There is another technique, albeit limited by the weather.

When in Iowa, suffering from cabin fever, it was well below zero and had been for weeks.

We went out to the Skunk River - about 50 feet wide, a couple of feet or so deep and banks that were 15' high straight up.  Frozen solid except for an occasional channel where the ice would only be a foot thick.

Took the .357 and set up cans for plinking at 20 to 50 paces.  After much shooting, we walked down range.  There was a rift of snow with a bullet hole in it; then a slight rise with a groove in it; then a series of grooves in the 1" of snow on top of the ices that curved gently to the right AND right there was a snow/ice encrusted bullet SITTING on top of the snow.  Lots of 'em.  NO DEFORMATION.

It even worked with a 22-250 but we lost most to ricochets and the distance had to be MUCH further to get the angle right (almost parallel to the ice).

Mann makes mention of something similar on a 100 or 200 yard range along a hillside.

If your not in a hurry a snow bank works real well.  I blow snow to form a bank every winter and shoot into it all season.  The only deformed bullets are those that run into another one.  I pick them all up in the spring and re-melt them.

If you don't catch the bullet at the speed normally shot you will not realize the full transformation that takes place as the bullet shortens and the nose slumps all very critical information especially in regards to retained balance. If you simply have enough powder to push the bullet out of the bore you might as well push it through with a rod and catch it in a hat as it is only going to show you bore and groove deminsions.

JLouis

I live in an area with high bluffs over water. Could shoot long range into the water. Could catch bullets in a trap suspended in water by four floats. Have the plan in my head and lead in my butt.

    Joe.

The best that I have seen is a box filled with ground up rubber this is the recycled stuff. There used to be a plant near me that ground up rubber tires and recycled them is what we used, the only problem is the people that grind up the tires grind up the steel belts in them to and don't bother to separate the steel from the rubber so you have to do that yourself. 

A buddy and myself built a wood box with the end open and stretched a piece of rubber inner tube over that to shoot into. the first one we built was 8' long but found out that 4 foot was more than plenty with a hinged lid. We were shooting mostly BPCR and military cast bullet loads probably traveling 1100 to 1600 fps. Something else that would work if you can get it is the shredded rubber that is used for outdoor tracks that people run on. But it is hard to get expensive.

RB

If you can set it up, water seems to do the least damage to a bullet. On bullets I've recovered from sand boxes they do deform, but are pretty good shape. Nothing I've ever recovered has had any lube left on it, or more than a residue.

I've shot a LOT of bullets into the water.  They do deform.