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Fast & secure delivery -
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Lots of expertise
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Fast & secure delivery
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Secure shopping & payment
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Lots of expertise
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Why use a pellet trap?
When using an airgun, a pellet target trap -or pellet gun trap as they’re also called- really is a must. Whether it’s a light springer airgun or a powerful PCP, you’ll always need something to safely stop the pellets. You might think a brick wall or sturdy wooden panel will do the trick, but these carry the risk of bouncing pellets and you won’t be the first one to (almost) catch one in the eye. Especially when shooting indoor, a pellet trap must be used. By the way, there’s no difference between an indoor pellet trap or an outdoor pellet trap. It is what it is, and it can be used inside and outside.
A metal pellet trap has angled sides under roughly 45 degrees. Most pellet traps are constructed this way, which is a bit like shooting at the underside of a pyramid. Some pellet traps are square though, and these feature 45 degrees angled panels. Those panels prevent the pellet from bouncing back. Instead, it will be deflected at such an angle, that it will stay inside the airgun pellet trap. The initial impact will deform the pellet, absorbing most of its energy. That’s why it doesn’t keep ricocheting, but simply will drop to the bottom of the pellet trap.
A pellet gun trap is primarily meant to prevent pellets from ricocheting, while also preventing them from flying past the target. The construction also keeps the lead from spreading, collecting it neatly at the bottom. After shooting you can empty the pellet trap, collecting the lead for recycling. It’s not only the right thing to do for the environment, lead actually is worth quite a lot when taken to the scrapyard.
So, a pellet trap will stop and catch pellets. But as it’s a small box, it’s advisable to place a large panel behind it that’ll prevent pellets from ‘overshooting’ if you miss. Or, when shooting with a brick wall behind the pellet trap target, to prevent the pellet from coming back with force. It can’t be a hard panel, as a pellet can ricochet from that too. MDF, for example, could be a great option.
What types of pellet traps are there?
Most pellet trap targets are designed to hold a paper target. Those paper targets are available in lots of different sizes, which means we also sell the pellet traps in multiple sizes. The most popular size is the 14 cm pellet trap and the other popular size is the 17 cm pellet trap, which will hold a 17x17 cm paper target, which will be great for longer distances. The target is slid into slots or is clamped, depending on the model of pellet trap. And as long as you hit the target, the pellets will be caught and safely kept inside the housing.
There’s one pellet trap that’s a bit different from the rest. It's one that’ll not only hold a paper target, but also has sturdy pins onto which chalk tubes can be placed. You can shoot these one by one, just like on the fairground.
What's the best pellet trap for my airgun?
Naturally, the pellet trap that you’ll buy from us, should match the airgun that you have. If that’s a low-powered springer for close range, a small pellet trap will do just fine. But if you want to shoot over larger distances, a large pellet trap is definitely the best option. Not only as a larger target is easier to hit, but also because a small pellet trap is easier to miss, holding the risk of pellets flying past.
Power is another important factor to consider when determining which pellet trap is best for your pellet gun. Most will effortlessly handle the impact of an airgun up to 24 joules (about 17 foot-pound). However, that’s with sensible use. If you use pellets made from hard lead and if you’re shooting from close range, then airguns that are near the previously mentioned 24 Joule can cause small dents from the inside. Still, the pellets won’t penetrate the steel and will be kept safely inside.
It’s different when you are shooting with a high-powered airgun, such as PCP’s. For these, you absolutely need a heavy-duty pellet trap. Of course, we also sell these and we’ve tested them up to 700 joules (about 515 foot-pound). And just like we’ve mentioned above, that’s with sensible use. It all depends on the softness of the lead and especially on the distance you’re shooting at. Because, let’s be honest, you don’t buy a high-powered airgun to shoot at close range.
By the way, we get a lot of requests for 1200 fps pellet traps. These will be the heavy-duty pellet traps that we sell. As fps is just one part of the equation where you also need to put in the weight of the pellet to accurately calculate the energy, fps doesn’t say much about the impact resistance of the pellet trap. You can imagine that a 1200 fps pellet weighing 8 grain gives less of an impact than a 1200 fps, 28 grain pellet will have. So yes, we’ve got 1200 fps pellet traps -the heavy-duty ones- and they’ll be able to withstand a lot more too.
Buying a pellet trap for your air rifle
Let’s sum it up: there are two things to keep in mind when buying a pellet trap from us. The first thing to consider is the size of the paper target that it should hold. This mostly depends on the distance you plan shooting at. Second, you should know the power of your airgun. If you know that, you can determine if a heavy-duty pellet trap is needed. That’s the case with anything above 24 joules.
All pellet traps that we sell feature wall mounting holes in the back, making it easy to hang them on the wall on a height that suits you. The paper targets for these pellet traps can be bought separately in our shop. We’ve got all relevant sizes with a great variety of visuals (that’s what those circles are called), sometimes even with more than one printed onto it.
In our webshop, all relevant information like dimensions is mentioned in the description of our pellet traps. And, of course, of the pellet trap is a heavy-duty one or not. If you have any questions about our pellet traps, please feel free to give us a call or contact our customer service through e-mail or chat. They’ll be happy to assist you in choosing the best pellet trap for your needs.