Bullet Trap for my eldest grandson....

[Boot71]

One of my grandson's turned 9 last weekend.....his super cool Pawpaw gave him a new Henry youth 22, and 1k 22lr.
Said Pawpaw likes to tinker in the shop a bit, and I decided I'd build him a bullet trap, as he can shoot in the back yard at home.
Entire body is built from 3/16 cold rolled steel plate, added small bars across the bottom to keep its shape, a couple handles, and studs to hang the mudflap from.
The front opening/mudflap is 24"w X 36" H. Self adhesive targets stick right to the heavy duty mudflap, which should keep any fragments inside the trap.
I figure no rimfire rounds will be a problem against the 3/16" plate, which is angled at around a 40 degree slope to herd his bullets into the ground. Whenever he wears the mudflap out....a quick trip to Napa will make it new again. Definitely a 2 man operation to move this thing......it's got a little heft after I got it put together.
Y'all think it'll work for a 25yd rimfire trap?

 

[CQB27]

Will work fine for .22lr

Pawpaw for the WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jack Rabbit]

Will the 22lr penetrate the mud flap ?

 

[Boot71]

Will the 22lr penetrate the mud flap ?

CCI std velocity from a 16" barrel should, I'd think.......
I'm taking it to him this afternoon for a test drive.....and will report back.

 

[THREEJAYS]

Looks great

 

[10thmountain]

Thats a neat thing you did for him!

 

[lostchild]

Looks good, but don’t know that I’d trust a 9 yo to reliably keep bullets in that small an area.

 

[Boot71]

Looks good, but don’t know that I’d trust a 9 yo to reliably keep bullets in that small an area.

An average 9yo...... maybe not.
My grandson however, is already an accomplished deer hunter, and a reasonable marksman.
When he was born, I got him a Ruger stainless 10-22td, and a matching stainless Single Six convertible. He enjoys 9mm carbine and 300bo as well. He's been shooting since he could reach the trigger.......and has a pretty good grasp of what bullets do, from skinning/cleaning chores in deer camp.
He's always supervised, and this bullet trap is much larger than his typical spread........
If by some chance he does miss it completely, it's a thousand yards of nothing behind it. Just woods.......
More of a tinkering project for me (it's therapeutic for old guys like me I reckon) and teaching him to be responsible for the discharged rounds, even if he knows its just empty woods behind a worn out log backstop.

 

[ADAduckhuntr]

Awesome project!

 

[Boot71]

Well, happy to report the bullet trap worked even better than anticipated. My grandson likes it, and he ran several boxes of 22 through his new Henry.
He kept em rollin' in there. The 22's did zero damage to the plate......only smeared lead where they hit.
Boys being boys.....my son in law and I got to wondering what that angled 3/16 plate would take, and the grandson wanted to try Pawpaw's pocket pistol......

He made a fine showing with the Glock 42 using 100gr FMJ.....
The 380 knocked some scale off of the plate, but no dents/damage after a couple mags.....
Decided to up the ante a little bit....

My son in law got his Glock 19, and the 115gr FMJ also knocked a little scale off the plate, but left no dents/divots or damage. Surprisingly, I couldn't tell much difference between the 380 impacts and the 9mm impacts.
Of course the inside of the trap was littered with little lead mushrooms, but no jackets or fragments made it out.....

My grandson got to test drive his new Henry, and I got to hang out with him while he did it. Today was a good day.