practicality of private gun range?

Hills are less expensive than having to pile up more dirt.
I used to have access to a really nice 600 yard range.
All that had been done was to cut down some intervening hills.

If I could buy enough land to build my own private range, I would have done so yesterday. The only problem is that I'd be constantly out of ammo.

MrBitey said:

I'm curious how much land is needed in order to not be too much bother to neighbors.

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I think that kinda depends on the neighbors. I've said before that where we live we can safely and legally shoot off our rear deck - about 175 yards to the hillside that is the back part of our place. However, we don't shoot off our deck very often because the sound of a shot usually brings our neighbors (who are only about a hundred feet to one side of us) out on their deck to see what's going on - we do the same thing when they shoot.
At any rate, we get along with our neighbors very well (have for 42 years) and they don't mind when we shoot a starling in our currant bushes any more than we mind when they shoot a rockchuck that is feasting on the freshly planted bulbs in their flower garden. But I don't know if all neighbors are as "neighborly" as ours are.

I'm kinda in the same position as 308 Norma, but my neighbors are a little further away. I have 200yds of valley behind me and 100yds directly off my deck backed by a large hill. I have basically a square 17acres but with 3 different 100+ acre farms behind and each side of me as well as a 600acre farm across the road with no neighbors at all on that side. If my neighbors weren't gun people like me, I'd want to be in the middle of at least 50acres with more farmland or forest around me.

MrBitey said:

I'm curious how much land is needed in order to not be too much bother to neighbors. I'd probably shoot at most once a week for 1-2 hours. Most of the land is around here is rolling hills, in case terrain matters. Also, is this just a bad idea if I don't plan to live on the land?

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Depends on many things.
State and County Law first off, typically define a minimum number of acres for shooting over, unencumbered.
This may be defines as a minimum distance to an inhabitable (or inhabited) dwelling (the language can differ, and the distinction is important).

Hills can be handy, as shooters are responsible for every round fired, whether it hits a backstop or not. The best backstop for the least effort is a water cut soil bank. This as it will typically absorb many rounds without issue, and needs no machine work.
Downside is that some watersheds are heavily regulated. Also, as with all backstops, height is your friend, and more is better.

You typically do not need to live on private land you have a range on. But, you may have the onus of having to fence and post it to keep stray people & creatures from wandering across same. Also, a well made backstop is what the insurance industry calls and "attractive nuisance." Dude hiking in the woods finds a backstop, put a few rounds into it and leaves. He tells a friend, and the friend comes and uses the range, too. Eventually loose lips make the place public. Which means you need fences, gates, signage, and being discrete. Or, to live on the property.

Now, neighbors are an issue. You might find a spiffy "flagpole" lot that passes all the laws & regulations, but the neighbors could object. They might also already be shooting over/on a vacant lot, too.

It's a complicated matrix. Not an impossible one. Just a complicated one.

Me and my neighbor have fire arm greetings. A 10rd burst from my SKS is "Hi, how are you?", and he'll answer with "fine, thank you" from his Ar.

I think the first question is what do you want to be able to shoot at this gun range? Short range pistols, bench rest rifles, Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, Bunker Trap, 5 Stand ..................

Personally, if I could have enough to set up a ZZ bird ring and a pistol range: I would be happy so maybe 40 acres depending on location and neighbors
For those unfamiliar with ZZs:


(watch the volume, it has some techno music)

I lived on 5.43 acers on the river bottom area. A fairly steep hill behind the house. Surrounded by woods with the nearest neighbor about a mile away. I was able to do a 100 yd range using a berm and about 40 yds shooting against the hill. Bad picture taken by plane ,but from left to right in front of the house I had a 350 foot wide lot you can also see the hill starts right behind the house. It is not how much land you need as the location. side.

''...indoor range. After a year on a wait list for the nearest outdoor range, I still have 3-4 years to go. I'm not getting any younger, so I've been wondering...''

Just in case you didn't think of it, do an internet search something like ''gun range within 50 miles of [zip code] ''

Or, ''trap club within...''

