Bullet Box Construction

[twocan]

Indoor Bullet Box

I am considering building a 4 foot by 8 foot Bullet Box for .22LR fired from my Glock 26 using the Advantage Arms Conversion Barrel from approximately 15 to 18 feet away.

Does anyone know what kind of backing material I would need to use to prevent penetration through the back of the box?

My initial design ideas are to use a 2x8 wood frame with 3/4" plywood for the back and possibly a steel plate and/or rubber sheet to contain the bullets with a thin sheet of plywood for the front.

I have not yet found the data necessary to calculate the forces generated by 40 grain .22LR bullets.

As a side benefit, it will make good cover in case of a home invasion.

Capt. Art

 

[rcmodel]

Just buy a .22 rated bullet trap.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0009740801

You can set a couple three 3/4" plywood sheets behind it to catch any stray shots if you want too.

Anything you build out of wood & rubber sheet will soon have a hole shot through it from repeated strikes in the same place.

Using a bullet trap for a panic shelter is a novel, if very dangerous idea.

Any bullet trap will eventually be full of lead dust, which is poison.
As for that, so will your home, unless you use a good exhaust fan to suck all the fumes out of your house.

rc

 

[twocan]

Thanks, rcmodel:

There would be good ventilation.

I wanted a larger buffer behind a bullet trap for strays, and from there it was easy to think about just building a large bullet trap from the beginning.

The main reason to build one is that there are no ranges within 150 miles, so it makes it hard to keep sharp.

 

[rcmodel]

Your best bet on a large scale would be a piece of 1/4" steel plate set on a 45 degree angle to the floor.
With a large sandbox catch basin for the deflected bullets to land / stop in.

6" of sand will stop any .22 bullet in it's tracks.

I suppose another option would be a poly plastic 55 gal drum full of sand.

When it starts leaking, patch it with duct-tape and turn it slightly to a new spot.

rc

 

[Jim Watson]

There was once a commercial bullet trap made to be filled with gravel. The idea was that you would be able to shoot a good deal before the front face was shot up enough to let rocks leak out, as opposed to sand.

 

[sm]

Paper Bale

Do you have a Kimberly Clark , or similar mfg nearby?
Someone that mfgs diapers, feminine products, etc...

We used a bale, free, all we had to do was go get them.
Going from memory, these were 3 1/2 feet square.
We tested these and they would stop 12 ga slugs, and 30-06 six rounds.
Naturally 9x23, 9mm, 45ACP ...any pistol caliber.

We used these both indoors, and outdoors. They held up well in all sorts of weather.
Indoors, no problem.

Heavy, so we had these on movable stands, nothing fancy, just something to make it easier to move around , especially indoors.
The shoot houses, of course , always meant we were re arranging things.

Some of these have to be twenty years old now, indoors, in barns, shed and such.
One place had three, in a barn so kids, elderly and physically limited could shoot in bad weather.
There is not telling how many .22 rimfire round have been fired at those...

Make some calls, and I betcha someone not too far away, has such a bale.

I would take scrap drywall, and cut to fit a frame in front. Use weed eater line top and bottom , so targets, even paper plates could be held by clothespins, or binder clips.

A simple shelf, made of scrap wood, just sat in front to hold tin cans...

 

[BikerNut]

The Best Bullet Trap is the One You Make Yourself

About 5 years ago, I built my own bullet trap from 3/4" particle board. It's a 4-sided box with a 6"x9" rectangular hole routed out from the front section. It's about 12" deep, and the height and width correspond to the size of your typical folded newspaper. The top is on dowels so I can lift it off and fill the inside with a foot of tightly compressed newspapers.

I made cheap wooden guide rails on the front sides so that I could slide in a piece of cardboard over the front cutout, about 1" in front of it. This keeps shot-up newspaper shreds from spilling out and getting all over the floor. There's a binder clip screwed into the front side of the lid to hold paper targets.

Thousands of rounds of .22's will only manage to dig out a hole in the newspaper about 5-6" deep. My .38 will not penetrate the newspaper, nor will my 9mm, though I would not use neither for target practice in my basement -- just the occasional test shot of a reload.

About once a year I pull out the old newspapers, salvage all the lead from it, and put in fresh newspaper. The front cardboard "apron" gets replaced every couple of months.

It's all glued and screwed and was built in less than an hour.

I have a 10"x10" steel .22 bullet trap, but shooting into that thing just makes me nervous.

 

[Jmurman]

I would bet that some old carpet scraps layered and sandwiched between plywood might be a good baffle.

This looks like a fun project to do!