Anyone made or bought a good pistol caliber bullet trap?

[Tororider]

With me buying a pistol or two, and my dad probably doing the same (I think I actually got my dad hooked), he is interested in finding a bullet trap we could use in our pole barn for us to shoot at. Something that we could move outside in the summer would be good too. I have searched online but only found rubber stops, no actual traps. Thanks.

 

[chh]

I helped build one out of a piece of 24" pipe about 3' long in a welding class once. Pipe was probably about 3/8 wall. We cut two pieces of 1/2 or 3/4 plate in basically a half moon shape angled back about 45 degrees. The one that was to be on top set out farther than the bottom and actually only left a narrow opening slot in the center. The back was another plate hinged on the side to be able to open it and clean it out. Guy we built it for claimed it worked good, but I never got to try it out myself.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

There this one: Bullet Trap and Backstop

Tom

 

[Tororider]

Tom,
That is exactly what I was thinking about, except adding wood to the sides to avoid splatter. I would also add a tray at the bottom and fill it with sand so that I could use it in our barn. Seems like a simple enough design. I would also make it bigger though.

 

[Tororider]

How thick of steel do you think you would need to shoot 12 gauge slugs at it safely. I just called Pioneer Steel and they quoted me $263 for a 2'x4' plate steel 1/2" thick.

 

[Tororider]

I found a slow fabricating shop, which ones aren't these days, that has a big piece of 1" plate steel. He says its somewhere between 3.5'x4' and 4'x5', he wasn't at his shop which is why he didn't have exact measurements. Anyways he said to weld up some supports to keep it at a 45 degree angle and make it robust he can do it for under $300. That seems like a pretty good price to me. Thoughts?

And with 1" plate, I could shoot the 30.06 at it without having to worry. And the 12 gauge too. Hmm

 

[tomd999]

Toro,

I built a lightweight version of that type for my daughter to use with her 22 rimfire when she was young. I used 3/16th diamond plate I had as scrap from another project, (I put the diamonds on the outside) and it lasted her 4 years and about 250K rounds until she graduated to centerfire. (she shoots service rifle matches now) After all those rounds, there was a slight bulge in the main impact area and she always shot at 50 yards. I'm thinking 1/4" plate would have held up a little better.

The indoor range that I used to use a lot had a 1" plate on a 30 degree angle deflecting the bullets into a sand pit. That held up for 40+ years of pistol rounds however at each port there was a slight indentation. They were replacing the plates so to see what would happen, they tried centerfire rifles, a 223 AR, 308 FN/FAL and 30-'06 Garand. All three went right through the plate at 75 feet. I would be cautious when you try yours out.

Tom