Home outdoor range

[kjaniak]

I live in a semi-rural area but the houses are going up slowly and I am looking to try and make a decent backstop in case the neighbors get nervous about my very limited shooting. Making a dirt berm or most any high berm is not possible due to the wife not liking how it will look I have been researching everything I can find on the net and here. A steel bullet trap seems good but I have an issue with possible ricochet that I can't seem to get over. I really like the rubber block/thick rubber sheet method but the prices are crazy expensive. I looked into shooting into a wooden faced box filled with sand but the removal of lead and constant upkeep seem like problems. This will be used for 10/22's and nothing bigger than .38 revolver rounds. Say maybe 200 rounds a month max. Give me any and all ideas on what you all made/bought/etc.. to do this in a safe manner. Thanks a bunch everyone.

 

[pax]

Making a dirt berm or most any high berm is not possible due to the wife not liking how it will look

Suggest she plant the back side of it with easy care perennials. Doesn't help the look factor from the shooting side of course, but maybe a compromise is possible.

pax

 

[mfree]

Maybe you should get some thick steel plates and arrange them in a snail-shell pattern vertically? Unless you rally miss your target, any ricochets will be bounced directly inwards to the trap and stopped eventually.

You don't even need to get the angles right, or really do any welding, just overlap the plates and make sure the initial sweep angle is shallow enough so all the blows the trap gets from bullets are glancing.

 

[Doc]

1 no berm: dig trench, shoot from slight elevation into trench
2 bullet trap: mild steel back, 2x4frame, 3/4 inch plywood front
shoot thru plywood and replace when worn
3 if she doesn't like the berm, she really wont like the old tires...

 

[burrhead]

For just a .22 or .38 think railroad ties.

 

[kjaniak]

Man, I got alot of ideas in my head but everything seems to have a draw back. Do you think that shooting into a flat face of railroad ties double stacked depth wise is good? Was thinking of possible ricochet shooting into a flat surface like that. I don't think I will have to worry about a misplaced shot not hitting the back stop but I want that bullet staying put when I shoot into something. That why I was looking at ballistic rubber but wow it is expensive. Can't have a ricochet at all. Keep the ideas coming. Thanks again.

 

[DragonFire]

Given a softer backstop like railroad ties, richochets are going to be a big problem, cleanup could be a simple as replacing the ties. The front ones will get chewed up, and the rear ones will hold the shot bullets. With .22's, I'd think you could shoot quite a few before the front ties would need replacing.
Whether you use steel plates or ballistic rubber or anything else, you'll need some kind of frame to hold things in place.

Depending on the actual layout, I think to be safe, whatever the backstop is made out of, it needs to be pretty high and wide. It's not just a missed shot you need to worry about, but an AD.

I think you're safest bet is a berm. You can find lots of low cost, low maintenance ways to conceal it. Like Pax said, a flower garden might be a good idea. and you can plant grass on the shooting side to help the looks there. Maybe just a few trees on or around the berm. They'd hide the berm, provide another layer of backstop (just in case) and shouldn't need much maintenance.

 

[Highland Ranger]

I'd be real careful especially with neighbors nearby . . . . . .

I like the dig a trench and cover it over idea; hides the noise and you still get to play.

I also check the NRA site; I recall them having a book on how to build a range, dimensions, safety, etc.

If you have anything other than widerness behind you to shoot into, it would be negligent to not do this the right way.

 

[Shorts]

I'd be careful using railroad ties (or any strong wood for that matter). While they can take the shots, if you are consistently hitting the same spot on the tie, you'll start getting metal-on-metal riccochets(sp?).

I like the trench idea that was posted.

 

[W Turner]

One idea that I have had when thinking on the same problem is to use 4x4 posts set into the ground to hold a "sandwich" made of cross ties serving as the "bread" with 2 feet of packed sand in the middle. This should be able to handle up to all but the most powerful (.44 Mag + ) handgun rounds with no trouble. If I were to do this though, I would probably line the shooting lane with some kind of dense shrubbery to help with the noise control.




W

 

[mushoot]

home range

A rifle company by me has a 100 yard range that I really like. They have 100 yards of cement pipe that has to be about 8 feet in diameter buried next to their shop. Use pulleys and cables to move target to desired distance. Backstop is also underground. I am sure they have ventilation fans etc. Totally safe and neighbor proof.

 

[kjaniak]

One idea that I have had when thinking on the same problem is to use 4x4 posts set into the ground to hold a "sandwich" made of cross ties serving as the "bread" with 2 feet of packed sand in the middle. This should be able to handle up to all but the most powerful (.44 Mag + ) handgun rounds with no trouble. If I were to do this though, I would probably line the shooting lane with some kind of dense shrubbery to help with the noise control.

