What is your Backstop made of?

Just posted this in the other thread with same topic...

Just be careful using wood you don’t drill through it with repeated shots in the same spot. I was using a chunk of pine 8×8 scrap from a project to break in my Edgun barrel. I don’t recall how many shots it took but, there was a pretty deep hole in the wood (~3″) and one really big glob of lead! LOL! 
From the picture posted here, that tree chunk looks PLENTY thick! 
Happy Shooting

"hawken54"So I went to the Home Depot today and picked up a 5 gal bucket with lid. @ $7. One bag of rubber mulch,$3.99 I already had the thick rubber mat. But you get the idea, and its dead quiet. The whole bag of mulch fit perfectly in the 5 gal after I tamped it in and stepped on it. Just enough back pressure to hold the mat in place tightly.





All put together

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Winner. I think this is the best solution I have seen yet to the replaceable front problem when using a bucket. You can stick anything you want behind that lid with the cut-out front. The day after the next election, pick up a bunch of political signs for front panel material - coroplast works awesome. To reiterate what someone else said earlier, you only need around 6" depth for up to .25, so you can lighten the bucket if needed by spacing the back or using a smaller bucket. I think a 3-gallon may be the ideal size for this.

One more idea - take an office binder clip and screw it to the lid with a fender washer to hold targets.

Looks good Hawken! A couple of short cut 4x4's on each side and it will stay in place. If you put furring strips (1x2" from Home Depot across the bottom between the 4x4's you could place it on a milk crate then put the bucket on it to elevate the target. 

Having the tools I made the one in the pic that has removable inserts of foam board for both the mulch and the target. The foam board works great and a piece of 36 x 24" at Wal Mart is $1.77 To replace the mulch or the board I just lay it on the back and pull the board out of the slot. The replace the board or mulch,,,,

Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

9x12x12 pine box i made myself. 8.5/11 paper gets held on by a clip at top and bottom.

There is a slot cut about 1" back from the front though the top so I can add and remove 8.5x11 cardboard pieces.

Behind the cardboard are 10" deep of used wine corks .

Behind that is 4" wolmanized 4x4.

Stops .22 .25 .30 pellets as well as full power .22 LR. When the cardboard eventually wears out, replace it, add cork if needed and repeat. if one wanted, they could filter out the used lead and recycle.

Super quiet and no chance of ricochet.

If I'm shooting in the back garden (close range) I find a find a tough rubble sack filled with sand is very effective for these reasons;
1) It contains the fired pellets really well.
2) Its cheap to buy.
3) It muffles sound on impact better than timber so it doesn't arouse any nosey neighbours!

Pine box, with a clip for holding the target. Behind the cardboard, the box is full of corks from wine bottles. Behind the corks are wolmanized 4x4s. When the cardboard has too many holes, I sift out the lead, top off corks if needed, and put in a new piece of cardboard.

The box stops everything up to .22 LR and it's indoor / outdoor friendly (I use it out to 85 yards).

Conveyor belt, stops .22 rim fire at 78 yards.
I use to use duct seal that I put in a 2x4 frame the clip off a clip board to hold the target. Now I use a round of eucalyptus tree with the target stapled to it. AZ"s idea, works great and cheap. Any type of wood round would work.

Horse Stall Mat. It's cheap, made of recycled material, and easy to replace. 3/4" total thickness will stop anything short of a .25cal. I haven't tested anything higher. It's also quiet.

http://www.coastalfarm.com/product/premium-stall-mat-4-x-6-x-34/

Hawken54,
That looks very functional and very nice looking trap! Good job! I have been collecting 5 gallon buckets from my neighbors that have a pool. Chlorine comes in the buckets....I think I just found a new use for them, thanks to Hawken54. Now I don't have an excuse to keep buying beer suitcases....don't tell the wife.

