Backstop for home made range

When I did mine I had an operator with his no-kidding bulldozer come in and push up a 10’ Tall x 36’ wide berm from scratch. Took him about 2.5 hrs, I think total cost was about $300. Worth every cent. I had him cut the front face vertical and I built a 10’ Wood retaining wall. About another $500. I’ve used it more than 20 years now never regretted the initial cost - it’s turned out to be a great investment. Wall has to be repaired now and then bu it’s no problem.

Whatever you do, be sure there is nothing beyond it at least as far as a bullet can travel, and fanning out from your shooting position.

gbw said:

When I did mine I had an operator with his no-kidding bulldozer come in and push up a 10’ Tall x 36’ wide berm from scratch. Took him about 2.5 hrs, I think total cost was about $300. Worth every cent. I had him cut the front face vertical and I built a 10’ Wood retaining wall. About another $500. I’ve used it more than 20 years now never regretted the initial cost - it’s turned out to be a great investment. Wall has to be repaired now and then bu it’s no problem.

Whatever you do, be sure there is nothing beyond it at least as far as a bullet can travel, and fanning out from your shooting position.

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Yea, you will be moving dirt forever with a little "bobcat" type machine.....I think the OP said bigger trucks can't get up there so I bet anything along the lines of a "no-kidding bulldozer" track hoe....any "real" equipment is out by his statement on big trucks.

It is sounding a little like the smaller machines are the way to do this.....now what to do.

If you are going to be living up there in the near future I would suggest on looking at machines.....tractors make great tractors, but they are real sh!tty bulldozers.....a front loader on even a mid sized tractor and you will be at it for a while....you can do it....it just takes time.....you could build pikes peak with a BX kubota and a loader....it will just take you a LONG time to do it.

Do some long range planning.

And for the record I did mine myself with said Kubota BX and a backhoe....it took most of the summer, but I am sure nothing is going to leave my property.

gbw said:

Whatever you do, be sure there is nothing beyond it at least as far as a bullet can travel, and fanning out from your shooting position.

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If all ranges adhered to this idea, there would be very few ranges east of the great plains. None in many eastern states. I've never seen or heard of one in the east to which this applied.

Robbins290 said:

skid steer? thats like a bob cat right? i will have to see what the rental place has around here. or borrow somebodys tractor

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Bob Cat is a brand name. They make skid steers as well as excavators and a number if other types of equipment. If you're feeling adventurous and want to learn a new skill, you could rent one and try to build it yourself. You'd probably save money and almost definitely end up with a nicer finished product if you hired somebody with a dozer or excavator though. If you can get a skid steer in, they can get a dozer in unless it's too narrow, which I doubt, since it needs to be a decent width to shoot at anyway.

I haven’t had to do any maintenance on my back stop in the years since I set it up. It’s 8ft tall 16 ft wide to make sure no bullets leave the property. Weighing 4000 lbs keeps it from blowing over in high winds.





Dirt berms erode and if you don’t make them wide enough to mow, are a pain to weed eat. If you just let weeds grow on top, it can give you a false sense, in that you have 3 feet or more of vision barrier weeds that won’t stop a bullet and they are not as effective as a thick grass at slowing erosion.

I bought it as “drop” from a bridge construction job so I imagine it is Corten steel, why I never painted it.

I have a few small pieces of it left over and if what I want to shoot damages the surface I use special target stands I made that have AR 500 backers.



The angle can deflect rounds without damage that would otherwise mess up the surface hit perpendicular, so the greater the angle the better.

jmorris said:

I haven’t had to do any maintenance on my back stop in the years since I set it up. It’s 8ft tall 16 ft wide to make sure no bullets leave the property. Weighing 4000 lbs keeps it from blowing over in high winds.

View attachment 857197

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Dirt berms erode and if you don’t make them wide enough to mow, are a pain to weed eat. If you just let weeds grow on top, it can give you a false sense, in that you have 3 feet or more of vision barrier weeds that won’t stop a bullet and they are not as effective as a thick grass at slowing erosion.

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What is highest energy projectiles you have shot at that plate?

300 win mag, I don’t shoot the 50 BMG or other metal manglers at the house.

