Once the backstop is built, I am planning on shooting through a tube to guarantee a bullet will not leave my property. I am not within any city limits. This is a rural, farming area. I looked hard to find a property that would work. In the future, I would like to buy the unused 5-acres behind it to make it a 700 yard, rimfire range lol.
Also, the property has no restrictions. I've already signed contracts and paid money. This is now a done deal.
Good for you!
Every time some has questions about building a range, everybody jumps in with some horror story about what is needed and so forth. There seem to be a lot of people who think you need a High priced architect and tons of concrete to even build a little one.
People from Florida are insisting that you need ten acres, despite the fact that you live in Tennessee!
Oh Well, free advice is worth what you paid for it.
Keep that in mind with my advice too.
I downloaded and looked at the advice for building ranges that one of the Administrators listed, and while I found them very interesting if I was going to build a commercial gun range, I quite frankly found little there for a small private range.
Without knowing the lay of the land and what lies beyond your shooting range, serious advice would be very hard to give.
Obviously the higher and wider the backstop, the better, but common sense and practicality must rule.
Dirt or sand make great backstops, but either alone tend to melt down under rainy conditions, requiring rebuilding from time to time.
From the various backstops I have observed, a retaining wall, made of wood, logs, railroad ties or stone, with several feet of dirt at the base, with at least one foot of dirt at the top works well. How High? That is a tough question, and depends a lot upon the lay of the land, and how good the people who will be shooting there are.
I have seen shooters that would require a completely enclosed bullet proof structure for me to feel safe about their shooting, Needles to say, I don't shoot with them.
If I was building the range for myself, I would probably go with a 4-5 foot berm, depending on the lay of the land downrange and what is behind it.
Personally, I use natural terrain features where I live as a backstop. A hill behind my target for rifles, and either the same, or a creek bank for pistol shooting.