Bullet Trap from Hell!

A lot of people have wondered over the years just what the heck we fire all these guns into. Wonder no more!

[@trashcompactorYT]

"What shirt do you have on?" "Your mom" RIP Mark Serbu (196X - 2021)

[@Oshidwhaddup]

Lol

[@golf-n-guns]

You're wearing grandma's shirt? OK

[@someguy2741]

I am no safety nancy but you should wear respirators when cleaning these out and do it outside. The lead dust is no joke. When clearing out shooting ranges it is full respirator and into buckets that are taped and sealed before going for disposal.

[@WmSrite-pi8ck]

I scrolled down to make this exact comment. I'm no safety nut either, in fact I don't wear a respirator when welding or milling metal or spray painting. But, whatever is in that trap looks terrible to breathe. If I didn't have a mask I'd at least wet down the substrate to keep that dust down.

[@norikotakaya14292]

@@WmSrite-pi8ck I was medically retired from the HVAC trade after 34 years because of a septic infection I got in my lungs from breathing in various airborne particles related to my job over the years. The company I worked for provided PPE, which I of course used, but respirators don't catch everything and I ended up getting very sick and almost died. Thankfully Workers Comp was on my side in this one and I won my case. The downside though was the infection spread from my lungs to my spine, hence my retirement. I'm now on disability.

[@seanseoltoir]

I suspect that most of that dust is from the chopped up conveyor belts, not the lead...

[@david7384]

@@seanseoltoir still a shit ton of lead dust

[@alexduke5402]

Think of all the airborne lead when they were pulling that stuff out

[@AceClubs22]

Despite the fact that the slow mo shots didn't look as good as you wanted, I think they still look great! Good idea for the white backdrops.

[@john-paulsilke893]

All the unburned powder bouncing off the face was pretty cool.

[@LClaypool]

I was going to leave a comment about lead dust, but everyone else has. Plus, I'm done leaving safety comments.... Yeah, love to see your explanation on the .50 failure.

[@grantmurphy7965]

That's the first thing that came to my mind as well.

[@someguy2741]

The RN-50 question... I dont think people realize how impressive it is that the threads got peeled clean off the male end... looking into the socket it would be interesting to see in there. I assume those threads are intact but full of the receiver threads. Maybe doing the math and putting it in the video to show just how many PSI it would take to pull all those threads and compare that to 50BMG pressures and then to say 5.56 pressure and 308 pressure to give people an idea of how wickedly bad of a day Scott should have had. It would have peeled an M2 apart. Then add the locking lugs on that and convert that to PSI. Its incredible that the gun didnt disintegrate into glitter. Good job Mark! It couldnt have gone better.

[@butziporsche8646]

As an RN-50 owner, I would love to see a follow-up myself. Root cause analysis can take some time and there are expenses associated with any destructive testing that may be required. It would be nice to see the naysayer's musing put to rest.

[@hindsight2022]

So are we talking double charged case ?

[@butziporsche8646]

@@hindsight2022 Well, could have been an inappropriately fast burning powder as well. Unscrupulous purveyors of dangerous ordnance.

[@someguy2741]

@@hindsight2022 I am not sure you can double charge the case. I would have to check the case capacity vs the load. The amount of powder is pretty tremendous apparently. It is possible that the bullets were stored in a hot environment which could cause the powder to break down into something more powerful. Or the bullets were reloads with the wrong powder like the other guy said. I am more thinking about the calculation for pressure. If a standard "proof" load a given amount over pressure (I think its 50%) and the RN cap needed 300% over pressure to peel the threads off then the gun was REALLY strong and the bullet must have been an explosion waiting to happen.

[@someguy2741]

@@hindsight2022 Just checked. They cant double charge the case. Standard powder load is 265 grains and the case only holds 292 grains.

[@billy19461]

Loved the video and the slow motion shots. I thought that they were fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

[@ETC_Rohaly_USCG]

That slow-mo still looked awesome! All that unburned powder!

[@patmancrowley8509]

I'll have to say that your guys should be wearing respirators to protect their lungs from lead dust.

[@formhubfar]

Oh wow.., not wearing respirators around a cloud of lead dust.

[@bent540]

lead particles dont flaot around in the air!

[@realifethunder]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@formhubfar]

@@bent540 Well then I guess I was hallucinating when I seen plumes of dust as they were dragging it out of the box, maybe go back and see for yourself before you get smart.

