hueyville
Member
So I have been gathering up hard plate steel for years whenever the opportunity arose for reactive targets and the hopes to build an indoor range at work. My welder/fabricator was in between jobs today so I started pulling plate from my stashes around the shop. As we gathered it up we began to realize there was quite a bit of 3/16" T1 hard plate which is roughlybetween AR300 to AR400 on the hardness scale. I went to the computer design room and fired up the CNC design station and the sacrificial email/internet computer and started to Google bullet traps, designs and pictures. None none really suited our goals and size requirements so we decided to get the steel, a sharpie marker, clamps and the Millermatic 251. Too thick for the Lincoln, no point in using the TIG. We measured the area where we thought best to put it and worked to our maximum allowable width that still suited the size strike plate material. Then we started clamping and building jigs. Once satisfied we were on best path considering we had never built one, some tack welding was done. Just enough so we could handle it but still cut it apart if we had to go back to square one.
Now we were to the point of having a relatively large box with top, bottom and back. So now to make the magic happen. Catch the bullets without it spitting them back out and wounding anything in the machine shop portion of the building or even worse sending shards into the two OSHA flammable liquid cabinets on either side. May regret that positioning some day but it allowed us to use entire 60 foot length of the shop, open the double French doors going into the transition area/work station going to the offices for maximum range length. This gives us a full 25 yards/75 feet. Now the project was finally beyond planning and becoming a very large conglomerate of steel forming a very heavy and large box.
So now to make and locate the strike plate or plates. We had no idea how to accomplish this in our design. The internet gave a myriad of suggested angles mostly in the 30 to 45 degree range. So working with those two numbers and browsing about 100 photos of traps on the net we played with different configurations till we found something that looked to be plausible. Two plates. One angleing down from the top and one angling up from the bottom we placed them at approximately 37 degree angles so it looked like a triangle facing into the trap with some offset and overlap so no bullets struck the back of the box without first being deflected by the strike plates. We cut and built sides with two open areas on each side to place doors to recover the fired bullets. It finally looked good so I have my welder the green light to weld it up tight. Now it was done and between a big set of hand trucks and a pallet jack we wrestled it into position.
Now it was time for the big moment and everyone eared up. I stepped to the 50 foot firing line and sent our first 22 rimfire subsonic and it felt so good I just had to follow that shot with a magdump. We went and inspected our trap. No holes, no dents and only stuffs on the catylized epoxy finish. So now to standard velocity rimfire and all was well, so next a.box of CCI Stingers let fly with same results. Our next try was with a 50 count box of 38 special cast bullet range ammo. Bang Gong, Bang Gong. Inspection showed no holes, no dents or even missing paint. Just lead spots followed by a streak that sent it into the back to disintegrate into little pieces that neatly collected in the bottom. Since I knew this was probably the project for this rainy day I had brought some additional toys. I picked up my Canadian Hi Power a friend brought back from Viet Nam where he took it off a V.C. that he shot through the head with his M1a. Said that was a Boom Splat. 50 rounds of Federal 9mm +P hollow points gave us the same result so I got my 3" 5 shot 44 special that lives under the seat of my truck and two speed loaders of ammo with same results as all others.
Now it was time to settle in. I got my compensated 45 acp IPSC pistol and 150 or so rounds of my pet 45 loads. Once again a bunch of Bang Gong and it ate them all up. Now to step it up again and I picked a 6" Dan Wesson 744VH in 44 mag and sent 50 rounds into the beast. It was more of a BOOM Goonngg! After all of this still not a dent or any missing exterior paint. We got a brick of 22lr and sent another 500 rounds into the trap. It contained every single shot effectively. Only gun I had left with ammo was my 22 Hornet rifle. So let's try a centerfire rifle albeit small. It took the Hornet well. So now were slap out of ammo. I called the wife and declaired an emergency. She brought us another 400 rounds of mixed centerfire handgun ammo which we made short work of. So a couple of thousand rounds later we had fully tested the machine up to 44 magnum and centerfire rifle. No damage at all. We opened the hatch and scraped all the lead pieces into a 5 gallon bucket to come home and through the bullet molds to be fired again. So all OS well at work. We now have to build one more to make us a two man range and we will be done. While it required a lot of hard plate, and a full day for two men. But I foresee many years of pleasure at work over lunch breaks and rainy evenings out of the effort. I suggest all who have a bit of space to gather some parts and give it a try. Being able to shoot pistols anytime I want without burning a drop of gas will be stunning. I imagine my 2,000 round per month current rate of consumption will at least double. So its off to the reloading room to crank up the Dillon and spit out enough to keel me shooting the next few days.
