TargetTalk

Hello everyone. I'm planning to set up a shooting range for a 10m air pistol in my basement, which has a cinder block wall and unfinished ceiling. I'm looking for recommendations for a metal trap and how to protect the wall. My budget is around $300-$500. I'm also saving up for the SCATT W2.

As far as a pellet trap you can get one of those Champion .22lr bullet traps or just make one. To make your range semi modern get a Wyze camera of Amazon for about $30. Get it up close to your target and sync it up to your iPad on your shooting stand. That will give you a real time view of you shot. Next get the TargetScan app.

Don't forget to add a lot of "ambient" lighting. Shooting ranges are way brighter than any normal home/basement. Just pointing a light at the target won't do because your eye still adapts to the overall room and the sight picture will be wildly different to what you see on a range.

Very easy and affordable, Rubber chip mulch, (shredded auto tires), at Walmart off season price approx $3/bag.
Fill a carboard box with this.
Or fill a cardboard box with many layers of cardboard.
Both these method are very quiet, as the pellet is not hitting a steel plate. With minimalized pellet deformity= less mess.

I built a pellet trap using a sheet metal backer and wood frame mounted on a large sheet of plywood (to stop any fliers). The metal backer is covered with a layer of duct seal putty, which muffles the noise and traps most of the pellets. I made a frame from channel aluminum to hold targets, and the stiff Kruger cards drop in and out nicely and stay flat (highly recommend these targets).

I also attached an aluminum BBQ pan to catch pellets that fall,

As mentioned lighting is important. A LED shop-light works well.

https://postimg.cc/zVPZP5yP

Take one piece of 1” x 4” x 8’ lumber.
Cut into 8 pieces 12” long.
Four for the sides and four for the back.
Paint.
Add a clip to hold your target.
Put in a few pounds of Duct Seal (electrical section of your hardware store).
Absolutely quiet.
After about 5000 shots discard (consider the environment) the duct seal, add new and start shooting again.

Note: The one pictured has an added area to catch pellets that bounce back..

Duct seal is expensive but the whole package is around $75.00

Cardboard box filled with rags. Recycle the boxes, re-use the rags. Costs nothing.

One thing to consider is lead dust. Any trap that uses a hard surface to stop the pellets will produce a certain amount of lead dust. If you have it in your basement & don't have small children wandering around, it's probably OK. The advantage of the rags or ductseal traps is that they keep the lead dust to a minimum. The rags will stop the pellets, and depending on how many are left embedded in the fabric, most of them will drop down to the bottom of the trap. That lead can be collected, and disposed of safely (like giving it to a bullet caster). The pellets stuck in ductseal are a lot harder to retrieve cleanly. If you are a good shot, the pellets can stack up and start fragmenting when they hit each other. You can minimize this by making the trap oversized, and moving the target around.

Go with the box o' rags. The more you shoot, the better it works. No dust, no paper, no noise.

When you're sick of it....trash it, make another using your racing striped underwear (or your wife's).

Thank you so much for the great ideas! I plan to finish this project by the mid-October. Today, I added ambient lighting and an outlet. I am going to buy a 2k camera later this week.

Here's a video on a rag trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cxpVHwiVUQ

I've used terrycloth towels in the past, and they do tend to catch and hold the pellets more than fabric like old blue jeans.

There are also several people using rubber mulch for traps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0AFyRyQJdc

I think the rubber mulch is probably a bit messier to work with when cleaning out spent pellets.

Yes.
I forgot about rubber mulch.
I use large Priority Mail boxes from USPS.
Mulch from Home Depot .
When shooting use duct tape from time to time to cover the holes.
When box can no longer be shot dump everything into a large bucket.
I use my empty shop vac.
Fill with water and the rubber floats to the top and be scooped out.
The pellets are at the bottom to be re-cycled.

Since this is semi-permanent set up a Scatt USB or WS1 might be a much cheaper and easier to use option than the MX-W2 (or MX-02). The sensor on the USB and WS1 is much lighter and less bulky than the MX-W2 making it easier to use with air pistol. Just throw a Scatt Protect over the frame and you can live fire pellets just fine. The camera on the MX-W2 can be a bit finicky with the lighting as well.

Porch Pirate the neighbor's Amazon package. Shoot it up for a week, then return it to their porch; film their reaction, put that on YouTube.

Over the years I have made several fancy pellet traps (I am a woodworker with plenty of tools) that consisted of metal back plates, hanging multiple leather baffles and putty.

Then... I finally listened to the most seasoned contributor on this site and I went with a simple box of rags. During the year I save any clothe, towels or bedding that is on its way out and stuff it in an 8" or deeper Amazon box and shoot away.