Bullet trap ideas for recycling lead

[Jim_Fleming]

again, thanks everyone.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
After reading the last 2 pages I have to say -Why are you all building such big traps?
Mine fits into the back of my Toyota.
Mine cost about $245 in materials , it seems your costs might be even more, bullet recovery in mine is just dump into a # 10 can.

[sheepdog]

HI,
After reading the last 2 pages I have to say -Why are you all building such big traps?
Mine fits into the back of my Toyota.
Mine cost about $245 in materials , it seems your costs might be even more, bullet recovery in mine is just dump into a # 10 can.

Yup, mine is about 30-35 pounds, cost $12 and can take anything below a 30-30 at full strength or 30-06 at reduced loads. If I added 7 to 8 more pounds I'd be able to take it all short of 50 bmg.

[Jim_Fleming]

My intent is to be able to put many FULL house loads, and sustain this pace for several months into the trap. From several shooters at one time.

I'm not worried about portability, just recovery of the lead for my own recycling of the blue pills... Both Cast Boolits and Jacketed Slugs.

[over the hill gang]

How about some pictures of these traps Boys ..... Been wanting to build one and doing the research but would like to see a few in action. Any pictures?

[JIMinPHX]

There are several pictures already posted in the 11 pages of this thread. Several types of traps are shown. Is there something particular that you wanted to see?

Pages 1,4 & 8 are good places to start looking for trap pics.

[sheepdog]

Hillgang I think it would be better at this point to describe what your goal is and maybe we can steer you in the right direction. Answer this please:

Does it need to be portable?
Max caliber you expect to use?
Is lead reclamation a priority or a minor bonus?
Are you wanting a audible report when hit or just want to hit a target?
How much are you wanting to spend?
How big do you want to the target face to be?

[over the hill gang]

Hillgang I think it would be better at this point to describe what your goal is and maybe we can steer you in the right direction. Answer this please:

Does it need to be portable? It does not need to be portable as I have a range in my back yard.
Max caliber you expect to use? I probably wouldn't shoot anything bigger than a 50 Cal. muzzleloader, but mostly 45ACP and 38 specials[COLOR="DarkRed"][/COLOR]
Is lead reclamation a priority or a minor bonus? Yes I would like to collect my lead for recasting
Are you wanting a audible report when hit or just want to hit a target? No I don't need to hear it hit, the hole in the target is enough for me.
How much are you wanting to spend? Lets face it, I think we are all trying to save a buck today but don't mind putting a hundred bucks or so into it
How big do you want to the target face to be?

I do a lot of off hand shooting, and along with my buddies daughter just learning I would like to have a 4 foot square for her to hit anyway

I thank you guys on here this is the best forum I have ever been on for collecting info for casting bullets, I received a Mihec 45 HP mold a few weeks back and love it and have cast over a 1000 rounds so far with it and probably have shot as many also.

[over the hill gang]

I was just looking at some of the pictures that you had recommended and maybe I need to down size this a little, weight is not an issue as I have a backhoe tractor that I can move it around with if need be. I was thinking on the line of 4...4 foot square plates 1/2 inch thick tapered and welded at 33 degree angles to make sort of like a pyramid shape with about an 8 inch pipe coming out of the back at an angle going into a sand trap but like the shredded rubber idea better. I have seen this type of a trap somewhere but can't remember where!!!! heck of a note to get old can't remember anything any more..... :O)

[grumman581]

Personally, I would be more interested in how many inches of sand it would take to stop the various calibers... I'm wanting to create a bullet trap / backstop that I can use for load development... Unfortunately, the city I live in has an idiotic rule about not firing guns in the city limits... I figure that if I'm doing it in my garage, maybe the sound would be muffled enough that no one would notice... Or at least not be able to tell exactly where it is coming from... Right now, I wait until my neighbor's lawn service comes by and when they are making all the noise with their 2-cycle trimmers and blowers and their large lawn mowers, I go behind the garage and take a few shots for whatever load I'm testing... Unfortunately, that means that I can only test a few shots once a week...

[Jim_Fleming]

At the GREAT RISK of being corrected by my more experienced bretheren, I'll hazard a guess based on memory... Any and all of you ground combat experienced veterans out there please feel free to correct me!

Years ago, I seem to recall that a basic foot soldiers field manual recommended making the berms around a personal foxhole at least 2 bayonets deep, more would be better of course! But the point is that would be about 18 inches of mounded dirt in height.