[@elonquemattheson6151]

@@bent540 Everything floats in the air if it's in a fine enough powder, whether it's lead, uranium, plutonium, or anything else.

[@bent540]

@@formhubfar mayeb the box and the fuckign materials in it are made of stuff other than lead! are you some sort of special stupid?

[@vanadiumV]

physician assistant and he smells the plumb heavy metal powder !

[@Apocalypse_Cow]

Shows you the quality of PAs these days.

[@Friedbrain11]

I wondered how that trap worked. Simple but effective. I enjoyed the slow-mo bullet flights, but as you said...needs more light.

[@AlexanderEddy]

I'm committed to the belief that this box contains a portal to another dimension and this video hasn't convinced me otherwise

[@tomwilliams8675]

I'm with you. I think I saw this same box on the Twilight Zone 😁

[@XskiXedgeX]

This is the first time in 2 years where I *would* recommend a mask. Lol

[@pdean6907]

I like that the dude cleans out the crap with nice Tillman welding gloves. More dollars than sense

[@jgordon5408]

Chopped up conveyor belts are no joke. Think sharp little wires like in a tire. Those Tillman's were a great idea to keep the shards outta the paws. Dust them off and keep going.

[@pdean6907]

@@jgordon5408 those looked like Tillman TIG gloves which are thinner leather. My point wasn’t that he was wearing leather gloves but using nice new welding ones for a shitty job.

[@Bigshooterist]

As simple as these traps are, they're crazy effective. A friend of ours had a "back blast" incident with one of those snail traps. Putting the muzzle of an M16 inside and burning a few magazines filled it with just enough flammable gasses to go "Boom". It was quite a noise but no one was hurt.

[@markserbu]

I got an emergency room visit thanks to my old snail trap! You probably remember the story...I still have bullet fragments in my legs from my buddy who screwed up firing the M-16 into the trap, missing the hole after a few shots. Yes, 5.56 projectiles hitting armor plate at a range of a few inches have a fair amount of recoil energy!

[@Bigshooterist]

I do remember that Mark. We could write a whole book about stupid shit we've done and survived. 😄

[@samvittoria9692]

That was the look my wife gave me when she was having that time of the month.

[@FLVCTVAT_NEC_MERGITVR]

Damn, I'd probably be wearing a respirator while emptying that!

[@someguy2741]

You should fill the trap full of stretch armstrongs. Self healing forever :p

[@jedermachtigallmighty7345]

Wow, thanks for sharing 👍

[@mikebillman8089]

They should be wearing respirators for this imo.

[@java9090]

You beat me to it. Lead may not kid you but it isn't good long term.

[@citizen_or_civilian]

Just thinking this.

[@stanleyrucci21]

Opinions are like assholes...

[@mikebillman8089]

@@stanleyrucci21 So are you Stanley.

[@deezznutzz2400]

Maybe next time put a dust mask on, inhaling led particals might be bad for your health. 🤣👌

[@user-ARK1547]

respirators for lead exposure and a biosuit to keep it off the body lead poisoning doesn't go away .

[@justsomeplantcells-]

Too late

[@williamcollins4082]

Your in Florida right ? A wheelbarrow an a snow shovel... We had a quick detachable 55 gal drum attached to a wheelbarrow an a Snow Shovel ... Now finding a "Snow Shovel" in Phoenix Arizona took some doing !!! They all thought us crazy !!! But for some messes they are indispensable !!! Thought ya could use a laugh !!!

[@callmemeta9724]

Mark's daughter be lookin kinda cute doe 👀

[@petermgruhn]

Friend of mine from high school was a theater manager (or something), tv station, EMT... and recently he's become a professor of anaesthesiology (real doctor, cardiac OR stuff).

[@1Dougloid]

Words to live by. "Just like there's a lot of complicated things. The more you do it, the more you learn, the better you get at it."

[@anthonyjohnson100]

Everyone needs one of these in their living room!

[@captainrumball]

thats a pretty simple but ingenious design

[@PaletoB]

Hmmm I do have a pallet of old car tire blasting mats and an old cut open safe. Should be good enough for a 45-70 right?

[@jgordon5408]

Line it with the matt and fill it with shredded tires.....maybe. the deeper the better!

[@omegaentertainment1]

So next time Demo Ranch does a competition for body armor or catching a bullet, he should just find a bunch of conveyor belt debris??? Heck yeah!

