Easy way to shoot & retrieve test pellets without damage

[lloyd-ss]

This is easy and works a lot better than shooting into water, IMHO.

A piece of 2" PVC pipe about 2 feet long, and some plastic grocery bags.  A cardboard tube will work, too.


Loosely stuff 6 to 10 bags into the tube. Number depends on the power you are shooting.  Put them in individually, not as one big wad.


Ready to shoot.


Line the barrel up and shoot.


Here's the first bag pulled.  The pellet passed through it.


Push the rest of the bags out like string of sausage links, and you can see which bag the pellet ended up in.


Here's the pellet.  Almost perfect.

[JonnyReb]

   I guess there is not a much less gentle way of catching a pellet, even water, cotton, foam, all would seem to offer to much resistence. Those bags do the trick. To be honest i've looked (with some reservation) at the bag stuffed full of used grocery bags in my kitchen but always was afraid the pellet would blow right through. So i step outside or head for the old reliable phonebook.

  How do you stop your bigbore bullets with similar results?  J

[jakerox43]

I have a feeling some will need a LONG tube.

[lloyd-ss]

It's amazing how many of those bags you can stuff into a tube or box or milk crate.  They will not so good up a lot of energy, but I always like something else behind it.

I stuff my steel trap with bags too, to deaden the noise and stop any splattering from the big bore stuff.

[oldpink]

Slick idea, Lloyd.
The inventor in you just jumped out once again.

[dk1677]

Very clever Lloyd!

[Nathan]

Great idea. Harry Fuller does almost the exact same thing, but he uses sheep's wool.     I don't know how many people have access to that. I like your idea of using the readily available plastic grocery bags. If you ever run short on bags, just wait for a windy day and some will come blowing by.  Any idea how  many feet you need to stop a given amount of ft. lbs or velocity? What would be the max power you'd try with the 2ft section? If the power increases, do you just pack the bags tighter, or does that defeat the purpose?

Nathan

[lloyd-ss]

.....Any idea how  many feet you need to stop a given amount of ft. lbs or velocity? What would be the max power you'd try with the 2ft section? If the power increases, do you just pack the bags tighter, or does that defeat the purpose?

Nathan

Not sure how to quantify it, but I have stompped a plastic milk crate full of bags and then closed the front with a piece of cardboard and duct tape. I had some left-over Trex decking in the bottom for an extra margin of safety.  I have shot 400FPE .458 into that and if it was freshly packed solid, the bullet would never reach the trex.  The bags REALLY stretched and absorbed a lot of energy.  That's the trick, stretching the bag not worthy up the energy.

Anyway, I know the 2" PVC will take up to a .25, unless you shoot crooked and the pellet scoots along the insdie of the PVC.

I've got a section of 3" PVC and I might try my 9mm in that tonight.  I'll let you know.

Lloyd

[lloyd-ss]

............... What would be the max power you'd try with the 2ft section? If the power increases, do you just pack the bags tighter, or does that defeat the purpose?

Nathan

Nathan,
I just posted a 270 FPE test of a larger version on the Airgun Gate.
Lloyd

[crossfox21]

Very interesting..thankyou

[bill/sjca]

used a burlap sack full of shipping wrap the clear wrap used to wrap stuff onto pallets took a lot but salvaged from the warehouse atwork. made a great arrow stop for my bow shooting field points. arrows would often pass thru hat bales. but this stopped them dead

[Dead nuts dog]

A box of kitty litter