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