How Bullet Traps Work

[Lane]

I was visiting with a new customer today who happens to manufacture all things for indoor shooting ranges: bullet traps, air handling, target carriers, etc. After our meeting I asked for tour, and they showed us how the traps are made. This is a side view of the trap:



At the trap end of the range, the "floor" and "ceiling" are made of of super hardened steel (these guys are the second largest user of this type of steel. US Navy is the largest). They come together to make a funnel that leads to the trap - in this picture the bullet would enter in the top right, go round and round counter clockwise, then fall out the bottom. I've always wondered how these work. I thought it was pretty neat. They also manufacture all sorts of portable reactive steel targets as well as full blown "houses" for military and LEO training. The house has reinforced walls and catwalks above for the instructors.

Lane

[Caleb]

Thanks for sharring, always wondered myself.

[captainpalace]

The range I work at on weekends has the same setup, most likely by the same manufacturer.
At the bottom of the Decelerator, the projectiles are caught in a trough with an auger bit that runs every few hours to move all the lead to a collection area where it is stored until we send it out for recycling.

Click the link in my signature and you can see the range from the back in the tab called "The Facility"

[sdmc530]

that is cool...now don't try to make one for home use!