Local range now unsafe ?

[LoudMouthSchnook]

Longtime (former) lurker here with a question.

The local range just made some "improvements" I'm not comfortable with. I'd like some opinions on the work done, NOT on my opinion of not being comfortable with the changes.

We have a 200 yard rifle range. Once the trees stumps were grubbed out the area was backfilled and leveled with plain old earth. Now I'm OK with the plain old earth but some one got it in his head to top this with 2" and smaller rock and the barest dusting of loam mixed in with the rock.

This has effectively paved the surface of the range.

My issue is a concern for low skips to ricochet over the berm.

You guys think my concerns are vaild ?

 

[GarySTL]

How high is the berm? At my club the berm at 600 yards at a good 60' high, but we're still concerned with skips. Our rule is all rounds must impact the berm and folks have been kicked out for flagrant violation.

We do have crushed rock on the pistol bays because they are used for IDPA and USPS events. But the berms are high and close.

 

[JohnKSa]

If you're talking about the backstop, that is unsafe.

If you're talking about the range surface forward of the berm, that's somewhat less of an issue. If bullets are hitting anywhere other than the berm then that's unsafe regardless of what type of surface they're hitting.

 

[Sam1911]

At our range any strike that doesn't hit the berm is a rule violation and subject to disciplinary action. Can a low strike skip? Sure! It's not a whole lot less likely to skip off of turf, though. Just hard to say what a bullet will do if it doesn't hit what you're intending to hit.

 

[LoudMouthSchnook]

The berm is about 15 feet high and I'm talking about the surface of the ground in front of it.

I know the boolets can skip which is why I'm not comfortable shooting there. The BOD does things pretty much there way.

 

[rbernie]

My favorite local range has skips all the time, off hardpack dirt. Berm height is really the only way to contain that sort of thing, short of being able to ensure that it's impossible for folk to short short/long.

 

[410.bird.shot]

My range has installed some baffles to mitigate high shots or ricochets, even though the berm is roughly 85 feet at the 300 yard target line. It's my understanding the powers that be are also investigating having engineers design an even more elaborate baffling system as the housing developments keep getting closer. The effects of the baffles on the wind have been fairly interesting, and the guys who shoot .22 Benchrest have shown me some pretty intriguing stuff with their flag equipment and wind vanes. I really don't like the idea of shooting into gravel at all. If you miss the berm at our place, you're in big trouble.

 

[LoudMouthSchnook]

I really don't like the idea of shooting into gravel at all.

OVER gravel/rock, NOT into it.