Acreage and shooting

[natedog]

As a suburb guy, I don't really have a concept of measuring area in "acreage". I recently found out that my family has 80 acres of land...It is mostly rolling hills with a few ravines and creek beds...in the Maricopa, CA area for those of you who know the area. My only question is: Is this enough room, provided I use a backstop, to shoot? I'm sure I could shoot into a hillside or something.

 

[Mal H]

Sure that's more than enough. If you have a good substantial backstop and neighbors who don't mind the noise, you're good to go. You should be able to setup a range of several hundred yards in that much area.

 

[natedog]

I've also heard that there's a sizeable rodent population in that area...me and my 10/22 will have to change that (and maybe the K-31 will get in on the action )

 

[Cortland]

My local club's 50 yard range is on about 5-10 acres in the middle of a farmer's field. Of course we have the advantage having a concrete encased earthen berm that was made by the Navy to sight in aircraft machine guns during WWII located at the end of our acres. Your family's 80 acres probably won't have one of these, but a nice hill will do fine.

As long as you've got a suitable backstop, it's only a matter of local ordinances (I assume this 80 acres is zoned agricultural) and decibels (if the neighbors are inclined to complain, that is).

 

[Billmanweh]

80 acres is about half the size of a nice 18 hole golf course, if that helps put it in perspective

 

[M2 Carbine]

My 100 yard range has been on 12 wooded acres since 1967.

The neighbors moved in after the range was there so they just have to put up with the noise.
I haven't heard any complaints though except one woman came over and said it sounds like we were shooting machine guns. When I said, Ya, machine guns, she just said "OH" and left.


A round accidently fired up will leave 80 acres.

What I do whenever I have someone shoot that I don't know I'll have them shoot at about 7 yards (pistol) and 15 or 20 yards (rifle) so I can see that they can shoot and aren't going to put a round over my backstop.

I've also got a pistol plinking range in the back yard (8 acres) where I can get back about 50 yards.

80 acres is plenty, just keep the rounds in the backstop.

 

[rayra]

at my first pass, read 'Maricopa' to be the county, in which case I was going to wish you 'good luck' as it's a very Liberal-infested area.

Then noted your own location and 'Maricopa, CA', so guessing you mean SW of Bakersfield & Taft. Shouldn't be any trouble at all. Just talk to the Kern County Sheriffs, say 'hi' to the neighbors. Heck, arrange for them to be able to use the range, and the chance of complaints should be zero.

 

[schromf]

not always

Be careful and check your local ordinances. Some have no discharge of firearms rules, usually the county but can be the city. My neighbors about 1/2 mile away can't shoot, I can, but don't unless I am shooting at something.

Backdrop is really the most important, if you have a narrow lot and backdrop you can get away with as little as a couple of acres. I have 5 acres and without a earthmover of some kind my property has no backdrop and only gently slopes to the rear with nieghbors about 1500 ft behind me.
I don't see it as much of a inconvience as it takes me about 10 min to be in a good area by driving.

Another item about shooting in smaller areas is your are broadcasting to your neighbors "I have guns". I have all good neighbors but I don't care for the idea in principle. If I had 80-100 acres I wouldn't be so concerned but 5-10 acres is just broadcasting it through the neighborhood..

 

[Stand_Watie]

Backdrop is really the most important, if you have a narrow lot and backdrop you can get away with as little as a couple of acres. I have 5 acres and without a earthmover of some kind my property has no backdrop and only gently slopes to the rear with nieghbors about 1500 ft behind me.
I don't see it as much of a inconvience as it takes me about 10 min to be in a good area by driving

Yes, I think that is right. I only have ten acres, but it is backed by about 2 miles deep of woodland without houses in it. I still don't shoot unbackstopped except for at a downward angle, and if I lived in an area that had rocks in the soil would build up a backstop. If you have 80 acres I'm sure that you have a creek or a hillside on it that you can shoot into.

To give you an idea of acreage size, my lot is 330 feet wide by 1/4 mile deep (1280 feet?). That is a typical subdivision. A typical 80 acre section would be a 1/4 X 1/2 mile rectangle (if I've got my division right).

