Bullet stop/Trap

[6MMsteve]

keeping everything low helps out good I keep all my steel low to the ground and into a hillside with dirt behind I know it's hard to keep weeds and grass down but it's a lot safer...high targets are asking for trouble...ask me how I know

 

[people]

I had a wood sled for my 3'x3'x.5" AR500 that had it about 30deg. I shot all kinds of fast stuff into it at just 100yds. Zero damage decides the 2x4s. They got chewed up very fast.

 

[NC308]

Awesome response guys!

 

[TAJ45]

Here goes: Angle in will not give same angle out as previously stated. Why? The Projectile deforms. AND as stated, it slides at a lesser angle of departure.
I ran into this back in my "scrape it all together days" making every nickle count. Our 10 position indoor BE pistol range back stop would start spitting back at us so it was open for "mining". We would dig and hack the lead lumps, yes mostly 22 rf and cast 45s, from the base of the backstop. The effort was converted into 200gr swc.
There won't be nearly the deformation, true. However, I offer these two suggestions:
Stack a couple of 4x4s or landscape timbers a foot or two in front of the base. This could prevent the possible splash back from any build up making it back to the line.
Secondly, if the plate will give, even a little, it can lessen the impact effect.
The skid mounted plate was a new one on me....
clever idea.
I was blessed w 2 loads of power poles which enabled me to build 2, 3 sided log cabins. 250yds and 700 yds. Dirty sand they call it here, was used to back fill. 7' high and 10' and 15' wide. 500yds is next in line.

 

[itchyTF]

I built a 3’ x 3’ x .5” AR500 backstop at 40 deg from horizontal. Haven’t used it much just .20 Practical and 6x47L. I welded an angle frame for the plate to lay in. What I found surprising was the edge of the angle on the sides was getting chewed up. I was thinking the bullet would deflect off the plate and not hit the frame. Surprise surprise.

 

[PRR1957]

Some indoor gun ranges are using chipped up rubber tiers to absorb the bullets. I have been looking into building a personal outdoor range, but there’s three really nice gun ranges near me, so........

 

[skeeljc]

Build a box shaped in an equal sided cube. Fill it with sand. The cube can be turned to use all six sides. You could add panels to the sides when it gets too shot up or just build another cube and re-use the sand. Way less cost than metal and you do not need a welder. A small tractor with a front end loader could be used to turn the cube. If you want to get really fancy line the inside of the cube with a self-healing member to limit sand leakage.

 

[MGYSGT]

Here's one of mineView attachment 1194600

Clever to build it on a sled.

 

[powderbrake]

I suggest a side plate on each side to stop the sideways splatter of the bullets, which can travel quite some distance.
Remember that the bullet hits the plate and splatters in a 360 degree pattern. With the angle on the main plate, it goes down more than up, but the side to side is always there.

 

[people]

Here's a dumb question. Anything wrong with just a dirt backstop? I made one in a few minutes with a mini excavator.

Nothing wrong with them at all. Sometimes it is just easier to use steel so you can move them.

 

[NC308]

Here's a dumb question. Anything wrong with just a dirt backstop? I made one in a few minutes with a mini excavator.

No sir. My 300 yard is a dirt berm. But I cant put a dirt berm at 100 yards. It in the middle of a field and I need to be able to move it.

 

[RGRobinett]

Slightly off topic, but related - we were, hit by, "a fast ball, right down the middle", aka Derecho (a mega version) with wind velocity, at local airport up to 103mph - the straight-line event (wind in excess of 70mph here) lasted just short on an hour, after which velocity dropped back to a more normal 30-40mph for a couple more hours . . . Here's the Field & Cave 4'x8' AR550 bullet sled following its encounter with a near face-on 90-100mph reverse zeypher. No power for 80 hours lets one know how spoiled we are!
The total weight is just shy of 1,000 Lb. At least, it makes for a decent view of the sled! The Aluma,16' toy hauler, with newest quad inside, were picked-up and "moved" about fifty feet down-wind, until stopped by the trees - that's a different story - nobody injured - "stuff" is repairable/replacable the timber, is sad - a couple of life-times away from where it was . . . still, as the birds showed us, as soon as the wind was below about 35mph, they were back on the two surviving feeders - "life goes on"!RG

P.S. again: After some thought, the only time the angle of departure would equal the angle of incidence, would be if the bullet impacted surface at an obtuse angle, as opposed to our acute angle set-ups.