Roger's postal match got me thinking about building a trap for my shop. My plan all along when I built my shop was to build a little range in there. What I have is not really suitable for anyone but me shooting in there but should keep me shooting through the winter.

I post this because I think the design might be good for a small home range outdoors too, with a piece of metal roofing over the top. The trap is a 2x12 frame, I put a piece of 8 ga steel on the back, thick conveyor belting on the front, and filled with rubber mulch. I have shot maybe 100 shots at it so far. I dug some of the bullets out and they seem to wind up about 5" into the rubber. The nice thing is that it is very clean since the bullets tend not to splatter against anything. I got the idea from the trap that WVU used to have. Same design idea but commercially made and large. Thousands of rounds would be shot into the thing and the belting tends to hold up well. What comes out is nearly hole bullets.

My shop is in the middle of 30 acres, mostly woods, if I miss the trap the bullet would likely get out but I don't have little ones running around now and I plan to shoot mostly at night so there is not much risk.

I made a trap with a 14" sq opening that is in the shape of a snail with an 8" dia pipe I cut an opening in to do the final stop on the bullet. The bottom of the pipe was left open and I placed a tray under it to catch the bullets when they fell. Worked great until some dumb SOB shot a 45 at it. Not everyone I know is bright.

I experimented with a similar design myself. I think the splatter from a bullet hitting a steel plate makes a lot of lead dust indoors though.

pdeal. Is the trap 12" deep and do you fill it with mulch by removing the top?

2x12's are really 11-1/2" wide so really 11-1/2" deep. The top is open and I just cut a piece of 1/2" plywood to sit on top that lays there. Then filled to the top with rubber mulch. Mine took about 2 .8 cu ft bags. Steel on the back. Mine is all built with crap I had laying around.

Thanks pdeal. I like your design, it's simple. I have a standard design trap made from T-1---way overkill, but no matter how I seal it, I still get dust and splatter---with air rifles. I don't have 50' in my garage to shoot Roger's postal---only 45', but I do shoot some winter air rifle postals and I think I will make one like yours to try this year. Thanks again for posting and the info.