Bullet trap ideas for recycling lead

[chrisx1]

How about using a truck mud flap or some conveyer belting for the entry side instead of cardboard? Might stay together longer?

Also, have you done any long term testing on the rubber chip design? What happens after hundreds of rounds are shot into a box? Will the lead settle to the bottom of the trap as more rounds come in?

[JIMinPHX]

I haven’t tried mudflaps or belting. They probably would last longer. The real low power gallery loads that I sometimes use might bounce back at the shooter though. That’s why I stuck with cardboard. I can get a few hundred rounds through a sheet of it before it needs to be replaced. 30 seconds with a staple gun takes care of it. The mudflap/belting idea might be real good for the back side of my extension box that I’ve been using in front of my main trap for high power rifle rounds.

After the box traps get a bunch of use, especially with larger calibers, tunnels tend to form in the rubber mulch & the boolits go in deeper because they travel further before hitting the first layer of resistance to their motion. This is especially true if you are shooting very small groups. This is why I put a hard stop at the back of my traps.

After the tunnels form, new boolits sometimes hit old boolits that are already in there & boolits start getting mashed up & can even break in half. I’ve only had a few get mashed up. I’ve only had one break in half so far. I think that each time I use it, I get a few more small rubber chips & a few less big rubber chips. I have not seen the boolits drop to the bottom yet. I have not fired more than about 75 or 100 rounds before recovering my boolits & fluffing things back up in the process. So far, I’ve only been using these things for load development & test shots. By the time I’m 100 rounds into it, my test ammo is spent & my wife is tired of shooting her little pocket auto. I haven't given any of the traps a real serious workout yet.

I’ve got too many of these things now & I’m thinking about getting rid of all but 1 or 2 of them since I’m done with my tests. I may put a post over in the swapping & selling area pretty soon.

[BOOM BOOM]

Hi,
Well The Pistol Trap Is Finally Built With The Great & Patient Help Of Rassmusson Inc.
My Original Designs Were Much Improved By His Input. He Changed The Angles Slightly, Changed It To A Flattened 4 Sided Cone /funnel Shape.
This Redused Costs & Wt.
It Is On 2 Wheels & Can Be Moved Like A Wheelbarrow ,very Stable. I Use A 6' Ramp To Get It In & Out Of My Toyota Truck. As It Is Too Heavy To Just Lift As I Am Now Pushing 60.
In Fact It Is So Heavy I Will Probibally Not Build The Planned Rifle Trap.
It Is Buil Out Of 3/8" Plate W/ Some 1/2" Welded At Rear.
There Is A Vertical Decelerator Pipe At Rear W/ A Removeable Top For Any Repairs If Needed.
The Decelerator Pipe Empties Into A Welded Bucket Made Of 1/2" Pipe & Plate.
I Used Used 2 Rubber Mats , The Type Commonly Use To Staple/tape Targets To On Commercial & Police Ranges.
1st Test Was W/38+p Lead 180gr. 50 Rounds, Then 38+p Jacked 6 Rounds, No Prob. At All, In Fact 2 Lead Bullets Did Not Compleatly Exit The Rubber Baffels In Front.
2nd Test Was V. Hot 180gr. Lead 357 50 Rounds. No Prob.
Then 6 Rounds V. Hot Jacked. 2 Small Scraches On Pipe.
Will Do Another Test On Thurs. Using 5 Rubber Mats On Front.


2nd Test Was W/

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
2ND TEST WAS W/ 5 OF THE RUBBER FLAPS (XSPORT RUBBER MAT MADE IN PRICE UT.) MATS ARE ABOUT 1/2" THICK RUBBER W/ NYLON FIBERS W/ AN OCCASIONAL STEEL WIRE .
USED 50 HOT 357'S 180GR. Pb BULLET (1,300'/S) & 20 7MM/06 SQUIB LOADS (1300'/S W/ 168GR. Pb BULLET). FIRED AT 50 YDS. NO PROB. A FEW BULLETS DID NOT EXIT MATS.

[yondering]

OK, I built a bullet trap tonight; it's pretty crude and very simple, but I think it'll work. I bought some rubber mulch from Lowe's, I got 2 bags ($12.95 ea for 0.8 cu ft) but only needed one, which almost fills a 5 gallon bucket. It's made from shredded tires. They also had some for $9.95 that was 1/4" chunks, but I figured the shredded stuff would be less likely to come out the holes.
I got lucky and found a piece of scrap steel that's round and fits the bottom of the bucket, so I drilled a hole and bolted it to the bottom, on the inside. Then I filled the bucket with the rubber mulch, and cut 3 pieces of carpet to fit the top 2" or so of the bucket. I taped a piece of cardboard over the mouth of the bucket, and I'll just tape or staple targets to that. I've only shot it with my .22, but I think it'll hold up to at least medium 45 Colt loads. I'll try some heavy loads just to see how it does, and maybe some .223 as well.
I think the lead will separate out if I just shake the bucket a bunch, hopefully it will all just sink to the bottom.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
TEST 3,
50 YDS. 11 layers of rubber baffels/flaps
-44 MAG. 250GR. Pb bullet on top of 20grs. Wc820 . good results. 4-5 of the 50 rounds did not exit the last flap all the way.
100YDS- 7MM/06, 168 GR. Pb bullet on top of 24.5grs IMR4198 w/ DACRON FILLER.
GOOD RESULTS. A few of the 50 7MM bullets did not exit the last flap.
No damage to the trap, fair amount of Pb dust

