How to Make a Indoor Pellet Gun Stop
Indoor practice with pellet guns can help keep good shooting techniques current and provide hours of fun. It is a great way to introduce someone to firearms and teach the skills necessary to move up to real guns.
A do-it-yourself pellet gun stop is inexpensive and quite easy to construct. The only real concerns are matching the stopping ability up with the pellet gun that will be used and locating the box in a place that minimizes the potential damage in the event of a mishap or negligent discharge. Putting it in a room with expensive, easily breakable items, like TVs or windows, is not a good idea.
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Things You'll Need
- At least one wooden dowel 20 to 22 inches in length and 3/4 inches in diameter
- At least one carpet remnant approximately 18 inches wide and 18 inches high
- Cardboard box approximately 18 inches high, 18 inches wide and 12 to 18 inches deep
- Strong all-purpose glue
- Either a stand to place the box on or hanging wire to hang it from above
- Newspapers about 2 inches thick in total
- Paper targets that are about an inch less in height and width than the carpet
Instructions
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Glue one edge of the carpet to the wooden dowel, leaving about an inch of dowel free at each side. Let dry, and test to ensure the carpet is strongly attached. If necessary, tack or staple the carpet to the dowel to secure it.
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2
Place the box on its side with the opening towards you. Approximately 6 inches back near the top side, make two holes on the right and left side just big enough to fit the dowel through.
Slide the dowel with the carpet into the holes, leaving the carpet hanging within the box. If there are a few inches of gapping where the carpet does not come close to the sides or bottom, that is OK. Just be aware of this while actually shooting.
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3
Place the stand where the indoor range will be. If hanging from the ceiling, attach the wires to the top four corners of the box and hang at the proper height.
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4
Tape the newspapers to the back of the box for extra protection while testing the pellet guns.
At the distance you'll be shooting, test fire one pellet with the most powerful gun you'll be using and ensure that the carpet is sufficient to stop it. If the pellet penetrates the carpet and the back of the box, then hang another dowel and carpet piece immediately behind the first one. Test again.
It might be necessary to use three dowels and carpet stops with some high-powered pellet guns.
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Tape your target onto the front of the box to complete your homemade indoor range. When finished with the shooting, remove the dowels, fold up the box and store everything neatly for the next time.
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Tips & Warnings
You can leave the newspapers taped on the back just in case.
An alternative to hanging a second piece of carpet is to tape additional sheets of cardboard to the back of the box until sufficient thickness is built up to hold the pellets in the trap.
Eventually the carpet(s) will begin to wear out and will have to be replaced. The first carpet usually wears out long before the second or third one.
Ten meters is considered the standard pellet shooting distance.
Even the mildest pellet gun can cause injury or even death. Practice good safety habits. Always assume the gun is loaded, don't put your finger on the trigger until ready to shoot and never point the gun at anything you don't want to shoot. Wear appropriate eye protection.
Shooting lead pellets against a hard target such as metal or wood will cause the pellets to shatter and spread lead dust in the air. Over a period of time this can cause toxic buildup of lead in the blood. Also, children or pets could ingest lead fragments on the floor.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit target image by Francois du Plessis from Fotolia.com
