Steel pellet trap in a basement safety question?
- Thread starter DonC
- Start date
This thread reminded me that I hadn't cleaned out my pellet trap in a while. So I took it outside and dumped out the contents which consisted of pellet fragments and a very significant quantity of lead dust. After rinsing to remove the paper and lead dust, I recovered 14 pounds of lead, which is equivalent to around 12,000 match pellets. I guess I should clean it out more often!
The amount of dust surprised me, so I performed a little test after thourougly cleaning out the trap. I ised my 300S to shoot five match pellets weighing 7.6 grains each into the trap then emptied the trap. What I recovered was five unrecognizable chunks of lead with an average weight of 7.3 grains. The missing 0.3 grains was presumably lead fragments and dust. There must be a better way.
The idea of using rubber sheeting of some kind is interesting. A club I used to belong to simply hung sheets of heavy vinyl, the same stuff that you see in factory doorways to block air flow but still allow forklifts to pass through. It did work, but needed to be replaced fairly frequently. Maybe that concept using strips of heavier rubber sheeting would prove more durable. Perhaps in a double row. Does someone know of a source for roughly 1/4" thick fabric reinforced rubber sheeting? I would like to give that a try.
Someone also mentioned "snail" traps for airguns. I know Savage used to market that type for law enforcement pistol ranges, but have not seen one for airgun use. They guide the projectile into a cylinder where it spins around until it looses energy and drops into a bin of some kind. Does anyone know where to find that type of trap for airguns?
Chuck
The amount of dust surprised me, so I performed a little test after thourougly cleaning out the trap. I ised my 300S to shoot five match pellets weighing 7.6 grains each into the trap then emptied the trap. What I recovered was five unrecognizable chunks of lead with an average weight of 7.3 grains. The missing 0.3 grains was presumably lead fragments and dust. There must be a better way.
The idea of using rubber sheeting of some kind is interesting. A club I used to belong to simply hung sheets of heavy vinyl, the same stuff that you see in factory doorways to block air flow but still allow forklifts to pass through. It did work, but needed to be replaced fairly frequently. Maybe that concept using strips of heavier rubber sheeting would prove more durable. Perhaps in a double row. Does someone know of a source for roughly 1/4" thick fabric reinforced rubber sheeting? I would like to give that a try.
Someone also mentioned "snail" traps for airguns. I know Savage used to market that type for law enforcement pistol ranges, but have not seen one for airgun use. They guide the projectile into a cylinder where it spins around until it looses energy and drops into a bin of some kind. Does anyone know where to find that type of trap for airguns?
Chuck
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I know you guys don’t know me, and I think some of your ideas are good !! I’m going to try some dense foam in back of my targets I think it stop fragment and dust! I will post my results on this thread! The reason I think it might work is I was shooting my 9mm powder gun and shot through the back of an office sideways and the bullet came out the other side just a few feet away from chair, and looked like a new bullet and could be reloaded and shot again!
I don’t know how durable the from well be, but, I do think it will help slow the pellet down and help it from hitting the steel and fragmenting ! So less frags should mean less dust and it being Heldon the trap!! At least that’s my thought!,
I will let you know how it turns out the good bad ! Don’t beat me up on my spelling or punctuation!!
rider77
I don’t know how durable the from well be, but, I do think it will help slow the pellet down and help it from hitting the steel and fragmenting ! So less frags should mean less dust and it being Heldon the trap!! At least that’s my thought!,
I will let you know how it turns out the good bad ! Don’t beat me up on my spelling or punctuation!!
rider77
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At GoVets.com
Conveyor Belt 2Ply 150 SBR Blk 10InW
10"x12" piece for -$7
The belt material I bought came in 10"x4" pieces.
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I did find fabric reinforced SBR at Home Depot, but am thinking now more along the lines of a "snail" trap since there would be no maintenance to speak of and it would be easy to collect the used pellets. This is my first prototype, crude but it worked. The pellets just spin around until they run out of energy then drop to the bottom.
And these are the recovered pellets. Flattened, but largely intact.
The finished trap would have angled steel plates at about 20 degrees off the shooting axis leading to the snail. Ideally the snail would be made of 3" metal conduit or something similar. In the past I have used 1/8" steel for the plates and glued them to plywood with construction adhesive to dampen the sound of pellet impact. It sounds like a good project for this winter.
Chuck
And these are the recovered pellets. Flattened, but largely intact.
The finished trap would have angled steel plates at about 20 degrees off the shooting axis leading to the snail. Ideally the snail would be made of 3" metal conduit or something similar. In the past I have used 1/8" steel for the plates and glued them to plywood with construction adhesive to dampen the sound of pellet impact. It sounds like a good project for this winter.
Chuck
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I have had a wood trap with a flat metal back in my basement for 10 years. I put an inch of putty over the metal. I have never had a problem. I have shot big PCPs.
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I use this. It does cut down on dust because it's all enclosed when you put on a cardboard target face and keep the collection pan covered. (This auction ends soon, but he makes a new one for sale every week!)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bullet-trap-12-for-use-with-22-thru-44-magnum/293207298759
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bullet-trap-12-for-use-with-22-thru-44-magnum/293207298759
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