Range back stops

[Pauly]

Hello,
I am the type of person who likes to know how things work, I did a Google search looking for companies that make indoor range back stops and could not find any. I would like to know how the stop works, are they any website I can look at?

Thanks
Paul

[T Durdin]

You're thinking of setting a range up in your basement, aren't you? That would be frickin' sweet. Check out http://www.bullettrap.com or http://www.actiontarget.com/ You'll need good ventillation system or you can get high lead exposure.

Basically line the area with some rail road ties and fill with ground up tires (rubber) or other material to absorb the projectiles (dirt,sand, clay). Check the site, http://www.theboxotruth.com/ also to see how far different projectiles penetrate.

On box o' truth they show most pistol rounds will be stopped by as little a 6 inches barrier of sand.

Check your city or township laws to see if it's legal to discharge a firearm in your locale.

[Pauly]

No I just wanted to know how the back stop systems worked.
Thanks for the links

You're thinking of setting a range up in your basement, aren't you? That would be frickin' sweet. Check out http://www.bullettrap.com or http://www.actiontarget.com/ You'll need good ventillation system or you can get high lead exposure.

Basically line the area with some rail road ties and fill with ground up tires (rubber) or other material to absorb the projectiles (dirt,sand, clay). Check the site, http://www.theboxotruth.com/ also to see how far different projectiles penetrate.

On box o' truth they show most pistol rounds will be stopped by as little a 6 inches barrier of sand.

Check your city or township laws to see if it's legal to discharge a firearm in your locale.

[Brick]

Do a google for the name Detroit Bullet Traps and Caswell. At one time they were the 2 largest and one bought out the other. There is another outfit that uses finely graded soil as a bullet trap and I know an indoor range near Monroe, NY that use the system. It works very well and spent bullets are recovered just by sieving the soil.

All traps work the same way, some sort of armored barrier, series of baffles and catchment area redirects and expends the bullets kinetic energy. Sometimes angled plates, sometimes a spiral chamber depending on manufacturer or a soft "self repairing material" absorbs the bullet and its' kinetic energy.

[roland]

They defect the bullet up and then they drop into little plastic pans like for spreading mud on drywall. You empty the pans and your back in business. Check out Caswell.

www.caswells.com/

[bloomautomatic]

Detroit Bullet Trap became Caswell Detroit Armor, then Caswell, and now Meggitt Caswell. The leader in the industry for bullet traps.

The purpose of a bullet trap is to decelerate the bullet and capture it in some way. The most basic designs consist of a sloped steel plate that directs and decelerates the bullet into a containment system, typically a pan or trough which will eventually need to be emptied. Drawback to this system is that lead dust is produced when the bullet hits the steel.

Some of the larger systems for indoor or outdoor use granulated rubber to slow and capture the bullet. The advantage to this system is that virtually no lead dust is produced. Eventually the granulated rubber will become laden with bullets/lead and need to be emptied. Caswell has a machine that can do "bullet mining" by removing the lead from the rubber.

There are many other systems that do the same thing in different ways. This explains most of the systems pretty well - http://www.bullettrap.com/lawenforce...ullettraps.htm

For an outdoor backstop, sand is one of the most effective ways to stop a bullet. Railroad ties will stop a bullet, but they get chewed up pretty fast.

I built a very basic backstop for shooting in my basement out of 4x4 hardwood pallet lumber. This is hardwood, NOT pine. Eventually, it will get eroded and need replaced, but it was scrap lumber, so there was no cost issue, and I'm only shooting .22's into it.

Hope this helps.

Vince

[Pauly]

Thanks everyone for the replys, I will take a look at the websites.

Paul

Detroit Bullet Trap became Caswell Detroit Armor, then Caswell, and now Meggitt Caswell. The leader in the industry for bullet traps.

The purpose of a bullet trap is to decelerate the bullet and capture it in some way. The most basic designs consist of a sloped steel plate that directs and decelerates the bullet into a containment system, typically a pan or trough which will eventually need to be emptied. Drawback to this system is that lead dust is produced when the bullet hits the steel.

Some of the larger systems for indoor or outdoor use granulated rubber to slow and capture the bullet. The advantage to this system is that virtually no lead dust is produced. Eventually the granulated rubber will become laden with bullets/lead and need to be emptied. Caswell has a machine that can do "bullet mining" by removing the lead from the rubber.

There are many other systems that do the same thing in different ways. This explains most of the systems pretty well - http://www.bullettrap.com/lawenforce...ullettraps.htm

For an outdoor backstop, sand is one of the most effective ways to stop a bullet. Railroad ties will stop a bullet, but they get chewed up pretty fast.

I built a very basic backstop for shooting in my basement out of 4x4 hardwood pallet lumber. This is hardwood, NOT pine. Eventually, it will get eroded and need replaced, but it was scrap lumber, so there was no cost issue, and I'm only shooting .22's into it.

Hope this helps.

Vince

[Frenchy]

In general dont look for bullet backstop and or bern unless you are looking at outside, inside you will be looking for a bullet "trap". You might see names like Water trap, J Trap, Ceiling trap, Angled trap, bay trap, louvered trap. The more modern one being the ruber pellets, many older shooters still shoot into cords of wood or mountain sides at ther summer camps.

Personally my favorite trap that I have seen was a angled trap combined with a Water trap, basically a J trap that ends its course in a bath of water.

[Pauly]

Thanks for all the great information, if I did have a basement I might try to make my own range, but since I live a on slab that won't happen and I think the neighbors would be a little concerned if I was firing my Glock in the backyard.
Again thanks to all your replies!

Paul

[bloomautomatic]

So get a .22 conversion kit for the glock, an outers .22 bullet trap and shoot in the garage!

Vince