Sand bags?

[mexicanjoe]

Does anyone know where I can purchase sandbags to serve as a backstop for my outdoor range. I generally dont shoot much over 9mm or .38 special. I am thinking that plastic trashbags may be too thin and flimsy. I intend to put up a wood pallet faced with a sheet of plywood, then place a stack of sandbags behind it to stop the rounds. Im thinking 24 inches of sand should stop a midrange .38 LSWC boolit. Give me your opinions please

[Valley-Shooter]

Home Depot or Lowes. You fill them yourself.

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[charlie b]

Yep, 24" should do it. Stack them fairly high :)

For target board I'd do something else, especially with the cost of ply these days. A better way might be to sink some PVC pipes in the ground and then use 1x2's about 18" apart. Cardboard for the backer. Staple to the 1x2's and then staple targets to the cardboard (or just mark the cardboard).

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I use 1/2" rebar pounded into the ground for affixing targets. Use those big spring clips to fasten the cardboard targets to them.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Straw bails work well also and you won't have to worry about the sand coming out the holes. Set them up with the tie strings laying flat and the bails double wide, four bails should be enough.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

old tires filled with sand.
that is what we used at our sportsman club.

[farmerjim]

Even the UV protected sandbags will disintegrate in less than a year.

[murf205]

A dump truck full of dirt will stop what you want to stop and you can dress it up with a shovel when needed. Wally world sells river sand for about 2 bucks a bag and I believe they are 40 lbs. It would beat hand filling the bags. The best thing about sand is, you will not get any ricochets. The sand really grabs the boolits. Cardboard backer material is a freebe at appliance stores. Most are glad to get rid of it and you get pretty big pieces . I have used corrugated campaign signs after the elections and they last a bit better. Some of our more affluent (rotten) politicians have signs that are life sized. You are very fortunate to have your own range.

[Froogal]

My very first target stand consisted of salvaged, 2" thick deck boards, stacked 2 deep for a total thickness of 4". That was not enough to stop .38 specials.

[Gator 45/70]

The parish was giving away sandbags but it's underwater now so I guess this information ain't worth spit.
Other than How does a parish set up a sandbag filling station that goes underwater?

[Winger Ed.]

Other than How does a parish set up a sandbag filling station that goes underwater?

Sounds like they didn't get them filled soon enough.

[jim147]

Keep an eye on your backstop. I've shot through big rounds bails with a bow before. Enough shots in the same place and soemthing has to give.

[Alstep]

Beware, tires will bounce .22s back at you. Some low velocity pistol rounds too. Can't beet good old dirt for a backstop. Another alternative is a bullet trap. That way you can salvage your lead.

[OldBearHair]

Boolits do stack up bigger and bigger wad if you shoot the same spot on the target. My target is made from 2 x 12 boards with a sheetmetal back.. a 3/4 plywood front with a huge innertube affixed to the back of the plywood. Filled with sand. As the sand moves downward, the sheetmetal gets holes in the back. I shoot the lower third of the target. It begins to protrude towards the shooter. The target is pretty well shot out now and I don't shoot all that much. I think a better option would be a target with a back and two sides four feet deep with open front with the sand filled to the top with the slope toward the front. Then just maintain the slope of the sand. Targets could be fastened to wires, etc. My two cents only. My ideas always need improvement and need to be done that way or the other way or some other way.LOL

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Beware, tires will bounce .22s back at you. Some low velocity pistol rounds too. Can't beet good old dirt for a backstop. Another alternative is a bullet trap. That way you can salvage your lead.
You are correct about low velocity rounds ricocheting off tires.

the OP mentioned "I intend to put up a wood pallet faced with a sheet of plywood"

our sportsman club a has similar structure in front of sand filled tire berm for mounting targets and stop ricochets.

[murf205]

Beware, tires will bounce .22s back at you. Some low velocity pistol rounds too. Can't beet good old dirt for a backstop. Another alternative is a bullet trap. That way you can salvage your lead.

A boolit trap to salvage your own lead, dirt/sand backstop on your own place! Man, it just doesn't get any better than that. Not having to load and unload the truck to go shoot sounds like a winner.

[TyGuy]

I have stacked tires filled with sand also. I lean pallets against them and have a screw to hang paper/cardboard targets from. Staples work as well but start to get in the way after a while. A kitty litter scoop sifts the lead from the sand but you have to dig deep to get down the where they hit. Better to just wait until the stack needs to be maintained and then get it all at once. Even my most powerful rifles only get about half way through the sand.

I have had low velocity .22s and Makarovs bounce back when shooting directly into the tires but if the pallet is in front it catches the ricochets (so far). I’m pleased with my set up as it sits.

[murf205]

Dont under estimate those 22's. When I was a boy, I built a bullet trap out of hard wood flooring left over from our house. I shot my 22 in the basement and those 22's eventually gnawed out a hole in the double layer of hardwood flooring and 1 went through and went through a couch my parents had in the basement that they were going to give away and then hit a concrete block wall and came back through the couch and hit me in the left shoulder. I dug it out rather than tell mom and dad what happened but it had enough speed left after all that to break the skin and if it had hit me in the eye, I might have been blind in that eye.