Shooting in the house

[fishin_bum]

When I was growing up we had a full basement under our attached garage I started shooting down there when I was 5, BB guns and Pellet guns. When I was 12 I was on the YMCA rifle team, I would go through a brick of 22lr every night, the adults would shoot 9mm and .357 down there. the backstop was a cut off from a glue-lamb beam it was under the work bench. This was a 25' range and you could just barely hear anything in the kitchen upstairs. As an adult I daydream about having a house or shop with a range in the basement.One day, One day!

[Combat Diver]

Used to shoot plastic army men set up inside my barracks room with my CO2 pistols. Did try the Speer .44 Spl plastic caps but gave up on those too (don't remember why). Me and my buddies have done lots of live fire exercises in houses firing 9mm, 12ga, 5.56mm and flash bangs but those were CQB built houses. Don't shoot in the house anymore as I've got a range in the backyard right next to the mancave with the reloading/casting shop


CD

[country gent]

Made some 38 cases up with the flasholes drilled out to .110. A ckae of parrafin beeswax mix .625 thick. Size cases I made a tray from an old ammo tray ( cut bottom off so holes go through. Load this with the 50 cases. Place a piece of 3/8 thick steel cold roll over it slip into arbor press and "seat all 50 wax bullets at once. Prime cases with small pisto prilers and the ultimate indoor practice load. A doubled bed sheet will stop them. You can remet them and start over cases only need sizing when they become to big or oval from seating bullets. Ive fired many of these round over the years. I used to routinly shoot the rws pellet gun in the house also. A 22 centerfire can be loaded with a 22 pellet and primer for the same results.
I welded up a Frame for a guy at work He pulled 4 bloacks from his basement wall and this frame supported the opening. He then shot into the dirt. Work well till a stray round hit the steel frame and went zinging.

[kir_kenix]

I used to live in a massive farmhouse with a basement that was something over 60 feet long. The original house had a basement dug under it at a later date, and an addition with basement were attatched through a very large door. I shot down there all the time, and the house was well enough insulated that you really couldn't tell it was gunfire from outside or the second floor. It was very, very loud to shoot anything centerfire without plugs and muffs on. I even had a ventilation system rigged up to vent fumes to the outside.

I fired tens of thousands of .22lr rounds down there. I even sighted in some 300 win mags down there for folks before hunting season...remembered to wear plugs AND muffs for the big boys in a cement basement. The lead "splash" that accumulated on the concrete walls was very difficult to scrub off when I moved away from that place.

[TXGunNut]

I have a bullet trap for .22's but it's messy and dirty old Wildcats make the smoke alarm go off. Nowadays I worry about airborne lead as well. No shooting inside anymore, except for a really aggressive mouse or other vermin, of course. I have an oak chopping block outside that has stopped a boolit or two, during the summer huge cracks open up and I'll send a boolit down there if I need a function test. Neighbors don't seem to mind, hear shooting most days around here anyway.

[Case Stuffer]

Ground up tires sold as landscaping mulch works great as a bullet stop media.I have fired 9mm 125 gr. hard cast lead into a 5 gallon bucket filled 12" deep point blank and the bullets did not reach the bottom. I have a plastic 55 gallon drum filled with 11ea 20 pound ,.80 cu ft. bags of this material that I just started using as a bullet stop/ lead recycling device. My lead catch barrel now has 80 9mm 125-135 RN,TC Fn and SWC in it.

Note a 55 gallon drun should only require 10 of the gags of mulch material ,I purchased 11 and need one more to fill it to the brim.

[BBQJOE]

Thanks guys. This thread has turned into much more fun than I expected.
This wasn't my purpose, but I'll tell a story that is probably a homeowners worst farkin nightmare. Ready? This is exactly why it is important at times to seriously store firearms and ammo securely and separately.

In two months, I'll be 52. This happened when I was about 9. (I'd probably still be grounded.)

