Advise on Bullet Backstop

Tenmilephenom · 03-25-2008, 07:02 PM

Hey guys i got a problem with all my trees getting shot up. We do alot of shooting at camp with no backstop to stop or catch the bullets. Where we are we cant get equipment in to haul dirt or sand so we're kind of limited. Anyone have any ideas what we can make to stop our lead and save our trees!!

Kerry

4 Buck · 03-25-2008, 07:11 PM

Go to a real rifle range......

cayugad · 03-25-2008, 07:16 PM

can you drive a post in the ground.. put an old tire over that, fill it with sand, another tire more sand, etc...

I had the same problem to I had a friend weld up 3/4 steel plate and I put two post in the ground and then hung them on those posts.. The lead hits the steel, splatters, but the trees are spared. I actually shot a road through my property because of all the trees I knocked down.

The best back stop has to be a dirt mound but like you said, you can not get it back there to mound it up. When I was first shooting I cut logs six feet long and stacked them and then shot into the stack of logs.. That worked pretty good. It was trees that were going to fall down anyway because of being shot up.

Tenmilephenom · 03-25-2008, 07:31 PM

Thanks Dave- I saw one like that(the logs) at my friends camp. He actually had 2 rows of them with one staggered behind the other. Looked like it worked.

Noticed 4buck didnt stay on long after his SM As comment

Semisane · 03-25-2008, 07:40 PM

If you can lay in a supply of sandbags (grain sacks?) and fill them off site, everyone in camp could haula bag or two or three everytime they go. Eventually, you'll have a pretty good pile of soil.

Tenmilephenom · 03-25-2008, 07:46 PM

Semi thats a good Idea too. You and dave got the best ideasso far. We can get 4 wheelers in with atrailer so hauling sand that way could be done. A few hours and a little sweat and beer and anything can happen. Thanks Guys

alleyyooper · 03-26-2008, 06:49 AM

I use old pickup tires at our range at deer camp filled with sand, no post required.
Here at home I have old car tires filled with sand also no post required.
Some one said that they knew some one who had some bullets bounce back useing tires so I will put in the Disclaimer.

You should never be closer than 25 yards from a tire back stop.

You must also make sure the tire is completely full of sand

You must always use enough charge to push the bullets thru the tire belting.
[

]Always make sure there enough holes in the tires that they don't disappear.
Yup I had a back stop taken from deer camp. I guess some one wanted some used tires for some thing.
I drilled a 1 1/8 hole in the side walls of the lattesttires at deer camp. They have been there for 5 years now.

Al

johnny2 · 03-26-2008, 10:11 AM

You wanna watch them bullets might and will come back at you off them tires..
Things like wadcutters are deadly..I know of a policeman that lost an eye from
a wadcutter coming back..22 shells are notted for it as well..Beebees are a bitch
so watch out there..Just my 1/2 nickle worth..

cayugad · 03-26-2008, 12:08 PM

this was my very first bullet backstop. And it worked real good mind you. It was just a mess. It was amazing how a muzzleloader was basically eating a hole through six feet of logs...

When the logs started to let a few slip through, and I wanted to collect the lead.. this was my second attempt at stopping a muzzleloader. I built the frame from old decking material, lined the back with steel plate, and then a ATV tire inside filled with sand. The tire did stop the bullets for the most part, and those that glanced off were stopped by the steel plate. The problem was, the tire soon became a mess of wires, steel, and the tire was turned three times. Also the quality of lead it was stopping was not that great.

Then I removed the tire and filled the box with sand. Again, a good trap, but retrieving the lead was a pain. Also I did not like the location of the trap on the edge of my yard and wanted more distance...

This is the latest trap. Those are 3/4 inch steel plate. The are the blade shoe off heavy equipment. I cut them to length, welded chunks of pipe to the back of each, and then they are set on a steel rod. As you can see the trouble here is once they got snow bound, the muzzleloader power actually started to move them to one side. So in the spring all of this has to be reset. Not a big problem as I will straighten it, with with the ATV. This trap does stop muzzleloaders, but you do not recover much lead. Since I suddenly got all the lead I will ever need.. that is not a problem or need, to go and pick lead.

The PVC target hanger I build out of 3/4 inch PVC. It can be moved very easy, as it comes apart. Of course it is now snowbound as well.. so I wait for the big thaw... The road leading through the woods was cut out by muzzleloader shooting. I went in with the Husqvarna power saw and cut out all shot trees. They became firewood and my new shooting lane was born. I someday suspect it will be moved back to the large brush pile you can see another 60 yards or so behind it... But until them I keep on shooting.

Actually this spring I might borrow my friends Bobcat and have some nice sand delivered. Then I can do some chores around the house and use that Bobcat to make a dirt pile I can shoot into and all that steel will be used somewhere else for another one of my hair brained projects...

TimberCreek · 03-26-2008, 09:32 PM

4 T posts driven into ground then stack logs. Cables across top to keep T posts from spreading.