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Pellet trap material
- Thread starter Bander124
- Start date
Another vote for rubber mulch. I paid $8 for a bag and it was enough for a couple target boxes. I did find a steel plate (old electrical box door from an old panel) as the final backstop. best part is you can "Pan for lead" when the target fills up. Take a was of the mulch, put it in an old sauce pan, shake it around a bit and the lead all goes to the bottom. Put the mulch in another box, keep the lead for your neighborhood bullet casting types, if you don't cast. Just add more mulch to the target as the old mulch gets shot up. Whole lot cheaper than Duct Seal at the prices I've seen recently, and is virtually silent.
So many different choices, you probably can't go wrong with old t-shirts either. Don't sweat it too much, make a choice and go shooting.
So many different choices, you probably can't go wrong with old t-shirts either. Don't sweat it too much, make a choice and go shooting.
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Rubber mulch.
Use the Priority Mail boxes from USPS.
When shooting wrap box in Duct Tape.
When Duct Tape won’t hold the box any longer, I dump everything into my 5 Gallon shop vac.
I fill with water.
The rubber floats to the top and is reused in new boxes.
The pellets are melted down into and then cast into an ingot...
Use the Priority Mail boxes from USPS.
When shooting wrap box in Duct Tape.
When Duct Tape won’t hold the box any longer, I dump everything into my 5 Gallon shop vac.
I fill with water.
The rubber floats to the top and is reused in new boxes.
The pellets are melted down into and then cast into an ingot...
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I love the ingenuity in this thread. Are any of you using this sort of pellet trap indoors?
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I've tried everything listed here I think. I've been using the old clothes shoved in a box for indoor shooting for a few years. It work but get's shot up pretty quick.
I've been using the duct seal stuffed in an old BB target and it works fine. I little bit of a slap sound, but pretty quiet overall.
I just bough 2 bags of chunky rubber mulch today and a few 5 gal plastic bins with lids today at Lowes. I think a whole $10 for the two mulch bags and $6-7 each for the plastic bins. I backed the bins with a few layers of ballistic fabric I had from the old clothes targets as a backing and filled with mulch. Cut a hole in the plastic top and put a piece of cardboard so the mulch doesn't fall out.
A few shots in the basement and of the three - rubber mulch FTW! I'm definitely sold on it.
I've been using the duct seal stuffed in an old BB target and it works fine. I little bit of a slap sound, but pretty quiet overall.
I just bough 2 bags of chunky rubber mulch today and a few 5 gal plastic bins with lids today at Lowes. I think a whole $10 for the two mulch bags and $6-7 each for the plastic bins. I backed the bins with a few layers of ballistic fabric I had from the old clothes targets as a backing and filled with mulch. Cut a hole in the plastic top and put a piece of cardboard so the mulch doesn't fall out.
A few shots in the basement and of the three - rubber mulch FTW! I'm definitely sold on it.
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This makes me want to start a new thread about casting I’m wanting to but have zero Idea what I’m doing.
my indoor trap is a box I built it’s 18in tall and 16 wide. Has 3/4 solid steel plate as a backing and about 8 in deep - I mixed spray foam insulation with rubber mulch for filler then for a face thick cardboard and replace it as needed. With that steel plate pretty sure I could pop my 30/30 win in it and be fine. My r5 super long shooting 61.5 g nsa slugs at 900+ doesn’t even make it twitch
my indoor trap is a box I built it’s 18in tall and 16 wide. Has 3/4 solid steel plate as a backing and about 8 in deep - I mixed spray foam insulation with rubber mulch for filler then for a face thick cardboard and replace it as needed. With that steel plate pretty sure I could pop my 30/30 win in it and be fine. My r5 super long shooting 61.5 g nsa slugs at 900+ doesn’t even make it twitch
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I agree with the rubber mulch and a layer of Duct Seal at the back. For safety I put sheet metal on all sides (but the entry)
Quiet and the ability to reuse the box wrapped in grey tape
Quiet and the ability to reuse the box wrapped in grey tape
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Modeling clay is great. Very quiet. Catching everything. And you can see penetration by cutting into it. I have a 6 inch cube of it I shoot regularly.
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About two years ago I bought a plastic box and lid at Home Depot along with a bag of rubber mulch. Aside from the need to use a fork lift move it around – just kidding. But the rubber mulch is heavy. Later I put it in a small box and that took only about two-thirds of the bag of mulch to fill. I love it because if stops pellets perfectly. But, it Is still heavy when you consider it is so small. The only noise is the pellet going through the cardboard holding the mulch in the top/front.
Great suggestion to dump the rubber mulch in water and let the lead go to the bottom. Brilliant.
Great suggestion to dump the rubber mulch in water and let the lead go to the bottom. Brilliant.
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I tried clothes but didn't workout for me. I had 4 pair of jeans, 4 sweatshirts and 3 t shirts packed in small plastic bin. After a few shots it blew the back out of my trap. Tried rubber mulch and no more problems. I was shooting .25 @ 850 from close range in basement
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Rubber mulch advocate here too. But....I always see posts like FrankinFairfield’s saying their rubber mulch floats in water which allows them to separate the pellets. I have had no such luck with the mulch purchased from Home Depot or Costco, other than a few small pieces that float with the surface tension of the water, the majority of them just sink. I would be interested in what brand floats.
