Anyone build their own trap? I'm looking for a way to build one for my kids so they can practice in the basement when the weather is crappy. Thanks, mtmuley
Well, I have heard of guys going to LOWES and buying "Ductseal" It's a plyable, clay like thing. Put it in any box you like. It will absorb the pellets and no ricochet.
Yes, I built a box out of plywood, with the back tapered to deflect the bullets down. I lined the tapered back with a piece of 11ga steel. I staple a piece of cardboard (pizza box lid) on the front and tape the targets to it. My first iteration I filled the bottom with an inch or two of sand. This didn't work that great as the sand got kicked out from the pellets impact, allowing the pellets to chew up the bottom of the trap. I shoot in my basement at about 21 feet, with springer air rifles.
My second go around is the same box, but I ditched the sand and put a chunk of old carpet on the bottom, and on top of that, I laid a couple of old Midway catalogs (the heavy 4 color versions). This seems to work better, as the pellets lose most of their energy chewing through the paper, and I can just vacuum the mess out occasionally.
I have shot about 3000 rounds or so in my basement - it's great practice for sight alignment and trigger control, and makes for some fun competition with my hunting partner.
My experience is that BB's require a different backstop from pellets. They tend to bounce back off of a lot of things. Since I shoot entirely BB's, I use a couple big sheets of styrofoad insulation backed by some plastic sheeting as a backstop and one of those cheap foam block targets from Walmart as the actual target. Before I used this, I used a big cardbard box that was about four feet square and about four inches thick, with a garbage bag of peat moss inside. BB's went thru the cardboard and garbage bag, but stayed in the peat moss. It got a little messy as it wore out. The big thing with BB's is having the target soft enough that they don't bounce back at you. At best they sting, I won't say the worst, just watch the Christmas movies. I always wear shooting glasses when shooting BB's.
Bfly
Well, I have heard of guys going to LOWES and buying "Ductseal" It's a plyable, clay like thing. Put it in any box you like. It will absorb the pellets and no ricochet.
That's what I did for our indoor trap. Plywood box w/ ductseal in back and then I cut a groove in front for a clipboard to slide up/down to hold the targets. Just cut a large opening in the clipboard to shoot through and use stock (heavier) paper for targets. Works great!
You don't want to angle the backstop down for a pellet gun. My son is a competitive shooter. The trap I made for him is 24" square using 2x4s for the sides and to stabilize the bottom. I nailed a piece of flat sheet metal on the back. It has cardboard on the front with the target pinned on. The pellets hit the metal, flatten and drop to the bottom of the trap. The same trap will stop BBs but a few will kick out harmlessly.