Advice on a Personal Shooting Range

[Barrett93]

Does anyone here have a personal shooting range? I've got a spot in a field by my house that is perfect for a 100 yard shooting range. This is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. I'm planning on building a berm out of fill dirt and just frame up a target stand in front of that. Nothing over the top. Just somewhere I can take my time when I'm developing test loads and so I don't have to deal with the crazies at the local public ranges. I would like to see how other people have designed their berms/backstops. I was thinking of maybe a partial cross-tie box with an open front and top and putting the fill dirt inside. Looking to see if there are any ideas out there that really jump out at me. Thanks!

 

[nettlle]

Our range came with our place when we bought it. It's a 4' tall, 15' deep, 50' wide pile of dirt. It has 4' "wings" on both ends making this pile of dirt three sided. My shooting berm is only 100 yards from my neighbors place (they shoot also) and the wings are nice when shooting steel because it contains possible ricochets from the steel.

 

[AndyJ]

We have a 2500' grass runway at the BOL. The south end is bermed 30' high with wings that extend at an angle 40' out to both sides. The runway is marked in 100 yd increments out to 1000 yds. The high berm butts up to a large oak tree that you have to drop in over to land. Makes life interesting and negates any effect the berm might have on landing procedure.

 

[bannockburn]

Friend of mine had one built on the back of his property while they were building his house. Berm was leftover fill dirt from the construction and was approximately 9' high, 12' wide, and probably 15' to 20' deep. In the front of the berm he stacked up sand bags to keep the berm in place and to protect it from possible erosion over time.

 

[Jenrick]

The NRA has a range construction handbook, I want to say it's about $20 for a copy. If you can read construction plans, it'll guide you right along on what would be considered a first class berm. It may be overkill for a single shooter doing load testing, but it's definitely a good place to start.

-Jenrick

 

[hso]

If you search here you'll find a lot of ideas. Many match yours. Look down in the "Range Discussion" forum for info. http://www.thehighroad.org/forumdisplay.php?f=41

The other thing you'll note is to make sure of what's behind your backstop and what the local laws are.

 

[Hondo 60]

A friend of mine has put up a berm behind his barn.
Not sure why he did it, he never uses it.
But I'm very grateful, as I use it 2 or 3 times a week.

We have three 4x4s driven into the ground, one on each end & one in the middle.
A 1/2" rope strung between the posts serves as a place to clip cardboard sheets.
A 2x4 across the bottom serves as a stop for the cardboard, so the wind isn't blowing the targets all over.
Targets are then stapled to the cardboard.

I have tied several bowling pins to the rope as well.
The pins are GREAT as they hold the lead.
When the pins "let go" they drop a lot of lead that I reclaim to cast new bullets.

I'll try to get some pics posted in a day or 2.

 

[Kingcreek]

We put 2 sections of utility pole vertically into the ground 6' high.
built a wall front and back of the poles out of RR cross ties- 2 layers on front. Filled the space with dirt. faced with scrap plywood.

 

[Sommerled]

Built a range on my farm with dirt from building home and barns. I moved a three-sided shed to shoot out of with a floor of recycled patio blocks. I put 10' high berms at 25, 50, 100, 250, and 400 yds. It was fast work with a huge rented payloader. The 25 yd and 100 yd berms are 40' wide, others are about 25' wide. I was lucky to be able to orient the range to minimize a rising or setting sun shining in my eyes.

A major concern can be your neighbors, my closest is 1/2 mile away. I invited him over for coffee and had him hitting paper coyote targets with an AR at 400 yds. He never complains about noise.

I am careful to respect others and only shoot at reasonable times.