Basement .22 range?

[1911 guy]

I've done a lot of shooting over the years, but ammo cost and travel time are becoming issues I'd rather not deal with So...

Anybody have any ideas on construction (or maybe it's just a really dumb idea) of an indoor range to handle .22 caliber rifle and handgun? If it help, my basement is about 75 feet by 40 feet with eight foot ceilings. Yeah, it's a big old house. 1846 construction.

I have three windows and a door, so ventilation wouldn't be a problem, but how should I begin looking into the best way to build a durable backstop?

I am pretty rural, but the location of houses around me don't make it practical to shoot in the back yard.

 

[husker]

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-82365.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_8483416_build-22-cal-bullet-trap.html

I bet you can find Vids on youtube for this subject as well

 

[husker]

& Hahaha RC. Zombie thread,that made me laugh

 

[roklok]

I use one of the 22 traps in my garage. In my opinion, the backstop is the easy part of the equation to an indoor range, ventilation is the hard part. 22 LR ammo is stinky and dirty, I can only shoot a mag full or two and its time to quit, I do not like breathing that stuff.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

The only time I was at the local conservation center I was there for ccw classes. The indoor .22 training range where we held class had holes in the ceiling.

 

[velobard]

If the sound of shooting is a concern (check it out for yourself by standing outside and having someone shoot in your basement) and presuming you don't have a suppressor, try out some Colibri ammo.

 

[WNTFW]

The easiest thing would be to uses air guns.

In my case it is outdoors in suburbia. The ammo cost saving is not that great. over .22lr. I shoot 5mm - .177 would help. The availability is steady even when .22lr was spotty to get in the past. It is gone locally at the moment.

Savings is in travel/range fees. I figure I am about $15 in those cost on almost any range trip I make. Time is also minimal. I have shot after 9:30 PM which was convenient.

Shooting small round counts on a regular basis is good. I shot 6,000 pellets in a 6 month period. Cost of ammo was around $170. That would be 12 range trips without ammo cost.

I have found breaking position for each shot in rifle shooting to help. The slow rate of fire is not bad.

.22lr at home would be great also.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I used to shoot .22 indoors a lot in Minnesota in bad weather. One thing I learned is that you cannot rely upon passive ventilation. The combustion gasses are bad enough but the residual, lingering lead is the killer.

Look to a very effective active ventilation plan and it'll represent a fine muffling for the horrendous .22 crack as well.

 

[goldie]

I got an old steel cased heater about 20 years ago that was about 15" square from a friends old basement.i gutted the inside . it weighs about 50 pounds. its about 12-15" deep, i stuff it with old books, & the back has this old steel radiator with fins behind it. it really works great.once the books get chewed up, i pull everything out & repack it.ive also stuffed the back with sheets of paneling, wood, anything i wanted to get rid of.books & newspaper, especially wet, is very dense,& mades for a good way to slow bullets down.you can use or set up an exaust fan similar to the ones that are in bathroom ceilings, & vent the gases outdoors.the 22 steel bullet traps are good,too, & just wear ear plugs.Lately ive been using it to shoot pellet guns.The top is riddled with airgun pellets from picking off plastic army men.

 

[rondog]

Midway has .22 bullet traps on sale now, I think. At least there's one in the latest flyer. I'd say the biggest concerns would be good ventilation and making sure it's legal to discharge a firearm in that area. Good lighting in the target area is important too.

 

[hoghunting]

Hope you're planning on protecting the floor above the basement if it's part of the living quarters as someone could be hurt if a shot was accidentally fired.

 

[thepumpfaction]

If it's the noise that is the issue:
gather old mattresses, comforters, heavy blankets/quilts, drapes, and whatever else you can get. Stack the mattresses along the walls, and hang the blankets and whatnot over them. Do this for the perimeter of the basement. It should absorb a lot of the sound.
I learned that from when I was in a band and the neighbors weren't fond of our practicing lol.

 

[goldie]

i put this on a home made dolly on the floor just to move it around,its usually on a 3ft high stand by a corner,with heavy rubber kenworth truck mud flaps & other thick items surrounding it in case there is a miss, which i never had in 20 years. just for 22 rifle & pellet guns only..