Lead Capture Steel Target

leverboy

leverboy

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wide open prairie
For awhile now I have been wanting to set up a reactive target system that would capture the lead from my cast bullets. Since lead is rarely free to find anymore, it seems a shame to just cast it and throw it away downrange, so here is a super simple system I have come up with to capture a good percentage of it for re-use...

I scored some free 1/2" plate at the local dump last weekend, and it is slightly curved (an old tank which had been cut into strips for scrap) I cut a couple of 12" plates off of this 18" strip. Next I drilled a hole in the top two corners. Then I bolted it inside an old 16" truck tire, placing valve springs between the plate and the rubber as a standoff... This also helps the plate ring out a little better...

The theory is that the splatter of lead is caught by the tire all around the plate. So far, this seems to be working really well! Obviously, this is not a target for jacketed full power rifle rounds as it isn't hardened steel, but for 44-40 and 45 Colt cowboy loads, as well as rimfire plinking, it looks like it will work just fine...






 
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nice simple design, i like it! now if i only had the land to make use of such a thing.

does the lead have enough energy left to embed itself into the rubber, or is it loose in the tire?
 
Some small pieces do imbed in the rubber, but a surprising majority just ends up lying loose in the bottom... Once it builds up a bit I am curious to see what it does.... Of course I will also be collecting leaves, rainwater, and whatnot, but that is easily seperated/cooked away. I am really liking this thing:)
 
Nice design. Too bad it wouldn't be allowed at my club in Quebec, without extensive modification. The SQ is pretty strict about the no-sky rule. You'd have to attach a long steel pipe to the tire to make sure the bullets don't fly out anywhere. :-@
 
dakotamar said:
should it be angled down a bit so that anything that does bounce back is directed down?
Click to expand...

This plate is only attached at the top, so it does swing back a bit when hit... Bear in mind, tho, that cast bullets don't really bounce off of steel... They shatter, and the little bits fly in every direction off the plate... There is usually a fairly large, flat disc which stays intact, and that pretty much falls straight down once the energy is gone... The only thing u will ever get back with cast bullets is one of the little shards which flys off the top edge of the plate (because the plate is angled down:))... Always wear safety glasses when shooting steel, and make sure it is hardened steel if you are shooting jacketed bullets... Pieces of copper jacket tend to come back much more than lead ever does...

If u search youtube for bullets in slow motion there are some awesome videos which depict very clearly what happens when projectiles strike a flat plate...
 
I dont have a pic of the one i built years ago for a friend but if he had actually cleaned it out it would have worked great.
It was all welded 5/16" plate in a flat bottom pyramid designed to funnel all the lead down to a heavy steel collection container that could be used as your melting pot all in one.
 
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