Land/Home/Range Q?

[another okie]

Look for property with a hill or be prepared to build a berm. You cannot depend on distance to keep shooting safe. Distance helps you with noise, not safety.
Ideal would be a narrow pathway in the woods with a good berm at the end. The woods muffle the noise.

It's a good idea to invite the neighbors over and show them where you are shooting, so they understand it's safe, and be open to their suggestions about how to make it safer.

It's also a good idea to avoid shooting at times when lots of people are home, such as in the evening or Sunday morning.

Happy neighbors are more important than your legal rights.

The NRA has info on building a range.

One compromise is to buy land way out, and live in town. Our population is going to continue to grow, and the suburbs will probably catch up with you eventually unless you go way out.

 

[wally]

Distance helps you with noise, not safety

Disagree. If a bullet fired on your range cannot leave your property you've done the maximum to insure safety. Your ideal is to have it not be possible for one of your shots to leave your property. This can be difficult with high powered rifles. Berms etc. are a compromise stopgap measure to make it safe enough to shoot on smaller plots of land, but if a shot goes over the berm and there are houses within your errant shot's landing area you are exposing yourself to potentially very big trouble.

--wally.

 

[another okie]

"If a bullet fired on your range cannot leave your property you've done the maximum to insure safety. Your ideal is to have it not be possible for one of your shots to leave your property."

That's what I meant. Don't rely on distance from other houses for safety. I guess I was too concise. I mean that if you think "Oh, nobody lives over that way, I don't need a backstop," you are asking for trouble.

 

[mlandman]

A 9mm +P load 124 gr. bullet will travel over 5000 feet if fired at 32 degrees up. There are 640 acres in a square mile.
I would say you need a backstop and some aiming, or a lot of land!

 

[igpoobah]

Just updating the thread with new info!

I will be closing on a home March 1st that sits on 6 wooded acres, outside the city that backs up to pretty much nothing, Yay! Unfortunately it is flat, so a proper backstop will be on the short list of things to do.

I'm so relieved to have found the land I want with the house the wife wants. For a while there I was pretty certain I was going to have to give up on my dream of having land in the sticks on which to shoot. Luckily I ran into a desperate seller!