I'd like to build a rimfire-safe bullet trap for indoor use.  The minimum is for .22lr, but I'd be happy if it could also handle .17 HMR, .17 M2, and .22 magnum.  NOT a requirement, but it'd be nice.

Any suggestions for the best way to do this?

Mike

You can buy the Do-All brand traps for under $50 that will handle .22LR, .22 mag & .17

Start with one of these?



Careful - splatter will shred wallpaper in a hallway.  







 

Any thoughts about preventing or minimizing splatter?

Mike

A couple of thin pieces of plywood to either side should be more than sufficient, about the height of the trap.  Maybe a U-shaped design, nailed together, 3 pieces, a bit wider than the trap, and extending a foot in front of it?  



Just depends on where you're going to use it.  This wouldn't be an issue if it's away from any sidewalls.  20 years ago but I distinctly remember what it did in that hallway though.  Typical hall, chair in the middle, trap sitting on the chair.  The damage was really obvious when you ran your hand over the paper.  

You know all those free phone books that stack up on peoples doorsteps about twice a year and then end up in a recycling pile?  Well, there you go.

I had one of those Outers on my dresser years ago. I used to lay in bed and plink. Lots of fun.my girlfriend wasn't to amused but she got over it.

Im guessing your single, because no woman is going to allow that inside a house.

enough .22lr will dent and bow 1/4 inch mild steel.  17hmr will leave displace some mild steel.  Yeah, don't use mild steel.

My wife shoots a .22 out the window on occasion.

Maybe one of those waxem torso targets backed by metal angled downward toward concrete floor?

Any plans for venting all the airborne lead out of your house? Or are you/wife past child bearing age and got an empty nest?

Happily single, no kids, and none planned.

Mike

Air flow is Job 1. You should have a fan behind you and some kind of exhaust fan near the bullet trap. If you're concerned about denting the trap, get some tire tubes from a local tire repair shop. Use them as the initial point of impact, right behind the paper target. So you'll have
paper / tire tube /  Steel target \

I have the trap above, you don't have to worry about splatter, it captures it all.  What you do have to worry about is significant amounts of lead dust as it creates a ton of it.

As the bullets enter they just continually crush into each other with every shot grinding them into dust.

I would say these are for outdoor use only.

I happen to know this is a bad bad idea.  

I also happen to know that toothpaste can cover up holes in the closet wall board.  

Apparently, part of the burst from the M16 with Ciener kit struck other rounds in the phone book and turned outward and away from the center of the phone books.

TRG

The inner tube over the opening will help to minimize bullet splatter but it should be checked on a regular basis and changed when holes develop. Using a plywood housing to surround the trap is also a good idea. The top piece of plywood will be the most likely to be struck by splatter and adding a lip to the top front edge will decrease the change of a piece flying back at you. As more and more lead splatter collects in the trap it increases the chance of it being blown out by incoming splatter.

The duct sealer idea sounds pretty good but pellet rifles even 22 caliber pellet rifles do not generally reach the velocities of 22 caliber firearms or carry the same energy. I realize there are some that do but most do not and the gentleman in the video above does not advise what velocities he has tested his trap to. I am not questioning his knowledge whether the duct seal will stop a high velocity round as I am sure it will. My question is how many it will be effective for and once a hot spot develops what will additional high velocity rounds do. As with the steel trap the duct seal trap should be inspected and repaired as needed.

Venting the air and disposing of the lead should be a serious concern.

Get one of those big plastic storage bins from Walmart.

Fill with shredded tire mulch and then give it a top coat of spray foam.  

Get the cover on it and tape it down with a lot of duct tape.

My wife is fine with it.

I built a box out of thick particle board, with a base, two sides, and a back. It's about 14" wide and 14" deep and 16" tall.

I made simple channels in the front edge of the two sides by gluing strips of 1/4 x 1/4 wood. One channel holds a piece of masonite with a large oval hole cut in the middle. The channel in front of it holds a piece of cardboard.

The inside is packed with about 18" of newspapers and magazines compressed to fit into 14". The particle board top is secured with dowel rods, and has a binder clip screwed into the top front edge for holding targets.

I change the paper about once a year, and it's only shredded about halfway through. About five pounds of lead gets sifted out to go into the lead bucket.

I've used it on a few occasions to function test a S&W Victory .38 SPL and a 9mm P-38. Bullets only penetrated about 6" through the compressed paper. Yes, that's right, my box of truth is magically different from the official Box 'o' Truth.

One time I used it to function test a Savage rifle in .222 Remington that a friend gave me.

The round went completely through the packed newspaper/magazines, blew out a hole in the 3/4" particle board back, and made a half-inch deep divot in the basement brick wall behind it, narrowly missing an electrical conduit off the junction box. Well, that was stupid.

My basement range is only 18 ft. long, so 99% of the time it's used to shoot my Ruger Single Six .22 at one-inch target pasters stuck onto sheets of typing paper.

I use standard velocity target ammo to keep the noise down.

By the way, we're empty nesters.

And after a lifetime of being an artist/designer (turpentine, lacquer thinner, benzine, film cleaner, film developer, etc.) and being a motorhead (gasoline, oil, brake cleaner, solvents, etc.), lead vapor doesn't send off any alarms for me.

All that shit should make anyone cautious, but back in the old days, nobody worried about it, least of all OSHA, and the EPA didn't even exist.

I wouldn't use any system indoors without a well designed and properly assembled ventilation system.  Just using one of those Champion bullet boxes, when I go out and retrieve it, I come back with fine lead smudges on my fingers.  You can ignore it if you like, but that stuff actually absorbs through your skin, and you inhale it.  And it builds up in your body.  The reason OSHA and EPA are around, is because people used to do much dumber shit than we do today, and they paid for it both in the short and long term.  This is the stuff I have dumped out of my trap.  You can see how fine some of it blasted.  It is about the consistency of baby powder.  The thing that sucks about all those chemicals you mentioned is they do their damage over a long period of time.  And they type of damage they do is usually irreversible.



I basically use my trap at 25 yards for 22LR and it is advertised for all rimfire.  I used it for a few shots of 17HMR and noticed it was getting dinged up pretty bad.  I closely read the warnings, and it states it can be used for magums, but at 100 yards.  So be careful when buying those little $50 traps.  If you buy the kind that bolts together, I would recommend using loctite on the bolts.  I have had to tighten mine down a couple of times.  The first time I realized they came loose was when the little target holder bar popped out.