Backstops

[Gambit88]

To all you guys who have a backyard range, How do you build your backstops. I currently am shooting at about a 3 inch thick hunk o tree about the size of a nightstand. Before we baught this house and cut down the big tree the back stop is made out of, The neighbors used to use said tree to sight in their rifles. Well This is fine and good for my .22 but I want to shoot handguns as well(not enough land for a rifle to be safe). I was thinking of some canvas bags filled with sand and stacked up and then covered in dirt. to my knowlage nobody lives behind where im shooting for at least a mile but still Ive been informed by the neighbors .22s shotguns and pistols. So how do you guys stop your bullets?

 

[kirklandkie]

here's a suggestion:
people normally pay to get rid of old tires, i've seen people take these off the hands of other people for free. they pile them up and fill them with sand to create a kind of retained sand pile. it's very common practice and is fairly easy and totally free to set up (i recommend getting someone with a front-end loader involved for this)

-kirk

 

[Gambit88]

ya I didnt think of that. I used google and found a thread about this on this site. That gave me a good idea. maybe Ill stack sandbags and put tires behind that.

 

[RoostRider]

I think the sand in the tires thing is because the sand works well to stop rounds and the tires hold the sand well (and allow you to go larger with less sand because its not just a free pile, thick at the bottom and thin at the top)... and tires endure bullet holes without falling apart (unlike a wooden retaining wall or many other things- likely better than a bag of sand).... not because tires make a good backstop.... so, having just tires to stop a round might not be very effective.. hence, no point putting tires behind a sand backstop because if they penetrate the sand in the backstop (i.e. not enough sand or a miss) they may very well penetrate the tire as well

I might make the argument that if the direction is not safe for rifle calibers it is not safe for handgun calibers.... but not to my neighbor if I actually believe it to be safe for either and the neighbor doesn't.... (might change his mind the other way... lol)

Good luck with your range..... *jealous*

 

[Gambit88]

Well its gonna be for .22 and 9mm probably nothing more. I didnt mention that the hunk o wood i shoot at is placed up against the the tree.

 

[Carl]

Dirt is the best bullet stopper in the world.

 

[Weezy]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

Sand does a pretty good job at stopping bullets, and it's free!

 

[EHCRain10]

if your going to use the tires, make sure to do a double layer with the second layer offset of the first, that way your backstop is more uniform in thickness. I would also suggest using 4x4 wooden posts in the center of each tire to help locate the tire stacks. Belted radial tires might not be the best idea for the tires because the belts could possibly deflect one of the bullets.

What I have done is to cut down trees to create a box of logs (8-6 inch diameter pine) which is 12 feet wide, 5 feet deep and 6 feet tall, this is lined with roofing tin removed from buildings, the inside of this box is filled with building rubble (broken up pieces of cinder block and brick). Next I placed 18-24inch oak logs standing on end in front of this to serve as target holders and to prevent shooting out the front logs of the box. After using this set up for the past year or so I have had to add more rubble to the center because the initial fill was not complete and had gaps that have filled in as I have used the backstop. I plan on adding sand to fill in all of the gaps over the coming summer to improve the durability.

(its great to live on an old farm with lots of timber and old buildings)

When it comes time to fill the backstop get at least a small backhoe, doing it by hand STINKS. My backstop has stopped 405grain 45-70 Govt from 50 yards, as well as 1oz 12ga slugs from 20 yards.

 

[kirklandkie]

yea the sandbags i would avoid entirely, the tires themselves don't stop the bullets either they just hold the sand in place to do the stopping. good luck on your project

-kirk

 

[AirplaneDoc]

railroad ties work well as a backstop. Generally discarded ones are pretty cheap if you can find somewhere the railroad is replacing them. I last paid a couple of bucks apiece loaded on my trailer, just talk to the road crew.

Stack them up with dirt or sand in front and you are good to go

 

[jacob.elliott]

i have been gathering my materials for a new back stop. I have 6 semi tires, going to stack them up, put them on skids, and fill em up. i think its gonna work great

 

[Gambit88]

ehcrain10 I was thinking pileing up wood. I have a neighbor that shoots into a pile of wood in his backyard. I didnt want the hastle of finding wood but I did a walk through the woods and found a few felld trees and hunks of log. It all seemed pretty soild so I might take a weelbarrel back there and snatch some up and stack it or make like a box out of the logs and fill the inside with dirt and sand.