[@davidallen5976]

Probably a good time to actually wear an N95 mask 😷. 🤣

[@Arkanic]

Take your time with the accident video Mark, it's a serious incident and deserves a good going over. I'm sure it'll be useful to the community. Man, this video really brought the safety nannies out of the woodwork huh. Yeah masks should have been worn but it's not like they do this every day...

[@onpsxmember]

Some things you just have to do once for ever lasting damage. It's not asbestos, but it's definitely not healthy. Those with high round counts should periodically take a good look at their blood work.

[@unskilledpyromancer7825]

Once lead is in you it doesn't come out. He's got them wearing gloves so they're presumably aware of the danger to some extent, and I don't think he'd intentionally have his kids poisoning themselves

[@ebblue81]

Finally! Ha been wondering a while myself! I need one for my basement

[@Powershift]

That's awesome. My shop's indoor range had almost 9,000lbs of that same material in the backstop.

[@user-ARK1547]

And I. Sure lead dust and lead poisoning of the lungs if they didn't take precautions.lead poisoning isn't forgiving and stays in the body and plays havoc with ones health.

[@encross8058]

I like the bear sticking it's tongue out on the target

[@jeffjefferson2676]

This reminds me of fiddling around with my "bookscanner" setup. Getting the lighting right was the hardest part. And its still not done. I will try my new Sony IMX335 chips coming in soon. That should be the final solution! These chips will make a great night vision system too. With IR lighting. I will put one behind a riflescope. Really cool stuff.. Blair witch project type deal... :) Greetings, Jeff

[@cr0ss0ut]

I'm not OSHA. But 100% should be using respirators cleaning that thing.. lead dust will fck you up. Just a bad as lead vapors.

[@felixcat9318]

Those rectangular plates were literally powdered! That is some energy transfer!

[@jetsonIFY]

Now I want one of these in my shop!!

[@dustinf11]

There are some serious close calls on that trap... Near the edge.

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

That’s interesting what is inside that. Back when the old WWII range at Nellis AFB was still open to the public I found a bazillion of those .50 BMG slugs down range. No kidding, there’s like 5-10 of those rusting steel cores per square yard in some areas. I grabbed some of the more interesting ones that looked like half peeled bananas. I even found some intact ones in dead joshua trees that were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[@Cubanb407]

You may see that as a fail but that bullet footage is awesome to me

[@CarolinaGunGuy]

You should start sending some shot .50 cal projectiles with each order (guns, shirt, etc.) as a souvenir. You might get some more orders placed. 👍 (And I'm not just saying this because my BFG-50 is supposed to ship soon. You could legit get a bunch of merchandise orders.)

[@trashcompactorYT]

I know a lot of guntubers do this but I can't stress enough that the bullets need to be well packaged. Lead dust ain't fun

[@mattmarzula]

@@trashcompactorYT Class 9 hazmat labeling too.

[@christopherch7307]

Nice box 👍😄👍

[@gsh923]

I would be a breathing mask with that much lead dust floating around

[@shadowlab9543]

so cool, its amazing how much life you got out of that thing

[@golf-n-guns]

That trap design is brilliant.

[@trif55]

Wish we'd seen them re-loading it with the new centre

[@nigelkavanagh2048]

Thanks for sharing Mark, I know how to build a trap now. 👍

[@rustyshakleford5230]

Hello Sir Bu. I am very much like your content and used to be a patreon but had to get a new credit card and due to my laziness you are out $10 a month. I will eventually get around to updating my patreon payment right after I finish dormering a 1900s farmhouse foreclosure I bought in the middle of a pandemic. Also you should make a muzzle loading 50 cal gattling gun. A top magazine of say 100 .500" loaded and primed barrel blanks and a rotating firing mechanism and a lower barrel magazine and some wheels would make an awesome truly 50 states legal awesome muzzleloader season deer slayer.

[@hajihunterr7662]

Love it Mark

[@jasonpatterson947]

Scott is still a beast !!!!

[@seanseoltoir]

ANYTHING can work as a bullet stop if you have enough of it... Yep, even AIR -- you just need a LOT (miles) of it... Sand works quite well -- you don't need too many feet of it and the bullets are still rather intact... Water works, but depending upon the bullet velocity, it can result in the bullet being not recoverable... On thing that I considered trying at one time was "slack wax" since it would allow me to reheat the wax so that it would melt and I could then recover the lead from the bottom... I cast my own bullets, so being able to recover my lead would decrease my cost of shooting...

[@mosheshpinel3108]

Nice unhealthy dose of fine lead dust there! At the Police range we wash with special heavy metal removal soap after a session.

