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Backstop material for catch box

4500 Views 39 Replies 21 Participants Last post by  ukj, 
Harry Knuckles
Apologies if this has been discussed already. I wanted to post this in case anyone else was looking for a good backstop material that did wear out after a few 1000 shots.

I've been using this ballistic nylon mesh I got from Amazon for about 1 month now and it still hasn't worn out. I shoot about 300 shots a day. I started to run out of old t-shirts and towels to use for my catch box. I was also sick of having to constantly take the time to replace the backstop.

This is the link (nonaffiliate) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y3QK95Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rectangle Font Technology Screenshot Software

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Harry Knuckles
Tobor8Man said:
Great idea. How do the bounce-backs compare with t-shirts and towels?
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About the same. I would like to say less but I didn't track that so I don't have any real data to compare. The holes in the mesh make it pretty light for how robust of a material it is. One layer gives way easily to catch the ball without a lot of bounce back.
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Harry Knuckles
StringSlap said:
Hey HK, how are you hanging the material? Fixed in some way or just draped? Single layer or two? Thanks.
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I cut it down to size and have it hanging/fixed from the top so it doesn't touch the sides or bottom of my catchbox. Just a single layer is all I've needed. I've been shooting mostly 3/8" steel at it.
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Harry Knuckles
snydes said:
curious - anybody tried a piece of rug ? I learned I can't attach it to the back of my catchbox, but if I keep it a few inches from the back, it has room to recoil & doesn't allow the shot to come forward. I'm not sure how long it will hold up though ... let me know if anybody has any negative experiences with using rug material ... thx !
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I tried a lot of different materials in my backstop before I ordered this stuff. I found that the lighter material makes for less bounce, but the problem is the light materials often wear holes in it really quickly. The more consistent I became the more the shots were hitting the same 3" area. I would wear a hole in a t-shirt in a few shooting sessions. I still have yet to wear a hole in this stuff, I'm guessing to have close to 5000 shots at it so far and it's still going strong. It would say it has the same amount of bounce as t-shirts or towels.
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Harry Knuckles
I'm glad the mesh is working out for everyone. I wanted to do an update and make some suggestions after 4 months of using it.

1. Cut the mesh extra wide for your catch box, about 1.5 the width so you can bunch it up accordion-style on your hanging system. I've noticed that after a while (a long while) the edges will begin to curl in and not fully cover the sides of your catch box.

2. Do NOT try to tie the sides or bottom down with anything, leave it to hang loose. Tying the sides will cause the mesh to tear prematurely from the sides.

3. Multiple layers with an airgap between helped reduce bounce-outs for me. I wasn't getting a lot of bounce-outs but adding a layer of mesh with the gap has almost eliminated them.

I've been using the same piece of mesh for almost 4 months, shooting around 300 shots a day (4*30*300=36,000) and just recently replaced it with a new one. I believe the first one only wore out because I tried to tie the sides out when it started to curl in. Tying the side made the mesh rip horizontally.
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Harry Knuckles
Sad news. I reordered another yard of my favorite backstop material and what showed up was very different from what I got the first time. Obviously, I'm not bothered by the color difference but this new stuff is so stiff it will literally stand on its own. The picture below shows the original mesh on the left and the new mesh on the right. I plan on contacting the seller to see if they sent me the wrong stuff but I as it stands now, I can no longer recommend it

Needless to say, the stiff mesh causes a lot of bounce-outs.

Wood Comfort Grey Audio equipment Flooring

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Harry Knuckles
Facewizard13 said:
Harry Knuckles said:
Sad news. I reordered another yard of my favorite backstop material and what showed up was very different from what I got the first time. Obviously, I'm not bothered by the color difference but this new stuff is so stiff it will literally stand on its own. The picture below shows the original mesh on the left and the new mesh on the right. I plan on contacting the seller to see if they sent me the wrong stuff but I as it stands now, I can no longer recommend it

Needless to say, the stiff mesh causes a lot of bounce-outs.

attachicon.gif
Screenshot 2021-03-13 165423.png
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Was this from amazon?

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
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Yes. I went back in my history and clicked the "Buy it Again" button. Should've been the exact same stuff...
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Harry Knuckles
Teep said:
I'm fairly new to this but have tried a lot of different materials (had a huge bag from a second hand clothing store to work with) and have been using a piece of double nit fabric from the back of an old blouse. I have well over 1000 shots at it using 3/8" steel and it is showing very little wear. I am finding the lighter the material and hanging as free as possible works the best to stop bounce outs.
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I started out using old clothing and towels like most others here. I found this material a while back and have put almost 100,000 shots at it with 3/8 steel. Most other fabrics lasted me 1 day, sometimes 2 before I wore a hole in it big enough to allow my ammo to pass through. I shoot around 300 shots a day. Long story short, the first time I ordered this mesh it was a game-changer, I no longer had to worry about changing my backstop. I'm pretty miffed they changed it and I hope I can find more like the original.
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Harry Knuckles
I folded the top over to make a loose hem and sewed it with a nylon carpenters line. I used a bent piece of copper wire as my needle. Once the hem was sewed up, I stuck a rod through the hem and used the large black paper clips/clamps to pinch it between the fabric on the top of my catch box. I originally did this so I could play with the distance that the backstop was from the front to prevent bounce-outs but it worked so well I didn't bother changing it.
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