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I use a cardboard box that I fill with cardboard from other boxes. Then I wrap it in duct tape. When the target face gets worn out, it's usually time to make another. Easy to collect spent pellets before disposal. Boxes from the liquor store are free and plentiful.
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I use rubber mulch also and it works very well. Someone recently noted that "horse stall mats" from TSC or similar work very well. Haven't tried any yet but plan to.
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3/4" steel, must be quite heavy. That makes me remember. Years ago my bother in law got a couple of big round hay bales for a backstop, quickly learned bullets went through rather easily even though it seemed tightly packed. His next step was to get a big piece of steel plate, actually the end cut off of an old tank of some kind 5/8 if I remember correctly. I had a Ruger #1 in .458 Win Mag. and he wanted to see what it would do. I had some handloads, a 400 grain Barnes solid copper hollow point, rather a spire point shape. We backed off about 40 yards got behind something solid and shot it. That hollow point went through like a drill, and actually transfered the rifleing pattern from my barrel into the hole it made in that steel plate. Personally I would not trust that steel plate to stop a 30-30 at close range, it might then might not.
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Lol it’s weird what things do - my 22mag was stoped by a metal t post but my. 17hmr punched holes in it. The plate is told to me to be ar500 it was stopping the mosin before I took it. And yes it’s heavy
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I don’t know why anyone try’s to use water to separate the pellets and rubber mulch. I found if you just dump some of the mulch into a bucket and shake it up real good and just like the unpopped popcorn kernels in your popcorn bowl, the pellets settle to the bottom. Just scoop out the good mulch on top and reuse. Do it in small batches so you can shake it real good.
Some guys have made shifters using wire mesh. it’s comes in 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2” etc. sizes and you can buy it from Home Depot or Lowe’s. But a 5 gallon bucket and a lid worked just fine for me.
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I made a box with 3/4" plywood back. The rest is 1/2". Lined the back with duct seal. I cut a hole just big enough for computer paper targets. Put a clipboard clip at top and bottom. I filled it with carpet scraps. Started with 4 foot length and folded it up then stuffed it in. Kept folding smaller pieces as I move to front. In almost eight years you can count the pellets that made it to the duct seal on one hand. The box will last a lifetime and the clips will last years if you don't shoot them. I might change the carpet every year or two.
I shoot a lot of .25 and .177 FAC and only change it every year or more. Just pull it out and toss in a trashbag. I can use the clothes for rags around the shop or garage but carpet remnants are pretty much useless. People will pay you to get it out of their house or garage. It is as silent as clothing but way more durable. The business card is to get a sharp focus/parallax on the tiny lettering.
I shoot a lot of .25 and .177 FAC and only change it every year or more. Just pull it out and toss in a trashbag. I can use the clothes for rags around the shop or garage but carpet remnants are pretty much useless. People will pay you to get it out of their house or garage. It is as silent as clothing but way more durable. The business card is to get a sharp focus/parallax on the tiny lettering.
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I needed quiet target, and didn't want to mess with duct seal, so this is what I'm using so far:
20 quart plastic bin from Walmart ($4.95)
Piece of scrap 1/2" plywood in the bottom (free)
Piece of scrap indoor/outdoor carpet on top of the plywood (to muffle sound in case anything hits plywood - free)
Fill with rubber mulch (HomeDepot $6.95 for .5 Cu' bag; takes slightly less than full bag)
Sheet of thick cardboard (free)
Attach lid with some zip ties after cutting out the center.
The completed target weighs 21 lbs (First one I made was bigger and too heavy to be practical). Very quiet. Safe: 25.39 gr .22 cal pellets at up to 990 fps don't make it to the plywood. Easy to replace the front cardboard. Relatively easy to separate out pellets by shaking the container (pellets wind up at the bottom). I've heard some people say they separate in a water bath but this rubber mulch doesn't float.
Still new at this game, so design may change as I use it more, but so far so good.
20 quart plastic bin from Walmart ($4.95)
Piece of scrap 1/2" plywood in the bottom (free)
Piece of scrap indoor/outdoor carpet on top of the plywood (to muffle sound in case anything hits plywood - free)
Fill with rubber mulch (HomeDepot $6.95 for .5 Cu' bag; takes slightly less than full bag)
Sheet of thick cardboard (free)
Attach lid with some zip ties after cutting out the center.
The completed target weighs 21 lbs (First one I made was bigger and too heavy to be practical). Very quiet. Safe: 25.39 gr .22 cal pellets at up to 990 fps don't make it to the plywood. Easy to replace the front cardboard. Relatively easy to separate out pellets by shaking the container (pellets wind up at the bottom). I've heard some people say they separate in a water bath but this rubber mulch doesn't float.
Still new at this game, so design may change as I use it more, but so far so good.
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