 

[drumz2129]

Here is what a buddy of mine helped me put together on the back of my property. It has no problem stopping anything that we throw down range at it. I am able to take a 475 yard shot down my north property line with this setup. I need to cover the rear with more dirt and add a little height then i will be done.

 

[jbkebert]

I have been using a product called fibertex for a handgun backstop. I did some remodeling work at the courthouse. it is a woven fiberglass product that is marketed as bullet proof. We used it to line the judges bench, the witness bench, the judges chambers and the witness room. Any way the stuff weighs in at about 240 pounds for a 4x8x3/4" sheet. It is hard as hell to cut and has to be drilled and screwed for installation. It will jam a nail gun set at 90 psi. . I had 4 sheets left over from the job it will stop a 9mmm,.40 cal, .44 mag and .357 mag at 7 feet tested by myself. It will not stop .223 or .30 cal my .300 win mag put a golf ball sized hole through it. The slugs from a handgun can be picked out of the material in pretty good shape.

 

[crazy-mp]

I use pallets. put two flat on the ground. Then I stood about 10 up on end so the slots were running horizontal. Then the front two pallets got 2 X 10's shoved down the front 2 layers thick and 2 layers wide. I attached a piece of plywood on front 2, 2 X 4's on top some more plywood on top to keep the rain off, and the middle pallets have smaller pieces of 2 X 4's, 4 X 4's landscaping timbers and other scrap wood.

When I built it originally I didn’t know how effective it would be so I came up with a 1/2 inch steel plate and put in between the last and next to last pallet. The only problem I have ever has with it in nearly 10 years is the front plywood needs to be replaced about once a year. Depending on how much you shoot. This should give you a 4 ft X 4 ft target. The only thing that cost me to make it was some screws and time, the rest was free or scrap wood that as a man you just cant bring yourself to throw away.

I have never shot a .50 into it, so dont know how it would do with that.

 

[EHCRain10]

ehcrain10 I was thinking pileing up wood. I have a neighbor that shoots into a pile of wood in his backyard. I didnt want the hastle of finding wood but I did a walk through the woods and found a few felld trees and hunks of log. It all seemed pretty soild so I might take a weelbarrel back there and snatch some up and stack it or make like a box out of the logs and fill the inside with dirt and sand.

The logs I used to create the box were cut just for the purpose of this project, I dont know if deadfalls would be as trustworthy. I had to use a small tractor to place the last few logs. The only logs less than 10 feet long were the ones placed on end in front of the box. Think of almost building a log cabin construction. If I were to do it again, I would use slightly longer logs to add more width and depth as well as placing notches where the logs met to help prevent rolling which I had trouble with.

 

[sharkhunter2018]

I just used dirt, and lots of it.


I'm not finished with it yet. I plan on adding more height to the main berm and especially the sides.

 

[kanook]

when i was 13 i finally convinced my dad that i was capable of owning a 22. about 2 hours after that conversation i came home with a bb lodged just to the left of my left eye under the muscle. i got lucky andlearned alot because of that. one of the things was not to shoot at trees. when i was about 17 i forgot about the tree thing and was reminded when a 22mag gave me a richochet to the bottom of my family jewels. not saying that it will happen to you, but it happened to my twice. no more trees for me, only dirt

 

[jacob.elliott]

kanook, what kind of tree did the 22mag ricochet off of??

 

[Gambit88]

Kanook you must be really unlucky, as Ive been shooting .22 at the flat part of a log for a year and it stops every shot.

 

[EHCRain10]

Live trees will deflect bullets much better than a dry log will.

 

[kanook]

i was shooting at a live pine vs dead and insect ridden. it was about 12 in diameter. it's like i won the lottery twice and all i got was stiches next to my eye and a very sharp pain in my little kanooks. ( a solid kick is less pain compared to just hitting the edge) hope not to affend anybody, just a "this is what happened to me"

 

[jkingrph]

I remember shooting at an old tire with a 38 Spc. The bullets did not penetrate and bounced off. My recommendation is if you use tires, make sure that they have a good cover of dirt.