Would be vastly cheaper to just drive to the next club, again, if you haven't thought of it already and are willing to drive a little bit.

Or perhaps this would be helpful to any other viewers

I would built a private range if in could, but township code prohibits discharging a firearm outdoors except in emergency. So
I am restricted to indoor shooting. There is a private outdoor range about five miles from me. It is owned but shooting club. I foun it to be very snobish and the range rules were so restrictive that I never joined. Life has its miseries.

A private range is certainly doable, many of us have them, "practical" is a personal thing.

We bought 80 acres total (a 40, then the back 40). I have a 30 yd pistol, 100-300 from a bench and berms that go out to 760yds for prone, sitting etc. My 80 straddles two hillsides, which is why it took me years to find it. Natural elevated shooting positions, into a hillside.

A private range "briefs well", but can be expensive proposition time and money, especially right now. I've been eyeing the land behind me, but raw land prices around here have entered the stupid zone. The 20 across from me just went for close to $20K an acre. A lot of it is COVID, and a lot of it is low interest rates. Good news is I'm sitting on about 1.1 million in real-estate, which I just paid off on Friday.

1st thing I'd look at is financing. Loans for undeveloped land are treated similar to commercial loans and generally bear a higher interest rate. Know what you can, and are willing to, afford before you even start looking. Keep in mind property taxes!

2nd thing to check is zoning, this is a Go or No-Go thing. Personally I wouldn't buy too close to a city/town cause they constantly seem to expand their limits. A lot of the range grandfathering stuff I've read doesn't apply to private ranges/shooting.

Next I'd take a hard look at the actual property. How much to get it to where it needs to be, moving dirt, clearing lanes etc. As others said, hills are great, dirt is cheap, but getting it where you want it will cost you. Next look at what it's going to take to maintain it; time, equipment, fuel etc. Again look at the property taxes. Here x number of acres = agriculture which equals lower taxes, significantly lower taxes. Lose that designation and depending on how your local zoning is set up, you could go from $80 a year to $2300. This happened to a friend of mine that bought the 70 acres next to me. Went from agriculture to "vacant lot for sub-division" due to no farming activity.

Lastly....time. I shoot a lot, but I'd probably shoot even more IF I wasn't the SO for group shoots, maintenance guy and landscaper.







Do your research and go into it with both eyes open! And yes, doing what you want, when you want, is definitely worth it!

I’ve had my eye on shooting range land for the last six months. In those six months, in my area, prices have nearly doubled. Prices are slightly better if I’m willing to drive over an hour, which is absolutely not worth it to me. I came to the conclusion that I’m not rich enough at the moment for this little endeavor. I’ll revisit the dream in a few years.

Speaking for my self only.....since my childhood, I’ve wanted my personal shooting range. However, it was not my top priority for my move to a rural area.

I took an approximate 20% pay cut, moved over 1800 miles from my birthplace to escape the “unwashed masses”! I wished to live in a location of much lower population and crime, to offer my children a much better lifestyle, as well as have almost unlimited square miles of hunting, fishing, camping opportunities!

Even after relocating, it took several years to get my desire to move out of town fulfilled. Now with a home on the banks of the Big Horn River, BLM land to my south, state land to the north, a 300 yard range out my back door, unlimited shooting distances within a couple of miles, the closest WalMart at 90 miles, the closest interstate is a 100 miles away (across a mountain pass) the closest large city (50K + people) is over 150 miles away, with miserable hot summers, a well below zero winters.....I hope to remain happy through my remaining years!

The personal shooting range is merely “Lagniappe”.... which is Cajun, meaning something extra! memtb

I've been looking for property for the last 2+ years to build a private range on - and not live on. The estimates for the cost of such a thing range from $60,000 to $120,000 to include the land itself, building a berm, paving, overhead cover, lane clearing, on site storage and initial supplies. This is something I've been planning for a long time and I've come at it from every angle I can conceive of to attempt to address all the issues (there can be many).

