DIY BB Trap feedback

[SpecterCo.]

Hi... ive been intersted in airsoft for some time, this is my first post so bear with me.

I put together a BB trap from fairly common home improvement store pvc pipe and a net I made from poly netting. I am very pleased with the results and thought I would share my project and hopefully get a little feedback.

[[Avtomat]]

Can you give use a step-by-step guide? and what are those things holding the targets?

[SpecterCo.]

The frame was made with 1/2" PVC. I ended up using about 20 feet of it. The netting is a poly netting available at the fabric store. I did find that same material in both woodland and desert at the local surplus so my next project WILL increase in its coolness factor. I used clamps designed to attach the tubing to a wall, I just removed the nail and put a rubber band around it to get it to pinch the paper. There are many ways you could do this step.... use your imagination if you have parts laying around instead of buying something.

I got enough material to make all of the walls double thickness and the back impact area 4X thick. I also melted holes to attach grommets everwhere there is a cable tie holding it to the frame. Sewing the net was the most challenging part of the project. Once I was happy with the frame size I began with one long piece the width of the frame and long enough to make all of the "faces" of the trap. I then sewed in 2 triangular peices to make the sides. There are basic sewing skills I cannot go into, like seam allowances ect... ect... The most important part is to get the width right. The length it hangs down can vary but it needs to be wide enough to avoid gaps a BB can get through.

All in all, it took around 6-8 hours all said and done. I did not glue the frame in case it ever needs to be taken down for travel/moving/storage.

[Mysteryfish]

Estimated total cost?

[yanhchan]

I've done something similar using cardboard and some left over curtin. But I didn't sew or anything I just hung it and the BBs would lose energy and drop to the rubbermaid box on the bottom...doesn't work well with full auto though...

[SpecterCo.]

I believe the total cost of materials was around 20 dollars.

I was surfing the net to try to find colored pvc pipe. I may just use the black variant of it next time or come up with some way of painting them possibly. Im not totally thrilled with the look of the white pvc. This was more or less my prototype.. it could use some improvement in the asthetics department.

I came up with the idea because I was sick of looking at cardboard boxes full of holes, spilling BB's everywhere in my room.

[Bender]

This is a really good idea. I think I have my Sunday afternoon activity now ...

add a trap to collect spent bbs. i made one myself awhile back. had the bbs fall into a collection area and funnel into a container for reuse in grenades. like the bb gun game at the fair.

[CDN_Stalker]

I went the cheap route, cut out the bottom of a milk crate, used a CF immitation mesh laundry bag around the back to catch the BBs, put in folded towels as a curtian to stop the BBs (even folded towels wear away in shreds, so keep that in mind with your mesh bag), and drilled a pair of holes up near the front to run a peice of coat hanger through and have a big metal paper clip on it to hold the target. Grunty, yes, Ugly, yes. Tough as nails, depends on which part you are talking about, I have to use cheap old towels and replace them every few months. Then again, I use upgraded AEGs, and high power sniper rifles with heavy ammo on these, so.........

[SpecterCo.]

No doubt there are many ways to stop a bb. My initial goal was to make something that:

a: effectivly stopped bb's and kept them from being scattered throughout the house. (ive had bb's in the garbage disposal of both apartments Ive been in... not a good sound, lol)

b: would not deteriorate with use, ie.. cardboard boxes shot to heck with holes

c: looked as if it was created with these functions in mind- as close to "store bought" as I could. Again, I am still working on the asthetics.

I just really like the flexibility pvc offers for ease of assembly and design freedom. The net will be good sewing practice for any of you who feel inclined to make their own gear, pouches, BDU mods.

[CDN_Stalker]

The netting you use looks like it's the same as what lingerie laundry bags is made form. Very nice set up BTW, but yo umight want to consider a tougher curtain to slow the BBs before they hit the mesh, as the mesh will get eaten away pretty fast (ok, a few thousand BBs.) Maybe a piece of denim free hanging to slow? Just a suggestion based upon all the other things I've tried (mesh landry bags don't last long, I've been through a half dozen variations and all wear out eventually, even my using a double folded towel to stop the BBs so they fall into the mesh bag. Once the curtain starts to wear thin, the BBs will take it out on the mesh bag at the back. COnsidering you put a lot of effort into building that set up, am sure you don't want to keep replacing the nice netting job you did every couple months.)

[SpecterCo.]

Im sure eventually the back panel will show signs of wear. I can see that a few bb's have managed to get through the first layer. I didnt want solid material so that the light will shine through the target making spotting a little easier. I was thinking of using multicam 1000 denier. If ,in the future, I am not pleased with the life I get out of the net I may go to that.

[Mysteryfish]

The alternative is that you could build a little system in where by the angle of the back netting is very long and shallow, giving the BB's plenty of time to dissapate their energy - Maybe build a hinge system with an extra leg or two that you can "collapse", so it's not always long.

A drawing might help explain it better, I'll see if I can put one together.


Either that or you could just have another set of clips behind the targets from which you could just hang another sheet of fabric that has been sliced into hanging strips, but left connected at the top (much like those curtains that your luggage goes through on the X-Ray machine at the airport).

This would help act as a buffer between the target and the back netting, possibly slowing the BBs down just a little more and preserving your BB trap even longer.

[SpecterCo.]

Those are all good ideas. Maybe have a removable/replaceable energy absorber and let the netting just perform its containment duty.

[Mysteryfish]

Yeah, I figure a bunch of hangy-dangly stuff between the target back and the net would just dissapate all the energy, but not significantly change the direction of the BB (ie, they'd go forward, but slow down)

Either way, your project is great.

I need to build something similar for my pellet guns, but with an (obviously) more serious energy absorbing method. I have no place to shoot since our yard got re-done, and the fences and retaining wall got taken out. No more privacy, and no more safe shooting alleys.