Do you know how it feels , you`ve loaded some cases maybe even for a new gun and your schedule is so tight that it`ll take you at least 2-3 weeks to go to the range to try them ? Sometimes, the only thing you`d like to hear if it goes bang at all .....? Has anybody ever built a bullet trap from scrap or any other material that is commonly available ? Hey , I`m not talking about shooting a 460 Weatherby or 500 Nitro Express into it , just our everyday calibers , in my case a 35 Whelen will be the biggest .
Where are all these experimenters ? Let me know what you have or have seen , especially what has NOT worked , thanks , J�rgen

If you go to www.reloadammo.com at the bottom of the page he has how to build a bullet trap I did make one and it worked fine. I did enlarge it and put a bottom in it full of sand but it may give you an idea.

I used a heavy oak stump for this purpose. It lasted quite a long time absorbing bullets!!

I would not use mild steel for a bullet trap for a rifle, angled or not.

IHMO Steel rated at 400 Brinnel would be minimum, 500 Brinnel would be better and then incorporate the angle idea.

It appears to me to a caliber & velocity thing that makes holes in hardened (and other) steel targets. I've seen 300 Win Mags shoot through 500 Brinnel 3/8" steel at 250 yards but that was rare and the fella had some pretty hot hand loaded 180's. A 338 Lapua with 300 Sierra's will not punch a hole through 500 Brinnel 3/8" at 300 yards but shoot some 200 Ballistic Tips thought the 338 Lapua and it'll punch straight through.

The jacket(s) and lead spatter pretty good of the side, I've been hit by spatter at fairly condirerable distances (308 Win & 175 MatchKing).

Good luck and wear goggles.

If I were planning to shoot in my house I'd opt for the big stump method. Better to catch the round intact than spatter lead, copper and possible steel all over the place.

[ 01-20-2003, 20:30: Message edited by: David King ]

Thank you very much for your answers ! I`ll look at the internet addresse and see what it has , glad you tried it already ! I tried the stump method 2 weeks ago outdoors with my 30-30 , a fir stump 20" thick was enough to stop it , I just thought it was "too simple" (stupid thinking maybe ?) I usually shoot lead bullets or full metal jackets , hardly any hunting bullets , so I figured the penetration is a problem ?!
Once again , thank you , J�rgen!

I have never been sucessful getting my lovely wife to let me shoot in the basement!
noise is the issue to her, unfortunately i can see her point

The crime labs use traps made for water as a stop with a plastic or rubber cover A fifty five gal barrel filled with a cover should work or how about a tube down the middle of it filled with water and the out side of it filled with sand in case one would try and go out the side.

HAIRTRIGGER MY WIFE WAS PISSED WHEN I FIRST TRIED OUT MY NEW DESIGN .22 BULLET TRAP IN OUR BASEMENT,PROLLY SHOULD HAVE WARNED HER FIRST BUT I NEGECTED TO AND SHE CAME FAIRLY UNGLUED FOR A MINUTE OR 2.MY NEWLY DESIGNED TRAP SEEMS TO WORK WELL. IT'S A .22 ONLY TRAP BUT I SUPPOSE A GUY COULD BEEF IT UP TO TRAP BIGGER SLUGS.I WAS THINKING ABOUT A TRAP THAT HOLD BACK ON BACKSPATTER AND I THINK THIS DESIGN IS ON THE MONEY FOR THAT.I'M WONDERING STILL WHAT WOULD ONE PAY FOR SUCH A TRAP.

THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL...............

Good luck guys,
My wife still hasn't forgiven me for the pellet gun trap in the hallway while she was working and the kids were asleep or for shooting crows out the front door with a .308 without warning her. I don't dare try this stunt.

I have a friend that shoots pistol into a pickup tire with a 1/2" metal plate inside where the rim would be. his idea is when the bullet hits the plate it splatters into the tire and stops.
NOW this is in a pole barn NOT HIS HOUSE!! Fragments do get on the floor but not back to aprox 15 paces where he shoots from. My thinking is it may be fine for him but this is not something I will try in my barn.