To build a range...

[SeabeeMan]

My wife and I just got our offer accepted to buy our first house! It's zoned agricultural/residential, has a 30x40 pole shed with a slab as well as an attached heated 2+ car garage...and 10 acres! Oh, 4 bed, 2 bath, blah blah blah, not as important as the first stuff.

The lot is 330x1330 so it is just begging for a range somewhere. There is an access road running the length of the property that we own so there is a spot already cleared for a range and now I just have to engineer a backstop. I'm thinking I could shoot down the road and just clear a spot to get around the backstop if I ever want to drive around it.

The obvious way to go would be a 3 sided box of railroad ties, a few loads of sand, and borrow my buddies bobcat for the day (The property is flat, so no natural hills to build off of.) My dad was thinking tractor tires filled with sand. Stack them 4-5 high, 2 tires wide from the front and a 3rd stack centered behind the front 2 stacks to fill in the thin part. Either way would be easy to contain and mine out in the future.

Any other ideas? I'm trying to avoid a huge $ investment here but will start saving a scrounging if there isn't a viable alternative.

[geargnasher]

Congratulations! Nothing like signing the deal on a nice piece of earth.

I'd do two things: Build a berm out of material on your property, just plain dirt. If you can get a local landscaper or tree trimmer to start dumping their debris from shredded/chipped trees (mulch) on the front side of the berm, it will be very effective at preventing ricochets and most will be glad to dump their waste mulch for free.

The second thing I'd do is build a shooting lane out of heavy timber, cinder blocks, or railroad ties that makes a tunnel in front of your bench. This will help contain noise to a degree, and most importantly, if built right, will prevent shots from being able to go over the berm. Think low, heavy timber roof so that when shooting from the bench the roofline is lower than the top of the berm.

Be safe and enjoy!

Gear

[Storydude]

Angle the range down the road, so there is no having to go around a backstop.

Dig a hole and there is all the earth you need for a berm ;)

[firefly1957]

Make sure your back stop is tall enough sand works fine.

It sounds like the road may be on the edge of your property make sure of your states laws you do not want to lose your work on the range if your neighbor builds to close to your range.

Make sure you use your back stop for your target holder, NEVER PUT A TARGET HALFWAY DOWN RANGE AND SHOOT AT IT THE BULLETS THAT HIT THE GROUND AT A SLIGHT ANGLE WILL SKIP AND MAY GO OVER BACKSTOP.

Enjoy your new property it is nice to be able to test loads without loading everything in the car.

[DIRT Farmer]

We had a police range for a short time built with two rows of car tires filled with sand. 38spl wad cutters came back at the fifty yard line often enough we quit that one.

[edler7]

I've always thought a couple rows of bales (either round or square) would work for most stuff except AP. The large round or square bales are probably 5-6 feet thick...2 of them would be 10-12 feet- should be sufficient. You could put them inside a railroad tie backstop if necessary.

Fairly cheap, easily replaceable.

[SeabeeMan]

I have some landscaper friends, so scraps shouldn't be a problem. I think if I can get my hands on some railroad ties I will really be in business.

[Fishman]

The first thing I did when I built my range was look at google maps in satellite view and determine what was downrange of my berm. I just use dirt and annually refresh it with my tractor and front loader. I also built 25, 50, and a 100 yd berm and use all of them. I also made my target holders portable so they can be moved to the side so I can shoot cans etc. I also built a sound attenuator out of rubber tires mounted in a row in a frame. Stick the gun barrel in and shoot through them and the supersonic crack is eliminated. Much quieter. However, if there is dust inside the tires be sure to wear shooting glasses!

