Shooting range question

[heron]

First of all, I hope I'm posting this in the correct forum; if not, the mods can move it.

I have a range in my backyard (distance 25 yds) and I keep wearing out/destroying my backstops. I'm thinking of putting up an angled steel plate, and I'd like advice on how thick it should be. The heaviest stuff I'm shooting will be .223 in 55 grain FMJ or 62 grain HP, and maybe some .357 Magnum.

I think I have a local source of scrap plate in mild steel and stainless.

One thought I had was to use a relatively thin steel and back it up with concrete.

All ideas welcome.

 

[dmazur]

A friend's dad had a pistol range in his basement. Distance might have been 15 yds, as I don't think the house was large enough for 25 yds. It consisted of a piece of 1/2" steel plate set at 45° with a sand trap below it. There was a lip above the sand trap to keep the sand from being tossed out onto the floor. The surrounding wall was finished in white pegboard. The opening to the bullet trap was 24" square.

Two things I remember (house rules) -

1. Nothing larger than .45ACP, and 9mm and .22 were common.
2. While the white pegboard tended to hide misses (due to all the black holes already in it), if you missed the opening to the trap you had to initial it.

My understanding, though probably limited, is that if you are trying to handle rifle rounds you are going to have a considerable problem with backsplash. It can be either lead/jacket material or whatever media you're using to absorb the impact.

I looked and couldn't find an outdoor range design with a deflector plate, though I'm sure shooters are using them. I found a lot of references to folks who have built a backyard range with a large earth berm.

Here's a link on conventional (berm) outdoor range design -

Backstop Design & Construction