The inside of a shooting gallery trailer with 4 Feltman Submachineguns. This is where you shoot out the red star at a distance of about 5 feet / 1.52 meters!
This report includes:
- Mama don’t allow…
- Anywhere?
- Inside a submarine
- Inside an office building
- Shoot in the house
- Pellet trap
- Steel bullet trap
- Duct seal traps
- Rubber mulch traps
- Safety
- Summary
Today I want to talk about shooting airguns in unlikely places. And I will address the most important consideration first.
Mama don’t allow…
If your spouse doesn’t want guns of any kind shot inside the house that should be the end of the discussion. Whatever the reason, if a spouse objects—that’s it! Your first job should be to ensure the domestic tranquility.
Anywhere?
Let’s look at some unlikely places airguns have been shot. I’ll start with a trailer. No, I’m not talking about a 30-foot long trailer. I mean a trailer that’s about 12 feet / 3.66 meters long. And I don’t even mean shooting the length of that. I mean from SIDE TO SIDE! The photo shown above is of a carnival trailer (caravan in the UK & Europe) with 4 Feltman submachine guns. And the shooter shoots SIDE TO SIDE of the trailer!
Inside a submarine
In WWII a German submarine was captured and a Haenel 100 air pistol was found in a drawer in the captain’s quarters. Was he shooting it there? I don’t know and I don’t think anyone does, but if he was he was shooting at a distance of LESS than five feet / 1.52 meters, because the captain’s room on a WWII sub was not a lot longer than 7 feet / 2.13 meters. And he had to stand in the cabin and so did his target, so the distance was a lot less!
Inside an office building
In the 1990s I was teaching personnel from the Department of Defense about subjects in acquisition management so they could work on government acquisition projects. I had two classrooms in an office building and they were soundproofed so one could operate without disturbing the other. Sometimes when I wasn’t teaching I would go into the empty classroom and shoot a Daisy 777 pellet pistol at paper targets. No one was the wiser.
Daisy’s 777 target pistol is a very quiet single-stroke pneumatic.
Shoot in the house
When you do shoot in the house there are several considerations. Safety should be at the top of every list!
Pellet trap
A pellet trap is something you intentionally shoot into. We need to stop the projectile safely and with as little mess as possible. Let’s look at traps now.
Steel bullet trap
For 25 years I used a steel bullet trap to stop pellets, BBs and even .22 rimfire bullets. I also stopped bullets from airguns up to .45 caliber, but only when they were the weaker ones that generated 250 foot pounds or less at the muzzle.
Steel bullet trap.
Steel traps are GREAT, but they do have a couple concerns. First, they SHOULD NOT be used with BBs. Steel BBs will bounce out of steel traps at almost the velocity they entered. I have had my lip split from a BB that returned from a steel trap 10 meters away!
And second, even though steel traps stop bullets and lead pellets they still have a lot of lead particles and dust that doesn’t stay inside the trap. They make the area around them messy, to put it bluntly.
Duct seal traps
The trap filled with duct seal that Pyramyd AIR calls ballistic putty was (as far as I know) the first bullet/pellet trap that was quiet. And they will stop even powerful pellets and or bullets. They will stop BBs effectively.
Duct seal pellet trap.
They are GREAT, but they do have some problems. When shot the pellet makes a hole in the duct seal that does not close up again. Shoot an accurate and powerful pellet gun at a duct sea trap many times and you will eventually shoot through the target—even one with a steel backing. So some maintenance is required.
Another drawback of the duct seal trap is it eventually needs to be cleaned out of as many pellets as possible. That takes time and effort so we tend to put it off too long and end up with a mess that takes a long time to clean.
Rubber mulch traps
The trap filled with rubber mulch made from cut up tires is another GREAT one. It is cheap to make, silent and not messy unless you don’t maintain it. It will stop rimfire bullets as well as most pellets. It will even stop bolts fired from crossbows! But the container it’s in will degrade with time and shots.
Rubber mulch trap.
The crossbow arrow was stopped by the rubber mulch box.
I use a cardboard box to hold the mulch and when the holes in the cardboard get too large the mulch starts falling out. Since my box has six sides I turn it to keep the mulch inside. That gives me up to a thousand shots before I need a new box.
When a new box is needed changing over is hard. I use a 12-inch cubic box (12-inches / 30.48 centimeters on each side). When it is full of mulch it is heavy, so emptying it into the new box is hard! A benefit is the mulch closes up after each shot, so shooting through takes a long time. As long as you rotate the box to a fresh side often it’s never a problem.
Safety
Behind the bullet/pellet trap there should be a much larger bullet-/pellet-proof backstop to keep from shooting into the walls of your house. Don’t ask me how I know.
