Propane tank 45/70 boolit trap
I've been working on a boolit trap for a 45/70.
1st attempt was a 5-gallon bucket full of compacted rubber mulch -- not surprising the boolits blew out the bottom
2nd attempt a bucket packed with rubber mulch with a wood disk and saw blades in the bottom, the boolit would hit the blades and shrapnel cut the bucket sides
So I upped my game and got an old 8-gallon propane tank, prepared it for cutting then cut it where the radius started, wielded on some brackets and a handle then drilled about a dozen holes in the top and sides.
stood it up and filled the bottom to where the radius ended with compacted rubber mulch and put in two 12 inch saw blades. Then I finished filling it with the rubber mulch compacting the mulch as I went along. when I got to the end I screwed in a plywood disk I made.
I took it out yesterday and placed it on the stand I made.
I shot 3 different 45/70 loads into it at 50 yards, the stand wiggled a little but didn't fall and the propane tank was unscathed. No damage to the tank is seen.
my only problem now is lead recovery, the boolits hit the sawblades and shattered denting the saw blade but there is no damage to the propane tank. But most of the 18 405 grain boolits ended up in fragments from hitting the saw blades
this is what I recovered, the rest is still mixed in the mulch and around the sawblades.
All the lead was captured, now finding an easy way to extract it.
Lead is heavier than rubber, I could always sluice it out.
another option is to get another tank with both ends cut off filled with compacted rubber mulch and plugged with wood disks to hook on the front of this tank to see if the extra compacted rubber mulch will slow the boolits down enough so they don't shater.