Plans??? Home Made Backstop, Target holder, Pellet Catch

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jhanratt

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Hello all,

I am looking for advice on a portable, SAFE, and lightweight backstop, target holder and pellet catch system for pellet guns. I lead a local scout group and we have purchased three pellet guns so that I can lead an indoor shooting program. I am looking for some advice on what to use for a backstop. Ideally whatever I build should be light weight and portable enough to be set up and taken down for weekly meetings inside our meeting hall or out at camp and small enough to be readily transported in my truck and stored at my home. I would prefer to capture all of the lead so that our camp remains "clean" Obviously I cannot have any ricochets and I cannot have any shots miss the backstop and end up in the wall of our meeting hall. Camp is easier because I can select a decent dirt backstop as a safety. I am thinking 4'x4' should be enough size to catch any misses since we are only shooting long barreled pellet rifles.

My first attempt was a couple of old spa covers but the 495fps pellets punched through 12" of foam quite readily. Next I tried osb but it "shot out" quickly and occasionally sent ricochets which would not be acceptable in our meeting hall. I tried layering cardboard but it also seems to shoot out quite quickly as well.

Any great ideas out there or anyone who has already invented this wheel??

Thanks

Jeff
 
I use duct sealant (a non-drying putty) on a wooden backing
1/2 inch of this putty stops 500fps 22 cal pellets
can be had at home depot or similar stores
 
I haven’t used it myself, but I understand that a box filled with “garden mulch” made from shredded tires does a great job of topping pellets.
 
I had a rubber mulch one. But requires alot of work. Constantly replacing the backing to keep the mulch in. My 11x13" 10" deep Box. Almost weighs as much as my rimfire trap. I got a couple duct seal ones. But I just switched to a 22rimfire trap. Less work. Bit heavy. But works

4'x4'. The brick of duct seal is like 4$ a plug. Which you will need alot to fill that box. Sub 500 FPS bounces off but not enough to go far.
 
Curtains are your friend. Lighter material is better than heavy. The object is for the curtain to absorb the enegy (move) when the pellet hits it. Heavier materials don't move and the pellet tends to penetrate. For a cheap pellet catch I use a small cardboard box filled with old denim jeans. The pellets won't penetrate.The more you shoot it the better it gets. After awhile the front of the box gets degraded and the odd pellet falls back out to the floor but the basically just fall out in the first foot or two in front of the box,no real power to be considered a ricochet. The box I'm currently using has a few thousand shots in it and no signs of needing replacement yet.
 
I used the duct seal for a while but after awhile you get some many pellets stuck in it that you start getting ricochets. Which means you have to replace them with time. Not that they are expensive but I would not call them cheap either.

Currently I am using a old towel in front of a phone book placed in a shoe box. I know phone books are hard to come across these days but a stack of printer paper works. Also its the right size to just print off targets on your home printer. You might have to shake out the towel after a while otherwise you might get a ricochet. I have a couple ricochets but more with the duct seal method
 
I used to use a wooden box lined with carpet, with an old pair of jeans in stuffed in it. Made for easy cleaning, cheap and quiet.
I had a member of Canadian Airgun Forum make me two nice target boxes, which I lined with duct seal. They need to be cleaned out with needle nose pliers when they get full of lead, especially when you put the target in the same spot each time. The bull area gets full fast.

One tip for duct seal traps, don't put any duct seal on the bottom 1-2" of the trap. The paper from targets and small pieces of lead build up at the bottom, makes for easier cleaning if there is no duct seal at the bottom.
 
Budget?

I've used the duct seal very successfully- but you have to clean it out. Use a plywood backer. Put down some 2x2 to make a 12" square and fill the inside with duct seal. Gives a good target area to hang targets and won't punch through. If you use a 4x4 sheet of ply behind it will cover the area for misses. You do have to clean it out though- but they are quiet and very reliable.

For higher end- a ballistic curtain system is light weight and would be the bees knees:

https://www.creedmoorsports.com/category/Portable-Air-Gun-Range
 
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