Easy to clean pellet trap

[daxrush]

Hi,

I try and keep the lead in the backyard to a minimum so I use pellet traps.
I had a lot of problems in the past cleaning out my pellet traps.
I've had the metal traps with duct seal, the one with jeans in the box, the much version.
They al were very good untill you started shooting a lot and you had to clean them, man that was no fun.

Then I came across this YT video where they were testing with a box filled with sand.

That gave me the following idea that I could just use a sieve to get the pellets out of the sand.
Worked like a charm you can see the sieve after the first 100 shot cleaning.

So I made some boxes of old boards to put the targets on filled them with fine dry sand.
This is important as wet sand gets hollewed out if you shoot in the same spot.
As to not get the sand wet I store them in the shed.The boxes need to be long as this dry sand will settle at an angle.
A sturdy handle is advised as they weigh quite a bit with a few 1000 pellets added to the sand .
You also only hear a thump from the pellet hitting the sand so it's also quiet.

After a very dry summer I also made a stand to keep the box of the ground.
I also now use a second fine sieve for the small pieces of lead from time to time.
Now I only clean the boxes out after 2000-3000 pellets and it takes very little time.

Hope this helps others spend more fun time shooting and less time doing cleaning of pellet traps.

I

 

[Hateful McNasty]

Someone maybe beertheif kept suggesting folded jeans .

So being seeing that and thinking no sifting sand or dealing with mulch..

Pretty easy
Bucket on quick clip to remove

Quick remove face

Then carefully remove and shake out jeans. Pellets at bottom


Clean no sand or mulch mess


Pit the folded jeans back and snap on face plate rehang



Not saying it's best ever , but easier to clean out .. so just wanted to throw that jeans idea at you ..

 

[daxrush]

Someone maybe beertheif kept suggesting folded jeans .

So being seeing that and thinking no sifting sand or dealing with mulch..

Pretty easy
Bucket on quick clip to remove
View attachment 404997
Quick remove face
View attachment 404999
Then carefully remove and shake out jeans. Pellets at bottom
View attachment 404996

Clean no sand or mulch mess
View attachment 405001

Pit the folded jeans back and snap on face plate rehang
View attachment 404998
View attachment 405000

Not saying it's best ever , but easier to clean out .. so just wanted to throw that jeans idea at you ..

That looks different from my experience. I tried that in the past but after 4-5000 pellets the jeans were shot to hell and the pellets were mucshed together with the treads of the jeans fibers. Maybe I should have cleaned the trap out a bit more .
What FPE were those the jeans facing ? . I'm at 65FPE with my .25cal.
My experience was more like on teds holdover but to a lesser extend and with jeans mush

 

[Hateful McNasty]

Ya, it eventually gets shredded but ..??

I do clean regularly. I'm trying a soft catch and able to reshoot most pellets in a pistol.. ( I got threads on it ..lol)

At close range. Any thing over 600 fps drills it out . So like 10m 50' mostly sub 600 and 50y+ full power . I got the stuffing 3 layers with the jeans last ..

Old jeans at the thrift store are pretty cheap as replacements ..

In the end it's one thing or another on trap fill .. though really the next of the sloped back with a deeper bottom with jeans

Like this kind but a deep bottom with jeans or towel . Let the back plate take to energy and force the pellets down into the jeans or towel bottom .. big thing is for me is not having sand or mulch or maybe even shredded clothing..

Like this with deeper bottom floor


Then this that the pellets just fall in to a catch bucket without anything in it


Just impact the sloped backplate and just fall and roll off in to the catch pail.

 

[bigmike]

I use rubber mulch in my trap. You can get it at Home Depot for a few bucks a bag. I just pour it on some paper or cardboard and start pulling it off by hand and refill the trap. All the lead just falls out onto the cardboard. Very easy and you do not have to worry about moisture. Many indoor gun ranges use shredded rubber as a backstop because it is very effective, easy to clean, and does not wear out.

 

[daxrush]

Ya, it eventually gets shredded but ..??

