Sidearms & Scatterguns Bullet trap / target backstop

[Scarface26]

I would like to build a bullet trap used primarily for 22LR, 9mm, and cast bullets from a .357 mag. Has anyone done this, and what's the minimum thickness of steel for
handguns?
7.62 X 39 or 30-30 type rifles?
.223? Expecting to need AR-500 steel for this.

I've read a thread that I can't find about using rubber mulch and that might be an option if someone is willing to post pictures of their set-up. Seems like a real waste to not capture all that lead, and copper to a lesser extent.

Thanks in advance and God bless America

 

[akmike47]

The rubbers fine till it catches on fire or dry rots.


Also with rubber you have to separate it from the metals they make a vacuum for that but it's just that much more money you could have put into something better, then you're left with lead and copper you have to shovel off the ground and separate from the dirt you scooped up with it. It's way faster to clean out a metal trap.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Look up snail traps.

 

[akmike47]

Do this and it'll empty itself into a container below, stir up a lot less dust moving a container than scraping out a tube.

 

[strikeeagle1]

^^More than $1.69?

 

[alamo5000]

I would like to build a bullet trap used primarily for 22LR, 9mm, and cast bullets from a .357 mag. Has anyone done this, and what's the minimum thickness of steel for
handguns?
7.62 X 39 or 30-30 type rifles?
.223? Expecting to need AR-500 steel for this.

I've read a thread that I can't find about using rubber mulch and that might be an option if someone is willing to post pictures of their set-up. Seems like a real waste to not capture all that lead, and copper to a lesser extent.

Thanks in advance and God bless America

Thickness isn't the solution. The type of metal is what counts. 1/4 inch AR500 will stop all of that and more.

The real question here though (to me) is what type of environment are you going to use this in and what for? For example if you need something to test fire guns in at really close range (like in your garage) it will look totally different than if you are using it in the back yard in conjunction with a berm or something.

 

[akmike47]

^^More than $1.69?

Price isn't my problem

 

[Scarface26]

Thickness isn't the solution. The type of metal is what counts. 1/4 inch AR500 will stop all of that and more.

The real question here though (to me) is what type of environment are you going to use this in and what for? For example if you need something to test fire guns in at really close range (like in your garage) it will look totally different than if you are using it in the back yard in conjunction with a berm or something.

Thanks for the answer. I asked the question about thickness because of the extremely high cost of all steel, particularly ar500. If I can accomplish the same goal of simply capturing the projectiles without incurring the expense of AR 500 then that is the approved solution.

I am fairly certain that i can capture 22LR forever with not much at all, and handguns under magnum velocities with probably 1/4" steel. A lot of my shooting is magnum revolver and i'd like to be able to shoot jacketed bullets at magnum velocities (1500-1600fps) if required. I think that aim could likely be accomplished with 3/8" plate, but I haven't tried it.

Then, there's the next tier of 7.62 X 39, which I use for drills from time to time, and those projectiles are all jacketed, and moving around 2000 fps or greater. My guess is that this is where I'm going to run into a requirement for AR 500, although I'm looking to build a trap like the one Jerry Miculek has so all the impacts would be at a relatively high angle which would mitigate the penetrating and dimpling effects to a degree.

Regarding environment - backyard range, backstop in place, just want to catch the bullets. Handguns 50 yards and in, 22LR 100 yards and in, 7.62 X 39 - - 50 - 25 yards, and if the trap will handle it, 5.56 - 100 yards and out.

Thanks and God bless America

 

[MikeinTexas]

Bale of hay, the rolled kind. I used to have a buddy who lived in the country and they used a bail of hay and propped up a target in front of it. I checked, even a 308 168 SMK wouldn’t go thru it. Even shot it with my 45/70 and it didn’t go thru. That’s about as cheap as I could figure for you….dunno if it will work for you or not but here it is.

 

[Scarface26]

Bale of hay, the rolled kind. I used to have a buddy who lived in the country and they used a bail of hay and propped up a target in front of it. I checked, even a 308 168 SMK wouldn’t go thru it. Even shot it with my 45/70 and it didn’t go thru. That’s about as cheap as I could figure for you….dunno if it will work for you or not but here it is.

That's what i'm currently using. Problem with it is that I can't capture the projectiles - well, I could, but it'd be a PITA, compared to the Jerry Miculek / Snail type trap.

I have a source for plate that is relatively economical. AR500 is another story. I am afraid that I'll have to go this route to capture the .223 projectiles. Unfortunate, because that's a lot of my practice at 300 to 700 yards. Just a few hundred 55 grain blaster bullets adds up quick, and it'd be great to be able to melt those down and re-use them through a handgun. Of course, the situation complicates itself WRT the different melting points of copper and lead, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Can't re-use / re-cycle bullets you don't have.

God bless America

 

[MikeinTexas]

I was a gunners mate in the service and we replaced a dirt berm with a bullet trap. It was two plates at extreme degrees to funnel the projectiles into the gap at the end and it was exactly like the picture earlier in this thread. The impact onto the AR500 plates made the bullet either shatter or deform, when the round got to the round part it just spun around until it lost enough speed to drop into the gap and was collected in 5 gallons metal buckets. If you had a sheet of AR500 you could weld one up pretty quickly. A friend back in NC did just that and made it about three feet at each opening part of the trap. He didnt use AR tube, but used a piece of heavy schedule pipe he got from a Texas oil driller he knew. So it looked like a big pyramid on its side…he used it at his farm for exactly the same reason. But he had all the steel from his business…he builds shoot houses for the military and police departments out of special concrete that absorbs projectile and shrapnel.

 

[Jackomason]

I was a gunners mate in the service and we replaced a dirt berm with a bullet trap. It was two plates at extreme degrees to funnel the projectiles into the gap at the end and it was exactly like the picture earlier in this thread. The impact onto the AR500 plates made the bullet either shatter or deform, when the round got to the round part it just spun around until it lost enough speed to drop into the gap and was collected in 5 gallons metal buckets. If you had a sheet of AR500 you could weld one up pretty quickly. A friend back in NC did just that and made it about three feet at each opening part of the trap. He didnt use AR tube, but used a piece of heavy schedule pipe he got from a Texas oil driller he knew. So it looked like a big pyramid on its side…he used it at his farm for exactly the same reason. But he had all the steel from his business…he builds shoot houses for the military and police departments out of special concrete that absorbs projectile and shrapnel.

How extreme of an angle and how close could you shoot your standard SA calibers? I've been thinking it'd be handy to gather some chrono data without driving to a 100 yard range.

 

[MikeinTexas]

We used to start out at 3 yards and back up from there..(with pistols. M16s only Got to 15 yds or out to 25)so right up on the entrance to the bullet trap(pistols). I think the plates were at 30°…even up that close the rounds would be shot down thru the paper target and strike the lower plate, ricochet up into the snail or sometimes up to the top plate and then into the snail.