Now we were to the point of having a relatively large box with top, bottom and back. So now to make the magic happen. Catch the bullets without it spitting them back out and wounding anything in the machine shop portion of the building or even worse sending shards into the two OSHA flammable liquid cabinets on either side. May regret that positioning some day but it allowed us to use entire 60 foot length of the shop, open the double French doors going into the transition area/work station going to the offices for maximum range length. This gives us a full 25 yards/75 feet. Now the project was finally beyond planning and becoming a very large conglomerate of steel forming a very heavy and large box.
So now to make and locate the strike plate or plates. We had no idea how to accomplish this in our design. The internet gave a myriad of suggested angles mostly in the 30 to 45 degree range. So working with those two numbers and browsing about 100 photos of traps on the net we played with different configurations till we found something that looked to be plausible. Two plates. One angleing down from the top and one angling up from the bottom we placed them at approximately 37 degree angles so it looked like a triangle facing into the trap with some offset and overlap so no bullets struck the back of the box without first being deflected by the strike plates. We cut and built sides with two open areas on each side to place doors to recover the fired bullets. It finally looked good so I have my welder the green light to weld it up tight. Now it was done and between a big set of hand trucks and a pallet jack we wrestled it into position.
Now it was time for the big moment and everyone eared up. I stepped to the 50 foot firing line and sent our first 22 rimfire subsonic and it felt so good I just had to follow that shot with a magdump. We went and inspected our trap. No holes, no dents and only stuffs on the catylized epoxy finish. So now to standard velocity rimfire and all was well, so next a.box of CCI Stingers let fly with same results. Our next try was with a 50 count box of 38 special cast bullet range ammo. Bang Gong, Bang Gong. Inspection showed no holes, no dents or even missing paint. Just lead spots followed by a streak that sent it into the back to disintegrate into little pieces that neatly collected in the bottom. Since I knew this was probably the project for this rainy day I had brought some additional toys. I picked up my Canadian Hi Power a friend brought back from Viet Nam where he took it off a V.C. that he shot through the head with his M1a. Said that was a Boom Splat. 50 rounds of Federal 9mm +P hollow points gave us the same result so I got my 3" 5 shot 44 special that lives under the seat of my truck and two speed loaders of ammo with same results as all others.
Now it was time to settle in. I got my compensated 45 acp IPSC pistol and 150 or so rounds of my pet 45 loads. Once again a bunch of Bang Gong and it ate them all up. Now to step it up again and I picked a 6" Dan Wesson 744VH in 44 mag and sent 50 rounds into the beast. It was more of a BOOM Goonngg! After all of this still not a dent or any missing exterior paint. We got a brick of 22lr and sent another 500 rounds into the trap. It contained every single shot effectively. Only gun I had left with ammo was my 22 Hornet rifle. So let's try a centerfire rifle albeit small. It took the Hornet well. So now were slap out of ammo. I called the wife and declaired an emergency. She brought us another 400 rounds of mixed centerfire handgun ammo which we made short work of. So a couple of thousand rounds later we had fully tested the machine up to 44 magnum and centerfire rifle. No damage at all. We opened the hatch and scraped all the lead pieces into a 5 gallon bucket to come home and through the bullet molds to be fired again. So all OS well at work. We now have to build one more to make us a two man range and we will be done. While it required a lot of hard plate, and a full day for two men. But I foresee many years of pleasure at work over lunch breaks and rainy evenings out of the effort. I suggest all who have a bit of space to gather some parts and give it a try. Being able to shoot pistols anytime I want without burning a drop of gas will be stunning. I imagine my 2,000 round per month current rate of consumption will at least double. So its off to the reloading room to crank up the Dillon and spit out enough to keel me shooting the next few days.