TargetTalk

I'm setting up a 10M range in my hallway at home and have made a pellet trap from a steel electrical junction box filled with duct seal putty. I tape paper targets to a piece of cardboard mounted to the front of the box. The box is mounted on a stand at one end of the hallway.

My wife is concerned that I'll miss the pellet trap completely and shoot into the walls or a door behind the trap. I was thinking of finding a carpet remnant and hanging it behind the pellet trap to catch stray shots. Will a piece of carpet used in this manner stop a pellet fired from an air pistol or a 10M air rifle? The carpet doesn't have to catch all pellets fired downrange, just those unlucky misses.

I dont like carpet..... I DO like canvas tarps hanging in front of my garage door. Much better in my experience. I do fold them a few times to make them fit and the increased thickness is an added bonus.

JerryX wrote:My wife is concerned that I'll miss the pellet trap completely and shoot into the walls or a door behind the trap.

The short answer is no. You will need multiple layers of carpet to do it. You are better off putting temporary wooden boards around the back. I put multiple wooden board as backstop for my roommate when she plays with my air pistol, because she still sometimes misses the pellet box.

JerryX wrote:...I was thinking of finding a carpet remnant and hanging it behind the pellet trap to catch stray shots. Will a piece of carpet used in this manner stop a pellet fired from an air pistol or a 10M air rifle? The carpet doesn't have to catch all pellets fired downrange, just those unlucky misses.

I've used short-pile carpet for years with no problems. Just let it hang free at the base so it can move with pellet impact and absorb the energy. Carpet density varies, so test it.

I've always rather enjoyed shooting holes in the walls.

A good dense carpet should stop stray shots, but not repeated ones. If you miss in a repeatable fashion (like jerking a shot at 7:00), you need a couple layers or another backer. I have used 1" thick insulation foam over plywood. The plywood will stop the shot, and the foam prevents it from ricocheting.

Ballistic nylon will stop pellets as well. I even use a couple layers hanging in my pellet trap (not as quiet as I had hoped).

In my experience - nope. Unless you tack the carpet to a piece of plywood ...

Roger

I read an account once of how a fellow got his father-in-law into air pistol shooting. This competitive shooter had set up a very small trap (about 4" x 4" or something) on a heavy wooden outside door and was shooting at it down the entry hallway with reduced targets on putty. His father-in-law was freaked out, not only because of concerns about a pellet going through this heavy oak door but because he was staunchly anti-gun in his sentiments. So the shooter handed his pistol to the older gentleman and had him stand about 1 metre from the target and shoot at a circle about the size of a quarter. Had him do this a few times. Then he had him step back once and repeat, and so on. By the time he'd backed up to 7 metres, the older shooter was almost unable to miss the ~1" target, his worries were resolved, and he went on to order an air pistol for himself.

I'd suggest that if you're ever coming anywhere near the outer edge of your target paper, you might want to try getting yourself closer and shooting for a while at that range, then backing up gradually while all the time keeping your worst shots in the 8 ring, or whatever your standard might be. But if anything's hitting outside the 1 ring, anything at all, you're too far from your practice target. No backdrop should be necessary for home practice. I can understand it for a club or competition venue as of course there will be a range of shooters with different skill levels, from no experience at all and tending to hit the plywood or other trap surround, through to those who rarely hit worse than a 9. But at home it's just you or family/friends, and you can manage the position of the firing line relative to the target to eliminate any danger of missing the trap.

The American Legion I shoot at has carpet between the target trees, in case someone misses the boxes. If I load a backwards pellet (in Sporter, it's easy. No cone breaches) I'll shoot into the carpet. No pellet has gone through.

A dense carpet with a heavy backing, commercial carpet should do fine for stopping stray shots.
A wood board would be best.

Use one of these better than putty , made from used pellets & projectiles melted down to form a ,10mm thick/ 150mm sq lead plate .
Will stop pellets & you wont even hear it hitting plate , the pellets build up on plate and you can just peal them off.
Cheers S

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