[yondering]

I tried out some mid-level and heavy 45 Colt loads on my bucket trap. The mid-level loads (260gr SWC at 1,050 fps) were stopped at the steel plate with no issues. Some of these did not make it to the plate at the bottom of the bucket, and were stopped in the rubber.
The heavy 45 Colt loads (300gr and 330gr hard cast over 23gr H110) penetrated all the way to the bottom of the bucket and splattered on the steel plate. Some fragments started to exit the sides of the bucket. I think a piece of 3/16" flat bar bent in a circle around the inside base of the bucket would take care of this.
I also fired some .223 40gr V-Max and 55gr SP loads into the bucket, as well as some 6mm 70gr TNT bullets at 3,900 fps. None of these reached the steel plate, all were stopped in the rubber, and all of them fragmented beyond recognition.

My one complaint with this shredded rubber is that the lead won't separate to the bottom easily when it is shaken. The rubber shreds compact together too well, so it's hard to get the small pieces out.

[JIMinPHX]

splattered on the steel plate. Some fragments started to exit the sides of the bucket. I think a piece of 3/16" flat bar bent in a circle around the inside base of the bucket would take care of this.

1/8" hot roll flat bar will work fine. That's what I've been using to stop side spatter on my steel traps.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

I believe I read that someone was going to try to use water to float the rubber from the bullets. Did this this get tried and did the rubber float? Thanks, I couldn't find the results in the thread.

Regards,
Everett

[yondering]

I believe I read that someone was going to try to use water to float the rubber from the bullets. Did this this get tried and did the rubber float? Thanks, I couldn't find the results in the thread.

Regards,
Everett

I tried it, the rubber doesn't float. Somebody posted here about making a salt water solution, and the rubber floated with enough salt in the water. I didn't try that, maybe after I shoot a lot of lead into the trap it'll be worthwhile.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
FORGOT TO MENTION IN DESCRIPTION THAT THE PLATES ARE ON A 22&1/2 DEGREE ANGLE.
RESULTS SO FAR:

150 ROUNDS 180GR. Pb HARD CAST, WARM LOADS 38 SPECIAL NO DAMAGE TO TRAP USE 2-3 RUBBER FLAPS TO REDUCE Pb POWDER. 6 ROUNDS JACKED +P NO DAMAGE.

240 ROUNDS 180GR. Pb HARD CAST, VERY HOT LOADS! 357 NO DAMAGE TO TRAP.
USED 5-6 R. FLAPS TO REDUCE Pb POWDER. 6 ROUNDS JACKED 2 SMALL SCRACHES ON DECELERATOR PIPE.

50 ROUNDS 250GR. Pb HARD CAST, HOT LOADS, 44 MAG NO DAMAGE TO TRAP.
USE 11-12 R. FLAPS TO REDUCE Pb POWDER.

200 ROUNDS 168GR. PB AIR COOLED TW. SQUIB LOADS (1,300'/S), 7MM/06 NO DAMAGE. USED 5-6 R. FLAPS.

20 ROUNDS 168GR. HARD CAST MID RANGE LOADS (1,800-2,000'/S), 7MM06 NO DAMAGE. USED USED 11-12 r. FLAPS TO REDUCE Pb POWDER.

ALL FIRED AT 50YDS. NOW.
ANOTHER ADVANTAGE TO THE R. FLAPS IS THERE IS NOTHING COMING BACK OUT THE FRONT OF THE TRAP. RICORCHIE MIGHT BE A PROBLEM W/ STEEL PLATES AT LESS THAN A 45 DEGREE ANGLE.

[RP]

And yes if you make a brime solution the rubber will float and save it because it wont go bad and it will kill the grass if you dump it out

[leftiye]

Kill the grass? I spend all summwer trying to kill the grass. Problem is it kills the ground too, like forever.

[Boomer Mikey]

I cleaned out and changed the sand in my bullet trap today so I decided it was a good time to take a few pictures to share with you.

I don't have the luxury of being able to shoot on my property here in the city but about five years ago I decided to make a bullet trap for use in my workshop to use for barrel break-in and checking pressure levels of loads before loading up a bunch of test loads that I would need to tear down after a trip to the range.

My long time shooting friend J.D. moved to Barstow when the Navy closed down Mare Island Naval Shipyard and he had the audacity to take his bullet trap with him when he left. After wasting a bunch of time and procrastinating for 5 years I built this trap.

The old advertising slogan "three rings of steel" came to mind when I built this and as you can see from the pictures nary a bullet as ever struck the 1-1/2" thick hockey puck on the bottom of the trap.

