blk. all were stopped well before the end of the bucket

[Wolfer]

I have half of a plastic barrel filled with sand. These things will take a lot of boolits. The plastic totes I used before worked but not as long. The totes held up to pistols pretty good but a 50 cal MZ would wreck one in about 50 shots.

I have a box with 1/4" screen bottom that set across my wheelbarrow. When I get low on lead I siene the tub out and start over.
Side note, some of the 22 bullets go thru my screen. Seem to me a smaller screen would be harder to get the sand thru.

[BIGRED]

I made 2 traps just like duckdog's!! Imagine my surprise when I found out someone had made one almost exactly like I did.. Wooden box with plywood front and back 1 is 18" square, the other is 2' square.1/4" steel plate in the back, filled with rubber mulch then a rubber paver. I also put a thin 1/8" rubber mat behind front plywood. This keeps the splinters from going into the trap. Remove the screws from front plate, dump it onto a tarp and pick out bullets. BTW these traps are heavy. It has stopped all handgun calibers, 50 cal muzzleloader, 200gr cast 35 rem bullets, fmj 50 Beowulf's, shotgun slugs. When front plate gets shot out replace it with another piece of plywood.

[jonas302]

Wood chips do real good job of stopping boolits and I would expect more pleasant smelling smelting down

[3006mv]

15 gallon tub and 2 bags of rubbermulch. Haven't thought of the rubber pavers but I am cheap, I used old sections of rubber mud flaps

[lksmith]

Wood chips do real good job of stopping boolits and I would expect more pleasant smelling smelting down

I didn't smell anything when I remelted yesterday.
Although, with the wood chips you'd already have your flux for the pot