duct seal again

[sandpiper]

What he said. I use a sheet of cardboard. To hold the cardboard in place I drilled a few holes on opposite sides of the trap and fed insulation hanger wire into the holes, across the cardboard and into the hole on the other side. Any stiff wire would work. Replace the cardboard as needed.

Rubber mulch is generally available at all big box DIY stores. Cost is @$8 for 0.3 c.f. That is plenty to fill two traps to a depth of 4" or so.

Do pellets bounce out at all?

[breakfastchef]

Do pellets bounce out at all?

Never. I do affix target to the front of the trap backed with cardboard or foam-core board.

[John C]

What traps are people using duct seal in?  I have a beeman pellet trap, but I'd like to start using duct seal to contain the pellets better.  Can I just slap some in my current trap, or do I need a new setup?

[breakfastchef]

I found duct seal, finally, in my local Lowe's. Thanks to all that described the lower shelf location.

[sandpiper]

What traps are people using duct seal in?  I have a beeman pellet trap, but I'd like to start using duct seal to contain the pellets better.  Can I just slap some in my current trap, or do I need a new setup?

Hi John C and welcome. Most guys are making their own traps out of wood and using duct seal to grab the pellets. It's a great way to elimate bounce and keep the lead dust down.

[farrlarr]

You can actually get away with only one stick of duct seal thickness, approximately an inch, unless you have a magnum airgun.  To simplify things, I suggest that you make it two sticks thick, approximately two inches.  Few pellets will penetrate to the second inch; the advantage is that you can simply turn the whole duct seal layer over when one side gets too full of pellets (you can delay that happening by occasionally picking pellets out of the surface layer).

You can either build a wooden box to hold the duct seal (it will stick quite nicely to the wooden back board) or you can buy a large electrical junction box to hold it (the duct seal will also stick to the back of the junction box; the size of the box depends on availability, your ability to shoot accurately, your funds to buy both the junction box and enough duct seal to fill it, etc). 

[JMJinNC]

Regarding boxes for the duct seal, I've also seen old wooden desk/dresser drawers used, cheap metal cash boxes, and plastic tool boxes (the blow-molded ones that drills come in). 

Archer Airguns sells some that are very nice. I chose to make my own. I have 2 wooden traps that hold letter-size cardstock targets as well as 4" setups for field target type practice.

JMJ

[sbcrockett]

I have an unlimited supply of really dense packing foam sheets. The kind that compresses maybe a half inch when pinched. I was think that it might be useful material to stuff into a trap. What do you guys think?

[breakfastchef]

I have an unlimited supply of really dense packing foam sheets. The kind that compresses maybe a half inch when pinched. I was think that it might be useful material to stuff into a trap. What do you guys think?

I've hadd pellets bounce off foam. A loose hanging sheet or towel works better as a backdrop. You could also build a few traps when you are on paper. They are portable, too for those living-room-down-the-hall-to-the-bathroom shots.

[jdub]

I made three new ones recently.  One for my office, one for the living room, and one for my garage.  When I made these I cut a piece of metal roof flashing and used it to line the back.  Most of my guns penetrate less than 1/2" but on the off chance that pellets makes it further the metal will stop them.  I occasionally check the duct seal when I change targets.  Scrape a few pellets loose and move the putty around if a spot is getting low.  It helps if you use different types of targets that don't all have the bullesyes in the same spot.

[1377x]

nice traps!

[Fronzdan]

I'd go a few inches of the duct seal if you're shooting with anything over 800 fps and it's pretty accurate.  I can stack pellets with my Talon and I pull big wads of lead a couple inches deep into the stuff.

[BigErn]

nice traps!

X2!

[jdub]

I'd go a few inches of the duct seal if you're shooting with anything over 800 fps and it's pretty accurate.  I can stack pellets with my Talon and I pull big wads of lead a couple inches deep into the stuff.

I agree.  All of mine airguns are mild shooters and I use about an inch but if I had a magnum I'd definitely want more duct seal in there.

[BigErn]

I would go with 2" too. I shoot at 25 yards and sometimes the pellets go through the 1st block of duct seal using a .22 Trail. I found a broken safe and made a trap out of it with 2" of duct seal. Weighs a ton!