What do you use for a backstop?

[hometheaterman]

So we have always had a great place to shoot in the mountains where you are shooting the side of the mountain so it's no where except in the dirt for the bullet to go. We are considering selling it. It got me to thinking the other places we have where we can shoot are all pretty flat. Most in the woods but pretty flat. What do you guys use for a backstop? Is there anyway to create a good backstop without spending thousands on flat land?

 

[The Bushmaster]

Used railroad ties with old tires filled with dirt behind the ties will work as long as you can hit them and not go around or over the top...

 

[kingpin008]

If it's your land, you could always rent a backhoe and build a big old berm. You'd have to make it fairly large, and you might still want to reinforce it, but it should work pretty well.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I use the side of a mountain, lol.

 

[zombienerd]

I'm looking at buying a house later this year... One of the first things I'm going to do is dig myself a range 25 yard hole, and put the dirt over and behind with a walkway, so I can go down inside for pistol ranges, and shoot the upper berm for rifle range....

Kinda hard to explain, but maybe I'll draw a picture and post it later

 

[hometheaterman]

I was thinking about the big pile of dirt. I've got a friend with a bulldozer that would do it for a decent price I'm sure. However, I wondered how much dirt would I need to make sure the bullet from a rifle wouldn't go through it? Or do I need to have something inside of the dirt to help? For you guys that have built these things what did they cost you? I don't mind spending a few hundred but I'm not wanting to spend $5000 or anything like that just to build a shooting range. I've got a couple buddies that have some decent land to shoot on which they allow me to use. However, if I get into shooting more I'd like to be able to do it on my own place and not have to be bothering them.

 

[RX-178]

Side of a mountain here as well.

Or firing down into a pit for short distances.

 

[Bosun]

Put in a pool for the wife's birthday. Plenty of dirt to make a nice berm. It is about 15'thick, 10'high and 35' wide. Two minute walk to my new range!

 

[zombienerd]

Something like this:

 

[zombienerd]

You can rent a Backhoe for a day or two to do the above idea... It's a couple hundred bucks, at most... and you'd have a range you could use for years...

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I am also in favor of the piling up dirt with the backhoe idea.

 

[wishin]

They get about $10-13 apiece for railroad ties here. The major problem using them is they dont stack well and are unstable. So dig two 24" deep holes in front and two behind the ties, fill with sacrete for 4X4 posts to stabilize the ties. Figure about $125 and a good, strong buddy.

 

[dirtyjim]

hippies and communists also make good backstops

 

[bannockburn]

Friend of mine had a backstop bulldozed in when he had his house built. About 12' deep by 7' high and about 10' across. Since then he has reinforced the front of the target area with bags of sand, piled up in overlapping layers. This maintains the overall depth of the backstop by offsetting the seasonal erosion, and helps minimize richochets from the stones and gravel found in the soil.

 

[wally]

Purpose built earth berms at the club I'm a member of (major club expense along with taxes and maintaining the access road) or the side of of a hill at my friends ranch.

--wally.

 

[DMK]

The National Forest range that I shoot at is basically a 100y field with a dirt berm bulldozed at the end. It's somewhere between 8'-12' high and I'd estimate about that thick.

 

[bwsmith2850]

A 30' sheer drop in the side of a hill on the in-laws' farm where my father in law digs dirt for field roads.

 

[eight433]

I shoot at a couple pieces of pressure treated 2x12, then there is about a one foot gap, and another set of 2x12's. Anything that goes above or around that goes into a farm field, or the dense woods beyond that. I only shoot .22LR or pistol rounds at the house though. Anything bigger goes to the gun club's range.
FWIW, the .22 (out of a rifle) goes through one piece of lumber and usually bounces back off the second set and falls in between. The 9mm will go through or get stuck at the first one, .45 will stick into the second board.

 

[TCB in TN]

We shoot at below the dam of the pond. Use it as a backstop. Works very well.

 

[ljnowell]

hippies and communists also make good backstops

Look for an infraction your way. A similar comment cost me one.

 

[marv]

I use a 4'X4' piece of 1/2" steel plate for .22 and pistol caliber. Then I invite a casting buddy to come and mine my range.

 

[RETG]

eight433:I shoot at a couple pieces of pressure treated 2x12, then there is about a one foot gap, and another set of 2x12's. Anything that goes above or around that goes into a farm field, or the dense woods beyond that. I only shoot .22LR or pistol rounds at the house though. Anything bigger goes to the gun club's range.
FWIW, the .22 (out of a rifle) goes through one piece of lumber and usually bounces back off the second set and falls in between. The 9mm will go through or get stuck at the first one, .45 will stick into the second board.

When I lived in MI and had 10 acres, I used basically the same setup. Difference was I had 4x4's on the end, 1/2 inch plywood between to mount the targets. Past this was 4x4's on the end, one in the middle, then a couple sheets of 1/4" steel plating. Past this was a dense forest, privately owned by me.

I fired .22, 9mm and 45 ACP and never had a round go past the steel. The first layer of plywood was replaced periodically due to the holes. Also, since nothing went past the metal, the area between the first stand and the steel collected the lead. Easy to clean up the lead.

Now, living surrounded by millions of acres of BLM land and high mesas. I just head out to the BLM land and set up some portable target stands and shoot away with a mesa in the background.