Bullets whizzing by neighbor's house. I need a backstop! How do I build one?

[Molon Labe]

Background:

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We have an 80-yard primitive firing range in our side yard. I and my buddies have been shooting rifles & handguns on this range for about 4 years.

The range slopes gently downward toward a small creek. (We stand beside our house and shoot toward the creek, which means we're shooting downhill.) At this location the creek is (more or less) the property line. On the other side of the creek is a large cornfield owned by a farmer. The cornfield goes gently uphill away from the creek, then flattens out.

We normally set up the targets close to the creek, which means the bullets end up in the dirt on the other side of the creek. Yesterday I set up the targets closer to us so that we could shoot our .308 rifles at 25 meters. (Fred's 25-meter AQT targets.) In other words, we were shooting at the same spot as we always shoot, but the targets were moved closer to us up the hill.

An hour later a truck pulls in the driveway. The driver got out and said, "I live up the way. Your bullets were hitting the dirt in the field between your house and our house. I could even hear a few whizzing by our house."

Suffice to say, we stopped shooting. I was also extremely apologetic, and I said it would never happen again. :banghead:

I did some investigating and found out what happened: when I moved the targets closer to us, the bullets were hitting the dirt about 20 feet in front of the creek, then ricocheting into the cornfield. :banghead:

I will never again move the targets up closer to us; I'll put them near the creek as we've always done before. But even then it's not ideal, as most of the bullets end up on the other side of the creek, and perhaps even into the cornfield. From now on I want all the bullets to stop on our property.
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So I need a backstop! How should I build it?

I think a big mound of dirt in front of the creek wouldn't work out too well, as it would consume too much of our yard. I also don't like the idea of using old tires. I guess I would like a backstop that is tall & wide, but not very deep.

One idea was to install vertical 4 x 4 posts, slap some plywood up, and fill the gap with sand or something. But then the sand would eventually run out the holes made by the bullets.

Any ideas??

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

For safety's sake and in deference to your neighbor, shoot from the creek uphill to your property. Any berm built could be smaller and of material scooped out from just in front of it (creek-side) resulting in the targets being further below the berm. Whatever you do, suggest you include your neighbor in your plans as it sounds like he's been very civil about it and deserves peace of mind.

Further, don't know about your area but around here doing earthwork near a creek without a land disturbing permit or erosion control measures(silt fence and staked hay bales and temporary or permanent grassing of the disturbed areas) or "puttin lead" near the creek could result in DEP/EPA oversight that you definitely don't need.

 

[rico700]

Back stop

Not sure on availability in your area but I got about 30 railroad ties, stacked them up and staked them down. Then put another row about a foot behind and packed dirt in between the two rows of ties. Lots of work but very effective stop. My neighbor also used this technique for a compact version of the same. Approximately 5' high and 4' across and 3' deep again trapping dirt in between ties.

The company I got these from gave them to me so the labor involved made it less painless.

Good luck and good shooting!

 

[Firethorn]

I'd say that you have a number of options.

Indeed, one would be to "turn" your range around. If earth-moving is easy for you, this might be the cheapest/easiest. Take a scoop out of the hill going back towards your property, mould it so you have a nice, steep hill to shoot into.

Another is to get or build a metal snail trap. Good for high-volume shooting, as long as you don't exceed the rating of the trap. Even catches the lead for you.

The tie-bar idea sounds good, if you have a good source of wood, and can always be used to flesh out your backstop.

Sorta like the tiebar idea would be to use old tires. I'd use at least two rows, staggered, so you always have to punch through a good depth. As you lay them out, fill them completely with dirt.

 

[taliv]

it sounds like you're saying that if your muzzle was elevated 10-20 degrees or so, you might shoot directly over the neighbor's cornfield/house.

much as it would suck not to be able to shoot on your own land, I wouldn't consider this safe and definition not conducive to good relations.

if for instance, you were way off, sighting in a scope, or maybe touched one off a little too soon, how big would your backstop have to be to catch it?

 

[m39fan]

As far as a backstop, I took two 4X4 posts, cemented them into the ground, atached RR ties on the front and the back and filled the middle with pea gravel. Not much has ever come through, the exception was some AP rounds, and nothing handgun caliber.

HTH,
Mike

 

[Ivy Mike]

You could build a wall like you mentioned, but instead of filling it with sand only, fill it with sand bags. You may have to replace one eventually, but it will take a lot longer. Failing that, you could always fill it with concrete and some type of high density foam blocks. The bullets would pass through the foam, hit the concrete, but the ricochets would be caught by the foam they just passed through...or at least, thats the idea.

 

[hillbilly]

Here's how I made my berm.

I first made a low wall of old tires, about five or six tires high.

Then, I had a dump truck deliver a load of river delta soil, no rocks, and I put that soil down into the stacks of tires, and as well as over the tires.

That way, I have a solid wall of dirt that's hanging onto and is even down inside a skeleton of old tires.

So far, the berm is about three years old, and still standing.

Every once in a while I get a shovel and throw the dirt that's eroded down the face back on top of the wall.

hillbilly