[@RichardCranium321]

More lead exposure from primers of fired casings than this. The dust was predominantly from the composite cards inside. Did you see most of the projectiles they pulled out were mainly still in one piece, just missing the copper jacket on some. While this wouldn't be good to do regularly, once every 3 years isn't enough to worry. It's kinda like getting an X-ray vs the tech who does them daily, exposure isn't a risk in small quantities (unless it's in children)

[@TheDecoyDude]

Should sell those .50 rounds as collectibles or include them in the box of a few rifles you sell… at least I think lots of people would find that interesting.

[@scottdoran3112]

...roofing tiles and phone books and duct tape, work for those of us who dont have an ar 500 bullet stop.

[@NZsportbiker]

Always interesting. The content on your kids is great :D

[@kriztov265]

Man look at that polymer frame distort and wobble...

[@DopeFiend]

Do you guys melt down all that lead after?

[@jordanhorst6]

I'd be wearing a respirator for that lung killer.

[@bryanfaulkenburg462]

Yall should really be wearing a respirator when cleaning that thing , lead and copper fines are nasty to the nervous system.

[@rickjames2043]

As for Scott's accident! It was the slap round and not your fire arm!!!!!!!!!!! Some day when I can afford one that is what I will buy!!!!

[@LS-ye5pp]

That's badass. I want one

[@Subgunman]

Where do you get the replacement guts and front panel? From the manufacture or from someone who sells conveyor belting?

[@morscovium8881]

Everyone RELAX. Lead is too heavy to make dust and besides, Lead dust is good for you, it will give you a strong back and good finger muscles. My dad used to sprinkle grated lead into my cereal before school and I went to special classes for the smartest kids in school because of it.

[@markserbu]

LOL

[@greydaddie]

use the trulight flashlight for lighting the highspeed.

[@GuyInc0gnit0]

Doing this without any kind of breathing protection was a huge mistake!

[@omegaentertainment1]

The fact that you constantly fire .50 BMG and other calipers into that relatively small trap is pretty neat! So many KZbinrs shoot many different things and the .50 BMG always seems to destroy whatever they're shooting while you have a whole trap that's been shot with that and less a bazillion times and it's been years since you had to empty it out. Did you have a pass-through or close then realize it was time to do some maintenance, or was it just time?

[@markserbu]

Hell no there wasn't a pass-through! Mainly we get to the point where the face is so torn up that it's time to change it, and we go ahead and change the filling at the same time.

[@omegaentertainment1]

@@markserbu I didn't see any holes in the back of the trap when you emptied it out I was just joking 🙂. Appreciate the behind-the-scenes videos, Mr. Serbu!

[@jonathank7394]

Really cool

[@art1muz13]

Ok, so since u seem like a down to earth good 'ole boy. Here's my query. I took 7 plus yrs. to achieve a non-conditional pardon from a governor of this grand stats of California. My son had advised me ''dad when you are all set I'll give you the arm of your choice, it helped alot that I gifted him a 1970 or so 6''colt python, ptistine, never shot inbox with receipt gifted to me from my wife's gramps. I couldn't own/have being non pardoned. Now I'm good. What is the fastest, easiest, best way to transfer ownership and what-not into my name? It's a 1911 .45 ACP we're both Cali residents. Thank you for any help. Love your stuff.

[@genericuser41]

Check calguns for ca specific laws. You should be able to do an intra-familial transfer.

[@LAyers318]

That wasn’t enough light at the end damn how. Much you really need

[@johnmccanntruth]

Zack, my wife is a PA, pretty good choice I say…

[@tomwilliams8675]

Hi to Val! Why is she being so camera shy, her fans miss her 🤗 Mark, how are the conveyor belt squares packed in the trap? Do they come pre-cut from the company that makes the bullet trap?

[@madcapmagician6018]

good video Mark =) and please dont hurry the accident video, do everything you have to to make sure it is clear , concise, and understandable to the layman, because lots of folks are very curious as to how this happened. i eagerly await your determination. by the way is the leading culprit still a faulty reload of a slap round? or something else ?

[@stonequarry6977]

So how do you know when to change the insides? I mean obviously before they exit out of the back?

[@scrappydoo7887]

That's begging to be melted down to make a lead plate 👌

[@Matt-dc8lp]

The lack of a respirator...

[@ctapmgriley]

May want to check your blood lead levels now. You might be surprised.

