Another Pellet Trap Idea x2 - Photos: FAILURE

[Alandaniel1947]

MAY 31,2020 at 4:47pm pst - I MUST REPORT THAT AFTER USING THE BELOW DESCRIBED TARGET BOX WITH THE PAPER REAM FOR A BACKSTOP, THE TARGET BOX IS FAILING.

After a nearly all day shooting session I noticed the back of the ream of paper bulging out about an inch or more. It seems that as the pellets push each other forward they also push the paper out of the way and back, causing a bulge at the back. It is obvious that after about 200 plus shots which cover the face of the ream of paper rather uniformly, areas that I will call overshot begin to destroy the integrity of the ream even though the package itself is still holding together. I can tell it isn't going to hold together much longer.

It seems it is rather simple when you think about it. The pellets take up space and the paper that used to occupy that space has to go somewhere. It goes mostly backward. Duh.

Sorry for any inconvenience my experiment may have caused readers of Airgun Nation. If the ream of paper is removed and replaced with blocks of duct seal I am sure a very quiet and effective target box will be created, so, if you have constructed a target box, your work is not waisted. At least the method of holding the targets works well.

Please accept my apology for the failed target box.

The crushed magazine target box is holding up well for reasons I can't explain. It seems the crushed magazines should suffer from the same problem, but, so far, the box has done well. The magazines are not bulging and causing any problems as of yet. Something different happens when the magazines are tightly crushed together as they were in my first target box.

AD2

Here is the first idea. The target box is built to hold a 12 x 10.5 target; thus, the 2x4 inserted at the side of the ream of copy paper. If building a box to hold an 8.5 x 11 target the additional 2x4 strip isn't needed. The metal strips at the top and bottom are to hold the target. The clips on the top are on a strip of U shaped metal used for shelving. At the bottom is a straight flat piece of metal and the two white objects with hooks are magnets that hold the target on the bottom. The size of the box allows a ream of cheap copy paper to be placed into the box. The metal strip at the top is low enough to stop the copy paper from falling forward. There is a 1/4 piece of plywood on the bottom to help hold the box upright.

This is the box with a target attached. The handle helps in carrying the target box around.

This is the side of the box. You can see the ream of paper sticks above the sides and the front rail with the clips.

Here is the back of the box.

NOW for the test. Will a ream of paper, still contained within the original package, stop a .25 caliber pellet fired 12 inches from the ream - point blank range - from an FX Dreamline just aired up and set to highest power on its adjustments. The answer is YES. The ream of paper stops the pellet. NO sign of an exit. The pellet was a JSB Match King Heavy .25/ 33.95 grains. Photos show the test.

This is close up of the paper. The cheapest I could find at Walmart. About $4.00. 500 sheets, 20 pound paper. The pellet hole is just to the right of the words Jam-Resistant.

Here is the back of the ream. No exit hole. The paper easily stopped the pellet.

Showing the FX cylinder charge before the shot into the paper,

The second photo shows the adjustment settings on the FX. Full power everywhere.

I did the same test on a Cheerios box stuffed with Magazines: 

PLEASE NOTE: THE CHEERIOS BOX TARGET ALSO FAILED FROM THE SAME PROBLEM DESCRIBED ABOVE. THE MAGAZINES STARTED TO BULGE OUT AND DESTROY THE INTEGRITY OF THE STACK. I BELIEVE THE PELLETS WILL SOON PENETRATE THE CHEERIOS BOX AND MAGAZINE ASSEMBLY.

Same results. The .25 pellet launched at point blank range from the FX on full power and full charge did not exit the Cheerios box. The large box easily took the magazines. So, with a spare Cheerios box you have a target that can take a .25 pellet, JSB Match King Heavy 33.95g from 12 inches away. We have a good backstop and all of it recycled materials. Wrong.

On my previous pellet box made from plywood and wing nuts and long all-thread bolt thread material, I found the plywood at the front was being shot out. I added duct seal to the front. It makes the pellet box very quiet, and should preserve my plywood front. My point blank tests on old magazines started with this box. To think I didn't have to build anything, just stuff a Cheerios box with my left over magazines, makes me feel a bit dumb. I now feel even dumber. But, the plywood and squeezed magazines have stopped pellets stone cold and makes an unbeatable backstop. Much too early to tell. I don't own a caliber larger than .25, but I'll bet it would stop a .30 caliber at point blank range, perhaps even larger. But how many times?

Here is my test of a .25 being shot into the side of a 2x4 which has been cut down to one and three quarter inches . The wood stopped the pellet without a problem. No exit. This test allowed me to build another target box made from scrap 2x4s cut to fit into a box made to hold 8.5 x 11 targets printed from my computer. I use a lot of these targets. The slot to the front is for the target to slide into. The wood is scrap, so a lot of the holes on the box are irrelevant. Now my feeling is this idea is also a failure. Best to use duct seal over the wooden or metal back. Duct seal could be applied over the wood I have added to the box. 