Shooting indoors requires safety at all times. Be careful that people and pets are not endangered by the shooting. This may mean that some doors are kept closed or even that the shooting can only take place at certain times. Whatever it takes, safety is the number one rule!
Summary
We airgunners have more opportunity to shoot than firearm shooters have. Not only are our guns safer overall, they are also quieter and usually only capable of shooting to a shorter range. We should take advantage of these benefits.
Everyone,
Today was a WordPress hiccough. Sorry.
BB
BB,
I for one did not notice, although WordPress has “hiccoughed” with me quite a bit.
WARNING! BRAG ALERT! I am one of those “poor folks” who are not allowed to shoot inside. I am fortunate enough to have a good bit of space outside to shoot my airguns. I have a one-hundred-yard range out front with a pretty decent shooting bench and a fifty-yard range in the back at my new garage. My fifty-yard range has a nice awning also.
Now, because it disturbs the dog, I have to take the big stuff up to the shooting range a few miles from here. Talk about “ensuring domestic tranquility”.
I have seen some of the rubber mulch pellet traps made with large bins and a hole cut in the lid for pellet entry. This seems like a long-term pellet trap to me.
I have mostly used the rubber mulch trap for pellets; it has worked well for me. However, I typically use the duct seal trap for BBs because the BBs do not have to penetrate a cardboard box to reach the duct seal (the box is open on the side where I place the paper target). I feel the open side makes it a safer trap for low velocity BBs which might bounce off of a tough cardboard box side. I also often use the duct seal trap for 10-meter pistol targets because the open side of the trap box is about the same size as those targets.
We have a full basement which is finished. I have an unfinished work shop in one corner where I place the traps. There is an open space all the way to the other end of the basement where I set up a shooting bench. This gives me about 13-meters distance (maximum) from the bench to the target. I typically only shoot if I am the only one in the basement for safety reasons.
B.B.
When I shot at home my “range” is 23 feet maximum! That is shooting from my bathroom across the main living area and onto my kitchen counter where I have place a duct sealed wooden box. I crank the music up!
I place a large piece of cardboard across my bathroom sink to hold my pellet tin.
Works great for both my target pistols and target rifles.
-Yogi
PS the coolest range I have ever seen was at that airgun place in Holland. At their old headquarters, in the basement that had large HVAC duct work that was about 4’x4′, lighted at the end with a target traveler. They even let me borrow a Walter target pistol to check their range out.
Yogi,
Now you have me wanting to shoot my LP 53 again! Phooey!
BB
BB,
Shootit! Shootit! Shootit! ENJOYIT!
Low powered airguns rule shooting indoors. Sure you can use a mulch trap to fire a big bore air rifle but the noise you get as a byproduct after shooting needs taming. Probably using a box with layers of corrugated cardboard to create baffles.
Siraniko
I believe there is a reason that 10M target airguns usually shoot in the 500’s fps or maybe even less.
33 feet, even 50 feet is only 17 yards.
-Y
B.B. and Readership,
“When a new box is needed changing over is hard. I use a 12-inch cubic box (12-inches / 30.48 centimeters on each side). When it is full of mulch it is heavy, so emptying it into the new box is hard!”
How to make your change overs eazy peazy: find a metal funnel with an outlet spout larger than your projectiles but smaller than most of your rubber mulch pieces. Take the funnel and scoop the rubber mulch and projectiles out of the used up trap and shake/bump the projectiles into your scrap/recycle metals container. Finally dump the cleaned rubber mulch into your new target trap container.
There are a number of ways to refine the process by using more than one funnel or a screening box to eliminate most of the mulch/cardboard dust and getting your recycled metal less contaminated.
shootski
Ingenious!
I have used rubber-gloved hands to toss the mulch like a salad. Most of the pellets tumble down to the bottom of the box. I then pour the pellets, crumbs, and dust into a flat box like from a case of soda pop or beer. Then roll that around like I’m planning for gold, separating the pellets from the garbage.
Also, I would get a few flatter boxes and stand them up, one in front of the other. Like 12 x 12 x 6. The first one will stop most of the pellets, so you only have to exchange half of the mulch.
Roamin Greco,
Your linear nesting multi box approach is one i may try; especially with my Big Bores.
I use one of those cheap shallow “disposable” cookie pans in the bottom of my main target box which might work even better with the boxes open on the bottom. I use a box front that is cutout and replaced with bird netting to hold in the rubber mulch.
The ULTIMATE rubber mulch trap is still a work in progress ;^)
The sticky mat: https://www.uline.com/BL_1762/Clean-Mats?keywords=Sticky+Mats
in front of the trap of any design catches most of the target trap Lead (Pb) (tephra) ejecta.
shootski
I actually have 2 setups.