[Fishman]

One other thing. Dirt has a nasty habit of settling and forming voids. So if you build a frame and fill it with dirt, say using a bunch of pallets, the dirt could settle and form an internal hole where a bullet could get through. I had this experience as a boy and was shocked when I checked the back of my bullet stop and saw a couple holes in the boards. I have since gotten better at designing a range :)

[quilbilly]

When we built our place, we had the septic installer who cleared the drainfield pile all the debris and dirt in a pile 40 yards from our covered porch. The pile was 7 feet high, 10 feet long, and at least 8 feet thick. It also included some buried stumps plus tree rootballs. Works great for testing rifle loads and long range handgun. If you have thought about putting in a small pond (i.e. 12x15x4), that could supply the dirt and would take about three hours with a backhoe.

[Frank46]

Every time the local railroad replaces ties they usually have no trouble getting rid of them. Except the badly damaged ones. Not unusual to see a trailer full go flying down the road. Also the NRA has a group that helps ranges plan their range out. That also may help. Frank

[nvbirdman]

When our gun club built our range, we applied for a zoning variance.
Once the variance is approved it prevents anyone complaining about the noise in the future.

[Wayne Smith]

Couple of issues - if the road was ever, and I mean ever, a public way there is a right of way issue that might become a problem if you block it. Build at an angle so your berms don't block the road, don't bury posts for your shooting position if in the road. If it was and always was a farm road you don't have this problem.

Expect you will have ricochets from the ground in front of the berms. If possible don't have your boolits going over the hard road, have them angling off over soft ground.

Sound attenuation is something to consider if your neighbors are close. If not within earshot it can be planned for but not now necessary.

[frkelly74]

It just occurs to me that you want to make it easy to recover your lead. So when you invite people over to shoot you can say "shoot here" and easily recover their lead also. Berms at different distances seems like a good idea. Ricochets waste lead and rile the neighbors. When is the bar- b-que?

[SeabeeMan]

It isn't as much an access road as a straight line the width of a vehicle with no trees and tire tracks from repeated use worn into the natural ground. It is the edge of my property and there no houses within 3/4 of a mile.

I would LOVE for it to be easily mine-able and would invest in sand to fill it with for ease of sifting over dirt from the property. I'll probably end up with one berm/backstop and a mobile bench to shoot from...at least in the beginning.

[Reload3006]

I unwittingly built a great range. I had a pond put in on my farm. It will not hold water. so the far bank of the pond is 122 yards from my back patio. Pretty good range. LOL I would rather have fish pond though

[DCM]

It isn't as much an access road as a straight line the width of a vehicle with no trees and tire tracks from repeated use worn into the natural ground. It is the edge of my property and there no houses within 3/4 of a mile.

I would LOVE for it to be easily mine-able and would invest in sand to fill it with for ease of sifting over dirt from the property. I'll probably end up with one berm/backstop and a mobile bench to shoot from...at least in the beginning.

There is a thread on bullet traps you should look at. Effective pistol traps can be made cheaply and easily. I would still set them up in front of a good berm.

[wgr]

if buy chance you could get some old railroad ties. you could make a 3 sided pin fill it with sand are what ever. the old ties the ones no body wants would work great and last. they are 8 feet long put a back stop then angle two side walls out . well sounds good to me:grin:

[Thin Man]

Check the travel path of the sun over your range, the all-year average, and align your range so the sun travels 90 degrees to/from your direction of fire. There is nothing more frustrating than having to give up time on the firing line while waiting for the glare to fade...

Thin Man

[contender1]

I own a range.
First, while you currently do not have anybody withing 3/4 mile from it, that can CHANGE. A private shooting spot is different than a range that other people use. Insurance is a must if anybody else uses it.

As for building it,, spend the money and time to build dirt berms, taller, wider, and thicker than you can DREAM of a bullet ever leaving. You can use silt fencing, crossties etc to keep the dirt erosion down, and you can also "mine" spent lead.
Do a lot of research until you KNOW you can build a SAFE place to shoot. Think of your neighbors now, and in the future. Posting signs along your property lines saying "Shooting range impact area, NO trespassing" can help too.
Just a few more ideas.