I do clean regularly. I'm trying a soft catch and able to reshoot most pellets in a pistol.. ( I got threads on it ..lol)

At close range. Any thing over 600 fps drills it out . So like 10m 50' mostly sub 600 and 50y+ full power . I got the stuffing 3 layers with the jeans last ..

Old jeans at the thrift store are pretty cheap as replacements ..

In the end it's one thing or another on trap fill .. though really the next of the sloped back with a deeper bottom with jeans

Like this kind but a deep bottom with jeans or towel . Let the back plate take to energy and force the pellets down into the jeans or towel bottom .. big thing is for me is not having sand or mulch or maybe even shredded clothing..

Like this with deeper bottom floor
View attachment 405049

Then this that the pellets just fall in to a catch bucket without anything in it

View attachment 405048
Just impact the sloped backplate and just fall and roll off in to the catch pail.

Looks interresting.
Would hitting the backplate not be loud?
As i'm in the backyard being quiet is a must for me

 

[daxrush]

I use rubber mulch in my trap. You can get it at Home Depot for a few bucks a bag. I just pour it on some paper or cardboard and start pulling it off by hand and refill the trap. All the lead just falls out onto the cardboard. Very easy and you do not have to worry about moisture. Many indoor gun ranges use shredded rubber as a backstop because it is very effective, easy to clean, and does not wear out.

View attachment 405152

Hi bigmike, what FPE are you at? My pellets went pretty deep into the mulch making cleaning a mess.
Also getting new shredded rubber mulch is difficult in europe.
Something with the shredded tires and the environment...
You can get a freshly formed alternative in EPDM pellets but very expensive

 

[Hateful McNasty]

Looks interresting.
Would hitting the backplate not be loud?
As i'm in the backyard being quiet is a must for me

Honestly what don't ..lol. There's a lot of thread on how to quiet a trap ..lol

Ya, these traps it's this or that with one to deal with. .. I guess you could insulate the back plate with something to deten the impact noise ..

If I ever do come up with a noiseless , esay no mess to clean design I be sure to post it .

 

[daxrush]

Honestly what don't ..lol. There's a lot of thread on how to quiet a trap ..lol

Ya, these traps it's this or that with one to deal with. .. I guess you could insulate the back plate with something to deten the impact noise ..

If I ever do come up with a noiseless , esay no mess to clean design I be sure to post it .

if you ever create that holy grail pellet trap, patent it and sell it

 

[Hateful McNasty]

All

if you ever create that holy grail pellet trap, patent it and sell it

©,®,Tm, all Rights reserved..

 

[GeneT]

I designed a steel trap that is 'perfect' for my needs. Quiet it is not. I don't have an issue with noise (I actually kind of enjoy it), but I did want a trap that caught all my pellets, and pellet fragments, without requiring some expendable like rubber mats, rubber mulch (yes, it lasts forever, but you need some kind of 'membrane' to hold it in place), or even cardboard. I wanted to be able to put a shelf in it that could hold foam targets, so an open design that didn't allow anything to spit back was needed. Low velocity pellets were mostly a breeze, but high velocity, which I'll define as enough to cause the pellet to splatter, always seemed to come with some splash out of the box. I ascertained this by testing with tissue paper over the front of the trap and looking for fragments striking the tissue. Well, that was a long 'splanation. In any case, here's what I came up with. It's 13.5" square at the front, with a 45* back. The partial tube (the hardest part to make) in the cross-section is 1.75" OD and 1.5" ID. And *nothing* escapes from it! I welded the body up from 1/4" steel plate, but it could be much lighter - it's just what I had laying around.

GsT

 

[Airgunmann]

I would put a horse mat back in it but wouldn't need it

 

[GeneT]

I would put a horse mat back in it but wouldn't need it

A horse mat across the front would be fine, but a mat against the back might thwart the design by changing the direction the pellet travels after impacting.

GsT

 

[daxrush]

A horse mat across the front would be fine, but a mat against the back might thwart the design by changing the direction the pellet travels after impacting.

