Bullet trap ideas for recycling lead

[jonp]

Subsequent tests of the cellulose insulation in a 30g plastic barrel showed that a .40SW round would dimple the bottom of the barrel, so I compacted it a bit more and put another half bag of cellulose insulation in it. That seems to have made a difference -- no more dimples in the bottom from .40SW or 10mm. The muzzle blast from the 10mm does tend to kick up the dust though...

I tried a bag of cellulose insulation packed down and all of the rounds save a 380 penetrated the bottom but not by much as they were on the ground in front of a barrel I had stood up to catch the lead. I tried another barrel using the top I had cut off with several layers of tin in front of it then the insulation and the 9mm rounds went right through it so I'm abandoning the idea. I think I will try some of the rubber mulch and see how that works. I hope my wife dosn't go out back in the next few days and look at the tree edgings before I get to the Lowes this weekend.

[jonp]

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

Right after campaign season is over I collect every one of those signs I can find. They stick into the ground easily and you can staple targets right onto them. They need to be removed anyways so I figure I'm helping out although I admit to collecting a few Obama/Biden signs a little early

[mold maker]

I doubt the O bama signs even need a target.
I've got a pretty good stack of those sign also.
The white portions of the sign work as sky screens, for your crono.

[dverna]

So, the question is whether the amount of work that it took you to recover the lead is worth the $15 that you saved from having to buy lead off of someone on eBay or wherever (assuming $1 per pound).

It sure seems like a waste of time to me too. That is about 700 150 gr bullets. Doing that every two or three weeks would get really old. I suppose if one did not shoot much it would be OK - but if you don't shoot much why even bother???

[WilliamDahl]

Were you also using a 30g plastic barrel? I compacted the cellulose insulation some more and I now have nearly 2 full bags of the cellulose insulation in the 30g barrel. It is packed down really tight. I had a circular piece of 1/2" steel that was just the right size, so I added it to the bottom of the barrel so that I can try a few other rounds. I'm hoping that I will get a definite steel ringing sound if the bullet makes it through the cellulose insulation and hits the steel.

Even with the piece of 1/2" steel in the bottom, it's still possible to move the barrel around fairly easily. I know that sand would work, but I also know that the barrel would not be easy to move around if it was filled with sand. As it is, it's still light enough that I can put it in the back of my pickup and take to the range with me. Of course, that might change as it starts accumulating lead...

[DCM]

It sure seems like a waste of time to me too. That is about 700 150 gr bullets. Doing that every two or three weeks would get really old. I suppose if one did not shoot much it would be OK - but if you don't shoot much why even bother???

With things getting harder to get, folks trying to ban lead that comes from the earth being re-deposited in the earth and the fact that you get your known alloy back it seems to make sense to me.
There are many other factors like being able to set up a safe backstop too.

If it isn't worth the effort why waste time on this thread??

[WilliamDahl]

With things getting harder to get, folks trying to ban lead that comes from the earth being re-deposited in the earth and the fact that you get your known alloy back it seems to make sense to me.
There are many other factors like being able to set up a safe backstop too.

I'm not so sure that getting your known alloy back is all that accurate. More like you get an average of the alloys that you shoot. Unless you only have ONE alloy that you shoot, what you get out of your bullet stop is just going to be a mix.

[DCM]

I can't speak for others but the only 2 alloys I use are WW and almost pure lead.
The big 50 cal ML Pb bullets are almost as easy to see as the jaxted stuff vs everything else.

[Whizzer]

I am wondering if....for heavier loads, random cuts of bailer belting would do nicely if stacked in the 5 gallon buckets. For non-rural folks, big round bales of alfalfa, prairie hay and the like, are made with bailers that run long "continuous" belts of fabric impregnated with rubber. Like a tire tread, except no steel belting. I have access to HUGE amounts of the stuff. The fabric might make "self healing" harder, but the pieces would be re-arranged at each lead reclaiming session.

I read EVERY post in this BEHEMOTH thread, and a few pages back saw this very idea, only with tire sidewalls... Post 499.

Stan

Oh, and JIMinPHX, I sent you a PM or an email, I'm not sure which.

[Oreo]

Just guessing here but I'd figure that to be a lot more time consuming to get the lead from then rubber mulch.

[Jim_Fleming]

But the good thing is, Oreo, the lead is going to be a lot cleaner than from a sand filled trap like the one I built. In fact I'd say separating the bullets from the rubber would be less time consuming, than sifting sand would be.

I've built two, both sand filled. The rubber belting has got to be a lot lighter than than my sand filled ones. Less weight equals more portability, as you know.

Good point, sir.

Just guessing here but I'd figure that to be a lot more time consuming to get the lead from then rubber mulch.

[Oreo]

I like the idea of rubber mulch, just not the big slabs of rubber. Rubber mulch seems much easier to deal with all the way around.

I'd worry about the accumulation of lead dust in sand. Rubber seems safer.

