Thinking About Making My Own Personal Range

[Aaryq]

Howdy, folks. I've been kicking around the idea of creating my own personal range in ND. If I can find the land, what else would I need to know. I'd like to have it be a 1 Mile Range so if I ever buy a big ol' gun I can push it to the limits. I'd also like to build a small assault course and a bunker (it gets pretty windy in ND and I've always wanted a bunker). The range would be for my friends and me, not for the public.

How much (minus the land) would this cost me?
Have any of you done this and have any advice to share?
Are there any legal consequences/liabilities I should be aware of?
Any thing else you want to add?

**ETA** What would be a good layout for an assault course?

 

[Atticus_1354]

Rent a backhoe and get some fill dirt to build a berm and your done.

 

[Titan6]

How much (minus the land) would this cost me?

Don't mean to sound cute but whatever you want to spend. Surplus construction materials can be had cheap (sometimes free) and work just as well as whatever you might buy at Lowes if you are just going to be shooting at them.

Have any of you done this and have any advice to share?

Yep. Build a covered shooting area with benches. I did not and it made it difficult at times.

Are there any legal consequences/liabilities I should be aware of?

If it is not a business and it is otherwise legal to shoot there than the only issues would be liability concerns. Some people make you sign a waiver some do not. Depends upon the relationship of the people you will be shooting with. Keep in mind the chance of something going wrong is tiny but if something does people are real sue happy these days. If you are not running a business or open to the public than your homeowners insurance (if you have any) will likely cover any accidents. Contact a lawyer about waivers and the laws of ND but remember no matter what waiver they sign if you are found negligent in some kind of accident than you will become a slave for life.

An assault course sounds dangerous from the get go. When we train with them in the military we follow a ton of safety precautions and people still get hurt all the time and sometimes killed. I would contact someone with professional experience on building those before even considering the undertaking.

Any thing else you want to add?

Have fun!

 

[Wedge]

We had some land and there was a pond which results in a natural backstop (pond banks were higher than the ground).

Chainsaw cleared a firing line.

Otherwise rent a backhoe, build a nice berm. I would NOT make a perm. structure and would just use an e-z up and a portable bench. I do not want to encourage people to shoot on my range. Last thing I want is some idiots shooting on my property when I show up.

Your main issue will be buying land and then keeping tresspassers from messing with your range.

 

[Aaryq]

Oh, I know the assault course can be dangerous. I've been in the Marine Corps for 3 years so I know not to take something like that lightly.

 

[Frog48]

Your main issue will be buying land and then keeping tresspassers from messing with your range.

I was going to say the same thing. I'd be worried about random strangers showing up to shoot, either out of stupidity (not realizing its private property), or lack of respect for property rights.

Anytime you have a large plot of undeveloped land, there are idiots that will just show up and hunt, fish, shoot, 4-wheel/offroad, dump or burn junk, etc without permission. I have several friends with ranches that range from 200-1000+ acres, and they deal with these problems all the time.

 

[RubenZ]

1 mile range? Be prepared to buy 100+ acres.

 

[alligator94]

How much land is enough?? Say to have a 500yd range??

 

[RubenZ]

Depends on the layout of the land. You don't want your range to end on a fence line. So you wanna give it more room in case you need to add dirt etc and maintain the range.

For 500yrds you could probably find a piece of land that is 100acres. Of course it would have to be longer than it is wide.

Just think of a City Block. They are usually 10 acres I believe. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Werewolf]

1 Mile??? You're gonna need a lot of land.

The dimensions of a square acre are 200'X200'

To go a mile you'd need a plot of land at least 1 acre by 26 and who would want that and besides the 26 just takes you out to a mile.

500 or 600 yards is more reasonable. For 600 yards you'd need 1800' which is 9 acres worth but you definitely want a pad - how much is safe? Probably double that so at a minimum for a 600 yard range you'd need a plot of land 1 Acre by 18 acres. Good luck with that.

Most acreage I've found is usually rectangular like 3X5 or 8X5. To get an 18 acre length you're probably looking at a plot that's 12X18 or more so my guess would be that for a 600 yard range you're probably gonna have to buy at least a 12X18 which is 216 acres and now you're talkin' some serious money even at $500 an acre (and in all of Oklahoma the cheapest I've found is $1250 an acre - maybe North Dakota is cheaper - if so let us know).

Building a personal range that is large enough to do long range shooting won't be cheap. If you can afford it I envy you because it's something I've been wanting to do for many, many years but can't justify the expense.

 

[supraneurotoxin]

hmm... interesting thoughts. what if you did want to have members, and have a club or something? what would the legal(and financial) obligations be then?

 

[Aaryq]

Don't worry about the size of the land. The intent of this thread is to compute the costs of everything else range related. So let's focus on the range and not how much land I need, please.

 

[Coronach]

If you allow members (essentially become a club), your legal hassles and expenses go up exponentially, if you wish to do it right (read: safely, for you). Everything is fine until suddenly it isn't- a round heads out of bounds and hits something (or someone) it shouldn't, or one of your shootin' buddies (or one of your shootin' buddies' shootin' buddies) has a ND and develops an acute case of litigation. Then you're screwed.

If you make a club, your club needs to be incorporated (LLC, probably), and should have legal counsel.

I would (am, actually) making a private range that is just a backstop, with no permament facilities. I'll have friends over, but that's it. 100 yds, with just a berm and some targets I can set up and take down when I'm done.

Mike

 

[Coronach]

The NRA has literature about how to set up a range, I believe.

Mike

 

[BigRobT]

I would reinforce the berm with old telephone poles, then the dirt. I would even consider doing that on each side, too. Then, a layer of wood chips in the shooting lane, so when it gets soggy, you're not walking in mud.

 

[hldhard]

Like said. If it's legal to discharge a fire Arm where you live. A back Stop is all you need to start. There are Range protection laws to protect you. Most states protect Ranges already built and the ones with in the law.
I am building a bigger one this winter. Same applies as long as it's private. Once you charge money to use it or make money using it. Rules change. But not a lot. The NRA will actually inspect it for free. If someone complains about the noise. But you are outside the minimum distance the Law requires.
These protection laws will save you. Google Shooting Range/Private/Property/your state. All the commissioner, Court hearings in your state will come up. I couldn't find one case in my State where a Range was shut down because of bitching. As long as they were with in the Laws. Mostly distance.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

I'd like to have it be a 1 Mile Range so if I ever buy a big ol' gun I can push it to the limits. I'd also like to build a small assault course and a bunker

Any thing else you want to add?

If you go through with this I will be sooo jealous!

 

[Avenger29]

I've got a 2200 ft. grass airstrip that serves as my rifle range- around 700 yards of usable range, with the positioning of the berms.

I use my car to go between my target stands and shooting area- I don't have any permanent structures, though...

 

[Scorpiusdeus]

I'd envisioned doing this as well, but not that large. My plan was to dig down and go out about 100 yds. maybe 20 to 30 yds wide. Use the dirt to build berms and construct a double backstop behind that of Telephone poles or railroad ties. A covered are would be nice as well. To finish, I'd put a chain link fence with barbed wire all around it with warning signs of "Live Fire" Private Property"
and so forth.

If anyone but family were to shoot in my range, I'd have an attorney draw up a waiver and make them sign it and video tape the warning and signing.

Of course, I live in CA, so the legal stuff is a must.

 

[usp_fan]

Well if you decide to put it in near Bismarck and you want some help, let me know and with enough notice I can probably come up with a Bobcat to help with earth moving.

--usp_fan