Bullet trap

[CapPopper]

So what do you guys use to catch your lead? Would be a lot cheaper to recycle it and I don't know how sturdy of a trap I need...

 

[Phil Coffins]

Dirt or sand works well, just dig it out and sift out the lead.

 

[CapPopper]

Thays not a bad idea and it doesn't take much to stop a bullet either

 

[mooman76]

If you can get a piece of 1/4 inch or thicker steel, set it up at a 45 degree angle to drive into the ground.

 

[CapPopper]

That should also be doable I just wasn't sure how tough a steel I needed

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have a Detroit Bullet Trap that would be fine for lower velocity round balls. It is designed to stop pistol cartridges in the 38 range. They are no longer made but if you can find a picture online it would give you an idea. it is a metal box with a 45 degree metal back stop. It is about 18 inches square. It should work with most muzzle loading round balls.

 

[CapPopper]

At the moment im looking at stopping a 360 gr minie over a max load but the design should be good it just needs to be built heavier

 

[coloradoclyde]

3/8" for the back plate if you are going to push the envelope.

You may also want to have a penetration cover for the front to prevent forward splatter....

Or you could build a spiral trap.

Or an earth trap. (vertical box filled with dirt)

 

[coloradoclyde]

For years all we used for a bullet trap was a two foot diameter oak log (or larger). The log was placed up on blocks to prevent rotting. We nailed a target frame to the face end of the log....as the log end deteriorated from shooting, you simply cut off a few feet of the log....and made a new frame.
The cut off piece was then split liberating many bullets...the remains were burnt on a tin. the lead would melt and flow off the tin.....when the fire cooled lead, ashes and copper were separated.

 

[CapPopper]

Ill just have to see what I can come up with. Even if I just use a steel plate to deflect into the ground or a big pile of dirt

 

[coloradoclyde]

Even if I just use a steel plate to deflect into the ground or a big pile of dirt

You need something to contain the horizontal splatter......It will fly left and right for yards.

Use google images...Google "homemade bullet trap."
That should give you some ideas.

 

[Spikebuck]

You may also want to have a penetration cover for the front to prevent forward splatter....

Clyde...can you talk more about a "penetration cover?" I'm not sure what you're referring to, but am interested because my experience with the angled steel behind the target is that I never find anything...the ball just disintegrates.

Could be because the range I have shot at with angled metal backstops are not a flat piece angled at 45 degrees, as other posts above describe, but rather a concave arc of steel which may not have enough angle where the shots are hitting.

BTW...I have used a box tightly stuffed full of old magazines to collect lead. Kind of messy with all the shredding that goes on, but effective.

 

[CapPopper]

Id say your balls are just splattering when the hit the target.. That concave shape is to limit the chance of a bullet or ball going anywhere after it hits the plate. The angled plate doesn't stop the ball it just guides it into the ground which won't totally destroy the ball

 

[coloradoclyde]

Clyde...can you talk more about a "penetration cover?" I'm not sure what you're referring to, but am interested because my experience with the angled steel behind the target is that I never find anything...the ball just disintegrates.

Ok...So you have an angled steel plate...Yes, when the ball hits the plate it can explode/shatter into many fragments...thee fragments, go every direction except the original direction.. About half is deflected downward, most of the rest goes left and right....Some can come back towards the shooter...I find fragments all the time in front of the target.

What I mean by a "penetration cover" is this:
Imagine the trap as an open box....And you shoot into the open end...Put a lid on the box that you shoot through....This lid is also used to attach your target to. It could be as simple as a piece of plywood or plywood covered with rubber roofing...This will allow the bullet to pass through and strike the metal plate. but spatter will be contained in the box.
The same principal is used on earthen target boxes to contain the dirt and give a nice face for attaching targets.
As you begin to shoot a large hole in the face, simply attach another piece of plywood.

Cheap, simple, and effective.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[eggwelder]

24" x 24" box made of plywood and 2x6. 24 x 24 is your target face. line with 2 or 3 layers of corrugated cardboard inside the shooting face, then fill with dry sand. pop the lid on and shoot to your hearts content. at the end of the shooting session, sift the sand, collect the used balls/bullets(it will stop 308 hunting rounds) re-cast and you-re done. it holds about 10 gal of dry sand which makes it easier to set up in the field as you can just transport the sand in buckets.
i`ve been shooting the same 1lb of lead for about a year.

i use the cardboard to help keep the sand in the box. replace your plywood when you shoot it to bits.
so kind of what clyde said

 

[CapPopper]

I like this idea best so far sounds really straight forward and simple especially since I wouldn't really need to transport it since it could just stay at my dads

 

[eggwelder]

it works. stops 12 ga slugs at 20 yards(didn`t try closer), and stopped 3 out of 5 FMJ 7.62 x 39 at 50 yards.
has no issues stopping 50 cal

 

[coloradoclyde]

Yep! that's what I was talking about with the "earthen target box"....Except mine use 2x12 lumber...
Stopped everything I threw at it but didn't stop a friends 338 weatherby mag.

 

[coloradoclyde]

OK! here's another tip.....
When it comes time to sift...sifting will get the big chunks. But, for the small pieces I use a gold pan.

It's also great practice for real panning.

 

[Drago]

I read somewhere about a trap made full of rubber mulch, much like the one full of sand.