Recycled rubber mulch to trap bullets

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Anyone tried using recycled rubber mulch to trap bullets?

I have seen several youtube videos of trash can/55 gallon drums filled with recycled rubber mulch that trapped pistol and some rifle bullets.

Lowe's has 0.8 cu ft bag for $3.47 and seems like a feasible project - http://www.lowes.com/pd_547418-23132-201651_0__?productId=50065993

Here's a video that trapped pistol bullets to 18 inches and 147 gr .300 BLK bullet at 20 inches - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7WWQqmDOac

Looks like a good way to trap bullets to melt and recast?
 
At many us navy indoor ranges rubber "mulch" comprises the backstop it is mainly shredded tires, works very well. I have shot a few k 5.56 into it
 
Yes. I made a plywood box with bolted on 2x6 legs"box" and filled it with the mulch you speak of. It works well I put a sacrificial piece of plywood in the front that would slide in and out.
Only problem was hauling it to the range and back. Was hard for one guy to set up alone.

It is a semi private range (we pay dues) and I could not leave it there as the "board" would not let me or lock it in a storage building. Even if I did I am sure it would get legs and disappear.:(:(

On another forum and guy that lived on a farm made one that was on wheels and he could tow it with his tractor. It also had a back plate of steel sloped at an angle. The bullets would fall to the bottom. It was great thread but the pictures have been removed.

As mentioned above, some professional indoor ranges use strips of recycled tires as bullet stops, the bullet travels though hanging strips and then into the mulch.
 
Rule3 said:
guy that lived on a farm made one that was on wheels and he could tow it with his tractor.
Click to expand...
You are giving me ideas ... I could make several that could be easily loaded on/off the trailer and simply tow them to the shooting area.

Thanks!!!
 
I tried it using an old propane bottle with the top cut off. Worked well. The only problem is finding a cover material that is self healing so you don't loose the mulch. When ever I move to the country for good I will make something more perminate so I can recycle the lead. Some of the bullets that I recovered only had rifling grooves and no other damage.
 
The range I belong to just replaced the backstop with rubber mulch the chunks
are fairly thick 3in square average but there is a mix of shapes and not sure
how deep seems to be working just fine so well they raised to velocity restriction
 
I used rubber mulch in a few areas for landscaping. Each instance cost me almost $800 to do each. This stuff is NOT cheap. Better to fill your drum with sand or simply dirt
 
Rollis R. Karvellis said:
I, have used rubber landscaping mulch in banker boxes. Two will stop a .44mag. at 10 yard's, but I, prefer two use three just in case.
Click to expand...
Nice. That's good info. Thanks.

oneounceload said:
I used rubber mulch in a few areas for landscaping ... This stuff is NOT cheap.
Click to expand...
At $3.47 for 0.8 cu ft, I can afford to fill 2-3 banker boxes or similar sized containers.
 
I like the idea except for the possibility of a stray bullet exiting at an angle with a plastic,wood box?
A thin sheet of metal would make me feel better?
Maybe I'm just exaggerating the issue??

Any ideas?

I kind of like the idea for a quick function test indoors?

TxD
 
I will be shooting outdoors at a designated shooting area so if any bullets exited the bullet trap, it would be OK.

TexasDon said:
I kind of like the idea for a quick function test indoors?
Click to expand...
Hmmmm ... You are giving me more ideas :D

Thanks!
 
bds said:
You are giving me ideas ... I could make several that could be easily loaded on/off the trailer and simply tow them to the shooting area.

Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

Kinda like this one. The front slot is the "sacrifice" you can slide in new pieces of wood when it gets to blown apart. This is not the thread I was looking for but just Google and you find lots of them, If you have to move it than sand is to heavy. For handguns a dense layer of the rubber mulch will stop most calibers, The steel plate is added insurance but if used at a range or in front of a berm, you do not need it even if a bullet escapes, I used only 1/2 ply as I wanted it light and just to hold the mulch It was an experiment for me, I really do not want to cast bullets. To hot down here to begin with,!.


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?188071-DIY-bullet-trap-Capture-your-lead


Here ya go this is the one I was looking for!!

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/99317-bullet-trap.html
 
For the front use a piece of rubber conveyer belt or maybe a large truck mud flap. The conveyer belt has layers of belting in it and holds up real well. Put a piece of card board with your target on it on the front of the rubber and you have everything in one piece.
 
