The property behind my place has been sold to a lady that has very expensive show horses. she has bought it because it is adjacent to her barns and riding arena, and has told the previous owner she wants it for riding the horses so they get a break from show training in the arena. Some of the neighbors and I shoot 22s right up next to the fence and had a ricochet off of a stone in my berm. I do not want to injure any of her staff or horses. Could someone recommend a bullet trap brand, and what size would be minimum? thanks Mark
bullet trap???
- Thread starter ebb
- Start date
ronsatspokane
Gold $$ Contributor
I use a small garbage can full of playground rubber. It has stopped everything from 22 lr to 45 acp. If you are looking for something much larger, build something as large as you feel necessary and fill it with playground rubber. It's cheap and you can harvest the lead by running it through an inexpensive sluice box. Rubber is what many of the indoor ranges use as a bullet stop. Make sure everyone is pointed to the impact area before they close the bolt though let alone pull the trigger.
DaveTooley
Gold $$ Contributor
If all it going to get is 22 rimfire I'd build a larger than needed wooden backstop with an angled steel plate as the primary. Pilings would work but I'd want to stagger them so there were no gaps.
This is certainly better than nothing BUT.. My first attempt at a rifle rated backstop- was using railroad ties. It worked for a short amount of time before I witnessed a bullet bounce straight back, directly at me and smacked the dirt about 30 yards in front of me :O From that moment on, I put a few tons of sand in front of the wood and that has stopped everything that I've ever wanted it to, with no ricochets.
Dan
I built my earth berm a good ten feet tall and close to 30 feet wide. I worried more about someone having an accidental discharge aimed over my old small backstop. For my situation, I think anything that might ricochet up and over now can't do much damage.
If you already have a good berm, maybe you could roof over the area you have your targets to be super safe? It would only take a couple telephone poles stacked horizontal over the target area to catch any fragments trying to go over.
If you already have a good berm, maybe you could roof over the area you have your targets to be super safe? It would only take a couple telephone poles stacked horizontal over the target area to catch any fragments trying to go over.
Hate to be a downer, but If she is anything like a relative of mine was, you might save your money for court. You will need it when she comes after you to stop your shooting because of the danger to her/her animals.
Otherwise, the U shaped design with a cover and some sand sounds like the way to go. That way you can show you are trying to make sure all rounds would be contained
Otherwise, the U shaped design with a cover and some sand sounds like the way to go. That way you can show you are trying to make sure all rounds would be contained
Steve Donlon
Gold $$ Contributor
I don't think she will be to happy no matter what you do. Unless you go underground.
Good to know. I’ve never had that problem. Were you shooting it at 100+ yards? I mostly shoot pistol and rimfire. I know centerfire rifles would destroy a wood back stop in short order. One day I may sheathe it in rubber conveyor belt.
A 3/4 piece of steel plate angled more than 45 degrees with sand in the bottom is what I have. FMJs wont hardly dent it. Doug
First couple bangs and she will on the phone to the sheriffs office as the noise is upsetting her animals. No matter what you will need to change your line of fire away from her property. Also might want check what your local gov. has to say about discharge of fire arms in their local/county ordinaces. ( can usually look that up on line) Not trying to be negative just a heads up.
That particular day, I was about 75 yards away shooting a 300 blackout off a tripod and the projectile that came back was a 245 gn cast bullet. I will add though: that I found several 9mm cast bullets out in front of my ties also. These hit and bounced out about 10 feet or so. I was just shooting through carboard/ with targets and using the ties as a stop. That ended once I realized that method did not "capture" the bullets. The sand is a dead stop. All bullets are 6-10" in and go no farther.
I agree with @blades: Your neighbors will likely complain about the noise with her horses. Be prepared for that. The main reason I only shoot suppressed on my property and 99.9% of that is subsonic.
kelbro
Silver $$ Contributor
Every now and then, a newcomer will complain about the shooting out in the county where we live. The sheriffs will come out and explain to them that the shooting was going on for many years before they moved here, is perfectly legal and that this is the one and only time that they will respond to a 'shooting' call from their address.
Yes, I do understand just how good we have it here!
Yes, I do understand just how good we have it here!
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Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
Likely if there is a damage/noise issue it will be civil action, it takes much less evidence/testimony to lose that court case. Make a suitable target/bullet trap and a secondary wall/cover for it.