I hope you enjoyed these target box ideas. No need for expensive plywood that usually doesn't stop a .25 anyway. I have shot a .25 right through 3/4 (or "European 3/4") plywood like it was nothing. Same for actual 3/4 MDF. And I mean right through it from 50 feet back. Even a .22 Marauder can blow through both materials. The stacked paper seems to work wonderfully, and the magazines can be old ones ready for the trash. The ream of paper works the best, I think, because it requires so little work and costs very little. I'm sure one would fit into a Cheerios box and zap you have a target holder that can stop any usually fired pellet. If you taped two reams together with duct tape they would stand up easily alleviating the need for any box at all. Worried about shooting wide or high? Spend a little more and stack more reams of paper to each side of the target and on top. One ream on each side and the top will do that job. You might have to tape the reams together to get a base large enough to hold the other paper. Do not lay the reams flat so the side faces the pellet being fired. That will separate the paper and allow the pellet through, I think. Keep the large face of the paper toward the gun. ALL WRONG.

Here is a target game from my tiny brain you might like. It should print on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. It's ten shots. Work down from the top. Hit the line and the shot is "in" for the higher score. Totally miss and its minus ten. One shot per target. Ignore the writing on the target. I still need to fix that. Have fun. Shoot straight, shoot safely.

AD2

FINAL FOR MAY 31,2020: BOTH THESE IDEAS FAILED BECAUSE OF THE BULGING PROBLEM. I AM SORRY FOR THE FAILED EXPERIMENT. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH THE 2X4s. While they may not bulge they will probably splinter away to nothing under constant bombardment from the pellets. I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUILDING THE BOX WITH THE 2X4s for a backstop in the box. Just use duct seal or a similar material.

AD2

 

[Alandaniel1947]

Oops. Here is the target I couldn't get to load. Sorry. AD2

 

[Rodeo]

Have you tested it for pass thru with repeated shots in the same spot?

 

[jdh2550]

Thanks for the ideas. I live in a town and a local ordinance says no shooting of anything. My neighbors could care less. I have a safe area to shoot and a moderated gun. Sometimes I need to take 1 or 2 shots to make sure my zero is still true and can't get to the range. This happens maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I'll make one of these for that purpose.

 

[Alandaniel1947]

No. The squeezed magazines in my first target box allow little penetration and would probably withstand numerous shots to the same spot. The squeezed paper makes for an extremely dense material. The Cheerios box isn’t squeezed, although it is compact, and would probably withstand 4 or 5 shots in the same place. The ream of paper, probably because there are many light sheets held closely together, is also pretty dense, but, since it isn’t squeezed, the sheets may start to move apart after several shots to the same spot. Nonetheless, as a pellet stopper it has worked great for me.

I like the paper ream the best of the target ideas. It’s extremely cheap and as long as the plastic wrapping holds it together I expect it to work very well.

The first pellet trap, the one that squeezes the paper, is heavy. A lot of magazines get crushed into a small area and it gets heavy. Six inches of crushed magazines weighs more than l thought (of course, the weight of X number of pages crushed is the same as it is not crushed, but as I was loading more magazines in I guess I lost count and after they were mashed together it didn’t look like all that much material.). The ream of paper weighs less and is so easy to replace. Great stuff. I put 80 shots into the target box today and it still looks ok. I might try duct tape to hold it all together next time.

AD2

 

[Yo]

Have you tested it for pass thru with repeated shots in the same spot?

BINGO! Yo

 

[Skydivingmiami]

How loud is it when it hits the paper target? I actually thought about it before. But didnt want to ruin a reem of paper to find out.

The magazine's look loud also. Can you confirm how loud they hit? 

I'm guessing you hear the loud whack of the pellet when it makes contact. I would need something that makes no noise at all. I heard about ballistic rubber, which must be super quiet. Or those rubber foam mats they sell that look like puzzle pieces, and just layer them. 

 

[Skydivingmiami]

Have you tested it for pass thru with repeated shots in the same spot?

BINGO! Yo

They would probably go through. 





I've made boxes with layers of extra towels folded in squares. And filled the entire box with towels. The pellets dont go through and are pretty quiet when they hit. I've shot at the box with my wildcat .25 and its held strong. Of course I pit a brick behind the box just incase. 



I've noticed when i shoot in the same repeated spot... they start making their way through. Plus you open up the box later on and retrieve all your lead. So it works. 

 

[Alandaniel1947]

As to how loud the pellets are when they hit the ream of paper or the magazines. From point blank range, about one or two feet, the noise of the rifle going off and the pellet simultaneously hitting the paper join together and the rifle noise dominates. The other shots were taken at 75 feet, or 25 yards. At least the sound of the rifle and the pellet hitting the paper come far enough apart that one can be discerned from the other; however, the distance is such that the pellet hitting the target isn’t loud at all. Both the ream of paper and the magazines seem about the same loudness, which isn’t much. I don’t have a decibel meter. Their is not a slapping sound, in my opinion. The noise is like a low whap or whomp. The .25 pellets travel slower than .22 or .177, and the area hitting the paper has a much larger face than smaller pellet. These characteristics may explain the low whomp I hear when the pellet hits.

AD2