First, a heavy duty plastic bin ~$15 with a large rectangle cut out of the lid. A couple of layers of cardboard between the mulch and the lid keep the mulch in and get replaced frequently. The cut out is about the size of a 5-bull airgun target. It has so far absorbed thousands of pellets ofvall kinds.
Next are two medium-size FedEx Cardboard boxes filled with rubber mulch and stood on the narrow side with the top facing me, one in front of the other. Two narrower USPS boxes filled with mulch stand on each side. Only issue has been the top 1″ of mulch settled. But that’s OK, because the pellets were caught by the second box. I added more mulch to the box when I finally replaced the front with new cardboard, and will turn the boxes from time to time.
Behind both targets are discarded aluminum cookie sheets, behind those is a half sheet of 3/4″ plywood, behind that are my steel filing cabinets, and behind those is a concrete basement wall. So far, nothing has hit the cookie sheets.
Ms. boss gives me no static about airguns. She thinks I have about given up firearm shooting of which she has never been a fan. I don’t shoot inside but can now go out to 33 yards thanks to hurricane Helene. My targets at 10 meters, 20 yards and 33 yards are all downhill from my deck shooting perch. They all are stenciled cereal box targets, backed up by baled pine straw, backed up by oak logs, backed up by 20+ inch diameter pine trees, backed up by the ground. My bad but I have never cleaned anything in 13 years, just replaced the baled straw and logs. So far no trees have died and no mess has revealed itself.
I do have a 5 meter bb range on deck.
Deck
Wouldn’t airsoft guns work for this purpose? Anyway, though Mrs. FM has not been “officially” asked if it is ok to shoot an airgun indoors, FM is not going to push the issue. She is already a bit miffed at having to give up her garage spot to the vintage VWs. The backyard range is good and plenty. Fahrvergnügen!
About a month ago, FM fortuitously saw this thick wood board that had been discarded by a friend’s neighbor. It is 19.25” on the short side, 24.75” wide on the long one and 1” thick. .22 pellets fired from the K98 PCP penetrate the surface up to the bottom of the “skirt” and no more, at 25 yards.
Should be useful for many shoots; when one side is totally “barnacled” up, the other side will be used. It may outlive FM.
Go ahead, be amused at the poor groups; FM is no Simo Häyhä or Carlos Hathcock. Need to get a Round Tooit and order an AK front sight adjustment tool for the ‘98 hooded sight, as suggested by some online reviewers.
FawltyManuel,
At least most of it’s on the paper!
Siraniko
And all on the wood, which is all to the good! The best groups were achieved with Benjamin Single-Die pellets. One of those went “in the red.”
FawltyManuel,
That is an awfully small barn door you are shooting at!
Heard tell some folks claim they can’t even hit a barn when standing inside of it!
As RidgeRunner often points out: aim small miss small!
Get some 10 meter airgun targets – breathe more and RELAX – i believe your groups will tighten up.
shootski
Home, home on the range, where never is heard a discouraging word – so thanks for the encouragement, shootski. In FM World, all aiming IS small. Will give those 10 meter targets a shot…or two, three, etc.
No problem shooting at home, outdoors or indoors.
Outdoors there’s a permanent bench by the basement door with 55 and 128 yard shooting lanes. I plan to add a second bench (in a shady spot) for a 100 yard lane.
Indoors I can manage an honest 10 meters, shooting line to target face. There’s a rubber mulch trap with dedicated lighting mounted on the wall.
The winter indoor shooting season officially starts when the beaver pond freezes over and ends with the spring thaw. (The outdoor bench is kept clear of snow on the chance there will be a mild day 🙂 )
Over the winter all my airguns see some exercise, the ones on the “shooting table” are always ready for a quick session.
.177 airguns are facing right, .22 left…
Vana2,
I have always been a big fan of the European ski resorts that have wooden decks that they keep clean of snow and how warm they become on a bright sunny day even when temperatures are substantially below the freezing point. That same concept might give you a few extra comfortable outdoors shooting days per Winter.
Happy Old Year last week!
shootski
Shootski,
The bench sits in a well protected spot and it sees full sun from 10am to 2pm in the winter. Out of the wind with the house as reflector behind me I do get quite a few days where it’s comfortable enough to shoot a couple of magazines before the rifle and the fingers start getting cold.
Hank
Vana2,
Hank that photo looks like near Noon and the 20-21° maximum daytime altitude for the Sun.
