Airgun Range

[cat_IT_guy]

Interested to hear some thoughts and ideas on an in-home airgun range. Pics would be great too, stuff to watch out for, etc. Im not looking for anything elaborate, but I have the space in the garage. I've got a small Gamo pellet trap that I used in the old house that I'll probably incorporate. It gives me an option for shooting when I either dont have time to get to the gun range or days like today when Im opting to be either smart or a sissy and planning not to head to the outdoor range while theres a windchill advisory in effect for my area.

 

[g.willikers]

For handguns and middle powered rifles, I use large shallow boxes, 15"x20".
They have 1/2" plywood backs, 1x2s for the border, cardboard facing and filled with rug material or old towels, to slow down the pellets.
For more powerful rifles, I use an enclosed box, with a 12"x12" opening and 15" deep, fully lined with rug material to stop ricochets.
Towards the rear, are a number of small reactive targets hanging from the top.
Corks from wine bottles, airgun silhouettes, whatever suits.
Hope this helps or gives some ideas.

 

[PapaG]

Any bullet trap made for 22s would work. I picked up an Outers for ten bucks recently. Probably no more than ten miles from you. They are out there. Put a "wanted" ad on Craigslist.

 

[fpgt72]

I second an any 22 rimfire bullet trap. Also I use boxes filled with rubber mulch....that stuff made of old tires. Stops anything and there is far less noise then the pellet hitting the steel.

After the front of the box gets shot up, (cardboard boxes I am talking about here)....well that is what Duct tape is for and more cardboard.

Check the inside of the trap once and a while, the pellets will break down the mulch and then you just need to add more.

Much better then the Duct Seal type silent traps IMHO.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Fpgt that sounds like a great idea. Im not shooting anything high powered, just a Benjamin 397, and likely only with about 5 pumps when shot indoors. How deep of a box full of mulch are you talking (put another way, how many inches of mulch are you shooting into)?

 

[fpgt72]

Fpgt that sounds like a great idea. Im not shooting anything high powered, just a Benjamin 397, and likely only with about 5 pumps when shot indoors. How deep of a box full of mulch are you talking (put another way, how many inches of mulch are you shooting into)?

I would bet 4-5 inches. I have two targets made up with the rubber mulch. One is from a space heater box. The other is a larger box that something from Amazon came from. I shoot everything into it, up to 900fps and nothing has made it more then half way into the mulch.

But check it. After the first day I found the mulch had settled and I had to add more....pack the stuff in there. I used two bags for the two targets, and have one un opened for re filling.

I tried the duct seal putty type traps and after a while they fill up with pellets....dig them out, or you will start to have splatter and bits bouncing. The rubber mulch is also good for BB's.

I think I learned about them on one of Ted's Holdover's videos....check him out on youtube......I am pretty sure that is where I learned about them.

Then after researching them I see people using the same idea for powder burners as well...with thicker mulch naturally. It really seems to be a good trap that does not require cleaning like the putty does.

 

[FastCut]

I now use a Champion bullet trap made for .22 rimfire but in the past I used a bag of driveway cold patch for used for pot hole repairs as a backstop. It works great and is cheap. You just use a pillow case or thick contractors bag over the bag of cold patch to contain paper debris and small amount of material that falls out over time. When you rip a hole in one spot just apply tape and get a new contractors bag. I shot a stack of 2-3 of these for many years with airgun and .22. The really best part is the lack of sound from pellet or bullet hitting the bag of cold patch, it just swallows up bullet and contains Lead. I still use this method but just fill a shipping bag from FedEx with cold patch material and use inside of Champion trap. This method still traps the pellet and is very quiet. When your done shooting you can just toss the bag of cold patch and have little or no Lead dust to deal with which ultimately saves time and is a bit healthier.

 

[gspn]

I use small boxes full of rubber mulch. They are super quiet and they stop all pellets. The boxes I use are generally about the size of a gallon of milk.

I really like that there's almost no noise with this type of target...no ping, no smack...super quiet.

 

[JohnKSa]

The best low-maintenance backstop material I've run across is duct seal. It's a gray putty sometimes referred to as monkey (word synonymous with crap that starts with an 's'). The only reason I provided that last bit of information is that if you ask for duct seal at Lowes or Home Depot they usually look at you blankly, but you can sometimes get a positive response with the slang term.

Better yet, just look in the electrical section yourself. It's used to seal electrical ducts.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bender-Duct-Seal-Compound-Plug-DS-110/100212441

It comes in bars that weigh about 1lb each and they can be set side by side and then smoothed together to line the back of a box. You can go to multiple layers for more powerful airguns. As I recall my trap has 2 layers and it easily stops .22 pellets at 700-800fps. It doesn't dry out, has a very high viscosity and although it will flow a bit in high temperatures, flows VERY slowly. I leave my target lying on its back when it's not in use.

 

[MedWheeler]

JohnKSa, it's funny you bring that stuff up. I joined my local fire department as a volunteer back in 1981, and the extent of our hazardous-materials "kit" at the time was a bag of kitty litter, and a couple of bars of stuff we knew only as the name by which you call it. The idea was to use it to plug small leaks on vehicle fuel tanks and such. We didn't know any other name for it at all.

 

[cslinger]

Totally agree with JohnKSa.

Monkey Sh.........err Electrical Duct Seal has made for the best most durable targets I have ever used by far. As an aside if you go looking for it in a hardware store they may not know where the electrical duct seal is but if you ask for Monkey Shi...... they will probably go "oohhh that stuff."

Here are my two current traps.

This one was my first one made about 10-12 years ago. Used a very small steel junction box and absolutely packed it tight with duct seal. It will stop a .22 LR. Bolted a handle on top, some binder clips on the front and some rubber feet on the bottom. Has been doing its job with aplomb for a decade or more.





This second one is about 2 years old and built because I wanted to use 8.5x11 sized targets. Again I bolted a handle on top and binder clips on the front. No feet on the bottom as it sits flat. Still a steel junction box but with a thinner layer of duct seal as I realized how efficient this stuff was at stopping a pellet. Again going on 2.5 years of doing its job with no muss no fuss.





Both probably cost about $50 bucks to build maybe less.
Cheapest all steel junction box at the hardware store
Some binder clips
Good solid handle from the hardware store
Maybe some rubber feet
Some misc. bolts/screws
10 or so bricks of duct seal

Just gut the box, drill/screw your hardware into place. Pack in the duct seal spreading it all through the box as deep as you need. It stays pliable. I have never had to replace the seal. I have only cleaned pellets out now and a great while.

Hope this helps.

Chris