How would you keep the sand inside this "sandwich" without it spilling out of the front? Idea sounds good but that and how do you refill it I cant figure out.

 

[Catuela]

One idea that I have had when thinking on the same problem is to use 4x4 posts set into the ground to hold a "sandwich" made of cross ties serving as the "bread" with 2 feet of packed sand in the middle. This should be able to handle up to all but the most powerful (.44 Mag + ) handgun rounds with no trouble. If I were to do this though, I would probably line the shooting lane with some kind of dense shrubbery to help with the noise control.

I have seen and fired on a setup similar to this and the way these guys had it setup worked perfectly.

Build a sandwich utilizing railroad ties, however have a wide enough gap in between the bread (railroad ties) to place stacks of old car tires. You can get them for cheap at most tire sellers. Use steel pipes (like used in chain link fencing) cemented into the ground to run through the middle of the tire stacks. Then fill the tire stacks with sand. Total thickness ashould be between 4 and 5 feet. I have fired 5.56 and 7.62 on this setup and never encountered a problem. The guys that built the range said they replace the front set of railroad ties about once every 2 years just because they start to look ugly. This range sees anywhere from 1000 to 3000 rounds a week. The only problem I could see you having from this setup is that you are shooting lower powered rounds than that range normally sees and you could possibly have a buildup of lead in the front railroad ties if they aren't penetrating into the tire stacks.

 

[BobCat]

kjaniak,

If your wife objects to the appearance of a dirt berm, she will not like this, but I used to have a round bale set up to shoot at the flat end.

Had two 'T' posts set at the diameter, just in front of the face, with a piece of 1/2" rebar wired across them. Could hang whatever target from the rebar (I had a 8"x10" steel plate swinger). Good for all handgun rounds. From 100 yards, 30.06 ball penetrated the entire round bale and stopped in the plywood at the far end. After a few years the bale deteriorates and you have to replace it.

A round bale costs around $25-$35, depending on geographic location, time of year, local rainfall, and so forth.

Purrrs,
BobCat

 

[chris in va]

I see no one has stated the obvious. With all the houses going up zoning rules may have changed and it may be illegal now to shoot firearms.

For example, there's a rule in my area you can't shoot even pellet guns outside of city limits unless you have at least 10 acres. Check with county ordinances first before you start digging.

 

[Alerion]

The old traditional method of building a bullet trap was to mount a steel plate leaning toward the shooter at a 45 degree angle. Underneath that was basically a deep sand box. The bullets would strike the plate and ricochet straight down into the sand. I remember a setup like this at a summer camp where the plates, used only with .22's, had to be replaced every couple of years because they'd rust out but they never got close to wearing out.

Tom

 

[g56]

DANGER! DO NOT shoot at tires with a .22! About 20 years ago I went shooting at a dump site, shooting at some old tires with a .22 rimfire, when I examined the tires there wasn't a single hole in them, the .22s were bouncing off the tires!!!!!!

A mounted and inflated tire presents a hard surface, but a dismounted tire gives, and the bullets bounced off, I have no idea where they went, they could have been bouncing back at me...I don't know, but I will never shoot at old tires again!

 

[M99M12]

Did ya look at the inside of them tires?

 

[V-fib]

When I don't want to go out back to the earth berm I use the bullet trap I made (see link). The only thing I did different with it was to elevate it to a chest high position for practice. works real well and easily stops my .357.

http://www.reloadammo.com/backstop.htm

Also, you can plant perennial flowers all over the dirt berm that you shoot into. I did this on mine to prevent erosion and it also looks nice when the day lillies are blooming all over it. They will soon cover the whole berm and you wouldn't even know it was for shooting into.

 

[Zundfolge]

You could build a doghouse sized structure with one half of the roof hinged to open up (hinged at the peak of the roof), then put something like what V-fib posted about inside it so when you open up the roof of the doghouse you have the steel plate trap inside.

Paint up the "doghouse" all pretty like a little cottage and it becomes a piece of yard art that the wife probably won't object to.

 

[Highland Ranger]

For example, there's a rule in my area you can't shoot even pellet guns outside of city limits unless you have at least 10 acres. Check with county ordinances first before you start digging.

Brings up another point: Ordinances or no, bullets travel thousands of feet and are still deadly. Especially rifle bullets. I believe even the anemic 22 can go a mile and a half and still be dangerous (one of the manufacturers prints it on the box!)

That said, 10 acres (400,000 square feet or a piece of land 400x1000 feet) is NO WHERE NEAR enough land to shoot safely on, especially for rifles and especially if you miss the backstop.

I think you need to seriously consider something enclosed - that concrete pipe idea sounds good provided the pipe is thick enough to take and hold a shot from the rilfes you'd be using.