The whole point of this long story is to post a S.W.A.G (scientific wild {ahem} guess) that 24 inches of sand in depth would do the job with any caliber of handgun. Rifle calibers are another matter entirely. They'd require more sand, perhaps 36 inches of sand so as to be totally confident against over penetration.

Be careful firing inside of the city limits, even inside of your garage, there are gun banners that are just looking for excuses to further their cause against us, and the noise pollution is plenty excuse to get their collective dander up. We have to make sure that their pablum cannot be twisted against us. I hate to advise against shooting, but perhaps cultivating a relationship with your local law officials might yield better advice that can be found here insofar as enforcement policies against firearm usage...?

Just a few thoughts...

[sheepdog]

I do a lot of off hand shooting, and along with my buddies daughter just learning I would like to have a 4 foot square for her to hit anyway

I thank you guys on here this is the best forum I have ever been on for collecting info for casting bullets, I received a Mihec 45 HP mold a few weeks back and love it and have cast over a 1000 rounds so far with it and probably have shot as many also.

I would recommend a big box, like a computer box, on its side making it about 16 to 18 inches deep and as wide and tall as the box allows for a big target. Fill with the rubber crump and make a "backstop" behind the box with old tires cut in strip and nailed to a pieces of plywood. That should be plenty for pistols with the tires being the last line of defense. Believe that will do you good and might cost you a whole 15 bucks.
Once the box has had it empty into a new box slowly and collect the bright orange FMJs or gray boolits against the dark brown crumb filler. A box lasts me about 700 to 800 rounds before I change it out. 100% lead reclamation. As an added bonus the boolits are usually intact (unless they hit each other) so you can examine if you have leading, how boolits mushroom, how good an ingraving from the rifling your getting, if such ans such brand of FMJ has a sealed back, etc.

[Marlin Hunter]

I didn't feel like reading through all the threads, but have you shooters seen the Snailtraps?

http://www.snailtraps.com/

[sheepdog]

Snails are nice at first but cant handle big loads and get worn down pretty quick

[grumman581]

Seems to me that the solution to separating the bullets is to use large lead shot for the media in your deceleration box... Eventually, the deceleration box will get a bit too full, so you just scoop out a bit and put in your smelter... Initially, you'll be scooping out the lead shot, but eventually, you'll start recycling the bullets that you put in there... I figure something like 000 buck shot size would work about right...

Considering the density of lead though, it's not going to be all that portable... It's going to be a *bit* heavy...

Yeah, it's probably a hairbrained idea, but it just *might* work... It would be interesting to see what sort of penetration that you received and whether the bullets would turn to lead powder upon hitting the media or if they would fuse to the media and just make a larger blob of lead...

[grumman581]

Looks like I've found the answer to my question about penetration in sand...

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

[sheepdog]

Looks like I've found the answer to my question about penetration in sand...

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

Yup sand is good at stopping boolits. Guess thats why you see so many sandbags in war zones.

I'd like to use sand but sand has a habit of flowing like water which means in a few rounds you're out of sand. No very practical for repeat use.

[grumman581]

I'd like to use sand but sand has a habit of flowing like water which means in a few rounds you're out of sand. No very practical for repeat use.

Unless you design a vertical range... Kind of suck to have to climb up to the top of the house each time to fire downward though...

[sheepdog]

Lol vertical. You could do a sand berm but then you go tot worry about rain turning it into a hydrogel which could cause ricochet.

I like sand and water as good stoppers its just managing the containment of them.

[Jim_Fleming]

Sand would and will flow like water until it's all ran out, etc... Everyone is correct, but visualize thin sheets of rubber on the inside of the drywall panels.

Rubber has a tendency to be 'self-healing' to a degree... Rubber would act as a membrane to slow/stop the flow of sand, until the rubber was 'worn out.' I seem to recall someone mentioning rubber sheets of gasket material on the earlier/earliest pages of this thread.

Someone please correct me if I have posted incorrectly about elsewhere in the thread. Please!

Jim in Phoenix, that fairly scientific test that's behind the link that Grumman 581 posted clears up a lot of mystery... Heck that confirms what I said about a dirt berm about 18 inches deep, front to back, and that my bullet catcher, (when I build it) 24 inches of sand would stop just about anything short of an RPG round...