I have a seven year old daughter and am married to a pediatrician so I kind of need to find an answer to this sooner or later.
I figure one option is to shoot lead free pellets but that severely limits my pellet selection.
My shooting area is my front porch which makes a nice alley shooting out into the open side yard into the woods (no neighbors). I've been shooting into packed cardboard boxes which retain maybe 50% of my pellets. I know my wife is eventually going to have a problem with lead pellets landing and building up over time in the yard where Rose might play.
I have an idea for a heavy plywood backstop with a foam filled box in front made of mdf. The mdf would be screwed on and considered a consumable over time. I'm thinking big enough to hang six targets. My goal here would be to capture nearly all of the pellets inside. If foam doesn't slow em down enough I could try that putty stuff. But at some point when the target box is full, then what, how do you dispose of the lead?
Thanks,
-AJ
If shooting outside, I tend to return lead back where it is naturally found - into the ground. Pellets shot indoors are periodically vacuumed up and tossed in the garbage.
Lead got a bad rap years ago when we realized you should not eat it or breath in the dust. Treat it with some common sense and it can be quite safe.
Build or buy yourself a steel pellet trap. Not as quiet, but far easier to clean out, and will last a lifetime if you don't cheap out.
Built mine...cost me ~$63 each + my time. Made two while I was at it. They are a modified "snail" trap, and drop spent lead into dollar store cookie sheets for easy collection.
Once collected, you can do interesting things with it....
(http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg76/gippeto_album/High%20pressure%20co-ax/Slugs.jpg) (http://s245.photobucket.com/user/gippeto_album/media/High%20pressure%20co-ax/Slugs.jpg.html)
Al
Edited for schpellung...because some dimwit couldn't spell quiet correctly. :( ;)
Cool stuff Al 8) Looks like the Mr and Mrs Pellet family ;D
Quote from: WyoMan on July 06, 2013, 05:59:15 PM
Cool stuff Al 8) Looks like the Mr and Mrs Pellet family ;D
Sure does :) Mama has a nice waistline too :-*
I sprinkle them on my wheaties and eat them for breakfast.
Quote from: crossliner on July 07, 2013, 01:30:20 AM
Sure does :) Mama has a nice waistline too :-*
:D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I save my to melt down to made fishing weights. :)
Quote from: crossliner on July 07, 2013, 01:30:20 AM
Sure does :) Mama has a nice waistline too :-*
She's got "breeder hips".
Quote from: Trophyhunter49 on July 07, 2013, 03:04:31 AM
I save my to melt down to made fishing weights. :)
Me too!! Then I spray them BLK cause they tend to be super shiny and shiny things get eaten in the ocean. :o :o :o
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/CWLONGSHOT/FISHING/The%20Rocking%20Chair/9F9CA40B-58A8-49ED-BD76-E4304B1DC835-8271-000010D4DD49A051.jpg)
CW
Both the duct seal trap and the steel trap will catch everything, with the putty trap being much quieter and trapping all of the lead. Steel sometimes splatters the pellet and you can get lead "dust". Cleaning the putty is a pain, but not that bad. It holds a lot and a pair of needle nose pliers and an hour every once in a while is all it takes.
I just toss the pile of lead and putty remnants in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash.
Quote from: Fronzdan on July 07, 2013, 04:12:03 PM
Both the duct seal trap and the steel trap will catch everything, with the putty trap being much quieter and trapping all of the lead. Steel sometimes splatters the pellet and you can get lead "dust". Cleaning the putty is a pain, but not that bad. It holds a lot and a pair of needle nose pliers and an hour every once in a while is all it takes.
I just toss the pile of lead and putty remnants in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash.
your throwing lead away? I'll take it.
Can you use pellet lead for powder burner bullets? I guess I could give into someone who molds their own.
I have some lead to give but with the weight, the shipping rate would be huge.
Quote from: Tater on July 08, 2013, 06:26:21 AM
I have some lead to give but with the weight, the shipping rate would be huge.
NO SO!! Simply Use Flat rate USPS boxes!!! GREAT for shipping lead!!! :P :P :P :P :P
CW
"But at some point when the target box is full, then what, how do you dispose of the lead?"
Agree with other posts, if you do not reload for powder burners, makes wonderful friends with someone who does!
I remember that when I was a boy (2 or 3 years ago....), i used to melt plumbing lead and pour it into water: after the smoke went away i had great sculptures!
Waiting to get much lead from my pellets to try that again!
PLEASE, SAFETY FIRST: DONT'TRY THIS IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!
Quote from: T191032 on July 08, 2013, 01:52:43 PM
"But at some point when the target box is full, then what, how do you dispose of the lead?"
Agree with other posts, if you do not reload for powder burners, makes wonderful friends with someone who does!
I'll take it. And I'll take the wheel weights off your car too, if they are lead.
I shall henceforth start saving pellet lead!
Build a 1/2" thick plywood box but... line it with (at least) 20 gage (.0359" ) sheet steel and you will never have to worry about "eating" up the plywood over time.
Also, make a curtain rod type device inside the box to hold a piece of heavy carpet (noise killer and pellet velocity killer) that hangs about 3" away from the backstop surface and is the same size as the interior dims of the box. You want this to hang so that it absorbs energy versus being glued or nailed to the backstop where it just let's pellets pass through into the sheet steel. Two (2) pieces of carpet is even better.
Last, get (or make from wood) a deep-dish pan to fit into the bottom of the trap, this should be at least 3" deep and will catch 95% 0f the pellets that fall of of or bounce off of the carpet pieces. Slide it out every now and then and dump the pellets.
That's a great idea, Brian.
I'm going to find a large, metal, 3" deep baking pan and build a pellet trap/target holder with two layers of carpet around it out of the scrap plywood I have left over from a job I did.
Thanks!