22 bullet trap

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leadchucker

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I finally got my 22lr suppressor and I can finally shoot my M&P22 and Ruger American Rimfire in my backyard without upsetting the neighbors. I'd kind of like to have some way of reclaiming the lead. All I'll be shooting is low velocity and subsonic 22lr, probably at a distance of no more than ten or twenty yards.I don't really want a metal stop because of the noise. (I'm wanting to keep this stealthy and quiet.) I was thinking of a simple plywood box filled with sand. (appropriately covered to keep the cats out of it.) I'd just eventually replace the target side when it gets too bullet riddled.

How big or deep would it have to be to effectively (and safely) stop 22lr bullets? Any better ideas for a bullet stop?
 
I was thinking of a simple plywood box filled with sand.
This is already the best idea. The usual implementation is actually a bucket. You fill it up with sand, then cover with strips of duct tape in 2 layers. Then tilt it on its side and shoot through the tape. Once it gets tattered enough, you can re-tape it. Believe it or not, a bucket is enough to contain an AK bullet.
 
Believe it or not, a bucket is enough to contain an AK bullet.

Yes it is....I've made a lot of money from guys betting that my "slowpoke arrows" could outpenetrate their high speed rifles through a bucket of sand.
 
You might find this relevant:
http://www.vietnam-guntrucks.com/guntruck-history/

In Vietnam, the Transportation Corps, tasked with running round-the-clock convoys to ferry supplies to the troops, but denied protection from the Military Police's armored cars, was forced to extemporize a solution of their own. The result was the "gun truck"; a normal military truck armored with whatever was locally available.

Several failures of early versions to stop 7.62x39 bullets led my Father to assign an engineer from his staff to the problem. What resulted was an outer wall of steel plating and an inner-wall of plywood with the gap filled with sand. In some cases, the inner-wall was also fabricated out of steel. IIRC, the spacer between the outer wall and the inner wall was a 2x6, so 5.5 inches of sand was generally sufficient to stop an AK bullet AFTER it had passed through 1/2 inch of mild steel.
 
leadchucker wrote:
I was thinking of a simple plywood box filled with sand.

You might think of constructing a large box from which you hang sections of used tires. Hang the tire sections so they can move like a swing set and hang multiple layers. This way, if the bullet penetrates the first section, it will be moving slow enough by the time it reaches the second or third section to be deflected into the sand bed at the bottom of the box.
 
As an aside. all this quiet stuff -- silencers and noiseless bullet traps -- to avoid disturbing the neighbors, is actually supported by governments and local police in places like England, France and Finland as official policy.
 
This is already the best idea. The usual implementation is actually a bucket. You fill it up with sand, then cover with strips of duct tape in 2 layers. Then tilt it on its side and shoot through the tape. Once it gets tattered enough, you can re-tape it. Believe it or not, a bucket is enough to contain an AK bullet.
Are you shooting thru the lid? Or the rounded sides of the bucket? This sounds great.
 
Are you shooting thru the lid? Or the rounded sides of the bucket? This sounds great.

The "lid" is made out of the duct tape. The bucket is laying on its side with the lid towards the shooter. You must place the bucket so it does not roll sideways from behind your paper target.

If I were shooting the bucket itself, then it would not last long. But the "lid" is easily replaced.
 
Very cool. I like the fact that you could contain at least most of your lead. I hate to think of contaminating your land, water whatever after years of shooting. Might even be able to scrap it for some "beer money".
Now I just need to move some place I can shoot in the back yard with out a SWAT team decending on me.
 
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