"Ginuwine1969"I need something reusable, cheap to make or put together (less than 30 bucks), no real power tools to speak of so it should be simple. should be able to handle .22's and .25 at 25 yards for punching paper and 1 yard for crony testing, would like it to be relatively quiet as well. Right now 30 FPE is good in the future maybe 50 FPE at the muzzle. So Tell me about your backstop and or ideas.

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Hey Ginnuwune1969,MY Best Pellet trap. Quiet, Safe, Cheep and Portable! Instead of throwing away containers like my wife wishes I would, I thought of filling up a large container with p gravel (Some may call it screenings). I leave about 1” room for movement. It acts like dry jell. (It moves up till the pellets momentum if equalized, then encases the pellet.) Nobody knows I’m shooting cause it makes hardly “No Sound”. I have a .25 cal Edgun and I think it would work for higher cal. too. You might have to leave more space at the top, but it should work.It lasts for ever, cause I use duct tape to hold it together and keep the p gravel from falling out. I rotate it as well. You can recycle the lead as well, just sift out the p gravel. You can also use the p gravel over.The cons: if water get in and freezes, the pellet will bounce off, so be wise. Also don’t shoot in the top 1”area.Heres a link if you want to see it in action. This is a partial review on a Gamo. My cameras kept freezing, I guess, or running out of juice. The whole thing is just a few minutes. But if you want to skip to “tip time” at about .48.
Hope it helps and you like it. If the below link doesn’t work “Google” edgun 1avid tips choose 1avid tips and tricks

I have been using two types. 1st is my 50 yd. target. Is a hunk of a house beam I found at a home construction site near me. I believe it was one of the main support beams of the house. It appears to be many boards laminated together and this cut off piece was in the trash pile. Needless to say, I snatched it up fast. All I added was legs, binder clip and a support. Very easy to move about.
The 2nd is my 70 yd. target. Simply a hunk of tree trunk. Trying to keep it simple.

50 yd Target



70 yd Target

Its just small round gravel (pebbles) any small gravel, sand or dirt works great. Put it in a bucket or box or make sand bags or just a mound on the ground and shoot into it.

"Ginuwine1969"Not sure what p gravel is can you post a picture of it or a link.

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Sure,
Its gravel that has been pulverized for putting on dirt roads. Small stones with stone dust, its also called “screenings” around here too. You could use any type of small stones. They have real small river stones or Lava rock, at Lowes and Home depot, and may have screenings. Lava rocks work Great, but they are light and cost more.

I’m sure there are other things that you could use as a filler, just remember,… it has to be light enough to move up and heavy enough to enclose the pellet and not move around the trap or knock the trap over. The p gravel acts like dry jell.

If you viewed the vid above you can see what it looks like. If the right one didn’t play, just Google: edgun 1avid tips choose 1avid tips and tricks.
Its common around here in NC, where are you?

I use my trap anywhere, its so quiet. I made it all by recycling what I have.
I’ve made metal traps, but my .25cal edgun, just didn’t last. I was repairing it all the time.
Hope this helps, best of luck. Let me know if you need more info, Keeneye

I made one by cutting a hole in the side of an old open top style file cabinet. Now I only have to place targets on cheap hanging file folders and i'm good to go. The whole project took less than an hour. The one I used has a separate bottom section with a door that I keep targets and pellets in.

I have tested it up to .22lr rimfire with no issues. The rubber mulch does a great job.

Here is mine. PVC Electric Box is completely weather proof. Steel plate in the back just in case, but the rubber mulch stops a 40 FPE 25 cal no problem at 2ft during repeated chrony work. I've probably put 1500 rounds in it without changing the mulch. Its getting a little heavy, so probably getting close to time to empty the lead out. About $30 total. Need a drill and hole saw to open up the front of the box.

 

 

Maybe if you added a 1/2 x 1/2 screen like type you'd use for a rabbit hutch were you hole is cut in the lid of you bucket. It would hold the mulch tight and last a long time. Add a paper large paper clip zipped tied to the screen to hold the target. Just a idea