Sep 22, 2026

US12742619 - Two-stage multiuse gun clearing and test trap with replaceable decelerant

A reusable gun clearing and test trap has two chambers, a bullet capture chamber and an attached bullet inlet chamber to stop fired bullets, the capture chamber having at least one user-serviceable door for interior access to receive a bullet decelerant. An elastomeric mass such as blocks of compressed crumb rubber or vulcanized virgin rubber retardant is removably insertable into the inlet chamber for slowing the fired bullets. A slurry, such as a mixture of sand and oil such as is removably loadable into the capture chamber through a trap door and serves as the decelerant for the fired bullets. The capture chamber and the inlet chamber are made in a shape and of encasing materials that are sufficient to contain explosive discharges and ricochets associated with fired bullets. A labyrinth baffle is for dispersing discharge gases.

Assignee: Timothy Scott Schmalbeck
Inventors: Timothy Scott Schmalbeck
Filing date: 2021-11-05

gunclearingtesttrapbulletscapturechamber

The patent describes a two-stage gun clearing and test trap designed to safely capture fired bullets using a combination of a bullet capture chamber and an inlet chamber, which includes user-serviceable components for maintenance. The trap employs a unique slurry of sand and hydraulic oil as a decelerant, along with elastomeric materials to absorb shock and contain explosive discharges.

Claim 1

1 . A gun clearing and test trap comprising: a capture chamber containing the slurry and operative to capture fired bullets; an inlet chamber connected to said capture chamber and together forming the clearing/test trap, said inlet chamber having an inlet port for receiving fired bullets, said inlet chamber further having two layers of wall forming a passageway from the capture chamber to an outlet and further including a baffle in said passageway to constrain discharge gases; an elastomeric mass removably insertable into said inlet chamber for slowing fired bullets, wherein the elastomeric mass further partially absorbs a discharge shock of a fired bullet; a slurry, the slurry being a mixture of sand and liquid petroleum of a ratio, volume and viscosity sufficient to stop fired bullets, the liquid petroleum being hydraulic oil and the sand being of a size in the range of 0.0625 mm grains to 2 mm grains, the hydraulic oil and sand being mixed together in a ratio of between 0.05 to 1 parts and 20 to 1 parts by volume, wherein the slurry exhibits a non-Newtonian force-response to motion properties; and wherein the capture chamber and the inlet chamber are constructed of encasing materials sufficient to contain explosive discharges associated with fired bullets. a capture chamber containing the slurry and operative to capture fired bullets; an inlet chamber connected to said capture chamber and together forming the clearing/test trap, said inlet chamber having an inlet port for receiving fired bullets, said inlet chamber further having two layers of wall forming a passageway from the capture chamber to an outlet and further including a baffle in said passageway to constrain discharge gases; an elastomeric mass removably insertable into said inlet chamber for slowing fired bullets, wherein the elastomeric mass further partially absorbs a discharge shock of a fired bullet; a slurry, the slurry being a mixture of sand and liquid petroleum of a ratio, volume and viscosity sufficient to stop fired bullets, the liquid petroleum being hydraulic oil and the sand being of a size in the range of 0.0625 mm grains to 2 mm grains, the hydraulic oil and sand being mixed together in a ratio of between 0.05 to 1 parts and 20 to 1 parts by volume, wherein the slurry exhibits a non-Newtonian force-response to motion properties; and wherein the capture chamber and the inlet chamber are constructed of encasing materials sufficient to contain explosive discharges associated with fired bullets.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12742619

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12742619