I've used logs, timbers, etc for back stops - eventually you will get breakthroughs and penetrations. Rot is a factor.
I went a different route after much thought and testing.
I use backstops made with pressure treated wood filled with rubber mulch. Width and dept is 2'x3'. 50 yard is 2x3x3,100 yard is 2x2x5.
90% of shooting is 22RF, mostly SB prone practice. CF less so. Regardless, the rubber mulch does well. 22RF penetration is shallow. 223's with 68-80 match bullets usually disintegrate 6-8"'s in, leaving only jacket material. 15 gr 30 cal FMJ's penetrate deeper but usually deform and destabilize, maybe 1.5' depth in. Testing showed that the deepest penetrations were from hard cast slow moving 44 pistol slugs, 500gr cast lead 45-70 and shot gun slugs at 50 yards. No penetrations, but a few shot gun slugs came to rest near the back plate. They were completely deformed and flattened out. No wonder they make big holes in critters.
Caveat - considering the proximity of your neighbor, I would overbuild in height and width, and add a final strike plate behind it to catch any accidental random shot. Steel plates are good, but adding enclosures and baffles will keep the chance of spatter and ricochets down.
Other:
Front wood is faced with rubber stall mat from tractor supply. This creates a mostly self-healing strike face.
Rubber mat is replaced or patched periodically. Targets are set 1" out from surface with a frame of 1x1 and furring strips. This frame is rigid and targets are attached with clips. A portable light can bemounted from the frame to illuminate the target. A white coroplast sheet is placed over the rubber mat. This allows reflected light to light up the bullet holes in the black bull.
None of the back stops and frames are in ground contact (now), they are set on blocks. I've been using this set up for over 15 years. I finally rebuilt everything the year before, due to rot from ground contact and damage for a falling tree.
I also periodically open the top lid and recover lead and add mulch. It does settle and get chewed up after a while. Also, critters like to burrow in if they can. Pulled a snake out one time.
I went a different route after much thought and testing.
I use backstops made with pressure treated wood filled with rubber mulch. Width and dept is 2'x3'. 50 yard is 2x3x3,100 yard is 2x2x5.
90% of shooting is 22RF, mostly SB prone practice. CF less so. Regardless, the rubber mulch does well. 22RF penetration is shallow. 223's with 68-80 match bullets usually disintegrate 6-8"'s in, leaving only jacket material. 15 gr 30 cal FMJ's penetrate deeper but usually deform and destabilize, maybe 1.5' depth in. Testing showed that the deepest penetrations were from hard cast slow moving 44 pistol slugs, 500gr cast lead 45-70 and shot gun slugs at 50 yards. No penetrations, but a few shot gun slugs came to rest near the back plate. They were completely deformed and flattened out. No wonder they make big holes in critters.
Caveat - considering the proximity of your neighbor, I would overbuild in height and width, and add a final strike plate behind it to catch any accidental random shot. Steel plates are good, but adding enclosures and baffles will keep the chance of spatter and ricochets down.
Other:
Front wood is faced with rubber stall mat from tractor supply. This creates a mostly self-healing strike face.
Rubber mat is replaced or patched periodically. Targets are set 1" out from surface with a frame of 1x1 and furring strips. This frame is rigid and targets are attached with clips. A portable light can bemounted from the frame to illuminate the target. A white coroplast sheet is placed over the rubber mat. This allows reflected light to light up the bullet holes in the black bull.
None of the back stops and frames are in ground contact (now), they are set on blocks. I've been using this set up for over 15 years. I finally rebuilt everything the year before, due to rot from ground contact and damage for a falling tree.
I also periodically open the top lid and recover lead and add mulch. It does settle and get chewed up after a while. Also, critters like to burrow in if they can. Pulled a snake out one time.
Florida state law guarantees me the right to have a home range. The mayor (at the time) took his time and dirt to make me a berm for free after I asked about shooting on my place. He is also the one who sold her the property. I was thinking about sometime that would not take some much time and expense, like this.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G64X2NSH?tag=track-ect-bing-usa-594879-20&linkCode=osi&th=1
My shop is in Memphis.
Guess what happens if you try to call and report gunfire...
If you ain’t bleeding out with a bullet inside you - police ain’t coming!
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