I have a handgun range on the property. Small but not elaborate yet sufficient for my requirements. We are surrounded by woodlands and agricultural fields. Our neighbors, we take allowances for when we conduct our shooting sessions. One neighbor complained but I had a conversation with them stating that we don't complain about their kennel operations, thus barking dogs as we could complain to the counties animal control officer. End of conversation.

Having visited Chapman range in Columbia MO decades ago I saw the usefulness of land that appeared flat but which had a dry stream bed running thru it which gave it 25 foot berms and a variety of short, medium and long range situations. Now, living on the edge of the west side of the Ozarks, there are dozens of places like that, including behind my house. But, Im in the city, . Doesn't help there is an old rail bed now used as a public hiking trail down one side, however a power line cut can help as they did the work clear cutting you a path thru dense timber.

Look for changes in elevation, not the elevation itself when things seem to be flat. Draws and ravines falling off upland farmland where nobody can plow, or where heavy rains have eroded channels. Avoid new developments within a few miles as they will file complaints about the noise. A huge number of escapee's from the coastal metros have inflated real estate in the last year and major corporations from China are buying up farmland and even entire developments at 20% over appraised rates.

Here's the catch - owners are lining up for the increased profit yet have no clue they will now be forced to pay it right back in - and more - competing in a constricting market where for some strange reason housing suddenly jumped up 20%. Doh!

MrBitey said:

I'm curious how much land is needed

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As much as you can realistically afford, assuming you can legally discharge firearms where you intend to.
Reasons are numerous, but I'll point out the specific example of why, for me:
Property my grandparents owned (only about 12 acres) since the 60's that my family decided to purchase from the estate after my grandpa's death in 2000. At that time, we could safely shoot center-fire rifles to about 350-400yards in 180+degrees of direction. Then the area farmers got old or died, farms got lotted off and houses started popping up. By about 2008 we were down to 150 or so yards in about 20degrees of direction.

Now, the last remaining farm has sold. The Amish folks that bought it, built their home on a nice hill overlooking their new homestead. Problem for us is the house is about 100 yards from the property boundary on the hill that was our backstop. Anything past about 65 yards in that direction will be shooting across the ditch in line with their house, which isn't an option.

So, outside of handguns and .22's, our private range isn't very useful anymore.

Be within your local laws. Have a safe backdrop. That's all. I have a 40 and a family owned 160 plus a 15. Ranges and deer stands on all. City folks (Minneapolis) have been coming up in large numbers recently to get away from their own doing. I've had more than one instance of these city folks walk directly on my land, one time right on my shooting lane while I was sighting in, and ask me to stop shooting because their lap dog gets scared. Same idiots ride jet skis about 12 hours per day on the lakes near me.

Follow your local laws and fire away.

I have 40 acres. Plus large parcels of public land to the south. Enough for two pistol ranges, a trap field, and 1200 meters of rifle lanes. Plus a load test/chronograph space off the back of the house. I have no nearby neighbors.

I LOVE living two minutes or less from any of my ranges. OP, if it is really a priority for you, do whatever it takes to get your own shooting space.

I have 25 acres out in the foothills with a curved saddle ridge as a backdrop. It is an ideal place to shoot but my range is currently only fifty yards due to thick woods. If I cleared out a lane, it could increase up to 200+ yards.

The property is far enough out in the country that most of the neighbors hunt on their land and/or target shoot so there are no issues with the noise.


Check with your local tax assessors office about discounts on property tax for certain usage types.

In Tennessee, tracts of 15 acres or larger can qualify for greenbelt status if they are managed forest or used as grazing or farm land.

If the land and usage qualify, it can give a significant savings on the property tax bill.

Personally I’ve lived on a farm of some sort my entire life, the only time I have ever been to a public range was late at night to make out with a girl when I was a teenager.
I litterally shot off of my front porch yesterday, have killed 2 hogs in the last month from my porch.

The point is, I only know about one side of the coin, I am totally ignorant about the other. BUT if you take the plunge and buy a piece of land and build a range I’d be willing to bet tens of thousands of dollars you want regret it. Not to mention if you do, well, I’ve never heard of land prices going down.