Canadian Airgun Forum

So. What do you use for a backstop?

I am looking to set up a demo in a private facility so obviosly I do not want to cause any damage. Some people use the material from air bags, but that is expensive. I could use straw bales but that is not practical. I have just thought of using wood but I get to many pellets bouncing off of it. Are there other curtain options available that you have used? It is probably just going to be 3 or 4 targets wide. You may say that there is no need as the pellet traps traditionally used are big enough but we all know life happens and I want to prevent any chance of damage to the facility. The idea here of course is to have the public trying it.

, if anyone has experience doing this and wants to let me know what issues they have had, and what worked well you can reply here or pm me.

One question. What power level of airguns are we talking? Sub500fps or high power. Im assuming low power, which will definitely bounce of plywood but my a few layers of carpet in front will keep the the bouncing pellets controlled. I figure your trying to keep the cost down yet cover a large area.

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Steoger XP4 .177
Hatsan AT44MW-10 .177
Daisy 953S .177
Artemis CR600W .177
Diana Stormrider .177
Seneca Dragonfly MK2 .177

Yes. Below 500. Never thought of carpet. That may work.

I have a back-stop in my basement that stops low powered and high powered air guns pushing pellets up to 1,100fps.
3/16" steel plate 19" x 18" set on an angle. Construction is 3/8" plywood, 1x2's and 2x2 boards, with the plate resting on an 18" piece
of angle iron so pellets deflected down, do not do any damage to the frame.
I staple a piece of cardboard over the front, then hang targets on the clamp at the top.
Seems to me, you can guy square pieces of steel & angle iron at some hardware laces, like Home Depot, Home Hardware & some Canadian Tire stores.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

Nice setup Daryl

Tks. 51gr. cast bullets at 906fps do no more than leave a lead splash, Same as 25.9gr. Hades at 1,100fps.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

My indoor setup is similar to Daryl's. 3/16" steel plate with a 2x4 frame. Two layers if 1/2" plywood in front of the steel, three layers of foam rubber exercise mat, then a sheet of carboard.

It does well for my full power .22 PCPs and also sub-500s.

I shoot at 8 yards as that's the maximum space. I didn't angle the stop because that would decrease the available distance.

Could link photos if desired but Daryl's setup is similar.

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Slavia 618 .177
Webley Senior .22
Jelly SUPER 4.5 mm
Webley Viscount .177
Kral Mega Marine Walnut .22
Artemis PP750 .22
FX Streamline .22 walnut
FX Streamline .22 composite
FX Dynamic 500 .22

The original post is not looking for not just a pellet catcher, but rather a safe way to protect a larger area from errant pellets.
I have not tried it but I would think that plywood backing with a couple layers of carpet to prevent ricochet should work. This would also be easy to set up and take down without making holes in walls.

You would be surprised at how loose hanging sheets of thick felt are excellent at catching pellets. No ricochet, very little penetration. Just a few thick felt curtains folded over a coat rack or curtain rod. Works for small caliber, low to medium velocity.

It's simple in theory, but in practice, it's nice to determine your backstop size as reasonable first, before some elaborate setup is made. I have a pellet trap in the workshop barely six inches wide, and behind that is a 12 inch wide wood panel. It's enough for short range workshop use, for chronograph testing.

If it was ten meters / 9 yards away I'd make it two feet wide, any long distance shooting would need bigger, just in case you pull that trigger while settling down with your scope.

You can hit a barn door, and keep your finger off the trigger until you are aiming at the target right?

The mistakes I have made that could have been catastrophic, but luckily still hit the backstop have all been due to errant trigger being so green with guns, but have the Firearm Safety Course haunting me daily when I shoot. Finger off the trigger!!!

No matter how big the backstop is, an errant trigger pull or "bad trigger discipline" is going to land pellets in the ceiling, floor, coffee cup, window or your best friend's favorite shirt. .. etc.

So my advice with regards to big backstops, is trigger discipline drills first and make sure your triggers aren't too light. It's cute to shoot bullseyes with ultra light triggers since things tend to be more accurate, but that same light trigger can ruin your life, especially if it decides to just shoot by itself one day. That being said, outside I would make a semi circle of cinder blocks or stone. Like a wall of sorts. Indoors, it would just be a big box with duct seal in the back and making sure if someone shoots through the nearby wall, that there's nothing alive or explosive on the other side.

You know those dart boards that have the doors? A dartboard cabinet or something similar would be pleasing to the eye mounted on the wall with a big board of plywood for safety. Then you put your pellet catcher target box in the 'cabinet'. That gives you 3 layers of protection.

Just some ideas thrown around.

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Province: Ontario
May all who are afraid of discourse find their rights trampled further.
Cowardice is never rewarded.

Thanks Rob and irate

We have a company that recycles rubber and they sell 1-2 inch thick mats 3x6 etc. I use it in a lower level hallway "range" so the wall will never be hit.

Shooting indoor with the public? Interesting. Didn't think that was allowed other than CFO approved venues. There are ballistic curtains.

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I have some airguns.

I have spoken to the CFO office about sub-500 guns and they made it clear that these guns do not fall within the CFO mandate. Do not take this as gospel since I have also seen contradictory information from the CFO office....
I expect that it would be more of a bylaw issue. If the jurisdiction has a restriction on discharge of firearms it usually includes airguns of all types.

I've lived in a residential area my whole life so that restriction would've been everywhere. I have not taken into account rural areas where bylaw may differ. For example, where I orginally took my pal at a highschool who's football field was zoned for shotgun. Had I known at the time I would've lobbied to switched highschool back in the day.

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I have some airguns.

Home Depot sells this play dough like material for sealing air ducts. The come in bricks of 1” thick, 2" wide, 6” long. I attach a layer of this on the back drop. It does a superb job to capture pellets.

-TL

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