GsT

I designed a steel trap that is 'perfect' for my needs. Quiet it is not. I don't have an issue with noise (I actually kind of enjoy it), but I did want a trap that caught all my pellets, and pellet fragments, without requiring some expendable like rubber mats, rubber mulch (yes, it lasts forever, but you need some kind of 'membrane' to hold it in place), or even cardboard. I wanted to be able to put a shelf in it that could hold foam targets, so an open design that didn't allow anything to spit back was needed. Low velocity pellets were mostly a breeze, but high velocity, which I'll define as enough to cause the pellet to splatter, always seemed to come with some splash out of the box. I ascertained this by testing with tissue paper over the front of the trap and looking for fragments striking the tissue. Well, that was a long 'splanation. In any case, here's what I came up with. It's 13.5" square at the front, with a 45* back. The partial tube (the hardest part to make) in the cross-section is 1.75" OD and 1.5" ID. And *nothing* escapes from it! I welded the body up from 1/4" steel plate, but it could be much lighter - it's just what I had laying around.

GsT

View attachment 408167

looking good. any foto's of the real deal? up to what fpe/caliber have u used?

 

[GeneT]

I've tested .177, .22, & .25 pellets. Max fpe was 46.69, min was 2.77. I included some (lighter) lead-free pellets in .177 and .22 and they worked as well.

The drawing is really better for explaining the design, it's kind of hard to tell what's going on from a picture:

 

[daxrush]

I've tested .177, .22, & .25 pellets. Max fpe was 46.69, min was 2.77. I included some (lighter) lead-free pellets in .177 and .22 and they worked as well.

The drawing is really better for explaining the design, it's kind of hard to tell what's going on from a picture:

View attachment 408688

thanks for the picture. looks made to last .
does the half tube have a hole at the side to remove pellets?

 

[GeneT]

No, no hole. To empty I roll the trap onto it's back and then lift the bottom. The pellets slide out and then you can rotate the trap to the side to empty them. Not elegant, but not as bad as it sounds. The tube is actually a little more than a half, and that is key. I can give you dimensions if you like. (I'd just post them now, but they're on my Windoze machine, where my CAD program resides. Getting a knife edge on the part of the tube that butts against the back/top is important. Any 'lip' against the back will create a surface that will deflect some bits back up and out.

GsT

 

[Healthservices]

I wonder if the noise would be less if the backing plate is thicker and heavier? Not that it would be cheap but what if you had a 1 inch solid steel backing plate? What if it were heavier and thicker?

And here is another idea. What if you use lead to slow down and stop the slugs?

Man I should have taken the last 5 gal bucket of used lead wheel weights we filled at work to see if this would have worked.

What if you shot into a pile of lead bricks in a metal container? Sorry I'm maybe just rambling now.

If the lead was all good you would not have to separate it then, right?


Allen

 

[daxrush]

I wonder if the noise would be less if the backing plate is thicker and heavier? Not that it would be cheap but what if you had a 1 inch solid steel backing plate? What if it were heavier and thicker?

And here is another idea. What if you use lead to slow down and stop the slugs?

Man I should have taken the last 5 gal bucket of used lead wheel weights we filled at work to see if this would have worked.

What if you shot into a pile of lead bricks in a metal container? Sorry I'm maybe just rambling now.

If the lead was all good you would not have to separate it then, right?


Allen

I also wondered about that but not sure on how to start melting a big amount of lead and do it in a safe way.
I have seen some pellet traps where they have melted lead into a oven tray and use it as a backstop.
They only used a relative thin layer to get pretty good result. Sound was like a thud instead of a ping before.
Not sure on the power used as those video were from the UK, they have less power output if i recall correctly.
You could just melt the extra lead in the tray instead of cleaning it out

 

[Franck404]

An interesting product :
https://doalloutdoors.com/collections/all-products/products/22-17-bullet-box
For europeans :
https://www.armurerie-gilles.com/@F...utdoors-pour-calibre-22-lr-dobt222_f3162.html