Advice on building a pellet trap

[Windmill01]

This is a picture of our house dam, the back wall of the dam is approx 95 meters from our back deck. I want to build a pellet trap that is interactive (spinners and such) that is both challenging to hit and stands up to all types of weather. 

It must also be able to trap the pellets. I used to shoot tennis balls hung from one of the trees at the back of the dam wall by wire. The only problem with that is that it wasn’t environmentally friendly and it started to look like the scene in Predator when Arnie and his crew cut half the Forrest down shooting at the nasty.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 

 

[jamieinmd]

I mounted a remote controlled closet light in a box on top to keep it out of the weather. The box is filled with spray foam and lined in the back with 1/8 in steel plate. 

The light is a great touch for low light shooting. I hope this helps in your plans. 

 

[Kitplanenut]

I use an old water well pressure tank. Most pump and well dealers will give you one for free if you ask. They come in different sizes from the size of a 5 gallon bucket to larger then a 55 gallon barrel. Cut a window out of the front with a jigsaw or a torch. Take the piece you cut out and bolt it inside to the back of the tank using it as a doubler. Then cut a piece of foam insulation that will fit in the front of the hole to pin your target on. You can spray paint it to match its surroundings. Shoot up a storm. From time to time pull the foam front off and gather up your lead. Quick, easy and really cheap. I have one 5 gallon bucket of lead full and working on a 2nd. When you fill a 5 gallon bucket full of spent lead, ask your buddies to move it for you. Always good for a laugh. sylvan

 

[rugerguy211]

It sounds to me like you want a large area for spinners and perhaps multiple other targets.
I'd build a lean-to large enough to handle all of the targets you plan to use. 
The roof/back wall would be angled to deflect pellets down into a trap filled with rubber mulch or sand.
That impact area would be covered with replaceable wood or metal, whatever you need based on the power of your air guns.
From the deck the structure would look sort of like an open garden/storage shed.

btw...What is a "house dam"? I've never heard that term.

 

[Windmill01]

Thank you for your responses, they have been very helpfull. Rugerguy211 I have been thinking along the lines of your post. I like the idea of the light for low light from Jamieinmd. This would illuminate the targets being somewhat inside the structure. I was also thinking of wheels to move it around so it wouldn’t be too large or heavy.

I only have springers but really enjoy shooting long distances whilst battling the wind. I find I’m getting bored shooting paper targets up close hence why I was shooting tennis balls hung from a tree at 90 meters

I call it the house dam because I pump the water from it to flush the toilet (saves our tank water) and for watering the vegetable gardens, grass and the plants around the house.

Thanks again

 

[cosmic]

cistern..

 

[Windmill01]

Cosmic we call it a toilet or in slang terms a dunny in Aussie land. They even have dunny races in a town called Birdsville. 

 

[Bert]

I quickly set up a pellet trap years ago, a big metal plate under some 45° with a wooden box (approx. 1,5 square meter) underneath it. Still in use now, although that wasn't really the plan (it's end of life now though, the FX Boss put some holes in it, after repeatedly hitting on the same spot).

Works ok, most of the lead (except for the pellets that bounce of hard targets) is captured. However, the big disadvantage is that the pellets desintegrate on impact, resulting in a lot of dust and small pieces. Not too convenient when you want to clean up, especially if you want kind of clean recuperated lead (to melt/cast). It's gonna be mixed with chips of paper/wood/metal/paint/... , whatever you 've been shooting at. A softer trap, using sand, rubber mulch, old clothes or some other fabric, doesn't have this problem, or at least not to the same extent. You can indeed still put a quite thick metal plate in the back in case you would shoot through your trap filling.

 

[cosmic]

Ok, how about a holding or retention pond.. A cistern here is a holding tank in or next to the house that retains rain water for use around the house..

 

[cosmic]

You could use old carpet and blankets hung in a series of layers also... Don't know if metal spinners hit from a springer at that distance would splatter, probably just deform somewhat.

 

[NMshooter]

I just fill a cardboard box full of rubber mulch. With duct tape, I get through the summer with it. Simple and easy

 

[Windmill01]

Cosmic I like the idea of cold carpet or blankets hanging down. I could have a tin back drop at an angle to catch the pellets. When shooting the tennis balls both 177 and 22 cal pellets would go through and that was at about 90 metres. They wouldn’t last for long but that would depend on how many times I could hit them.  

I tried the cardboard box filled with old rags NMshooter but it would end up a soggy mess when it rained. Too lazy to walk down to the dam a cover it up.

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

The last picture here would work but you might as well do the rest of it also.
http://www.airgunarena.com/index.php/Shooting_Gallery

John

 

[Windmill01]

Wow what a setup. I know my carpentry skills aren’t that good but I thinking of something like that but on a less grander scale. Thanks John.

 

[bent]

Pellet "splatter" was a concern for me too, as I shoot in my backyard. I solved the problem for the most part by welding up a snail pellet trap, somewhat like the ones below. Actually, I made a couple, the first from sheet steel and a steel tube, and sized to hold a 8.5x11 sheet, which I gave to a colleague when he moved down to Texas. My second was built from 316 stainless and a stainless alloy valve tube (all Tig welded), sized to hold a half sheet. It has sat in my yard for several winters now and hasn't shown any corrosion yet. Both traps collect all of the dust and spatter (and yes, some paper shreds from the targets), with the exception of a few percent of stray fragments that land within a foot or two of the trap mouth. Ok, it's a bit spendy to do, but I also wanted something to practice welding on.

Some ideas:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=2133&bih=1054&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=wyUwWtjOFYTrmAHJpaOgBg&q=snail+bullet++trap&oq=snail+bullet++trap&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l3j0i24k1.6102.7088.0.7320.8.8.0.0.0.0.161.768.0j6.6.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..3.5.604...0i67k1j0i7i30k1j0i13k1.0.60TGWR_tV6I#imgrc=1TyKe2mQMHQHoM:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=2133&bih=1054&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=wyUwWtjOFYTrmAHJpaOgBg&q=snail+bullet++trap&oq=snail+bullet++trap&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l3j0i24k1.6102.7088.0.7320.8.8.0.0.0.0.161.768.0j6.6.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..3.5.604...0i67k1j0i7i30k1j0i13k1.0.60TGWR_tV6I#imgrc=sYA9FBNUkGEOoM:

...and a lot more, just google image search for "snail pellet trap" or "spiral pellet trap".

 

[Windmill01]

Thanks bent there are heaps of ideas to be drawn from there.

 

[rugerguy211]

"cosmic"cistern..

Thanks. That term I understand.

 

[topshot]

I built a small pellet trap using steel plates installed inside a wooden box, at a 40 deg angle, with carpet lining the interior to grab the pellets. On a large scale with spinners as you describe, you would have to build an enclosure that would be quite large to capture any ricochets that you will inevitably get. Perhaps some outdoor carpet hung from post and beams on 3 sides of the targets...it would be all weather, but not attractive.

 

[bobad]

I use a standard .22 firearm trap I bought online. Glued a soft wood frame inside, use push pins to pin printed 8.5x11 targets to the wood frame. The lead dust inside my house concerned me, so I cut a 1/2" closed foam sheet to contain the dust. The trap is very noisy, even with .177, but should last forever.

 

[Dirte]

Here is the trap I built. I know you want spinners and such. I thought I would share this, possible you could use some/any ideas from it. It is mobile. http://www.airgunnation.com/topic/my-rendition-of-a-portable-targetpellet-trap-lots-of-pics/