OT: Storing wet sand in a bullet trap in the basement

plus the weight of it, eating the plywood......

what about some temporary anti slumping membrane? I'm thinking of something wicked cheap, saran wrap, screening, somthing that will last all of part of a session that won't mind a bullet so badly but can be thrown away

Mike Patters> I've built a bullet trap in my basement based on the information on

Interesting tests on the website. I have a 1cu.ft. box made of 3/4" plywood and filled with pea gravel ( average size about 3/8"). The most powerful round I have fired is 30-06 (165 gr. soft point) It penetrated about 6". .45 ACP and .357 mag manage about 4". .223 bullets fragment so much that penetration can't be easily measured. The target side of the box is covered with a piece of pickup truck bed mat (fabric reinforced rubber about 1/2" thick). The plywood wall of the box is spaced behind it about

1". This gives an air space to contain gravel and sand leaks. The kinetic energy of the bullets is absorbed by turning the gravel into sand and dust, so periodically I have to top off the gravel. The rubber mat and the plywood behind it needs replacing occasionally. 22RF rounds don't do much damage and the box can take hundreds of them before any maintenance is needed. I have found the durability to be acceptable for test firing large calibers. The cost was near zero since I made it from scrap-pile materials. The gravel came from Ace Hardware.

Randy

That black or green cloth they self in the gardening shops to place between plants so the grass doesnt grow up, is cheap enough and comes in decent sized rolls.

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her t*ts" John Griffin

I've kept wet molding sand in sealed buckets for years and it hasn't spoiled. I believe your sand will dry out before anything else happens.

I like to shoot cast bullets (mostly handgun), do you have any idea on how the bullets look when recovered. I like to recycle :)

That bed mat idea sounds interesting. Are you sure the .22 RF are not coming back your way? I've had a few bad experiences with rubber and rimfires.

Currently, I shoot into a 4 x 4 x 4 foot plywood box 50 yards off of my deck filled with sand. I need to rebuild it this spring since I didn't use pressure treated wood when I built it.

Where should I look for this truck mat stuff?

Wes S

What about used carpet as a membrane? Availiable free in many places.

Mix Bentonight with your sand.... It will keep its shape...

Do ya suppose cat urine would retard the growth of malodorous fungi?

I would test this with a smaller round first. Think of your footprints in sand - in dry sand it diffuses the energy much more readily than in wet sand. The bullet might core right thru the wet stuff.

Depends whether your basement is skunky in the first place, and where you got the sand from. Commercially bought sand is usually free of organic material, and will not get skunky. Beach sand could be a disaster.

I've experimented with a number of media in building an airgun pellet trap. While these are a lot less powerful than most bullets, the amount of energy is not insignificant. Consider whether the bullets will create lead dust, and lead ingested thru the gut or lungs stays in your body with frightening efficiency. Many airgunners use ballistics gel or hard plumber's putty. Believe it or not, the most impressive performanc was from a bag of 'booger glue' that is like a brick if you punch it but gets soft if it's warmed or worked slowly. It could stop a .22 with less than an inch of penetration, the problem was the glue would eventually ooze out from the hole made in the bag. Perhaps a brick of the plasticene modeling clay would work well too.

Dave

Use non-toxic antifreeze instead of water. Won't evaporate and won't harbor microbial growth.

Could be, I know it will eat through stainles steel. jk

I think wet sand will behave very differently as a bullet stopper. rec.guns is full of really smart people too, see you there perhaps?

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:05:18 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Mike Patterson quickly quoth:

Mike, the last thing I read about it is that basement gun traps are good for only one thing: adding toxins to your body. That lovely scent of fired gunpowder may smell heavenly, but it's toxic in large quantities. Ditto the lead fumes in an enclosed space.

Anyway, to keep the mold from building up, you'll have to ventilate well. That'll solve those other problems.

Cast bullets and jacketed hollow points from a handgun hold together, so they can be fished out of the gravel. I've never had a .22 LR ricochet off the bed mat, but air gun pellets do. My box is indoors and the range is about 10 ft.

The bed mat can be bought at PU truck accessory dealers. Rubber Queen is the brand IIRC. You can buy just a tailgate mat for a trial. This one seems to the same brand as mine but I bought mine about 1980.

Randy

Old mudflaps from 18 wheelers hung from the top and doubled stop most rounds up to about 45acp if you keep the velocities down below 1200 fps

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her t*ts" John Griffin