I think i would use that abundant “building” material and a snow block box to build a 3/4 Igloo or maybe a full one with a medieval castle type [] shooting port. Might help with the Sun in your eyes as well :^)
I remember spending a few nights in one (Igloo) with nothing but a three wick candle keeping me comfy sleeping on thin pad and a bag only rated for 32°f (0°C) located on top of an interior snow ledge when it was more than -40°F (-40°C) outside with howling winds.
shootski
Shootski,
That reminds me of a survival challenge on a late February rabbit hunt in northern Quebec years ago.
My buddy and I had bagged a couple of rabbits and were heading back to the cottage late in the afternoon. Several partridge erupted out of a snow drift where they had settled for the evening. Discussion about sleeping on a snow drift evolved into a challenge and we each spend the night camped in our own “snow-fort” with only our hunting gear. It was comfortable enough but I missed salt for the rabbit. 🙂
We used to do that kinda live off the land thing quite often.
Hank
Hank,
In our 20s, my brother (who went on to be a Marine) and I used to go on “survival missions.”
We’d go to remote spots in the snowy dead of winter and make a lean to, or a hut from branches, and dig a fire pit to see how we could do with minimal gear.
Back then, it was fun; at 66, I don’t think I would do as well. 😉
Thanks for bringing back the memories,
Cheers,
dave
You might find me in Spring, after the thaw.
Probably not.
LOL! 🙂
Hank
A couple of adventurous friends and I decided to sleep on about 30 inches of powder snow. It was warm enough but the initial prone position better be good enough for sleeping because you can’t change it. In the middle of night the horn started blowing on my 1971 Ford Pinto. The horn is the center button on steering wheel which compressed from cold. Nothing to do but crawl out of my snug cocoon, walk across a shallow stream and disconnect the wiring.
Did you make the target rifle stock?
Deck
Deck,
Believe it or not, that’s the way the way the stock on the FWB 603 came!
To the best of my knowledge, the stocks on the FWB 600 and 601 rifles are all a light light honey-blond laminate. I was expecting the same for the 603 and was caught off guard when I first saw it. I’m more used to it now.
The 603 is an awesome shooting SSP airgun – there’s absolutely no movement felt when breaking the shot, just a sharp “snap” sound and the hole appears in the target. The trigger is the best I’ve ever used.
In spite of being old and set in my ways (with strong traditional preferences for walnut and blued steel) I’ve become more tolerant of modern designs and materials.
Cheers!
Hank,
I have not forgotten about that FWB 100 series pistol.
Me neither! 😉
BB,
Fortunately for me, my wife is OK with me shooting in the house, not the whole house, just my office.
Even shooting on the diagonal, and putting the traps in the back of the closet, only buys me 5 meters.
But when I want to shoot at midnight, or on a cold rainy day, at least it lets me shoot some airguns.
I limit it to guns like my Tempest, or my Crosman 1322 at just 3 pumps.
I built the triangular shelf to hold the pellet traps, and you can see the wood behind them to preserve the walls. And yes, if you look closely, you can see 9 pellet holes and one big dent; that’s the kind of things you have to expect when trying to teach youngsters to shoot; thank God the pine backing was there or my wife would not have been happy. 😉
The overhead light is battery powered, and only needs to be re-charged every few weeks.
While I wish I had a bit more space, I’m thankful I at least have an indoor space in which to shoot safely.
Christmas Blessings to all,
dave
Dave,
The nicest indoor shooting range was the one I helped my friend build.
He was having a porch foundation and wine cellar dug in the back yard. We had been lamenting the lack of a shooting range so I suggested that since the heavy equipment was already in the back yard that he dig a trench and install a concrete “storm drain” connected to the house.
It’s a 25 yard range hidden behind a panel on the basement wall. Built in lighting, target transport system and will easily handle anything up to centerfire rifles.
Just the other day I noted that it wouldn’t be too difficult/expensive to install something similar here. Getting approval from my wife would be the biggest challenge
Hank
“…25 yard range hidden behind a panel on the basement wall. Built in lighting, target transport system and will easily handle anything up to centerfire rifles.”
Hank, that’s awesome!
I would love to do likewise…but as you said, the hardest thing would be to get wifely approval. 😉
Yet I still think it’s really cool!
Cheers,
dave
I would love to see detailed pictures of that! Especially the target transport system.
Who gets to go into that tunnel to clean out cobwebs and lead? Hope he or she is not claustrophobic!
Roamin,
Sorry, wish I had pictures.
That range was built decades ago, in another province, in another city and I’ve long since lost contact with the guy.
That was a real nice setup though, would love to have one like that!
Hank
Here is a nice home target range at the Reynolda House, Winston-Salem NC. Sadly, not available to the public. Back in its day, the guests shot with rimfire rifles – likely airguns too.
Wow. I need more round tuits.
Sweet! 🙂
Now that looks like fun! What a way to spend the day!