Need help selecting targets / setup for backyard

[2tall4economy]

Hello all. I grew up around guns (my grandfather & father had over 100) and have enjoyed shooting them but my life has taken me to large cities and overseas so owning my own has been impossible until recently.

I now have a bit of property with a few places I could set up, up to about ~150 yards with a backstop.

Shooting Interests:
Self defense
Africa Safari
Hog hunting
Skeet/trap
3 Gun

What makes this difficult for me (I think) is that whatever I buy needs to be able to withstand rounds from a Barrett M99, S&W 500, Win 70 .458, and 10 gauge, along other more sane rounds.

I'm thinking steel targets; I prefer the ones that flip back and forth (fall down not desired as I don't want to always be walking) but also some gongs maybe, but really not sure where to start. Maybe at 10, 25, 50, and 150 yards?

Suggestions on targets / distances / placements / brands welcome!

 

[1911 guy]

I'd start with a large dirt berm at the back. Large being 10 to 12 feet high and as thick as you can get with the bulldozer rented or hired to do the work. Ten to fifteen feet thick. If you're going to do it, do it right the first time and make it last.

Place targets at the berm. I'd want either a continuous berm and staggered firing lines for different ranges or a continuous firing line with staggered berms. Shooting a close target with a distant berm can sometimes result in a miss of the berm. Steel should be angled slightly down to direct ricochets into the ground, in fact many commercial targets come with mounting brackets that provide the downward angle..

For trap and skeet, you'll need about 300 yards beyond the firing line, pellets travel well beyond their effective range.

Just my spitball idea right before I turn in for the night.

 

[Chuck R.]

How deep is your wallet??

That's the clincher when it comes to the home range stuff. I was "lucky" and bought a property that has a larger hill (well large for KS) that I could dig into for a primary backstop. My range includes a pistol range and steel from 200 out to 800 yards. I made smaller berms behind the LR steel, just to show the bullet strikes as all of my targets are blow the hill line. IF you have to make berms, dozer work costs money, but so does bringing in material. As the previous poster said, the berm is the linchpin of the whole home range deal, don't skimp on this. The only material I've had to bring in (so far) is gravel for the pistol range.

My primary shooting shooting spot for rifle starts at this bench, and extends out to 300. For under 200yd shots I just use a movable targets stand and set for shorter distances:



As for targets, I primarily shoot commercial AR500 (Arntzen, Quality targets etc.), the AR500 has held up well for 1000s of hits. DO NOT GO CHEAP ON STEEL!!! Especially if you plan on shooting it close at handgun distances. Once your steel gets dimpled/cratered, you will get more bounce back. IF I have a piece of plate that gets damaged, it becomes a LR rifle target. I use only a few fixed stands as I like the ability to change up drills and CoFs. Arntzen portable stands work well for this.



I also use a small garden shed to store all the range crap in:



On the pistol range I use a mix of steel, knockdowns, bowling pins (AR500) and cardboard IDPA silhouettes on steel stands and basically have enough props; barricades, barrels, obstacles etc. to set up a couple decent IDPA stages. All that stuff can be made over time and blue barrels are either free, or only $10 locally.


Did you mention something about "Hog" hunting???


Chuck

 

[SteadyD]

That's a great looking setup Chuck.

 

[Chuck R.]

That's a great looking setup Chuck.

THANKS!

Another thing the OP might want to consider is "how" you're going to hang your targets. I use a couple different methods for my rifle swingers:

Home - Electric Fence Light

Basically a simple bracket that goes on a "T" Post (of which most of us around here have a a lot) and you mount a 2x4 to to hang steel. I just modified one of my targets berms using these brackets today:



Used a 10' 2x4 and now have enough room for another smaller swinger. After playing with this I think the best feature for me is the ability to take down the tgts and pull the top support for berm maintenance. Periodically I've got to use my loader to either add more material (like what this berm needs) or re-shape the berm face. With these I can get to the berm easier. Once the sun sets I'll take a few shots off the back deck just to verify nothings coming apart. Also have to break out the sprayer and get at the weeds........

Another cool system I've found is the Hang fast target brackets that work well with single hole targets:





Hang Fast Steel Target Systems

This newer version actually has "wrenches" cut into the sides for tightening your target nuts. It is slick, overly made and even has a nice finish. With the chain it rings pretty good like a regular swinger. What I like about these is that I have a bunch of "T" posts set, so I'll just hang a target right before I decide to shoot. That way:

a. They're not out all the time rusting
b. I'm only using the plates I'm shooting that day and they can be moved switched easily.
c. Less plate I've got to store

I've probably got 40+ pieces of AR500 and it seems like it's still never enough depending on what I'm setting up. For instance, in prep for hunting season we'll get together and do "shoot a bouts" packs, field rests etc. So for that CoF some of the pistol TGTs move to "T" post hangers.


Chuck