Bullet Trap

[freebullet]

My 5 gal bucket trap has, from bottom up- 2" sand, thin gauge sheet metal plate, 2-3" of sand, 3pcs carpet, half fill w/ rubber mulch, 2 layers carpet, fill rest of way with rubber mulch, 2 more carpet, lid & carpet on outside lid.

The mulch does float pretty good. The powder & lead falls to the bottom. Always surprised how nice & undamaged the bullets come out. Have tumble lubed some & fired again without issue in 9mm,380,&45acp. The rounds look funky prerifled.

Only shot up to medium 357 loads at it so far. Nothing has made it to the sand or even within a few inches. Just put it all in a new bucket. Bucket lasts about 1k rounds depending on who shoots it. Made a 1x2 stand that holds it chest height & folds up. The stand is on version 2.0 due to some wild shooting ladies. The bucket only weighs 20 lbs & is portable.

Guess it just depends if you have a permanent spot for something heavier.

 

[Full.lead.taco]

I was thinking something along the lines of the drawing you posted, but maybe with that left panel longer than the right panel, and both panels connected directly to the cylinder--so that if one were to shoot directly into the middle of the opening, it would hit the left panel (which I would probably make with AR500 plate). Hopefully that makes sense. I might need to draw something up.

I've always thought something like this would be the cleanest way to recycle lead. Could even build the opening big enough to hang steel swinging targets a foot inside.

 

[Full.lead.taco]

What angles would be ideal for the 4 panels?

 

[fiver]

turn the snail trap 90*
then you make the back/top panel the striking panel and you run it all the way into the drum.
after that regular steel can be used and shaped to form the drum.
a flat bottom and a 45* top would work well enough.

 

[Todd M]

What angles would be ideal for the 4 panels?

I don’t know what angles it turned out to be..don’t have the steel in hand yet. My brother in law is a part owner in an Amada Laser and drew the trap up on his laptop a couple days ago. We did change it so the left wall extends to the drum if I remember correctly. They are pretty busy so I don’t know when it will get cut. Once the pieces are cut and rolled, it’s got to find a way from CA to WA, so who knows when I might see it.

 

[Todd M]

It wouldn’t be hard to figure angles if you draw it out on the shop floor. We are still in Cali, headed north today sometime.

 

[Ian]

12° is pretty much ideal. That takes a LOT of expensive hardened steel, but does increase the caliber and velocity potential for mild steel by a whole lot. I think a 30° included angle would be a minimum, even for cast bullets, if you want to keep the splatter from coming back out.

 

[Full.lead.taco]

12° would mean a lot of steel. At that angle 1/4" should be plenty thick eh?

12° is pretty much ideal. That takes a LOT of expensive hardened steel, but does increase the caliber and velocity potential for mild steel by a whole lot. I think a 30° included angle would be a minimum, even for cast bullets, if you want to keep the splatter from coming back out.

 

[Pistolero]

Thirty degrees is two units backwards for each unit laterally. 12 degrees makes that five units back for each
unit laterally. If you want a two foot wide opening, 30 deg gives you a four foot depth of the side which
will catch them, with 12 deg, you will need it to go back 10 ft for a two foot backer coverage. Seems a
bit shallow to me. top and bottom could easily be 12 deg, don't want to cover the whole thing.

With a 30 degree angle, only 50% of the force of the bullet is working perpendicular to the steel.
At 12 deg, only 20% of the force of the bullet is working perpendicular to the steel. IME, mild
steel will not survive j bullets from .223 and .308 at 45 deg, you get significant gouging. Cast
at 1500-1600, should be much better.

If you want to deflect full power j bullets, I'd say the primary deflector side needs to be
AR500. Top and bottom can be 12 deg and likely mild steel. Might make the panels
bolt onto an angle steel frame, can replace if they get damaged. Start with mild steel and
if it fails, replace with AR500 as necessary. Get holes "drilled" by AR steel supplier unless
you have a plasma cutter.

Bill

 

[Todd M]

12° would mean a lot of steel. At that angle 1/4" should be plenty thick eh?

Mine will most likely be out of mild steel, whatever scraps my bro in law can come up with. 1/4 or 3/8 I don’t know. But I won’t be throwing much high powered rifles at it, since I don’t own any.

 

[Todd M]

Good info to think on Bill, thanks.

 

[Full.lead.taco]

Thanks for the info guys... Now I have some better ideas on how I could build one.

 

[Hornet]

I have a 55-gallon steel drum full of crumb mulch and a mud flap covering a cutout hole in the lid. The only thing it stops is pistol bullets, rifle stuff >~1800 fps pencils right through. It's also a royal pain to dig through in search of a bullet. Maybe if I stood it on end and let the stuff pack in more densely and then shot straight down into it it would work better.

I've been thinking of building something for a rilfe bullet stop. Do you suppose it would work better if it was filled with sand or chat/gravel? Obviously, the weight would be a consideration. I don't have a good place to build a berm, so something like this has more application in my situation.

 

[Todd M]

I think sand would be the better of the two. I have used 5 gallon buckets, filled with sand, dirt and gravel. The sand is the easiest in my experience to sort through and pull out bullets.

 

[Tony]

I've been thinking of using one of the commercial .22 RF bullet traps as a design concept and scaling up to perhaps 4' high and 3' wide. This trap would be welded up A36 hot rolled structural plates and be used to catch RF and cast projectiles at sedate to moderate velocities. I have a natural berm in that the northern boundary of my property is a mountain with national forest beyond. That is where my high powered rifle projectiles would go. Any thoughts?

 

[Intheshop]

On a trap where only the top plate is angled,you can save a little material going with it being "hinged" via chains.The angle doesn't have to be as acute.Running it anywhere over @45* should suffice.

The next way,same short angle hinged,would be adj air or hyd cly damped...vs..."chained" or simple hinge.

Yes,it adds complexity but can make for a much shorter,compact,and easier to service impact zone.

Further,even though stich welded joints would meet the welding engineering (check on this...doh),I'd probably prefer a bolt together unit.And this coming from a certed weldor.Never know when you'll have to "tear it down" for relocation,fitting though existing door openings,etc,etc.

 

[Ian]

Tony, 3/8" A36 is what I used for handgun backstops for a long time. At 45 degrees, it will last a very long time. .30 cal. cast rifle bullets at 1800 fps will wear it out and at 2300 fps will punch holes right through it. 45/90 500-grain bullets will pound big dents in it and a cluster of hits will crack it through. Much better than mild cold-roll plate steel, though.

 

[Brad]

Ian, what happens if you use a layer of timbers on top of the plate steel and then cover the timbers with soil?

 

[Pistolero]

Tony,
That is about what I have, but smaller. I bought a piece of AR500 3/8" plate, built a angle iron frame to
lay it on at about 45 deg. Works great, about 2 ft wide and 15" tall, enough for two targets. Stops jbullets
from .223 just fine, no damage. Will put up a berm eventually, but this is good for right now.

Bill

 

[Ian]

Ian, what happens if you use a layer of timbers on top of the plate steel and then cover the timbers with soil?

I think it would help, but the surface would still be damaged once the bullets reach a certain weight and velocity. A-36 is fairly hard, but nothing like high-carbon, heat-treated armor plate. I think you could make up a lot by making the bullet strike angle more oblique, like 20° instead of 45.