Target Re-Pack

It was nice out today in Michigan. 45 deg. So I thought I'd do some maintenance on one of my duct deal traps.

Added a couple 5lb bricks. They were outside in the garage so they were cold and pretty hard.

Brought them in and microwaved them one at a time for a couple mins each. Worked great. No smell.

Heating them made it easy to flatten them out to just the right size.

Pressed them in tight with the end of a 2x4.

End result -added about 1/2" of putty thickness.

Matt









Back in business.




 
Yes it was an unusually nice January day here in West Michigan so I took advantage and put a tin of pellets thru my impact. Gonna do it again tomorrow. Where do you get 5 lb bricks?


I did a google search for "electrical supply", clicked on the map.

I'm in Detroit area so there are a lot of places to choose from near me.

Made a few calls. Lowest price I could find was $10.25 per 5lb.

They had 8 bricks in stock. I bought them all :)
Matt
 
I see a lot of different fillers for pellet traps. I find the simplest is an empty box of your size choice, filled with a wadded-up old pair of Carhart bibs, coat or other heavy clothes. Even carpet works. Add a piece of plywood between the back edge of the box and the clothes for extra safety. I can shoot hundreds of shots before rewadding the clothes. When you hear a pellet hit wood, you know it’s time to rewad your packing. The best part is you can pull the shot-up clothes out and recover every pellet. Then cast for other guns with no messy play-do to pick through. 
 
I see a lot of different fillers for pellet traps. I find the simplest is an empty box of your size choice, filled with a wadded-up old pair of Carhart bibs, coat or other heavy clothes. Even carpet works. Add a piece of plywood between the back edge of the box and the clothes for extra safety. I can shoot hundreds of shots before rewadding the clothes. When you hear a pellet hit wood, you know it’s time to rewad your packing. The best part is you can pull the shot-up clothes out and recover every pellet. Then cast for other guns with no messy play-do to pick through.

Do you find that this works well at high powers?

A friend of mine has very kindly allowed me to use his business's warehouse for shooting in, and I need to be absolutely certain that what I'm using won't allow a pass through. I'm pretty new to shooting above 12ft/lbs, having spend most of my life in the UK, but here in Australia my Wildcat is punching out factory standard power of around 32ft/lbs - and at 30m, I'm not sure what to go with as a pellet trap. I can't afford to get it wrong and then try again! Any suggestions welcome!
 
If noise is not an issue a 22 rim fire trap will work, I have not seen a report of any air rifle poking holes through them.

I really like the rubber mulch packed (key word here) into some kind of container....be it one of those plastic boxes, a good heavy cardboard box(s) I like a couple bits of old carpet and tire carcass for the back....The steel belts in the tire is the last line, pellets loose enough energy going through the packed (there is that word again) rubber mulch there is just not much left...it is quiet as well, and I really think it does better shooting in the same spot then the duct seal does as the tight packing will move around a bit.



I have never had a bounce, and my setup, (about 8" thick) will stop a 38 fired from a marlin lever rifle from 20 yards.....this sits in my garage and I am not worried at all about it leaving the stop....but there is a concrete wall behind it, but so far no damage.
 
I see a lot of different fillers for pellet traps. I find the simplest is an empty box of your size choice, filled with a wadded-up old pair of Carhart bibs, coat or other heavy clothes. Even carpet works. Add a piece of plywood between the back edge of the box and the clothes for extra safety. I can shoot hundreds of shots before rewadding the clothes. When you hear a pellet hit wood, you know it’s time to rewad your packing. The best part is you can pull the shot-up clothes out and recover every pellet. Then cast for other guns with no messy play-do to pick through.

Do you find that this works well at high powers?

A friend of mine has very kindly allowed me to use his business's warehouse for shooting in, and I need to be absolutely certain that what I'm using won't allow a pass through. I'm pretty new to shooting above 12ft/lbs, having spend most of my life in the UK, but here in Australia my Wildcat is punching out factory standard power of around 32ft/lbs - and at 30m, I'm not sure what to go with as a pellet trap. I can't afford to get it wrong and then try again! Any suggestions welcome!



i use it for my.25 Marauder at over 40 fpe with no issues. This is just a 1 1/2’ by 2’ box with 1 pair of old dirty Charhart bibs that was used working on my trucks. You can always expand the size and packing. I have one set up in the garage behind my chrony that gets shot after shot in the same location. I sometimes just slide the box over a couple inches instead of rearranging the packing. Then you can turn the box90* and have a clean Side to shoot. I tape a target on the front and add a new piece of cardboard when it gets really shot up. Keeps the loose pellets inside. It’s works, it’s easy and it’s free!


 
With all of that lead sandwiched in between the duct seal layers I bet you'll never get close to having a pass thru.


I actually did start to get a pass-thru in one spot. Right behind the center bullseye of the shoot-n-c targets that I use.

That's the reason I did the duct seal re-pack. The repeated hammering of that one spot over the last 15 years led to a

small hole thru this target box. Yes it's true. I have been shooting springers and PCPs from 25-35 yards into this trap

since 2003!



I packed putty into that hole and a couple other spots, then applied another 1/2" over the whole face of

the trap as described above. Should be good-to-go for quite some time to come :)



Duct seal traps are my favorite. Very durable, fairly quiet and zero ricochet. I have several placed at various distances

out to 75 yards.



Matt
 
1547086487_7860253345c36aa97c31e59.86650417_IMG_2897[1].JPG


Hard rubbish collection in my neighbourhood supplied me with all the material I need! This old cabinet packed with old carpet is stopping pellets at point blank range (pellets passing about half way through) so it'll be ideal at 30m. I'll pin some cardboard to it to attach a target to and I'll be set. $0, all collected from within a 30 second drive of my front door! (I only drove so I didn't have to lug the stuff up the street, I'm not that lazy!)
Obviously the carpet will wear out eventually, but there's three 'sections' which I'll rotate occasionally. And it'll be easy enough to replace...I'll just have to keep my eyes out for more carpet being thrown out.