I've been thinking of setting up a humble indoor range, maybe even about 10 yards or so in my living room. Well, I happen to have a layout at home that lends to being able to set up at a solid distance. I was thinking of getting a good sized steel trap (as to eliminate possibility of missing the trap completely) along with maybe putting a piece of carpet or small rug to line it, hopefully eliminating any kind of "splattering" out of the trap. I guess it goes without saying that I'd be punching paper. Some of you will probably find this to be pretty stupid, but I know for sure that many of you have a cool home air gun range set up! My dream is a full shooting range in my basement (someday) but for now, I'd have to keep it to airguns alone.Another issue might be lead dust. How have you went about trying to prevent that? A simple air filter near the trap when shooting?What other implications am I missing? Thanks!
A thick and old bookA weak gunAnother adress in case you shoot your wife's paintings
Quote from: HueAirgun on September 21, 2018, 04:02:27 PMA thick and old bookA weak gunAnother adress in case you shoot your wife's paintings"in case you shoot your wife's paintings"LOL....even upstairs in my unfinished "man attic" this didn't get missed by the wife.........Don't even go there about how it happened!
I wouldn't put a range in my living room! Ranges are generally pretty messy places. Depending on the target box, there is the potential for lead splatter, and there is also the issue of paper punch outs from the targets. You would potentially have to vacuum the area after every use. "simple air filters" won't cut it. If you have the basement space, put the range there from the start.
I use the steel trap. To keep it quiet I put the duct seal on the OUTSIDE BACK of the trap. You would be surprised but it is as quiet as when I use to put the duct seal on the inside.Try that first, before you attempt to use it to line the inside back of the trap.This is the trap that I use.https://www.midwayusa.com/product/744831/champion-rimfire-bullet-trap-steel-blackA word of note is important here. There were small gaps between the side plates and the bottom plate of the trap. So, there was a problem with very small fragments and dust collecting below the trap. I didn't have access to a welder but took some of the duct seal and closed up the gaps. Some friends, who have the same trap, tell me there are no gaps in the ones they own. So you might get lucky and get one that the welder didn't forget to complete the job on.I also put an old cookie sheet underneath the trap to catch the occasional errant pellet that falls back out the front. I never had a problem with ricochets or pellets coming back at me; just falling out the front immediately below the trap.I leave the duct seal on the back of the trap when I empty the lead. It's a little heavy but nothing the average guy can't lift. Just don't let too much lead collect in the bottom or it will get really heavy.The other trick I've been using to keep down the spread of any lead dust is to put the press-n-seal food wrap over the front opening of the trap. It's better than taping cardboard to the front.Here's a link to an earlier posting about the press-n-seal wrap: https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=138170.msg1386616#msg1386616The bottom line is that this is the best trap for the money. I don't regret doing this as I have tried a lot of other methods before. That includes the rubber mulch trap and this set up is just as quiet if you put the duct seal on the OUTSIDE BACK of the trap.