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New season, new backstop

PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 2:11 pm
by Doug Coulter
We take safety fairly seriously around here. My old pistol range backstop was showing its age, so I decided to replace it, and here's what I did. You will note that as installed, the old one still looked pretty good. Taking it apart shows some flaws however. In my situation, that's not super bad, as there's a hill behind the range to catch strays. But I like to recycle the lead...and that guy was about to totally lose it.
OldStopBefore.JPG
Looks OK, right? Wait till you see the innards.

PreReplace.JPG
Still looks fine...but wait, there's more.

Here's the front after removal. The black stuff is "cattle mat" from Tractor supply.
OldStopFront.JPG
Old front of final deflector. You can guess where we usually staple the targets.

And here's the back side...issues. I used cast iron for this, not because it's the right thing, but because someone donated it and it's half an inch thick. But brittle. One more session and this would have been dust.
OldStopBack.JPG
See the issue now?


Like I said, I don't like my bullets to get away, and especially not the ones others who use my range are kind enough to donate to my bullet casting hobby.
So, I made another bullet catcher, which will be the next post(s) to keep under the picture limit of the board.

Re: New season, new backstop

PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 2:23 pm
by Doug Coulter
So, on to a new build. I managed to call in a favor and get a 2' by 2' piece of mild steel 1/4" thick for $30. A little under the McMaster price, and shipping was toss it in the back of the truck while on my errand loop anyway. I welded rebar to it for mounting on my stand - gravity holds this heavy stuff real well. Especially with that black cattle mat bolted on - it's super heavy by itself.
NewStopWeld.JPG
Rebar wire and tig welded to plate for mounting. Belt AND suspenders in this game!

So heavy, my lazy behind used a tractor to move this stuff any distance further than 6 feet. I ain't gettin' any younger or stronger.
OldTargetNewBackstop.JPG
Showing the old target stapler and the new deflector. Ready to mount!

Mounted.JPG
Now it's obvious what the rebar was for. 6" locust posts...

Bullets.JPG
Where the bullets go. That's one brave tree.

The above makes recovering the bullets a snap.

And now for a test - full power (bowling pin loads for you who know what that means - .45 ACP +p+ ...) Enough to remind you of the arthritis in your wrists even in a heavy firearm. No, I'm not telling how much unique was behind those 230 gr HP bullets. You don't want to know (or die).

Re: New season, new backstop - test

PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 2:31 pm
by Doug Coulter
Lookie, a virgin!
Virgin.JPG
First target - didn't bring enough staples so it waved in the wind.


Time to get serious. Draw and shoot 10 shots "as fast as possible" - no, I'm not Jerry Miculek. One of his forearms is one of my thighs, for crying out loud, and it matters in rapid fire.
Terrorist.JPG
CZ-97b, 10 shot mag, bowling pin loads.

Gun was a CZ-97b, my favorite .45, even including some real custom "race guns" I've made or shot. This one just works super well. Almost anyone who shoots it is amazed how well they do...I wasn't trying to make it hard for myself, but neither did I use my hyper-accurate .38's with red-dot sights - I wanted to make sure this thing would hold against any handgun. 230gr supersonic load...
RapidFireTest.JPG
Like I said, I'm not Jerry, I just teach this stuff. <10 seconds from holster to holster.

But you're dead anyway if I was shooting at you.
So, did we engineer this well enough? See for yourself. I think this season is a "go".
BackAfterTest.JPG
No dents at all! FM!

Though some wood did give its life to help out a little.
SacrificialWood.JPG
Just had it laying around, why not put it to use?

Re: New season, new backstop

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:14 am
by APynckel
Lookin good man! Recover that lead and smelt it down for shielding! :D