A better rubber mulch pellet trap - pictures inside

[TDK]

My first rubber mulch pellet trap was a ~14" cube of overkill that took about 1.5 bags of rubber mulch and weighed so much I dreaded moving it.  The wood front splintered and sent chunks flying after just a few shots, and patching it with tape didn't work very well since it was a splintery mess.


I came up with a new design that I think is the "just right" size, and also solves the problem of the wood front.  Apologies to international readers for the US standard measurements - thats just how lumber and tape measures come around here.


Features:

• Easily replaceable, self-healing front cover made from vinyl floor runner mat - cheap and no splintery mess!

**UPDATE - no longer using vinyl, switched to coroplast.  Vinyl goes bad after about 6 months.  See http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=77524.msg824929#msg824929.

• 26lbs, easy to move - uses just under 1 bag of rubber mulch
• will accept a full 8.5"x11" sheet of paper in the target area
• 9.25" depth - Quick high power penetration test results:  Stopped 3 .22lr CCI velocitors(40gr 183ft-lbs) @25yds with the bullets stopping no deeper than 7" depth
• 1x10 boards mean less cutting than plywood - you could build it with a drill and hand-saw if that was all you had.

Just to be safe, I suggest more extensive penetration testing if you are going to use it on an air rifle bigger than .25, or plan on using it for rimfire.  I think it would be fine anything up to and including .22lr, but ammo is too hard to get right now for me to test further.  You can also put a steel plate or some polycarbonate sheet at the back for some extra security.  At 33 yds, most of the pellets from my .22 Marauder stack up in the first inch or two, with lots visible right behind the clear front cover.  I went with 9.25" depth for potential .22lr use, but I suspect a 7.25" or 5.5" depth (1x8 or 1x6 boards) would be sufficient for dedicated small bore air rifle use, and would be a lot lighter.

The vinyl floor runner front panel is great.  It is very resilient and you have to shoot a lot in one spot to eat a hole in it.  When that happens, you can either tape it up, or throw the latches open and swap in a new panel in seconds.  Cost was around $2.25 per foot from the local home improvement store, and I get 2 panels per foot.  I also tried some thicker foam rubber "no fatigue" mat, but it didn't perform as well and was twice the cost.  It is hard to see in the pictures, but as you would expect, there is a slight 0.5-1" bulge in the front cover when the trap is stood upright.  I haven't found this to be a problem.  Packing the mulch in tight helps to minimize any gap at the top.


Pictures:










Gallery Link on GTA (same pictures):  http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=293


Detailed Design Description:

I made a box out of 1x10 board segments with the front opening inside dimensions of 9"x11.5".  This means the depth is 9.25" (the width of a 1x10 board).  I had an extra piece of hardwood plywood laying around, so I used that for the back, but a piece of 1x10 would just cover the back if you wanted to keep it real simple and make the whole thing from 1x10s.  Under the bottom, across the front and back, I attached a 12" wide piece of 2x4 to stand it off the ground 3.5".  These feet are flush with the front and back of the box, and the front is also where the hinges mount for the front cover.  Next, I made a frame with the exact same 9"x11.5" inside dimensions out of 2x2s.  Around the inside of the frame, where they would make contact with the front face of the box, I screwed 1-5/8" screws through (pilot drill to prevent splitting).  The 1/8" screw stick-though on the backside grips the vinyl mat which will serve as the front cover.  Clear vinyl floor mat (or runner) is a common item at home improvement stores and is sold by the foot.  The stuff I used was around 27" wide, and was perforated every 12", which means I only had to cut it once to get a bunch of covers!  I laid one of these covers across the front, put the frame over that and pushed down hard to penetrate the vinyl.  I held the frame firmly in place with a couple of wood clamps while I mounted the two hinges across the bottom of the frame.  At the top sides, I mounted two pull-latches to hold the frame closed, and on the front of the frame I screwed down a standard office binder clip to hold targets.  Lastly, I mounted a carry handle to the top, oriented parallel to the front so that the back is against your leg when you carry it.


I hope this is useful to others out there.  Enjoy!

[Smoketown]

Nice!

Cheers,
Smoketown

[D14Jeff]

that's bad butt .

[Yarp]

Beautifully done.

[avator]

Pretty slick

[Sfttailrdr46]

  Nicely done I think I will do that for my basement range

[BigTinBoat]

Like the idea of the plastic runner. I had gone to that pink hard insulating sheets and they are pretty good about "self-sealing" until you get a bunch of shots and then you have rubber mulch and pink foam coming out. I might just try adding a piece of the vinyl to the front of mine.

[wimpanzee]

that is very nice. I think I know what I am going to do when I chew threw the current cardboard box I have taped together!

Thank you for sharing.

[Be Ready]

Great Idea!! Nice 

[farmerjoe99]

Nice very well thought out!!
Joseph

[jus Tom]

These types of traps are great for indoor and outdoor shooting of air guns. I also built one this summer that will hold a full bag of mulch and it is probably over-kill as far as the depth goes.  I'm only shooting break barrel .22 guns,, but haven't found a pellet much deeper than 3 inches when cleaning the old pellets out.
Like the idea of the vinyl matting .

[mista meener]

You could also fill the box with scraps of deep pile carpet. I drape a 5ftx5ft over a saw horse as a backer. the carpet gives as the pellet hits and is very good at stopping the pellets. If I shoot a fast PCP I just throw another piece of rug on the horse then it has to go thru 4 sides of the rug

[DonC]

I like your vinal covering idea and whole design.  Another good product to use is cloroplast. It's like plastic cardboard. I use politicians signs/cloroplast after voting day and go gather a bunch. They can be shot up a zillion times before replacement is needed.

[TDK]

I like your vinal covering idea and whole design.  Another good product to use is cloroplast. It's like plastic cardboard. I use politicians signs/cloroplast after voting day and go gather a bunch. They can be shot up a zillion times before replacement is needed.

I never thought about coroplast.  I don't know if I've ever seen it outside of signs.  Performance should be similar due to the plastic nature.    You could probably use it with this design as long as you had it in place when you mounted the hinges (to set the right spacing). 

It also might give you a flatter and less bulging target surface if it is stiff enough.

[Pappy]

Nice build, and good ideas..... thanks

[Supaflee]

I like your device. Shooting at a boxful of old Phone Books is only any good until the pellets shred everything which a Diana 460 does , and the pellets start going right through ,,,,,,,,,and into the electrical feeder in the wall . ooops.
 My missus went berserk at me ,, she hates any sort of rifles and I didnt do myself much good by shooting the power out .
 Regards Supaflee

[Sfttailrdr46]

  When I first got back into this hobby last year MY D460 ate through a Gamo pellet trap then I built a stronger one using 4" of duct seal sitting on top of a double layer of 16 gauge sheet metal and 1/2" lexan . No more holes in the sheet rock to fix unless I completely miss the target

[cdegrassi]

Hi,

awesome design! I will have to try this

I have a question:  What is the advantage of using  the rubber mulch versus duct seal compound?
 
I have built several pellet traps using the duct seal compound as backing (www dot lowes com com/pd_13591-1781-DS-110_0__)
It is self supporting so no need for "containment" on the front. The traps can be made shallow (just 4 inches deep)

Have you ever tried it?

Cheers
Chris

[BigTinBoat]

I have a question:  What is the advantage of using  the rubber mulch versus duct seal compound?

COST - I think I paid $4 for a bag of rubber mulch - that much Duct Seal would have likely been $50

[Sfttailrdr46]

  $50 for the duct seal is a fair approximate cost for a 10"x 12" trap