Don’t underestimate the power of your PCP!!!!

Jump to latest Follow Reply
igolfat8

igolfat8

Member
Oct 7, 2018
4,102
4,277
68
OH, United States
I built a nice little nifty 12” x 12” x 3/4” plywood trap a while back and filled it with rubber mulch. It worked great but quickly got heavy as it filled with lead. I tried to clean it out and separate the lead from the rubber which was a less than pleasurable task that I did not want to repeat. So I thought I would lighten my trap up by removing the mulch. So I placed a 1/8” thick aluminum plate in the back of the trap, hung 4” of old towels inside and faced the front with cardboard. It was a LOT lighter and I thought it was ingenious and quite safe. Wrong...


So I set it up in my shop and began to plink today at roughly 30’. Soon after I began shooting I heard this knocking and banging on the back door of my shop. It was my neighbor who was not a happy camper. Seems the pellets were going trough my trap, through the back wall of my shop which consisted of 3/4” thick plywood, 1/2” homosote, and vinyl siding, then ricocheting off his concrete block garage.

So consider this, an 18 grain JSB traveling 925 FPS, went through 3/8” of cardboard, 4” of towels, an 1/8” aluminum plate, 3/4” plywood back of my trap, then through my garage walls and still left pock marks in concrete block. These darn air rifles are not toys to be taken for granted. 


Another valuable life lesson learned the hard way.

D09EAFC8-7634-4DDD-AB22-DE01C49E6A2C.1608840042.jpeg
D517A6A9-2DC4-4A1E-B18B-A9F60C67E299.1608840042.jpeg

 
Wow!🙀 you are very lucky that it was concrete that finally stopped those pellets. You dodged a disaster... when in doubt (and there’s never a doubt) back up the area behind the trap with something you know with be impenetrable by the projectiles your shooting. Thanks for being brave and honest enough about posting an personal example of what can happen if you don’t have a proper backstop for your shooting area. I hope it’s a good neighbor you’re dealing with and that amends can be made.
 
Upvote 0
I give you credit for admitting that you even underestimated those little 18.13's at all. I know I'm just glad that's all that happened.

I know when I started in with PCP's I observed pretty fast that adult airguns were far away from the stupid things we did in the 70's as kids. Old Crosman 760's, and playing cowboys & Indians with ONE pump only. It was really stupid but that's what 5 to 10 year old boys are. Ignorant of the danger they call fun, be it climbing, throwing rocks, etc. 

Yes Sir. Thank you so much for sharing as new folks need to know. Airguns, pellets, slugs aren't "toys" to be taken lightly. 

 
Upvote 0
And this is why I usually turn mine down to about 550-650fps I've shot 21gr slugs out of mine (almost speed of sound), and they will go thru about 6" of solid wood.



I shoot full power into a small box filled with sand (and now lead). The sand gets pulverized, and I have to clean it up every now and then. But I know it will stop a .45 acp almost dead in it's tracks. So, I'm not concerned about a 22
 
Upvote 0
And this is why I usually turn mine down to about 550-650fps I've shot 21gr slugs out of mine (almost speed of sound), and they will go thru about 6" of solid wood.



I shoot full power into a small box filled with sand (and now lead). The sand gets pulverized, and I have to clean it up every now and then. But I know it will stop a .45 acp almost dead in it's tracks. So, I'm not concerned about a 22
Click to expand...

Thats insane penetration! My 257texan with 89gr bullet travelling 1010fps only barely passes through 3" solid block of wood and my 224airgun with 110fpe dosent go through it with any of the bullets not even hard cast RWS 22lr bullets that travel almost 1100fps. What are those 21gr ones? I need some penetrating rounds too!! 
 
Upvote 0
I see major problem with this kind of trap is if you get the same spot repetitively it starts drilling a hole through it. If you shot only one shot into it would unlikely penetrate the Box. However a 1/8 inch aluminum is pretty weak. You would have better luck with 1/8 inch steel, but eventually it would have been penetrated as well. The beauty of the mulch trap is self healing most of the time. I have one about the same dimensions today shoot 70 lbs ft into and it has held up. The back plate is about a 16th of an inch of steel. But just in case beyond the mulch box is a hillside with nothing to damage.
 
Upvote 0
And this is why I usually turn mine down to about 550-650fps I've shot 21gr slugs out of mine (almost speed of sound), and they will go thru about 6" of solid wood.



I shoot full power into a small box filled with sand (and now lead). The sand gets pulverized, and I have to clean it up every now and then. But I know it will stop a .45 acp almost dead in it's tracks. So, I'm not concerned about a 22
Click to expand...

Thats insane penetration! My 257texan with 89gr bullet travelling 1010fps only barely passes through 3" solid block of wood and my 224airgun with 110fpe dosent go through it with any of the bullets not even hard cast RWS 22lr bullets that travel almost 1100fps. What are those 21gr ones? I need some penetrating rounds too!!
Click to expand...

They were jus standard nsa 218 I believe. Sometimes softer ones penetrate better. The ones I recovered deformed into slender wedges. The types of wood we were hitting may have been vastly different too. I think I was shooting pine?



It should be noted the 21gr were the lightest I had, and while I stopped increasing power on my gun at 65fpe, it does so with 30gr, 21 may have been 61 or 62 fpe? But penetrated better than all of the slug weights I tested. Possibly due to less actual projectile area or mass, making it easier for it to deform and cut thru the material. ? 
 
Upvote 0
Great thread, as Airguns getting more powerful and everyone talking about power tunes and slugs. This is great reminder that these aren’t toys! Can you imagine what a 33 grain slug would do at 900 plus FPS??? 


I don’t shoot pass 7 FPE in my yard and 2 with lead free inside my garage. Even got a squirrel 2 houses down at 43 yards with 7 FPE .177 pellet to its head. 

 
Upvote 0
Thanks for the reminder. I am cautious after a ricochet was heard hitting some wood in my neighbors yard when I was shooting some of those Pinkerton targets. After that I made a 4'x4'x1/4" steel trap. When not shooting that direction is planned. Or place the targets inside a barrel that contains the ricochet. When shooting pigeons in my neighbors barn I noticed the 177 penetrated more than the same velocity 22, I would think the 25 at the same velocity would penetrate less than both,
 
Upvote 0
1/4" steel plate backing would be ideal. You can hear it once it goes through that rubber mulch and towels.
Click to expand...

This is also what I do and it helps if I shoot a little high and the mulch has settled. Just run your setup, slug or pellet, through StrelokPro and find out your traveling 1000 yds +, with slugs and pretty dang far with pellets, makes you think about your backstop a little more when out and about?

One of the big reasons I have come full circle and greatly appreciate the .177 again, my pigeon setup will not travel more than 200 yds, so I can actually feel good about a miss that’s elevated and clear for 4 or 500 yds. Great topic! And thanks for sharing.
 
Upvote 0
I noticed the 177 penetrated more than the same velocity 22, I would think the 25 at the same velocity would penetrate less than both,
Click to expand...


only way to find out is to do real world testing. .177 could penetrate more than .22 at the same FPE not necessarily same speed. A .22 pellet at the same speed usually carry twice the energy due to twice the weight but not twice the impact area or 24% more impact area to be more precise. 


99% of the time i shoot 7 FPE and lower, my pellet trap has 2 layers of 1 inch board in the back, 2 inch of duct seal and 4 inches of old clothing. Then around my pellet trap I have additional backstop of rough or actual 4x4 beams nailed together for 2-3 feet on both sides and above. Once a while I will shoot a few shots at higher power so better to be safe than sorry. My other pellet track backstop is 5 feet of granite retaining wall. 
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu