Movable berms?

[Gifted]

I went to the action shoot yesterday, had fun, got sunburned. May the Lord shower blessings on the person who thought to put an anesthetic in an aloe gel for sunburn.

Anyway, it's fun, but there's a problem. The 45 yard ranges the county range has for them makes it difficult. You're also limited by direction, there's a (reasonable) rule about keeping the gun down range and a 180 degree limit for that. You're limited to a bit of side-to-side movement, and forwards only. For the situation, it's practical, and I agree with it.

At any rate, I had the thought of setting up a bit of a maze of berms for a range, so you can turn the corner, and still be safe. I'd like to set up my own range some day, and a mostly steel course would be part of it. Thing is, you either set up a symetrical array of berms, that allows flexibility, or you set up an uber course that is static. Neither one really appeals to me. I had the thought though, of making an adjustable berm. It's in sections that can be moved around, say by a loader with a forklift attachment. When the maze gets old, change it around. Problem is getting a barrier that will stop bullets, but be able to be moved. They would interlock somewhat, say, by meeting at angles so they overlap, and be in sections small enough to lift and move without alot of difficulty.

How would you do it?

 

[Freedomv]

Our local concrete companies cast the over run from orders into 2'X2'X8' forms to make really heavy (approx. 4,000# if memory serves correct) blocks of concrete.

They are cast with "tougne and groove" so that they can be stacked on one another and not slide out of position. and also have rebar chain hooks in them so they can be handled with tractor loaders etc.

Cost was $20.00 apiece the last I knew. You haul from batch plant.

You must have access to a really good tractor loader or an industrial loader to set them.

Vern

 

[Gifted]

Bullets+hard surface=no good.

 

[kjaniak]

On the web I have seen inter-locking balistic rubber block systems that can be made into moveable walls. Looked great until I saw the prices for the blocks.....wow.

 

[mfree]

What about plastic barrels full of sand? they'd be heavy as all get out, but just patch them with duct tape between rounds and scoop the sand back in the top and you're golden...

 

[sturmruger]

I was at a range today this weekend that used 55 gallon plastic barrels for a berm. Downside is they are kind of a eyesore, adn bullets can bounce off of them.

 

[hkOrion]

I was at a range today taht used 55 gallon plastic barrels for a berm. Downside is they are kind of a eyesore.

some uber-tactical camouflage coverings are called for. and nobody will see them.....

 

[junyo]

If you didn't mind the labor, take Freedomv's concrete forms as a base, with supersized sandbags draped over the top. Make the bags so that they've got a foldover seam at the bottom that you can close by lacing cord through grommets, and a wide mouth at the top that can be propped open with a hoop. Setup the forms in the pattern you want, lay a bag over each, use a loader to fill it with sand. When you're done, unlace the seam at the bottom, sand dumps, remove the bag, move the form. As bags get preforated you can repair with tape, as in mfree's example, although they'd wear out eventually, especially if they took shots to the seams. And 5-6 inches of sand should slow most bullets down enough that the a) don't go through the concrete form, and/or b) can't richochet off the form back out through another 5-6 inches of sand. Actually, with concrete behind it, you probably could get away with less, maybe 2-3 inches.

You could probably mount the forms on heavy duty outdoor cart wheels on spring loaded axles, so that without the bag, they can be pushed/manuevered by hand or hauled by garden tractor, but once the bag's in place and loaded they're firmly grounded.

 

[pete f]

concrete walls, lined with tires, filled with sand, works for the feds. the army and the SEALS. bullets penetrate the tires but the nature of the bullet holes is such that they are self sealing. and the sand catches the bullets. I have seen two shoot houses made like this. tires are screwed together with sheet rock screws. the one house allowed full auto assualt teams, no shotguns with anything less than buck. too much risk of rebound. also all who shot wore goggles and face masks and body armor. the limit of my experience

 

[Bear Gulch]

With a D7 Cat all berms are movable!

 

[Gifted]

I like the idea of the drums. Is there something that can be put around them to help stop ricochettes?

I'd have permanent berms, either conventional piled dirt, or put it between retaining walls made of old tires packed with dirt. The movable ones would be drums, filled with dirt, with ropes on them. One or two of those boom forklifts you see at construction sites would serve to move them around.

How thick are metal drums? I'm not seeing them as reasonable.

 

[Bear Gulch]

Used tires filled with dirt has been a standard for a long time.

 

[Freedomv]

I did not mean for the concrete to be used directly as an impact berm to shoot at, but as a positive safety wall to protect people and equipment etc from possible stray rounds etc generated in the shooting area.

It sounds like what you want/need is conventional 2X4 walls draped with kevlar(spelling) vest material that would stop a bullet ( maybe not all bullet as everything has it's limits.) but not throw it back at you.

The area of your actual target could be reinforced with extra material to abate the impact of multiple hits in that area.

I would still surround the shooting area with at least an 8 foot berm.

Vern

 

[Sam]

Gifted,
Go to the Otero County landfill.
They are giving away bales of compressed tires for the taking.
Roughly 4'x2'x6' you can stack them any way you need( if you have a forklift or loader.

Sam

 

[Gifted]

That sounds good Sam save for the fact that I don't even have the land to build the range on yet. It'll most likely be in Missouri, anyway, though I'm sure they'll have them up there, too.

 

[Shalako]

Instead of building up with berms, how about building down with trenches?

Just get yourself a backhoe and have at it. With the excavated material you could even add a couple berms up top to make it a split level shooting park/maze. Don't go too steep on the trenches or it will cave in, a 2h:1v slope with decent compaction is usually pretty stable depending on soil type. I would make the trenches at least as wide as they are deep (just in case it does cave in). Once you get the trenches dug, you can seed the slopes w/ grass seed for erosion protection (If you are real elaborate you can stake down some coire fabric and straw waddles). You might also have to think about drainage and add a sump pump/french drain if you get a lot of rain.

Make sure to call USA before digging though, just in case...

 

[4v50 Gary]

With a shovel and time, you can dig all the berms and mazes you want. Don't like what you've dug, fill it in and start fresh. OK, I'll shut up now.