[WilliamDahl]

I figured that with the 30g barrel of cellulose insulation, all I would need to do is modify a 55g barrel to be a really large shop vac (like what you used to see with the 5g bucket based shop vacs). I was thinking that the cellulose insulation would be easier to vacuum out than rubber mulch. The main problem that I've seen so far with the cellulose insulation is that you get a bit of a dust cloud in the garage after you've shot it a few times. Not a major issue for me since I'm only shooting it a few times to test the functionality of new loads, but it might be a concern for some people who actually shoot a lot in their garage.

[dverna]

With things getting harder to get, folks trying to ban lead that comes from the earth being re-deposited in the earth and the fact that you get your known alloy back it seems to make sense to me.
There are many other factors like being able to set up a safe backstop too.

If it isn't worth the effort why waste time on this thread??

My objective is to set up a trap that is easy to get fired bullets from. In my case, I have less need for portability as I have 20 acres in the boonies so a permanent set up will work. Some ideas have merit but some do not. Shooting into a stump and reclaiming 15 lbs of lead does not fit my needs at all but if it makes you squirt go for it. It seems like a poor option (to at least two of us) - but then our needs/expectations are different than yours.

So far, sand seems the best option if portability is not a requirement. Sifting through a few hundred pounds of sand will be a PITA but that is the only downside. I have never reclaimed lead from a berm so I am not sure how much a problem sand trapped/attached to the bullet/fragments will cause. Sand may also be a safer back stop than a stump.

BTW, how do you separate the WW from pure lead using your method????

I can get bullet alloy mixed to my specs for $1.83 per pound delivered if I buy 2000 lbs. That will produce over 80,000 bullets (4-8 year supply for my needs) for under $4000. With a yearly consumption of 300-500 lbs. ($500-$1000) (20-35 tree stumps) reclaiming seems to have merit. Processing 20-35 tree stumps a year is not a good option for me.

I guess if you don't mind I will continue to "waste time" on this thread as I have already read every post.

[wyattjames]

just thought i would chime in I use a trap made out of A36 plate the backstop is on a 45 deg angle and the bottom portion holds some water to catch the lead and spatter I use this in my shop for test firing projects it will handle full house 44 loads i have tried 454 on it and they dent the plate .this unit weights about 80 lbs , not real portable .

[HDS]

I'm thinking of a sort of bullet trap, what it is is really just my rifle plate that I would put into a wooden jig that supports it at around 45 degrees. Underneath I would have a box filled with sand, it would probably extend a foot around the stand itself. I think the stand could be rigged so the plate could move a bit rather than be static, like the lower portion could lift when hit, to minimize wear on it. Material is Armox 500.


The idea is: I shoot at plate, bullet ricochets/splatters into the sand of the box. Allows me to recycle it sometime in the future. You could also hang a paper target infront if you wished.

This guy had a sort of similar solution to what I am thinking, mine would be for outdoors use:
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/...t_Trap_001.jpg

[.5mv^2]

I have a number of old motorcycle tires in my pallet trap. The rest of it is old business papers that I would have to shred. Once a year we dig out the berm.

The tires have been there at least 5 years. They have some bullets embedded in them but do an excellet job on the hand gun and rifle loads.

[Garythegunnut]

+1 on JIMinPHX bucket bullet trap. I built one and carry it in the van with me all the time, so if I get a few minutes going in to work or on the way home to stop at the range I can shoot and recover 100% of my lead. Mine is a single bucket design and has stopped all 9mm, .40 and .45 thrown at it, the bullets come out intact and get melted right back down. A Big Thanks to JIMinPHX for prototyping this for us.

[Case Stuffer]

I have not read the whole thread but I did place 12" of Home Depot playgroud rubber mulck in a 5 gal plastic bucket and fired 3 135gr. hard cast SWCs loaded over 5.7 gr. of HS-6 point blank down ito it and non reached the bottom and as others have posted the boolits were not badly deformed at all.

I then took a 55 gallon plastic drum and put 11 bags of this mulch in it. I have now fired 100 9mm rounds 125 gr. LRN,L TC and 135 gr. SWC into it. I also fastened a 18" carpet square with rubber backing to the front of the drum. This covers the main area of my old IPSC targets from back in the eighties.


I plan on dumping the drum's contents,raking thru it and retrieving boolits someday but am in no great hurry. I really need to make up a few 5 gallon bucket ones to use for target type shooting as they would be so much easier to empty.

[sparkz]

wE uSE Firewood to help heat our home in the winter,,
so Got an Idea about our sawing a few big cookies of 24-30 inches or so and stack about 3 of them in a peramid fasion and set our targets with a hammer tacker (Staple gun) and blast away,, next fall or sooner we will use the trusty boolit recycler (AKA; Log Spliter) and keep track on "that stack of firewood, Are ya still with me? and just collect the clean Lead from the ash bin, remelt and flux, mold and shoot, repete again and again...

Ours is a forced air furnace type heater so no worrys of lead in the air
and so far I think this is gona work real well
only bad part for us is we need nuff lead to last till heat seasion hahaha
(But then Christmas times brings good things, to all those who shot well and hit the log mounted targets)
but layed on the side and shoot into the anual rings of the logs working well so far,,


Hope I "Sparked" an Idea or two

Patrick & Sean Campbell
Hardshell, kentucky