How do i catch a fired bullet without damaging it?

[Edd]

If you are good enough, you could stand in the center of your friends pool, shoot straight up, and watch for it to splash down back into the pool.

 

[Korhil78]

If you are good enough, you could stand in the center of your friends pool, shoot straight up, and watch for it to splash down back into the pool.

Hahahaha! And if you are not good enough, you can tell your neighborhood to be on the look out when you fire it.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Here's how I caught a bullet (accidently) just last week.

I was trying out several loads with the Nosler 64gr bonded bullet in a custom .223 rifle. A load of 26.0gr of CFE223 in Lapua cases proved to be fairly accurate while producing the highest velocity of the loads tested.

I always have a few bowling pins hanging from some rope at the 300yds line so I decided to slap one of them with the little 64gr bullet. At the shot I saw the pin move but not very much. When I drove down range I noticed that the bullet struck the pin dead center with about 65% of the bullet exposed on the face of the pin. The pin actually caught that bullet like a catchers mitt. I took a needle nose plier and easily removed the bullet from the pin. The nose was flat but the bullet was intact.

Bowling pins are made out of wood right?

 

[Canadian Bushman]

If you are good enough, you could stand in the center of your friends pool, shoot straight up, and watch for it to splash down back into the pool.

I think id rather deal with a slight breeze over 800 yards, other than into the stratosphere and back.

 

[elkaholic]

I test bullets a lot and have figured out lots of ways NOT to do things! The best methods have been covered, IMO, in some combination. High velocity in water, even if the tip is plugged, will likely blow it to confetti! I would shoot at distance to achieve 2000-2200' impact velocity into a container that has at least 2' of water to pass through and swing several layers of berber carpet, or similar, as was mentioned previously. This should allow partial expansion and the jagged edges will catch on the carpet. Do not plug the tip if you use this method as it may act like a FMJ at that velocity and it may penetrate a LOT more than you think. Too much velocity will destroy the bullet, and too little will make it difficult to catch. I often use a container that I can shoot many times without destroying and simply line it with an appropriate sized trash bag liner.....Rich

 

[Punisher]

I shot my 7mm mag at 869 yards and hit a 3/8" pice of hanging steel and nearly penetrated it.

Get WAY far away from it and shoot some ballistic gelatin. You will still most likely deform the tip. But you will see the rifling.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Bowling pins are made out of wood right?

Yup - hard wood encased in plastic or resin of some kind. They can take quite a few hits from magnum rifles and premium bullets.

 

[Mateo]

Snow.
There is a field we shoot at out here for long range and in the spring after the snow melts we find all sorts of intact bullets on the frozen mud. As far as I can figure it, the deep snow slows down a bullet nicely. We make 'snow men' or pack down mounds of snow to set water filled jugs on for reactive targets in the winter. A little food colouring and it makes for great entertainment in the winter up here in Canada. We hide water containers inside the snowmen for fun. Anyway. On misses when the bullet drops into the snow and travels through it for awhile I believe it gently slows it down preserving the bullet. It's pretty cool to find an intact billet with only rifling marks on it.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Snow.
There is a field we shoot at out here for long range and in the spring after the snow melts we find all sorts of intact bullets on the frozen mud. As far as I can figure it, the deep snow slows down a bullet nicely. We make 'snow men' or pack down mounds of snow to set water filled jugs on for reactive targets in the winter. A little food colouring and it makes for great entertainment in the winter up here in Canada. We hide water containers inside the snowmen for fun. Anyway. On misses when the bullet drops into the snow and travels through it for awhile I believe it gently slows it down preserving the bullet. It's pretty cool to find an intact billet with only rifling marks on it.

Thats actually really interesting!

 

[Mateo]

Thanks bushman. Where you at?

 

[Canadian Bushman]

South of Houston, Texas.

 

[Mateo]

Oh, your name made me think you were up here somewhere.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Yeah it gets a lot of people.

My family moved here from quebec, im actually 1st gen american.

My handle is just a nick name ive aquired from my southern friends.

 

[Mateo]

Haha, fair enough.