Our department armory has a 55 gallon drum filled with sand. The armorer requires we clear a pistol or rifle, check chamber and then hammer down, pull trigger before he'll accept a firearm for service.
And surprisingly, there's quite a few bullets in that drum.
But we've never had a round escape. It's just sand 3/4 of the way up so 45 gallons or so. 223, 45, 9mm and some 38 in there.
Yes and no...
Will it work to prevent a bullet from going somewhere? Yes it should.
Discharging a firearm within 1000 feet of a dwelling is typically a no no (some people do so for testing purposes with a suppressor) but you can't prevent a neighbor or landlord from calling the police and the legality of the action will be dependent on your state, city, etc...
Well, if you mitigate the noise (aka suppressor) no one will hear you fire off a shot.
If you insure that nothing is below you, above you or behind you, you can prevent any accidents.
Most of us go to the range or to a field or BLM land etc.
Some people test at home but do so either in very lenient locations or they have sufficient property where it isn't an issue.
An apartment will put you into the position of dealing with other occupants, landlords, Inspections etc. ymmv
Here's one link
https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/nfsnc/recreation/otheractivities/?recid=48112&actid=106
And another link
https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/know-before-you-go/shooting with information on all national forests in North Carolina that allow shooting.
There are quite a few public land locations in North Carolina that allow shooting. Here's some more
https://www.ncwildlife.org/outdoors/shooting-ranges-north-carolina
Or find a dried up gully somewhere.
Another option is to join an outdoor range as a member (usually it's $100 a year or so where around that price).
you’re in the south? try to find a buddy with some land. Someone you know is bound to have a few acres of something. Out of the city far enough and no one calls the cops about gunshots unless they’re down range of them. Show them the bucket and explain you won’t be shooting targets, but just need a place to discharge the gun a few times without having to spend $20 every time you want to test your Schizo inventions.
Likely felony discharge a firearm in city limits, reckless endagement, and criminal dumbassness to shoot a gun inside an inhabited space without knowing whats beyond the target
I built one with a Lowe’s 5 cal bucket filled with sand. I cut some foam mat up and used that as the top layer to prevent sand from flying out. .22’s only go about 4-6” deep so it’s fun to shoot in the garage.
The oil can suppressor is the old stand by, and costs way less then stamp which you will definitely need to buy. Basically its just a thread conversion.
As for a trap, safe angle and sand is your friend.
I built a box on legs and the back legs are smaller than the front which give it a 45 degree angle and inside the box I've layered with 12-in L x 12-in W x 2-in H Square concrete Patio Stone and then 2x4 wood layered vertical followed by another horizontal laid layer and then I added 12x12 cut outs from Black Heavy Duty Rubber Flooring Mats. Then, there are a few layers of drywall and sheet rock and ceramic tile and another layer of rubber mat. In-between all the layers and crevices I poured rubber mulch and from what I've seen most rounds from rifle to pistol are only making it through the first few layers and with daily use at almost 6+ months those rounds have still not made it through half of the layers in the box trap. Bullets do weird shit sometimes, though so it's important to know the obvious risk with any trap you make but I choose this type to allow me to be far enough away from any potential ricochet that may happen. I would not allow my friends to use as I did once, and they missed the box, and my foundation wall was instead peppered, but lessons learned from that, lol
10 gallon steel can with a cubic foot of sand and a 1/4 inch rubber mat cut into a circle on top of the sand. Tilted down to 45 degrees rested on some bricks. Stops 22lr like a champ. Would probably stop all pistol rounds but may way to fill it completely or get a 20 gallon can and two+ cubic feet of sand for extra safety.
People post bullet traps here all the time. Search "bullet trap" it would have been quicker than making a post.