What does a huge piece of steel like that cost?

Good Ol' Boy said:

What does a huge piece of steel like that cost?

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$4000-$6000ish, depending on exactly what kind of steel it is. I remember him posting pictures of that in another thread. He didn't buy it new.

Good Ol' Boy said:

What does a huge piece of steel like that cost?

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$1040, is what I paid for it.

jmorris said:

I haven’t had to do any maintenance on my back stop in the years since I set it up. It’s 8ft tall 16 ft wide to make sure no bullets leave the property. Weighing 4000 lbs keeps it from blowing over in high winds.

View attachment 857197

View attachment 857196

Dirt berms erode and if you don’t make them wide enough to mow, are a pain to weed eat. If you just let weeds grow on top, it can give you a false sense, in that you have 3 feet or more of vision barrier weeds that won’t stop a bullet and they are not as effective as a thick grass at slowing erosion.

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Dang that’s sweet. I’m really into reclaiming lead and that would make it pretty easy to reclaim a good bit!

I use tires filled with dirt.Car tires stop 30-06AP,and I have AG tires that stop the 50.Light handgun loads will get stuck and not even penetrate the tire.Never had one bounce back,but 45 Colt bullets you can pull out with your fingers.

Makes harvesting the lead pretty easy,and you don't have a huge pile of dirt to move if you change directions.

I shoot mostly prone with long guns,so 4 high.Handguns I use car tires 8 high.Filled with dirt,.308 wont go thru car tires.Kind of a poor mane sandbag,but they take a lot of hits with no real damage-take them down and rotate 90 degrees when they start getting too shot up.The rubber stretches when the round goes in,and springs back after.Hard to see where the rounds even go in.........

doubleh said:

Sand is also very hard to keep piled up unless you can keep it covered with some type of grass. Wind and rain move it in a hurry.

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How about sand-filled tire stacks?

Tire shops have to pay a disposal fee on the used tires, and might give you
as many as you want, for free. I picked up a half dozen for potato farming
a few years ago, they told me have at it.

I'm thinking between the steel/aramid belted treads and sand filling, they'd
make pretty good bullet stops.

Edit: whoops, always read to end of thread--Carguy got there firstest!

Steve762us said:

How about sand-filled tire stacks?

Tire shops have to pay a disposal fee on the used tires, and might give you
as many as you want, for free. I picked up a half dozen for potato farming
a few years ago, they told me have at it.

I'm thinking between the steel/aramid belted treads and sand filling, they'd
make pretty good bullet stops.

Edit: whoops, always read to end of thread--Carguy got there firstest!

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Yeah,there's a couple guys around here that use stacks of tires for potatos as well.Works good if you can't bend over,and easy to harvest.Shoot low and they can pull double duty..........

What about HESCO type barriers?
Anyone know what they cost?

BigSteve57 said:

What about HESCO type barriers?
Anyone know what they cost?

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They are fairly cheap but I would be concerned about bullets cutting the metal wires that gives the fabric it's strength.

When I needed a lot of fill; I just called up the local excavation companies and pool companies. When they're digging a pool the dirt has to go somewhere... 48 hours later I had four truck loads for free. They were happy to get rid of it.

bearcreek said:

If all ranges adhered to this idea, there would be very few ranges east of the great plains. None in many eastern states. I've never seen or heard of one in the east to which this applied.

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It seems like it is becoming common now for outdoor ranges to be installing overhead, side, and ground baffles in the Northeast to catch errant rounds. home ranges might want to put some of the same principles in place if they apply. I always wonder what stops the round if someone bounces a round and it jumps the backstop? Having a baffle or 2 on the ground to stop the round might work.

I read recently the Sig academy here in NH got their indoor range shut down for a while at some point because it was discovered rounds where escaping and being found out in public spaces, on the highway etc. Keeping rounds contained seems difficult to me. I've been looking into it and basically from the shooting position, if you can see the ground, or the sky - or in any direction that doesn't have something set up to stop a round, that is built to stop rounds, eventually some will escape - and even if it is built to spec, like the Sig Academy, sometimes they get out anyways which is kind of scary to be honest.