[@mr_ThreeEight_1776]

If only you had a powerful magnet to sirt out all of the rounds

[@stanleyrucci21]

And some magnetic lead or copper to use the magnet on...

[@mr_ThreeEight_1776]

@@stanleyrucci21 you're kidding right?

[@stanleyrucci21]

Considering lead and copper aren't magnetic. No I'm not kidding.

[@mr_ThreeEight_1776]

@@stanleyrucci21 but they're metal

[@stanleyrucci21]

Oh, Im sorry I thought he only used rubber bullets. You know as to not get demonetized on the KZbins. My sincerest apologies.

[@GarbageDanks]

Try placing the lights on the other side of the camera. Maybe that will help light behind the bullet so to say.

[@thetriode]

Supposedly a mattress will double in weight after you use it for so many years. With this bullet trap? Who knows.

[@GunFunZS]

Man I want all that lead

[@tom3699]

That should have been done outdoors

[@matthewplayer8337]

PA = hella hard! Good on you

[@gschgvt2956]

I made something similar out of rubber mulch. Works great but I'm also not catching .50 BMG. I was wondering where to get a self healing front that big... now I know.

[@karansingh1154]

what did you refill it with?

[@drubradley8821]

That was cool.. I want to build a new bullet catcher, conical bi-sectioned trap... If I am feeling really clever, adding a screw auger at the bottom and a suction fan on the side bottom end opposite end of the screw auger drop shoot... If I am feeling even more cleverer then that, to make the first two point of impact plates replaceable in slots with a safety plate behind number one, and the back up plate would not be removable or replaceable. I suppose it could be in the same fashion as the first/front unit. Maybe a sealed plastic composite bladder filled with liquid that if punctured, would start to leak and run out the bottom as an indicator that either the replaceable splatter plate and the back-up safety splatter plate have worn out/through OR the caliber was just too dang big for what the plates to handle? I highly doubt, the plastic composite bladder that hugs the entire back side (as designed on paper) being only less then a foot thick would be enough to dampen the projectile, if both the front plates worn through or were slam fractured or punctured through? I think the sound of liquid peeing out the bottom auger drop shoot onto the shop floor, would be enough to hear it..? There is my novel for the week of run-on sentences. Another fun video.

[@coreybikes]

We didn't get to see the loading or refilling of the trap. :(

[@coreymerrill3257]

I actually expected a snail spiral trap insert ,packed with something energy reducing like hanging chains and movable rubber flaps or filled with a silly putty like non newtonian substance .

[@lokiwartooth1138]

We still love you.

[@gregorholmes1837]

Never let a boy in pink shorts do…..ANYTHING

[@Apocalypse_Cow]

👍🤣👍

[@InvadersDie]

Looks like the lighting is super overkill in the wide shot. Slowmo isn't easy lol. How many lumens do those lamps output?

[@johngarland1641]

Can you send me one of those 50cal projectiles?Hard to come by here in Australia..

[@deplorablesecuritydevices]

Is Serbu also This old tony?

[@scottnewsham2496]

Any update on the RN50 of Kentucky Ballistics?

[@markserbu]

You obviously didn't watch until the end...

[@scottnewsham2496]

@@markserbu nope, no offense I just didn't find the video all that interesting, so no I didn't watch to the end. But I'll fast forward a bit if there's and update to be had. By the way I think you make some very nice fine arms and I think It sucks how so many folks on you tube went right to blaming you and the RN 50. I was just hoping for a dedicated video on the subject. Good day sir.

[@iamtheomega]

conveyor belts really thin, I bet steel belted tire treads from blown tires would be better but you couldn't cram them in as densely and their decomposition characteristics might not be as good...you'd need a hydraulic press and fixture to cut them up, my 20T. pneumatic could barely get an axe head through one..

[@felver27]

You should put those in packages

[@joecoastie99]

Is it my imagination or are there some seriously sketch impacts on that green tape? lol

[@markserbu]

Oh, yeah. A buddy of mine almost went "off target" hip-firing my M-60. He put a couple of nice gouges "in the green". ;-)

[@arobinson1977]

Breathing mask for all the lead dust?

[@zabimaru404]

NASTY. Dammit, use some respiratory protection.

[@timturner7609]

5:17 I feel like you missed an opportunity there to call it "a real pain in the neck." 😓 On the real though, is there still a 2 year lead time on the rn50, or has there been enough cancelation that I might get one before I climb up the mountain for my sky burial.