Pellet Trap Maintenance

Lenny · Post by **Lenny** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:55 pm

I have a wooden box pellet trap with 2" of electrician's putty. I shoot air rifle at twelve bull target. After 2 years of use some of the holes are getting too deep and my concern is pellets penetrating the backing. What's the best way to maintain these traps? Dig out most of the pellets and fill the holes or leave imbedded pellets where they are and fill the holes?

sbrmike · Post by **sbrmike** » Wed May 02, 2012 7:06 am

The best bet is to have at least 16 ga steel with 3/8" plywood behind that; The pellets hit the steel, flatten out an fall straight down.

Brian M · Post by **Brian M** » Wed May 02, 2012 7:35 am

sbrmike wrote:The best bet is to have at least 16 ga steel with 3/8" plywood behind that; The pellets hit the steel, flatten out an fall straight down.

Wow, that's REALLY helpful *SIC* to someone with a putty based silent trap.

Lenny, personally I pick out the BIG chunks and then fill in the holes. The first time I did this, I just tried to smush the existing DuctSeal back into the hole, but that didn't work so well. I ended up taking another brick of the stuff and adding it on top. That made "mounds", but subsequent cleanings are quick and easy. I might have to do it again in the future as either the material is compacted, or falls away with the scrap pellets and I have less and less mound with which to fill in the hole again.

justadude · Post by **justadude** » Wed May 02, 2012 7:52 am

I use Brian Ms approach.

I have a trap that takes the 12 bull target. When I first built it I doubled the thickness of the Duct Seal right where the pellets impact. Probably every 2500 pellets or so I go in, dig out the wads of lead and build up with fresh Duct Seal.

'Dude

Lenny · Post by **Lenny** » Wed May 02, 2012 8:30 am

Thanks guys. I have plenty of extra electrician's putty. Got a good deal on ebay. I will take the chunks of lead out and fill the holes.

sbrmike · Post by **sbrmike** » Wed May 02, 2012 11:09 am

Well it actually is good advice. The OP was worried about penetrating his backer. Put your silencing putty in front of the steel if you want to. Safety First. 16 ga steel with 3/8 pltwood is a proven backer.

Brian M wrote:
sbrmike wrote:The best bet is to have at least 16 ga steel with 3/8" plywood behind that; The pellets hit the steel, flatten out an fall straight down.
Wow, that's REALLY helpful *SIC* to someone with a putty based silent trap.

Lenny, personally I pick out the BIG chunks and then fill in the holes. The first time I did this, I just tried to smush the existing DuctSeal back into the hole, but that didn't work so well. I ended up taking another brick of the stuff and adding it on top. That made "mounds", but subsequent cleanings are quick and easy. I might have to do it again in the future as either the material is compacted, or falls away with the scrap pellets and I have less and less mound with which to fill in the hole again.

WRL · Post by **WRL** » Wed May 02, 2012 8:29 pm

For my homemaid wooden pellet trap I made the backer out of a piece of 1/2 inch thick rubber-like material that came from a rock quarry conveyer belt. I think it is kevlar. We use this at our gunclub for target backers. A pellet will not put even a dint in this material and there is no clang when a pellet hits it, but I think that a straight on pellet hit will bounce straight back. 9MM rounds will not penetrate this backing. I put duct seal on the rubber backing. The duct seal sticks on the rubber backing same as wood. I have the same issue with digging out pellets and replacing the duct seal. I am thinking about building a pellet trap with a slanted backing of this rubber material to deflect pellets downward with some kind of box at the bottom to catch the pellets to see whether it is workable and I can do away with using duct seal.

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Wed May 02, 2012 9:13 pm

We've discussed this pellet trap business before.

Simply use a box of rags. The more you use it the better it works, and you will never shoot through it.

When you can't bear to put another shot into it (maybe three or four sleeves), throw it away and make another box of rags.

nester · Post by **nester** » Thu May 03, 2012 12:28 pm

A question - can it be made a "gentle" trap - which would not destroy the pellet - something like think carpet hanging on the top - so it would accept the impact and just drop the pellet without smashing it.
My concern is that I don't want lead dust.. My wife would not sign off such project ;)

Will conveyer belt do that?

GaryN · Post by **GaryN** » Thu May 03, 2012 4:03 pm

Nester
The duct seal material will do that. Then when the lead pellets stack up, it is soft lead pellet hitting soft lead pellets.

The lead dust comes when the pellet splatters against a hard backstop, like plate steel.