The “Lego’ type rubber ballistic blocks that have been stacked to create a wall to insulate the indoor training facility and shooting range.

The blocks provide anti-ricochet and shrapnel protection in confined areas. Advantages include superior bullet encapsulation, the prevention of lead dust emissions as bullets remain encapsulated in the rubber as well as the prevention of bullet “skip” on hard surfaces. The effect of this process creates a “self-healing” and tear resistant ballistic block which does not show the effect of bullet entry. The vulcanised process uses high pressure and an environmentally friendly binder to create superior bullet encapsulation. The ballistic blocks are manufactured at Mathe’s sister company, Van Dyck Flooring, in Prospecton, Durban. “So we went further and used high calibre rifles and armour piercing rounds and, believe it or not, these blocks stopped them too,” he says. Initially sceptical about whether or not such a light block would stop a bullet, Boomgard tested this product extensively, starting with a 44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in South Africa. The steel and sand bags that were conventionally used in the construction of shooting ranges were too heavy and cumbersome for use in an internal shooting range. The blocks can also be removed with ease and even reconfigured to meet different needs,” he explains.īoomgard, who has over 15 years’ experience in body guarding and close protection in South Africa, India, Dubai and England and is both a corporate security advisor and a partner at Springfield Arms which provides self-defence, mixed martial arts and firearms training, said he was looking for a rubberised product that could minimise the velocity of a bullet. The “Lego” type effect ensures that the wall remains rigid. The blocks are manufactured with a “Lego” type configuration so that they can be easily stacked to create a wall or arranged in layers so that their thickness can be built up in layers of 50mm. “The weight of each block is approximately six to seven kilograms. These can be assembled to effectively create a ballistic safety wall. The end result was not a rubber sheet but even more effective rubber blocks measuring 50cm x 25cm x 50mm (thickness). Zaheer Boomgard of Springfield Arms pictured in the shooting range which has been insulated with rubber blocks that have been assembled to create a ballistic safety wall.

Rubber shooting blocks