Building my own private plinking range?

[mfinley919]

Getting to be more and more of a hassle to shoot anywhere besides ranges and I like to shoot things other than paper targets.

Was thinking about trying to buy some land somewhere that I could use just to take out all the guns now and then and shoot any kind of targets I wanted whenever I wanted.

Trying to figure out what size of a property would be required? I know there are set backs like 150 ft minimum from roads and other property and such, but what do you think the minimum or a proper sized piece of property be to keep it safe and not annoy any neighbors. We live in Colorado so there are pieces of strange shaped property in the foothills that you can buy reasonable since they are difficult to build on. Would you want it flat or would having a hill as a back stop be better? How far away from any other houses do you think you would want to be to avoid any conflicts?

Something I've been tossing around for awhile...

 

[nettlle]

My range is about 150 feet from my neighbor's range on one side. We both shoot a lot and when he shoots it startles me sometimes. My neighbor on the other side is about 2100 feet away from my range and when he shoots the noise is hardly noticeable.

I have a good earth back stop with thousands of acres of woods and grain fields (not mine) behind the back stop.

From the front of my back stop to the road and nearest house on that side is about 900 feet.

It's a nice place to shoot. We have 20 acres. Some counties have restrictions on the minimum acreage of the lot that a house can be built on. Our county has that restriction I am told. That keeps people from buying too close to us and crowding out my place to shoot.

 

[hso]

Unless you want to pay someone to build up a "hill" for a backstop it would be best to buy properly with such terrain.

A narrow valley with a gently rising floor and steep walls all around would be ideal.

 

[ontarget]

I have 5 acres and have been shooting here for about 20 years with no issues. There are no houses behind me on our square mile block. And everyone around here is a shooter which makes it nice.

 

[joem1945]

You guys are soo luckey. I wish I could have done something like that.

 

[buck460XVR]

The amount of land you need is dependent on the terrain and what else is around. If you have a bluff behind you as a backstop or 10,000 acres of barren desert, you'll only need an acre. If you are only shooting handgun calibers or .22, without a berm, what's behind you does not have to be 5 miles away, only 2. If you are shooting rifle and you have flat ground and no trees, and a 10 foot high berm, you still must allow for an errant shot or ricochet over it. Most home ranges I've seen, folks are a tad on the slight side for proper backstops and distances. Some folks claim that since they can't quite see the neighbors house thru the trees, it's safe to shoot in their backyard. Maybe a few shots during deer season from a tree stand, but not thousands of rounds a year from a bench. Remember, if you own the land and allow others to shoot, you are responsible for their rounds too.

This topic has been discussed at quite length in multiple threads here on THR over the years. A quick search may result in a faster answer.

I'm lucky, I live in an area where it's easy to find a big hill/bluff s a backstop. My son has some property that is in a small valley surrounded by very high bluffs covered with trees. We have a nice range set up over one of the food plots. Behind the bluffs, it's 8 miles to the nearest town and there is only a few houses between us and them. They too are generally tucked in a valley. Even if one intentionally shot in the air in that direction at a 45 Degree angle, there's nuttin to hit. Still, I worry every time we have a shoot out there.

 

[Sam1911]

A friend of mine has a private facility he bought specifically for the purpose you're interested in. And he did exactly what hso is suggesting: Bought a parcel of land that is practically unbuildable due to it being a very small box valley floor surrounded by high, steep hillsides on three sides. That's about as safe and as least obnoxious to neighbors as you could want.

 

[jr_watkins]

What you are shooting will drive the size of land you need. High power rifle obviously will take a great deal more space and distance. Consider the noise so you can stay friendly with the neighbors too.

My range is on 22 acres, but is located along one side where nobody lives close and I only shoot handguns, 22 LR and the occasional AK there. Max distance is about 40 yards and faces down into a natural bend of a dry creek.

The absolute best thing about your own range is that you can move! Breaking the habit of standing still while shooting handguns is hard to do, but well worth it. Makes shooting a lot more fun as well.

My next step is to incorporate moving targets by way of mounting on a swinging rope.

Best of luck and enjoy!

 

[jr_watkins]

...and as for handgun targets, I still get a huge kick out of shooting glass bottles off a horizontal board. To me it is the best 'active' target as the result is immediately obvious and no threat of ricochet. Great way to recycle!!

Interesting note, the glass gets pulverized into the dirt. After years of shooting and probably thousands of bottles the broken glass pile never really changes.

 

[Sunray]

"...other than paper targets....any kind of targets I wanted..." That'd be club rules. You need a metallic silhouette, IDPA/IPSC club.
"...What you are shooting will drive the size of land you need..." Yep. Fall zones on the ranges at CFB Borden start at 6 klicks of nothing but bush behind the butts. Ten behind the 1,000 yard range.
That great big hill has to be your's too. I recall seeing some post about somewhere, Stateside, that said something about not allowing bullets to cross the property line.
You'd have to begin by looking at local and State ordinances.

 

[cc-hangfire]

Probably I'm getting too technical here, but you should probably invest in the NRA Range Manual and do some me reading on liability and down range safety fan distances. It's not just the land you own, but what is down range -- for several miles as mentioned above. I once was asked to design a shooting range for a sheriff department in a location that would have had a middle school in the down range safety fan. It was a really, really bad idea.

Another example: the range club I belong to only owns 80 acres, but the down range area is all forested, undeveloped, river floodplain (local ordinances prohibit permanent occupied structures in that floodplain), and is adjacent to a city police range and a state prison facility range that share the overlapping safety fan area. And all 3 ranges have been in place for decades.