I've fired full power 338 WinMag into this (my proof test).

The bottom two rings and the hockey puck are welded to a bottom plate that's sitting on the bottom of the barrel. The barrel is 3/8" thick, the bottom is 1/2" thick and the top 3/8" thick.

Another ring is welded to the top so a bullet can't be launched at any angle or bounce off another surface at an angle that could result in it getting out of the barrel.

A full bag of 30 grit sand fills the bottom half of the barrel and layers of shop cloths and old cotton towels surround the ring welded to the top creating a noise baffle system. The barrel is vented to the rear at the top for gasses to escape.

I fired several 308's into the barrel last night starting a barrel break-in cycle on my new M1A, you can see what's left of the 30's in the middle of the recovery pile.


Boomer

Thumbnails:

[Mister Tom]

Has anyone tried making a trap out of hardplate such as AR400 or AR 500 ? Where I work we use it for fabricating wear plates on anything from heavy equipment buckets to steel mill parts. The stuff is plenty hard, resists abrasion and does not like to deform either. I made some cutting edges and teeth for a bucket on my small backhoe last year and they look like they day I made them after going through rocks and sand. I imagine it would stand up to the most punishing of loads.

Next time I do some shooting I will give a scrap piece a torture test and post the result.

[cropcirclewalker]

For the past few years I have been shooting into oak logs. Maybe 14" dia. Rifle mostly and cast. After a few hundred rounds the log starts to crack and disintegrate but I have another log just like it behind and like that.

Once the log falls apart I put the pieces in the lid of an old aluminum gas grill (cock the grill lid so that there is a corner lower than the rest) and set it afire. Next morning I go out and carry the lid over to my hydrant where I start a slow flow of water into it. Ash and unburnt wood floats out and I am left with a puddle of lead and lotsa little bbs. Let the whole thing dry (I only recover a log every few months) and it is ready to dump back into my smelting pot.

Lately I have been thinking about Walmart bags.

You all know they are plentiful. Instead of the rubber crumbs. How would one shred up a bunch of Walmart bags easily?

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Well I have made some modifications.
I cut off the metal tabs that I was bolting the rubber flaps to at the bottom, also I cut off the lower part of the vertical decellerator pipe to make easier to wheel.
Have fired over 1000 rounds of hot 357, 44's-50 rounds, 150- 38"s, and at least 750 - 7MM/06 into it most all at 50 yds. All save a few 38 & 357 rounds were cast.
When I moved to the mid-range velocity (about 1800-2000'/s) 7MM/06 loads the removable cap to the pipe rose up under impact so I am loosing about 1/2 the Pb out the top.
Only solution is to put something real heavy on it to hold it down or just weld it down , as far as I can see.
Also the rubber flaps are starting to look like shreaded wheat. I did assume at the start that I would have to replace them from time to time.

[Blackwater]

FWIW, I've been thinking along similar lines, and have concluded that, despite a bad back, probably the best idea for me is to simply drive some small treated posts into the ground and have some dirt and/or clay dumped in a pile over it. The posts should give some support to the pile, at least for a while, but will need a bit of shovelling now and then to keep it near its original height. At least the clay/sand/dirt will trap the lead for future recovery. With all the talk about banning lead, we MAY have need of conserving what we've got at some time in the not too distant future. Digging several hundred pounds of lead out, washing it off and remelting it will at least leave us with SOMETHING to shoot. I'm lucky. I can put it in my back yard, and if I shoot through my fence gate, I can get about 100 yds. range to boot, depending on where I put my bench. I've got some land where I can shoot long range, up to @ 550 yds., which is fortuitous, though my real aspirations stop at closer to 300 with cast. I may have to put up a 2nd bank to shoot into at the farm for the longer ranges. Heck, I know I will, but if nothing else, I'll know where to find some lead. There's a lot to be said for that these days.

[Artful]

Has anyone tried making a trap out of hardplate such as AR400 or AR 500 ?
Next time I do some shooting I will give a scrap piece a torture test and post the result.

I have metal targets out of AR500 which takes rifle fire with FMJ just fine - No AP
I have welded some mild steel channel for feet, and if I miss (hit low) the rifle rounds punch clean holes thru the channel iron feet.

This is my second set, first set after 20 years use started to get stress cracking and have chunks chip off. I had shot over 1/2 a ton of lead at them and I just passed 'em on to friend who does shooting mainly with 9mm and 38's so I figure he'll get a few more years use out of them.

if you made a moveable plate hinged so that the bullet is funneled and lifts the plate to dissapate the energy I could see using hard plate.

[sheepdog]

think about making a starter rubber mulch bullet trap box for reclaiming lead, would like to get some feedback on it. Want to do a paper 17.5x9.5x11.5". Will insert "cassettes" of federal express "small box" inserts that are 11x13x1 3/4" each down the length. This should give me 10 boxes deep of 1.5 inch rubber mulch with a shooting area of 13 tall by 11.5 wide.

Question is will this be deep enough to stop 357 mag, 7.62x25, etc high energy rounds? I hear 31" is enough for rifle so hoping so.