Backstocks for indoor ranges

[FireFalcon]

Something I have always wondered about but was too embarrassed to ask.

What stops bullets at the end of an indoor gun range. Do the bullets deflect downwards and into debris, or do they have a replaceable backstop that can absorb a lot of lead?

 

[Regolith]

The one I saw at a National Gaurd armory had a steel backstop that deflected the bullets down into a gutter.

 

[loumarch]

A lot of indoor ranges use a sand mound. It is a dirt and sand berm behind a thin wall.

 

[Cannonball888]

Dirt or sand is very effective if you can keep it in place (sandbags work for a while until everything leaks out). 1/4" steel plate deflects most handgun rounds and can be strengthened further with concrete backing, or just go with thicker steel plate.

 

[redneck2]

The range I used to work at had 1/2" (IIRC) tempered steel angled at 45 degrees. There was another concrete wall behind in case anyone decided to break the rules and use bottleneck rounds.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

All the indoor ranges I shoot at, it's a steel plate.

 

[FieroCDSP]

At my indoor range, they have the steel plate that's angled back, and another tight angle at the top to stop the bullet. It then falls to the bottom where it can be swept up.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Maybe some day I'll ask my indoor range/club/store for confirmation, but the backstop appears (as far as I can see downrange) to be rubber strips inside steel netting. They did close down one day for maintenance which included replacing the backstop, presumably when it filled up with bullets. When rifle rounds are shot, though, I can see sparks upon impact, too many for just contacting a net. Perhaps it is in combo with a deflector plate? Whatever it is made of is pretty substantial. They allow rifle rounds up to 8100 ft lb of muzzle smash to be fired.

 

[AndyC]

Layers of hanging rubber strips; I've also seen tyres (non steel-belt) filled with sand.

 

[Kruzr]

We use the Caswell granulated rubber system. Ground up pieces of rubber are loaded onto a steel frame that is stepped and angled. The rubber is from 3 to 5 feet thick. The bullets do not deform but are taken whole from the backstop. This is done every week lane by lane.

The rubber and bullets are raked out from the frame onto the floor. We have a vacuum cleaner supplied by Caswell that picks up the rubber and throws it back onto the frame. The heavier bullets remain on the floor and are swept up and put into sealed buckets for recycling.

Prior to this we had angled steel plates with a swirl chamber on top. The smashed bullets would deflect up to the swirl chamber, lose their momentum and then slide down the plates to the lead trap in front of the plates. When the traps would be full, we would bring in a crew to collect it and send it to the recylclers. This meant that there was always smashed exposed lead in the range and the lead filters would load up quickly.

With the rubber system, there is very little lead dust in the air and the filters, which are changed weekly, don't show heavy loading.

 

[jimbob1911]

our range had "traps" which were some type of material (looked like concrete) which I was told "caught" the bullet and spun it into a vat during which all the energy was used up. Had to clean them out evey so often which consisted of removing huge hunks of lead with copper jacket fragments in the mix. Never seen anything like it since or before. The "cement" was angled inward toward the middle.

 

[TEDDY]

backstops

most indoor ranges have steel plate angled.up or down.savage arms makes a range unit that bullets go up roll around and fall down into containers.that one makes it great for reloaders.rubber strips or mats hang in front of steel plates to prevent back splash.

 

[IdahoFarmer]

See Bullet Traps on the left side:

http://www.actiontarget.com/_mil/bullet_traps/total_containment_trap.html

Great descriptions with photos!

 

[jimbob1911]

great description...same thing as I was describing but the ones I was describing run vertically.