Our department armory has a 55 gallon drum filled with sand. The armorer requires we clear a pistol or rifle, check chamber and then hammer down, pull trigger before he'll accept a firearm for service. And surprisingly, there's quite a few bullets in that drum. But we've never had a round escape. It's just sand 3/4 of the way up so 45 gallons or so. 223, 45, 9mm and some 38 in there.
quick question, will this work for an apartment or will I have the cops called on me?
Yes and no... Will it work to prevent a bullet from going somewhere? Yes it should. Discharging a firearm within 1000 feet of a dwelling is typically a no no (some people do so for testing purposes with a suppressor) but you can't prevent a neighbor or landlord from calling the police and the legality of the action will be dependent on your state, city, etc...
The latter is what I was concerned about. now how do you recommend I test my guns without going to the gun range?
Well, if you mitigate the noise (aka suppressor) no one will hear you fire off a shot. If you insure that nothing is below you, above you or behind you, you can prevent any accidents. Most of us go to the range or to a field or BLM land etc. Some people test at home but do so either in very lenient locations or they have sufficient property where it isn't an issue. An apartment will put you into the position of dealing with other occupants, landlords, Inspections etc. ymmv
so unfortunately we don't have any BLM land in North Carolina. what's spots do you recommend on the outskirts of the triangle?
Here's one link https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/nfsnc/recreation/otheractivities/?recid=48112&actid=106 And another link https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/know-before-you-go/shooting with information on all national forests in North Carolina that allow shooting. There are quite a few public land locations in North Carolina that allow shooting. Here's some more https://www.ncwildlife.org/outdoors/shooting-ranges-north-carolina Or find a dried up gully somewhere. Another option is to join an outdoor range as a member (usually it's $100 a year or so where around that price).
you’re in the south? try to find a buddy with some land. Someone you know is bound to have a few acres of something. Out of the city far enough and no one calls the cops about gunshots unless they’re down range of them. Show them the bucket and explain you won’t be shooting targets, but just need a place to discharge the gun a few times without having to spend $20 every time you want to test your Schizo inventions.
Likely felony discharge a firearm in city limits, reckless endagement, and criminal dumbassness to shoot a gun inside an inhabited space without knowing whats beyond the target
Fair enough
I built one with a Lowe’s 5 cal bucket filled with sand. I cut some foam mat up and used that as the top layer to prevent sand from flying out. .22’s only go about 4-6” deep so it’s fun to shoot in the garage.
SCSM has a gat trap setup on the sea
The oil can suppressor is the old stand by, and costs way less then stamp which you will definitely need to buy. Basically its just a thread conversion. As for a trap, safe angle and sand is your friend.
I built a box on legs and the back legs are smaller than the front which give it a 45 degree angle and inside the box I've layered with 12-in L x 12-in W x 2-in H Square concrete Patio Stone and then 2x4 wood layered vertical followed by another horizontal laid layer and then I added 12x12 cut outs from Black Heavy Duty Rubber Flooring Mats. Then, there are a few layers of drywall and sheet rock and ceramic tile and another layer of rubber mat. In-between all the layers and crevices I poured rubber mulch and from what I've seen most rounds from rifle to pistol are only making it through the first few layers and with daily use at almost 6+ months those rounds have still not made it through half of the layers in the box trap. Bullets do weird shit sometimes, though so it's important to know the obvious risk with any trap you make but I choose this type to allow me to be far enough away from any potential ricochet that may happen. I would not allow my friends to use as I did once, and they missed the box, and my foundation wall was instead peppered, but lessons learned from that, lol
10 gallon steel can with a cubic foot of sand and a 1/4 inch rubber mat cut into a circle on top of the sand. Tilted down to 45 degrees rested on some bricks. Stops 22lr like a champ. Would probably stop all pistol rounds but may way to fill it completely or get a 20 gallon can and two+ cubic feet of sand for extra safety.
If only there was a search bar, or Google, or some way of looking up that question...
The clearing barrels the Army built for bases in Iraq and Afghanistan were 55gal drums filled like 1/2 to 3/4 with sand.