I use a plywood box, which is probably 24" x 24" x 30". I use a rubber paver in the front and rear of the box, with plywood behind the rear paver. The box is filled with rubber mulch. I empty it in 5 gallon pails with a oval ice cream container after shooting, so I can lift it easy. I think it probably holds three buckets. I have yet to have anything shoot through it from a 32 ACP, all the way up to a 45/70 and 30-06 at 2150 FPS. I shoot only cast, so this allows me to recover all of my lead and re-use it.

Nothing really seems to make a mark in the rear rubber paver, but the rifle bullets are all mushroomed out, so who knows. The front rubber paver eventually will need to be replace, but you will get a lot of shots out of it.

This does work pretty slick. I personally would not use metal of any kind as a backing, as I want to recover the bullets and see what they are doing. Otherwise, I suspect they would fragment and would be harder to recover the lead. If you are shooting jacketed, you will most likely need the metal.
 
An indoor commercial range here recently upgraded part of their regular steel deflector bullet trap to handle rifle calibers. They just converted it into an open bin of rubber. It stops the bullets but tends to throw the rubber around.
Closed front traps with a sacrificial front piece avoid that, but would be too much trouble for a busy rental range.
 
I built one as a proof of concept, using a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket with a 1/2" piece of plywood circle cut out to fit in the bottom. It was filled with compacted (as best I could manage by hand) rubber mulch and a lid installed with a rubber mallet.

I put it on it's side and shot at the lid with the target taped onto the lid. It worked well but the bullets took the path of least resistance and once in a while exited out the side of the bucket at an angle towards the backstop. I limited it's use to .22 long rifle, .45 Auto and .40 S&W target loads and I didn't experience any bullets exit through the bottom/back plywood shooting at 15 yards. The bucket lasted about two lids worth before needing too many duct tape repairs.

I should mention that I and the teenage shooters didnt always hit center of mass either, and this may have something to do with the bullet exit trajectory :)

I need to find an easier way to sift the bullets out of the mulch, because doing it by hand was time consuming. If I make another one, it will be larger and I would either make it out of something stronger than a plastic bucket or lining the inside with something.

Sounds like some of you are way ahead of me and my test!

H1
 
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I kind of like the idea for a quick function test indoors?
Click to expand...

A 55 gal drum filled with sand is IMHO better for this if you don't do it often enough to buy one of the "snail" gunsmith bullet traps instead.

If you've got a source, used (retired) conveyor belts make one of the best "sacrificial" cover materials.
 
After shooting take the much and drop it into a bucket of water. The rubber will float, and the metals will sink. Skim all the rubber off the top, it can take a little time but the result is well worth it.
 
That was what I was thinking PH when I put it together. I've collected about 34 lbs from my range so far (some of it using the now retired bucket trap and the rest by mining). Melted them into ingots for my next "money saving" hobby (riiiiight!). Thanks for the tip on the lead separation Rollis.
 
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Maybe an old file cabinet filled with rubber would work for a boolit trap ??? just thinking, 2nd hand store? Shoot it till it's full take the lead and rubber out recycle it and then get a new (used) one.
CC
 
I used plastic tote boxes, with the same results as the 5 gallon pail above. They worked great, but sometimes in the cold, they would shatter. The plywood does work out pretty nice and does not shatter. I was wasting a lot of lead before I made this!
 
No Tracers in the rubber mulch please! :D

We had a city rubber mulch playground here in town a vandal set on fire, and it took most of a day for the FD to get it all put out!

Rc
 
My idea about adding a sheet of metal on the sides was to keep any deflected bullets from coming out the sides and maybe doing something I wouldn't want.
That does not mean the bottom and top has to have metal. That direction is OK , as long as it's not in my direction. I doubt the bullet will deflect enough to come back out the top or entry side. Although I have had bullets buzz by my head after hitting stationary metal targets..!!!!( I don't shoot at them any longer :uhoh: )
Whatever others are making them from wood/plastic drum...just have metal on sides.

I too am getting excited about the idea.
I just may make one for the back of my shop to hot function test guns, or just for a new round I want to "check out"..!!:cool:
That way I don't have to walk the 100' to my test area.:)


TxD
 
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