My 5-gallon bucket bullet trap was getting heavy

I use a few 5 gallon bucket bullet traps - some just a standard bucket, some stacked. I wheel them in and out of the barn to the "range" out back, by storing them in a heavy-duty wagon. I end up having to lift them out of the wagon to set up at the range, then lift them back in when i'm finished. As one can imagine, the more the buckets trap, the heavier they get.

I had a couple friends over a few weeks ago, and we went out back to shoot. As I was moving the traps, I noticed the buckets were getting a bit heavy. Or, I'm getting old. Or, a bit of both.
Be that as it may, it's time to empty at least one.

Just a 5 gallon bucket, full of crumb rubber.

The ribber is available at any garden store, it's sold as mulch. Sometimes it's only available shredded. I've used (and use) both - they both work, but crumb is a bit easier to work with.
I screw the lid on, and cut cardboard discs to staple (or stick/tape) targets to.

Take off the lid -


What looks like a rat nest in there is the cardboard shot off the discs. Instead of replacing the disc when it's ragged, I just stack more on.
Look carefully around the rim of the bucket lid, the screws holding it on are visible.

Dump it out-


I dump it out on a sheet of cardboard, a batch at a time. Pile the batch up and sort of wiggle it around with your fingers - the bullets work to the bottom. Carefully scrape away the overburden-


Pick out the goodies. Keep doing it. The bigger pieces of trash I pick out now. If one wanted to really clean the rubber, it could be dumped in water - the paper will float and can be skimmed off.
However, that requires drying everything prior to reassembly. I just pick out the big stuff. It's a bullet trap.

The lower power and lighter weight rounds all bunch up in the first few inches, as do the wadcutters/flatpoints. The heavier rounds and the round nose go deeper.

Look at the swag! Over 18 pounds. A combination of home-cast lead, and some plated 9mm that a friend shoots. I'll sort it further, separating the lead from the plated before I remelt. The lead is also separated into few different recipes of mine, and I can reuse all of it.


I refill the bucket with 3-4 inches of the reclaimed rubber, then pack it down with a length of 2x4 lumber. Keep filling and packing in lifts. Fill a bit over full, then jam a new lid down. Screw the lid around the rim, it helps to keep things in one piece. I'll staple a new cardboard disc on top.


I use a single bucket for handgun under 200 grain, and under 1100 fps. Anything faster or heavier goes in a double-stack bucket, into which goes a disc of 3/4" plywood at the bottom.
Too heavy, or too fast, it'll blow out the bottom of the bucket.

For rifle rounds, I built a 1 foot square box, 2 feet long. I fill it with sand. Nothing has ever come close to making it to the end of that trap, including 7mm Mag. Unfortunately, most of the bullets just explode in the sand, so it's a sieve-job to retrieve that lead.

Blue68f100 said:

I tried it once for handgun and ran into a problem. If your groups are tight you end up with a hole for the material to fall out of. Need some kind of self healing front.

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That's why the cardboard discs. When the hole in front starts leaking, slap on another piece o' cardboard. Problem solved.

That idea with the gong is something I've never thought about. I may do that.

However, it requires purchasing something . Cardboard I get for free, Amazon keeps leaving it on my porch.

The cost of doing this is minimal. Once having purchased the filler material, it is re-used indefinitely. The buckets I get with oil, or scrounge at job sites, and last until an errant shot splits the side, or a too heavy round blows out the bottom. The lids don't last as long as the bucket (usually), but are $2 at Lowes. The screws to hold the lid down came from saved fasteners I salvage from throw-away stuff.

It takes maybe an hour to refresh the trap. I'll certainly trade a $2 lid and an hour of easy work for 18 lbs of lead.

Walkalong said:

That's a really neat idea, and like you said, buckets can be scrounged for free.

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Yeah, the conversation at the job site usually goes something like this:

Me - Hey, you mind if I grab one or two of those empty buckets you got piled over there ?

Other guy - Oh, take all you want. Whatever you don't take, I gotta haul off. Come to think, grab 'em all !

Rule3 said:

Great idea.
How or what do you rest it on or mount it at shooting level so it doesn't roll or whatever??

Got a Picture of that.

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I just lay it on a section of old (scrounged) pallet. To keep it from rolling, I jamb some short pieces of wood on each side, sort of shim it in.
When next I go down there, I'll try to grab a pic.

mstreddy said:

That is a great idea. About how many rounds do you think are captured before you need to "harvest" the lead?
I too wish I had my own outdoor place to shoot at. I'd probably "borrow" your idea for bullet traps.

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First off, as much as I appreciate y'all thinking so, I can assure you that this idea did not originate with me. I got the basic idea from someone else, and modified it to meet my needs.

As for how many rounds captured before I harvest, well, it depends. The 18+ pounds I just pulled out represent roughly 800-900 rounds of 38Spl/9mm. Sometimes I wait longer. Sometimes I clean it out sooner, for instance if I'm preparing to render a batch of lead. Usually I refresh the trap when it starts getting heavy lifting it in and out of the wagon.

When the trap is empty it's maybe 30 lbs, so it could conceivably be used at a public range, being semi-portable.
Set it on the ground and prop the front up at a shallow angle so you can shoot straight in.
Or, rig up a portable stand for it to get it up off the ground.