 

[redneck2]

80 acres

1/4 mile wide (440 yards, 1320 feet) ....1/2 mile deep (at least farm fields are). Your boundaries may be different (not rectangle)

Most any gun can shoot a bullet considerably farther than 1/2 mile. Good backstop, preferably downhill should be OK

 

[Stoker]

Do, please, be aware of ricochets. I'm sure anyone who has fired tracer will bear me out when I say that even with a well graded earth or sand backstop, bullets can go in all directions. The problem is worst with rifle fire, of course. Military ranges have extensive danger areas, extending thousands of yards behind the backstop, to take account of this.

 

[Mikul]

My gun club is on 47 acres with a 5 station trap field, a 100 yard range, a 50 yard range and most of the land is still wooded and full of 3D archery targets.

Yea. 80 acres will do ya.

If I had 80 acres the coolest part would be talking about my "back 40."

Some day.

 

[Mr Jody Hudson]

An acre is 43,560 sq. feet. A football field, being 100 feet x 300 feet is therefore about three quarters of one acre. Therefore you have about 116 football fields in size, for 80 acres.

I strongly suggest that you arrange for a backstop of dirt and rocks that is MUCH higher and wider than the target backs you will use. For instance on our farm we have a backstop that we pushed up with a bulldozer that is about 12 feet high, twenty feet thick and fourty feet wide. The targets are mounted on two sheets of plywood that total 4 feet high and 16 feet wide. Even then be aware of what is behind your backing for the next mile or so, and remember people walk through the woods, trespassing is usual these days.

 

[dairycreek]

A good backstop is absolutely necessary!!!

I live on a 50 acre farm in western Oregon. Our backstop is a small foothill for a coast range mountain. As such it is about 100 ft. high and 300 ft. wide. More than adequage. My brother-in-law has an 11 acre farm and has constructed a backstop of mounded earth shaped and surrounded by old rail road ties. It is about 30 feet wide and 12 to 15 feet high. More than adequate. FYI Good shooting

 

[Greybeard]

Yep, shoot either down toward a creek bank or into a tall berm. And be aware that centerfire rifle rounds, especially FMJs that happen to hit well short of the target, can skip a pretty tall berm and still go a looooong way ...

 

[Safety First]

yup

 

[GD]

I live on 80 acres in Kansas and have two ranges on my land. Both backstops were made when I had my two ponds dug deeper. On both backstops my nearest neighbor in the direction of fire is over 3 miles away. A bullet can travel that far but I still make sure my backdrop is pretty high (12 feet in one case and 6 feet in the other). Even though I could shoot up to 500 yards away and have a clear shot I don't let anyone shoot more than 200 yards away on my range. Further than that and I don't trust them to always hit the backstop (My father-in-law once scoped a rifle and his first shot was 4 feet high at 100 yards!).
Although it may not qualify as a range, I use my elevated back porch for skeet shooting. I have several neighbors with their own ranges so shooting in my part of the country is pretty common - no one thinks twice about hearing shots (especially during hunting season).

 

[ksnecktieman]

Has anyone ever considered using one of the big round hay bales as a bullet trap? My reasoning is that it would totally cancel out any ricochet. With it in front of a dirt backstop for safety? I happened into a box of fifty .22 tracers a few years ago, and I was amazed at the number of bullets that went sailing off into the wild blue younder after hitting something. Even into clean dirt at an angle, some of them would ricochet.

 

[Mr Jody Hudson]

The hay round will do fine for a while and then it will eventually, after several shots into the same area, have a tunnel through it... If you are a good shot and have your targets in the same place, it won't be long before you penetrate the bale and go through it.

 

[tcsd1236]

More than enough. My range is only 3-4 acres with a very good backstop, and it works just fine for me. The downrange side is an undeveloped nature preserve, so I don't need to worry about houses being developed on that side in the foreseeable future.

 

[45crittergitter]

An acre is 43,560 square feet. If it's a square acre, its 208.7 feet sqare. If your 80 acres is two "fortys" it would be 1/2 mile one way and 1/4 mile the other. If its nonstandard shape, you will have to map it out to get dimensions. It should be plenty unless you are doing long range shooting over 1/2 mile. In any case, you will need backstops, since pretty much all bullets will fly farther than that.