Help with indoor backdrop for .22lr.

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Lightsped

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I would like to start firing some of my .22lr inside the house. What should be used for a nice backdrop?

The distance is fairly short at seven or so yards. Noise won't be an issue as I have a suppressor. I won't be firing alot, maybe just a session of 10 or so rounds at a time when I am home alone. The house is well ventilated. Again, my main concern are bullets going through the backdrop into the walls and whatnot.
 
When I was a kid we used to shoot in the basement with a .22 when the parents were out.

We used newspapers in a paper grocery bag as a backdrop/bullet catcher. If I recall correctly the bullet did not make it through one bag.

I think old phonebooks would work pretty well too.
 
Newspaper or sand works good with something behind it as a backer just in case (maybe cinder blocks or bricks?).
I hope it's ventilated good, lead isn't something you want to breathe much of, it's cumulative and permanent.
 
I would be relunctant to regularly shoot in a house, regardless of how well ventilated you can make it, due to the possibility of a build up of lead dust. A garage maybe, a shed maybe, but not where I play, eat, and sleep.
 
Phone books get chewed up after a while so you better use some sand, and put a block of wood behind it to be on the safe side.
 
newspaper/phonebooks do get chewed up even when shooting just a .177 pellet gun so they need to be replaced regularly...and don't mind the confetti when changing them out! :D
 
Phonebooks work well, but aren't very big. I have seen steel plates at 45 degrees above some sand.

bullet
 
Just a note of warning. You will get a lot of unburned powder on the floor between the firearms muzzle and your target. As you may suspect this stuff is a tad flammable.

If you are shooting over something slick like tile you can sweep it up after your shooting is done, otherwise you are making a really nice fire starter in your carpet.

I used to shoot over polished concrete and the sweepings afterwards burned quite brightly or a minute or so.
 
I used to shoot school books, mainly algebra. The .22lr would not go through @ 50 feet.

Also try phone books.
 
I bought a bullet trap just like ChickenHawk posted at Sportsmans Warehouse for about $20. My intention was for an air rifle though as I had fears that missing with a 22lr may go through drywall if someone missed. I'd definitely set up a backdrop in case I started getting all cocky.
 
I have a bullet trap similar to the one Chicken hawk suggested. I have use it extensively for over forty years, and, while it was designed for .22 only, I use it regularly with .38 spl loaded with lead bullets.
 
I tried shooting 2.5" phone books at 50yds with my Savage Mk II, and .22LR HV rounds were pretty consistently going straight through. Maybe if you live in an urban area with thicker phone books you might be ok, but I think I'd want something more substantial for a backstop.
 
I used to shoot school books, mainly algebra. The .22lr would not go through @ 50 feet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Algebra was always too hard for me, too. That said, My Grandpa had a section of oak stump on it's side (so the flat part faced you) in his basement. He would staple targets right to the stump. As far as I know, that stump lasted more than 50 years, and never needed replacing...
 
i have always thrown this idea around but thought i was being crazy with out building a special lane in my house. i like the motivaion this thread is giving me. i might have to go build a lane outside my house and equipt it with proper ventalation. i just dont know if the end result would be worth the 5$ an hour i pay to shoot ALL my guns. but i can dream right.
 
I tried shooting 2.5" phone books at 50yds with my Savage Mk II, and .22LR HV rounds were pretty consistently going straight through. Maybe if you live in an urban area with thicker phone books you might be ok, but I think I'd want something more substantial for a backstop.
Click to expand...

I live in Los angeles and the phone book, Yellow Pages, is 1,500 pages thick. The Algebra Book was 3-500 pages with a hard cover.

BTW I did have a Cinderblock backstop behind the books.
 
Cabela's offers a small bullet trap that'll work for the rimfires. $69.95. I got one, but then had a machinist friend make me one. If you want to see pics, just shout. I now have a couple custom jobs and we use'em for indoor shoots at our local sportsmen's club the first Sunday of every month during winter.

Angle on the rear stop sheet is very important... Must deflect downward into the sand trap. Pics, just shout. Will take a few and post next time I'm out there.
 
A .22 RF will not make it through a piece of #10 steel (about 0.13 inches).
A local metal shop should be able to cut a piece or might have a suitable piece of scrap.
 
I don't trust those bullet traps anymore. I had one for my BB gun and BBs would still go flying all over the room. I used phone books, and eventually a cardboard box full of old shoes. both worked beautifully. If I was shooting 22LR, I would use two phone books just to be safe.
 
Maybe you can contact the brady center/VPC and tell them you want to distribute their literature in your city. Few things are denser than the pamphlets and info sheets of the uninformed, and a lot more fun to hole than phone books.
 
I used to use a 4x4. then one day I missed and put a hole in the door.
whoops!
Now I use kind of a 3'x3' wall of 4" thick layered plywood.
You can also cover a 2" thick plywood sheet you make and cover it with 1/8" steel on one side, lean it at a 45deg. angle and put it over a sandbox.
works like a charm.


Iverness:
Nice MSpainting. very informating.
 
I had one for my BB gun and BBs would still go flying all over the room.
Click to expand...

BBs are steel.
They tend to bounce pretty badly.
You can get lead BBs from GAMO.
 
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