My friend who was the same age, somehow got railroaded into baby sitting at a neighbors house, while they and his parents went out.
He had never been asked to do this before.
Being his best friend, of course I had to join him and "help out"

After putting the kid down to bed, being the little brats we were, we began snooping around the house. Looking in drawers and cabinets, closets etc.
At one point we came across what I believe to remember was a 30.06.
We thought it was pretty cool, and handled it for awhile. Only after getting our probably later rusty finger prints all over the gun, did we decide there must be bullets somewhere. We looked and looked.
It was probably a couple hours later that we found the ammo in a cabinet in the garage.
We took the rifle into the basement. Now we needed something to shoot at.
The homeowner recycled newspaper. So we took a few bundles of twine tied newspapers, and set them end to end. We then placed a couple 2x10's behind them as well, and placed it all in an empty closet.
I then took a clothes hamper and packed it with more newspapers to use as a protective bench rest.
It occurred to us that this might make a bunch of noise, possibly waking the baby upstairs, and who knows who else.
I remembered seeing a Rockford or some show like that, where he stuffed a potato on the end of the barrel to use as a silencer.
(Take note: This does not work)
I got elected to make the shot.
I remember pulling the trigger, and feeling the spray of potato juice hitting my face as the most horrendous kaboom we had ever heard shook our brains, unprotected ears, and the walls of the basement.
We quickly went to inspect the damage.
The bullet had pierced all three or four bundles of newspaper and the boards as well, embedding in the wall in the back of the closet. We then set to putting everything back, right where we had found it, sans the one cartridge.

To this day I still wonder what the guy thought when he went to take his papers to the recycling drive and saw those bundles of newspapers still tied together with a hole clean through them.
Not to mention the lumber, or the hole in the closet wall.
I figure he must have pieced it together that day he found the box of ammo with the missing round.
We never heard a thing about it.

We were very lucky in many ways.





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[Harter66]

I'm trying to put a 50 yd tunnel together. I've room for 25yd in 1 of 3 out buildings.

I've fire formed some brass in the garage COW at 12-24" saws right through cardboard boxes . 2 washcloths in a bbl shipping tube w/a 3rd to seal the bbl to tube is pretty quiet and clean.

When I was 6-7 my Dad shot a mouse in the dinning room w/a 22 BB cap ,the old 1s . The hammer fall was louder than the shot . That mouse made a mess on the unfinished sheetrock and the bare plywood floor. He often used the same on feral cats in the garage.

[BBQJOE]

When I was 6-7 my Dad shot a mouse in the dinning room w/a 22 BB cap ,the old 1s . The hammer fall was louder than the shot . That mouse made a mess on the unfinished sheetrock and the bare plywood floor. He often used the same on feral cats in the garage.

ha ha!!! That reminds me. A number of years ago I had a pack rat flee under the sofa. I grabbed a 45 with a round of bird shot.
God what a mess that was!

[popper]

Dad and the neighbor have passed so I guess I can tell this. An attic makes a great range, > 50'. Noise - where from, can't see anybody. 22s into a large crate of 2x4. If I missed the neighbor's eve vent (and ours) absorbed them fine. Dad said he wondered why he has some small holes when he was repainting.

[ghh3rd]

Wax bullets -- I forgot to mention that I did try that too... on the porch. Launched from my S&W 642 .38 snub, they all shot very low at 15'-20' for some reason. Still was fun... have thought of trying to cast some glue boolits and try again.

[bobthenailer]

I have on occasion shot indoors in my house , Just a few rounds at a time , however i have a Detroit bullet trap rated for 1,000 fps centerfire pistol ammo

[Lance Boyle]

Killed a mouse in the house with a crossman BB gun. One shot at 4 feet.

My buddy used to shoot his .22 in the basement of his mom's house. He had some mattresses down in the basement against a brick wall. He had to stop as he was really messing up the brickwork.

