Muffled gun shots out of garage.

[nicholst55]

Fill around the wire tube with loose stuff that isn’t likely to catch fire, a wrapping of steel wool is great.

I frequently used steel wool as tinder, in days gone by. It burns like nobody's business!

[NyFirefighter357]

https://www.amazon.com/Brass-Wool-3-...07MP1JJ6H?th=1

[barnetmill]

Steel wool is very easily ignited, burns hot and is hard to extinguish, I would use ceramic wool instead.

Accumulation of partially burnt powder can be an issue if very large numbers of rounds are fired. it is part of what makes up indoor range trash. Maybe every so often thoroughly clean your muffling device to prevent build up.

[poppy42]

Can’t speak of your area, unfortunately for me every place I’ve lived has had a law Forbidding the discharge of a firearm within certain distance of a building. (i’m not quoting actual law, you guys get the idea). It’s prohibited me from doing what the OP has done. Really stinks! I always figured it wouldn’t be one of the neighbors but some anti-gun member of some Law Enforcement organization randomly driving past my house! My luck has never been the best and it just ain’t worth it for me! Believe me I wish I could it would make things a heck of a lot easier for me. My closest range is about an hour away!

[uscra112]

200 feet? If I were that neighbor I would be mighty apprehensive. A woodpile is not a backstop.

[Milky Duck]

the beauty of shooting through a PIPE somewhere along your short range is that it makes it just about imposible for round to stray away from intended target area.

[smkummer]

the beauty of shooting through a PIPE somewhere along your short range is that it makes it just about imposible for round to stray away from intended target area.

Yes, that’s very true. Again out of maybe 25 rounds tested, none have been outside of the paper target let alone the 20” wide by 24” tall stump at about 18 yards. Eventually a 3’ by 3’ less movable stump will be at a 25 yard distance closer to the woodpile Again, this is NOT a full range. It’s just for load testing of 5-10 rounds.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I have added carpet to my cardboard drum and cut a hole to the exit side. I may have to oblong the hole as I am shooting down.

[smkummer]

200 feet? If I were that neighbor I would be mighty apprehensive. A woodpile is not a backstop.

The primary backstop is the wood tree trunk stump of which the lead bullets go into but don’t penetrate. IF I would some how miss, the grass covered yard is next as I am shooting down hill. IF the bullet were to ricochet from the soft soil, the next obstacle would be the wood pile and first group of trees. IF the bullet were to somehow miss all of that, 20 yards from that is a steep bank about 20 feet high above the creek, then the 30’ tall trees start. Right now the vegation from that tree line is so thick it’s hard to see the house 200’ away. The person living there is bed ridden and does not leave the house. Once a week someone mows his grass. Obviously I wouldn’t shoot when someone is in his backyard.

I appreciate everyone’s comment on safety and I know I am fully responsible for where that bullet goes.

[smkummer]

UPDATE, The carpet in the drum barrel and the cover with exit hole cut REALLY suppressed the noise especially inside the garage! I asked wife to stay in the kitchen which is next the the attached garage then 30’ to the detached garage of which I fired inside of. I said I would fire 2 shots, 1 in rifle and 1 in revolver ( cowboy 44-40 loads). She said both shots sounded the same like someone was taking a sledgehammer to a stump, not at all like a gun shot. This is the goal of what I was hoping for that if neighbors just were happening to pay attention inside there house, they could not tell it’s a gunshot, and of course they are much farther away. I asked her if the second shot ( handgun) sounded louder, she say nope, sounded the same. I believe that has to be the newly insulated drum with restricted exit hole! Thanks guys.

[Winger Ed.]

I like to see people get what they want----- (especially me).

Crank up a lawn mower and set it outside the garage. Nobody pays attention to them.
That should cover the 'whump' sound.

[TurnipEaterDown]

Accumulation of partially burnt powder can be an issue if very large numbers of rounds are fired. it is part of what makes up indoor range trash. Maybe every so often thoroughly clean your muffling device to prevent build up.

Absolutely recognize the unburned powder risk, and do something about it when required.
25+ years ago I built a sound deadening box to assist in my forming of 1000 cases for 17 Ackley Hornet. The load used was unique for powder and a toilet paper plug/wad to build pressure.
Lined the box with that synthetic "egg crate" foam you see in mattress toppers, some carpet scrap, and stacked some magazines at the end to keep the toilet paper wads from exiting. Worked great, thought I was real clever. The Thump was only like dropping a small bundle of newspaper on floor from waist high.
About the 400 round mark the accumulation of unburned powder caught fire, ignited the foam & carpet, and the most noxious brown smoke was pouring out of the box. It did smother itself fairly soon, but I went back to cheap Rem 25 grainers and lots of time at a local range after that little lesson.

[Winger Ed.]

the accumulation of unburned powder caught fire, ignited the foam & carpet,

I feel terrible for laughing at that.
It reminds me of a buddy who would tell of some similar event and he'd say something like,
"As the flames got taller, business really picked up".

[Charlie Horse]

I just crack a window and step back to the center of the kitchen - when the wife is away, of course.

[JimB..]

Thanks guys, fine steel wool is most certainly combustible, although I’ve never had it happen. Coarse stainless won't burn as far as I know. But the whole thing is pretty crude, you could crumple up empty beer cans and use them to fill the space and get a decent result. Even better, cut a few wood discs to inside the drum. Space them along the chicken wire. I have a lathe that’ll turn a 30” disc, with that diameter and 3’ of length you can moderate a lot of pressure.

But what I really need to do is put a larger filter on the air compressor, that thing is louder than an unsuppressed 22 for sure.

[Winger Ed.]

Thanks guys, fine steel wool is most certainly combustible, although I’ve never had it happen.

In the Boy Scouts, we'd use it for a fire starter.
Put a few strands of it across a battery and it'll light right up.

[smkummer]

So the rifle I was just testing in it came with egg shell foam that I swap out the carpet. The carpet now lays over the outside. The cardboard drum cylinder is an ex-military gun powder container. It still had a bit of 700X in it ( maybe 3-5 grains) so I made sure I shook it out real good ( don’t need a head start on my detached sound suppressor fire!).

[JimB..]

In the Boy Scouts, we'd use it for a fire starter.
Put a few strands of it across a battery and it'll light right up.

Same, but have you ever had it catch in the application we’re talking about, or even in a smaller suppressor? The cutting oil will smoke as it heats, but I’ve never had fire with coarse wool. I could set a battleship hull on fire in the right circumstances, almost anything can burn.

[ascast]

This is great stuff. I've been meaning to put this on the table for awhile. I don't need every body knowing my shooting schedule. I like the tractor tire idea. Lots of room for visibility. For OP ! Do not trust " a stump". I shot myself years ago in the groin with a 357 Mag. Went to a buddies house whos gramps was a hot dog pistol shooter. He had a basement range. We were shooting and out pops one and gets me in the groin. He had filled the backstop with firewood and mostly shot 22., so the 357 was just too much. Fortunately for me, it was enough as the slug left a black and blue and no more. Still, if things had been a bit different..... Best to be sure you done all you can to prevent an incident.

[Winger Ed.]

Same, but have you ever had it catch in the application we’re talking about,

Nah, it only works with the fine stuff.
A coarser thread/strands of it will just get hot and quickly drain the battery.

[JimB..]

Nah, it only works with the fine stuff.
A coarser thread/strands of it will just get hot and quickly drain the battery.

After I got out of scouts they started lighting the big fires with a mixture of, I think pool shock and ATF. Put it in a cup and it self ignites after a min or two. Nobody let the kids play with it of course. Haven’t though of that in decades.