I want to catch my pellets to examin the rifling groves, but can't without destroying them. What methods are you folks using to capture pellets unharmed?
Catching Pellets
- Thread starter Mr.Gadgets
- Start date
The best stuff is snow. No, really! Snow was discovered a long time ago to capture soft cast bullets out of rifles. The next best stuff this particular individual found was oiled sawdust. (F.W. Mann: The Bullets Flight from Powder to Target.) With 2000 ft/s heavy bullets it takes quite a bit of the stuff, but with .25 airgun pellets 6 feet of snow is just about enough. I've not tried oiled sawdust for airgun pellets yet.
I've heard about high velocity hard aluminum pellets being captured for re-use with plastic grocery bags, and that might work for soft lead pellets as well.
I've heard about high velocity hard aluminum pellets being captured for re-use with plastic grocery bags, and that might work for soft lead pellets as well.
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If you just want to check rifling marks you can just push a pellet through the barrel with a cleaning rod. If you do want to catch a shot pellet water works pretty good. Take a length of PVC pipe 3-4 feet long and put a cap on one end then fill with water and shoot down into it. You may get wet if you are not careful though. Shooting into a box loosely filled with rags such as old t-shirts works pretty good also. The farther away the less energy/damage to the pellet. good luck.
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Matt Dubber has a video in which he captures pellets unharmed in a piece of PVC pipe filled with marshmallows. I saw a post on another forum about someone trapping pellets in a piece of PVC pipe stuffed with plastic bags. I applied this idea to a small cardboard box stuffed with plastic bags. Pellets fired into it from 15 yards are undamaged unless they hit each other.
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Pushing a pellet through with a rod won't engage the rifling the same way as firing it. This image from the CT Custom Airguns blog shows how pellet skirts blow out when fired:
Also notice how the rifling draws lead backward so there are tiny "teeth" on the back of the skirt. The person who posted the plastic bag idea was looking at the symmetry of these teeth. Some low quality pellets were clearly not symmetrical, presumably because the skirt was thinner on one side and so was forced more deeply into the rifling. Their theory was that this deflects the pellet in the same way as if the barrel crown were not cut true.
Also notice how the rifling draws lead backward so there are tiny "teeth" on the back of the skirt. The person who posted the plastic bag idea was looking at the symmetry of these teeth. Some low quality pellets were clearly not symmetrical, presumably because the skirt was thinner on one side and so was forced more deeply into the rifling. Their theory was that this deflects the pellet in the same way as if the barrel crown were not cut true.
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I have found that a block target for archery works well I had a few laying around and found the don't really harm the pellet to bad they also make a great back stop the plus is that you can shoot the crap out of it
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What I Like Irons said about shooting into snow.
I did some shooting over the winter. When the snow melted I found most of my pellets, undamaged.
I did some shooting over the winter. When the snow melted I found most of my pellets, undamaged.
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Just read that article on the CT Custom Airguns blog that is mentioned above so I am searching for a way to "soft capture" pellets.
The snow idea works great, I've recovered dozens of bullets that way and they were undamaged. Discovered this the spring after target shooting with .22lr during the winter. Took about 10 feet of powder snow to stop the .22 bullet.
Packed plastic bags make excellent archery targets but would damage a pellet.
Thinking that taping plastic bags (lightly so the pellet can pull them free) spaced a couple of inches apart to a length of lumber and shooting through the bunch might slow the pellet gradually and not damage it. Will have to see.
Hank
The snow idea works great, I've recovered dozens of bullets that way and they were undamaged. Discovered this the spring after target shooting with .22lr during the winter. Took about 10 feet of powder snow to stop the .22 bullet.
Packed plastic bags make excellent archery targets but would damage a pellet.
Thinking that taping plastic bags (lightly so the pellet can pull them free) spaced a couple of inches apart to a length of lumber and shooting through the bunch might slow the pellet gradually and not damage it. Will have to see.
Hank
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I took my gun to work and shot into the 5 meter pool. The pellets, from I can visually tell, were unscathed from the water impact (JSB 5,5 18.1g Diabolo Heavy). Word to the wise: I was surprised how far the pellets traveled under water, and am glad that I didn't start in the shallow end.
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