Building a back stop part I

Status
Not open for further replies.
Update.....
After a few minor tweaks, here is my finished range/backstop.
It is 75 yards, 8 ft wide x 7 ft tall.
2 rows of compressed sand bags, confront of 4" timbers.
The inside barn wall is reinforced with 4x4s.

My initial post on this is towards the end of the second page.

 
Looking forward to your progress horseman.

I don’t have a front end loader at the house so I built mine out of steel, 16 ft wide and 8 ft tall. Not as much maintenances orhers and movable as I do have a couple forklifts here.

7BB2F529-A2AF-4C99-9F7F-D40C5C4AA4C2.jpeg
 
Update y’all I’ve added more crossmembers to it! Had some gap issues which I’ve since rectified with that “Great Foam” stuff I plan on coating everything with polyurethane and Thompson’s waterseal when all is said and done!
 
By the looks of it, you could get a junk pool liner and use it to keep the soil off the wood.
Obviously, it would get holes where you shoot.
Even some thick plastic would help.


Once I seal it with the polyurethane and water seal I think I’ll be good but thank you
 
Thank you for your thoughts that’s not a bad idea!

a good friend suggested using basement waterproofing paint instead of the polyurethane for a cost savings measure so I am going to try that instead!
That probably will work well. It goes on thick.
 
I used 4 dump truck loads of dirt 2 dumped onto each other which gives me a backstop about 20 feet wide by 6 feet high. The cost was not that much but I thinking of doing what you are and installing railroad ties around the sides and back of the dirt stop. to keep the dirt from washing away. About once a year or so I add another dump truck load of dirt to replace what the rain washes away. I have shot everything from 22 to magnum rifle on this range...It is nice to have a full pistol and 100 yard rifle range in basically ny back yard.

You can see my range here in this video if you like.

 
Last edited:
This conversation has reminded me of how my dad taught my brother and I how to shoot. Our house had a full basement and when the Old Man switched the furnace over to natural gas from coal, he turned the coal bin into a back stop. There were concrete walls on 3 sides and a pretty wide door going into it. He was a master welder and made a steel 3 sided, angled in the back catch, with sand in the bottom of it. We had the length of the basement which was about 50 feet. He had a Remington bolt action tube feed target rifle in 22LR but we used 22shorts down there. Dad was a superb shot and this was after WW2. He had been a hunter prior to being in combat in the war, but never hunted with a gun after. He taught my brother and I gun safety and taught us how to shoot there in the basement, though. I still have that rifle. He bought it in the 1930's. He also taught us to shoot his Ranger 20ga double barrel...outside in the woods. I hunted with that shot gun for many years and nailed my first deer with it in the 1960's I still have that one, too. Edit: upon more reflection, it was in 70s I harvested that deer with the Ranger.
 
Last edited:
Another Update Life gets in the way and I don’t have anything else done on the range but I have been buying steel targets to use on it and surrounding area so hopefully soon I’ll be able to get the crossmembers up!
 
This has been a very interesting thread with all the ideas, information and opinions. Some good looking backstops as well. I have 47 acres here I South Central Texas that we are building a range on. My oldest son is a Retired Army Capitan who has an Engineering degree. He was an Airborne Ranger and spent a lot of time around military ranges. He’s using that knowledge and experience to build a safe but effective range on our property. The closest neighbor behind or to either side is 3 miles behind and 1 mile to either side. It will be 6-8 feet high and 8 feet wide when complete. Sides will come back 6 feet. Targets will all be hung in the lower half of the berm which will be 8 feet thick at the base!
 
Range update in my haste to get it done because I was trying to prove a point (being a stubborn Man has its downsides) I mismeasured and I’ll have to start all over including tearing down the sandbox so Friends stay with me this is a long term project I will get it corrected thank you for your patience and understanding!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top