# Ammo Trap Forum?



## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

Admin: Please move this thread if you deem it misplaced...thanks.

An ammo trap / catch is an important tool for anyone wanting to really hone their aim with the ammo they intend to hunt or compete with. I have done some searches looking for ideas and methods of building traps, but have gotten mixed results due to the variability of the search terms used.

I was wondering if maybe a forum just for ammo trap construction ideas would be valuable? There are many ways to construct one, but some work better than others, depending on one's need.

For instance...If someone comes up with a new material to eliminate bounce-out...it would be great to have a place to easily find that post, as bounce-out greatly affects the ease in which a trap is constructed, right?

Anyway, just thinkin out loud.


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

To begin the building of info; Some things that work in my set ups

*Bounce out material and way to hang;*

The best I have found so far in my catchboxes is, not necessarily the material but the hanging arrangement is;

Hang t-shirt material or the like, with ample pleating of the material, as the pleating (scrunching, bunchhing) on the hanging rod, etc is what is a major help in absorbing the shot and dropping it to the bottom of the catch box. Also I have a soft back (archery netting) to my catch box which I think may also help.

*Target hanging method;*

-Lighter is better than heavy

- Hanging down rather than on a tight line. What ever dampening aspect of the hang can help. Like the paracord tie in the photo.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

not a bad idea. or even as a sub-forum to the shooting forum. it can be a DIY section with build vids on catchboxes and slingshots and other related stuff. but the thing though, is there enough content to warrant its own section? guess the mods can add it to their weekly illuminati meetings.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Google search : catch box slingshot forum


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## JonM (Aug 17, 2013)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Slingshot-Backstop-or-Catch-box/

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/20712-two-backstops-catch-boxes/

http://www.theslingshotforum.com/f4/ammo-catch-box-2-a-27839/






http://rebelslingshotforum.freeforums.org/catch-boxes-t1076.html

http://www.slingshotcommunity.com/tags/catch+box/

http://www.slingshotcommunity.com/threads/catch-box-questions.3466/

Google magic :wave:


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

I appreciate the help, dudes. I'm an IT contractor...I'm familiar with Google.

My point is that there are always new methods and materials to improve things. It'd be nice to have them consolidated.

If the mods aren't into it, that's cool. Searches often produce a ton of unwanted results. Any post with the words "catch" and/or "box" may be retrieved.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

This forum does have numerous threads on the subject, do a Google search for slingshot catch box both test and image retrieval off the web...you'll get a lot of this forum's threads. I find the forum's search feature usually doesn't produce much...dunno why, but the work around is Google.

Now, just a suggestion or two...

1. I use strips about 6 inches wide of old jean and trouser pant leg material hung with a gypsy knot over a steel rebar that goes through my catch box. The strips seem to absorb the energy better than a sheet of fabric and since they are rags anyway out of the shops rag box, there's no cost. I think Bill Hays also uses cloth strips.

2. I made an angular "roof" for my wooden catch box sort of like a bullet trap at an indoor range. Bad idea. It doesn't permit the depth I want to hang cloth and I get bounce outs. I should have made it just rectangular in side view instead of angular. The angle idea was before I started hanging cloth so my lead wouldn't deform and chew up the wood. I see a photo of an angled box above. I don't recommend it (no offense to the builder). So don't make a catch box like mine pictured.








I used cardboard at first instead of a cloth back stop and quickly switched to cloth.








3. I made a week or so ago a catch box for a friend who's just getting into slingshotery for whom I made a HDPE rainbow SS. I made it out of a washing machine cardboard box, pretty big actually, with a broom handle stuck through it to hand a drop cloth and targets from, cut a big window in it as well, to contain any fliers. It's certainly not sophisticated but works like a charm and is free of cost. An old bedsheet slated for his rag box serves as a cloth, doubled over three times...will be around for a while.

4. Targets that do something when hit such as a twirley gig affair that spins made from innertube rubber sheet work fine for me...the rubber is free at any place that changes or repairs tires and takes a lot of abuse. You can see it move when hit and hear a thud impact. I hang a 5 inch square of it from two corners with nylon cord. Inner tube rubber sheet is great target material. But I do get satisfaction out of killing tuna and soup sized cans at 15 meters my now fav range. I stopped shooting at 10 meters...less of a challenge I guess...but I can't shoot like some of 'em around here, lighting matches and splitting playing cards and never will. I'm not in it for that.

5. See if you can have a contrasting color of target vs back drop cloth for easier visability. I hang a white cloth in front of my jean strips to better contrast the target.

6. Make your targets out of something that won't bounce the ammo out of the box...experiment.

7. Hang targets about 2/3 the way back inside a 2 or 3 ft. deep box to help avoid bounce outs.

8. Make your catch box deep, say 2 feet or so. It's supposed to catch ammo, right? Sometimes you get a bounce out and the deeper your box the less likely you'll get bounce outs and the further back inside the box you hang your targets, ditto.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Here's another idea but I haven't tried it yet but it seems worth the time to try.

Get a bunch of old useless tire innertubes and cut them into strips along the center line on the inside and outside of the tube, say in six inch strips... the rubber on the sides of the tube is useless for it's curved. save some of the rest for target material. Hang the sheet rubber from a rod in the catch box. I think it would be better than my blue jean and trouser leg cloth strips and offer a natural black background for targets (except for black targets of course made from the same rubber sheet).

I installed an LED shop light in front of the catch box on a wall in my garage that works on AC, to illuminate my catch box target well at night.


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