Only stuff I remember was a handful of 7.62 nato rounds that I mushed the primers on because I hadn't cleaned the crimp out good enough. I shot the primer only casings out the open window. They were loud enough to get the attention of mom, were louder than I was expecting too.

Oh once I did shoot a doe deer out the back window with a 12 gage while watching a football game. I can't remember who was playing now but I waited a few minutes until half time to go tag and drag the deer into the garage to dress out. (yes that was the laziest deer hunt I ever did)

[Down South]

Here in Houston, the blue lights would not be far behind the shot but I stay in an RV at a RV park. At the house, I just open the back door of the shop and shoot into a dirt pile I have back there. I sure do miss being able to do that. I have to stay in Houston wayyyyyy to much.

[30calflash]

22's into a commercial trap, not very often though. First time was into a piece of stovewood, form a k17. just wanted to get things warmed the right way up at the new residence.

BBQJOE's story reminds me of a similar plan by a couple friends at different times/places. One was with a 30-30 and the other with a mini 14. The guy with the mini said it went through everything and then some! Couldn't hear for a couple days also!

[Tatume]

I don't normally shoot in the house, but I might if I see a mouse.

Attachment 66015

Hi Jim,

That photo reminds me of my childhood friend Mr. Hogge. He was in his eighties and was my best friend when I was in the 8 - 14 year old range. One day a hound chased an animal under his house. My Hogge was nearly blind by this time, but he could hear fine. He soon got tired of listening to the dog chase the animal, and got his L.C. Smith. When the dog cornered the animal in the corner of the kitchen, Mr. Hogge shot the animal through the floor with both barrels, and looked just like you in your photo when he did it. The animal turned out to be a skunk, and Mr. Hogge had to go live with his daughter for about a month.

Take care, Tom

[blackthorn]

When I was young (22) I was building a shack/cabin/fishing camp at the lake. I was putting in the drain for the sink and did not have a drill to start the hole through the floor. Went over to the guy who lived next door and borrowed his 12 Ga. Stood on a chair and punched a nice round hole in the floor. Cleaned it up with a key-hole saw and continued on. Forgot to warn the wife----NO sense of HO!!!!

[historicfirearms]

Not exactly a firearm, but I did shoot a model rocket in the house when I was about seven years old. I had previously tried to shoot it outside and couldn't get the motor to ignite. Brought it inside to "trouble shoot" the problem. Needless to say, it fired on my first attempt. Mom was talking to a salesman on the phone when the flames got too hot for me to hold on to the rocket with my hands. The rocket made four laps around our living room before dying out, but not before igniting the curtains on the picture window and melting holes in that nice 70's shag carpet. Mom dropped the phone and extinguished the drapes. My butt sure did burn when dad got home and smelled the sulphur smoke as soon as he walked in the door. I haven't tried to shoot anything inside the house since.

[EMC45]

Have shot .22s into stacked 2X4s in the enclosed carport to check function. Fired my buddy's suppressed .22 P22 into the leg of my reloading bench to see how loud it was in the house. It was pretty quiet.

[Muskyhunter1]

Years ago I heard (it wasn't me) about a young lad that had a S&W Mod 10 in 38 Special. He saw a crime show on TV where they recovered a fired slug from a tub of water.

This young lads Mother went out shopping. He had just finished loading some newly molded 158 SWC (so the story goes). In this young lads infinite wisdom, he placed a piece of plate steel at the bottom of his Mother's cement basement sink and filled the tub with water.

Allegedly, while still dressed in his dressing gown he climbed up onto his Mom's washing machine. One single round was discharged into the water. Story has it, water shoot up and was dripping off the sealing. When the ringing of the ears slowed the sound of running water could be heard. The whole tub split and water was running all over the basement floor. He has some pretty serious explaining to do......................and he ended up buying a new sink for his Mom.

I don't believed the young lad ever fired his handgun in the basement anymore.

Or so I was told - lol