semi trailor gun range?

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ccsniper

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I had a thought on the way to Tahlequah OK today about semi trailors. I thought maybe I could buy a used one that has no wheels or really anything and sit it on some land and make a small indoor pistol range in it. Fill the back 2 feet with sand bags boxed in with some rail road ties for a backstop and shoot from the door. Anyone ever have this idea? I figured I could put a couple end to end to make an indoor rifle range as well. For only one person shooting at a time of course.

Any thoughts? Anyone know where I might find the trailors for cheap?
 
It wouldn't even to have to be a very good trailor, something that is no longer road worthy would be just perfect. Remove the wheels and let it sit just off the groundmaybe put a little shed in front of it... I am really interested in this.
 
The sides of semi trailers are very thin sheet metal or very thin fiberglass, so it the top.
 
Interesting idea. But why bother? In the places that this would be legal, you can just make a nice setup outside. You would have better lighting, less echoes, and more room. And you wouldn't have to look at a trailer sitting on your land all the time.
 
It works for these guys http://www.range-systems.com
You may want to line the interior with some sound absorbing material as well to keep it from deafining you since it'll bounce a lot of that muzzle blast back towards you. And be careful about airborne lead (exhaust fans or something).
If it's going to be stationary you should look into cargo containers too (like they have on ships or trains) to see if those are cheaper than the 40' semi trailers.
 
I'm thinking that you've looking for a used shipping containers like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...d6c3bfa&itemid=300334396184&ff4=263602_263622

I'm no expert, but I don't think it would be a bad idea, although I'd think you'd need to rent a backhoe and bury at least one end in the ground so that your backstop would be angled down and be below ground level. That way you'd not have to worry about any shots making it through your backstop, they would just run into the ground. Although it would probably be a good idea to weld some angled plate steel at the end. If it was completely covered it would cut down on the noise factor quite a bit for the neighbors although you'd need to run some electric lights, a sump pump, and have some sort of air filtration system to cut down on your lead inhalation. You'd have to reinforce the top though, as it is usually pretty thin steel. You'd have to make sure your zoning laws would permit something like this though.

It seems like a good idea, but I'm sure I'm overlooking something, otherwise there'd be plenty of gunnies doing this.
 
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Just last month, someone was telling me about a place where shipping containers were used to construct a "town" by attaching them in sections in some modular fashion. However, this was to simulate indoor shooting environments. With some time and a bulldozer, you can make a nice outdoor range that would make for a more pleasurable environment in which to shoot, IMO.
 
That is exactly like what I was talking about. except I plan on it being stationary and I plan on hooking electricity up to it so I can install a small air conditioner and heater. I planned on making it bullet proof of course. once I had one down I would put another or two end to end to make a rifle range and then cover most of it with dirt. It wouldn't be an eye sore cause it would look like a hill with a door on one end.
 
Suggestion! Go inspect a trailer before you get too deep into this. I'm not sure they are constructed strong enough to be covered with dirt. I've only been in a few, but they didn't look very stout.

Back when my kids were in Boy Scouts, I thought this would be great for an air rifle range to have at the "Jamboree"...we just never got very far with our plan.

Mark
 
well a friend very well pointed out I could rent a bull dozer push some dirt out of the way and put a roof over it for about the same cost. I think I will go with his idea. Long deep ditch with a roof.
 
I vote shipping containers. Mythbusters do alot of explosive test in them, they are lockable and water tight. Bury it and boom instant bomb shelter!(No pun intended :)
 
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Hi ClayinTX

The sides of semi trailers are very thin sheet metal or very thin fiberglass, so it the top.
Click to expand...

The sides of some semi trailer (box trailers) are made from 3/4 FRP (fiber reinforced plywood) The noses (front) generally are steel plate.

Ccsniper- contact Wabash National Corp in Lafayette IN. They sometimes take semi-trailers on trade-in. Their 'dura-plate' trailers would be best for what you have in mind. As a suggestion- I would build a false wall about five foot from the nose and fill it with sand or some other energy absorbing substance. You would need to re-inforce the top, however, a 'floor' of old shipping pallets covered with a tarp would do cheaply.
 
We just had a farm sale on some land we just bought. Sold off all the junk including some 16x80 and 14x70 trailer houses. I thought about buying them but didnt. They only brought less than $50.
 
I helped put together the local police "indoor range" It was two cargo containers bolted together. There was a bullet trap at the end that could handle pistol, .223 or shotgun. On the other end was a counter to set things out in front of you. Behind that was a light bar to simulate a patrol car. It is heated and well ventilated, now if I could only get a key to it!
 
Our local 4-H shooting sports has a portable air rifle range set up in the back of a 26 foot box truck. They take it to the area fairs and teach firearm safety to the kids.
 
neither trailers or cargo containers are sutably strong to be buried. The cargo containers are designed only to take the load of another container sitting on top of it. IOW, only the corners are strong, and they are only strong in compression. Side loading them with a few tons of pressure would be bad news.
 
I don't know if they have OSHA anymore, but if they don't I'm sure they've replaced it with another oversight agency. They key word here is ventilation. The requirements for a range involve strict ventilation turnover and filtration. Also, a trailer like this will only allow a few shooters to be active at any one time. Not sure it is a reasonable option. I wish you luck. But I'm willing to bet the ventilation problem will be the biggest stumbling block.
 
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