Running it is a big dance.

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I pictured something much more archaic inside

Ricochets off the steel belts

Just set this up. Berm was already carved out by my landlord to use as a range when he lived here.

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Yeah, that doesn't work down here.

I wish it was that simple

My range pictured below.  I understand you do not have the natural geography for a backstop, however a few things to consider depending on your needs:

- Targets at various distances.  I have ones set close for pistol action shooting, and then others going out to 100 yards for rifle.

- The plastic jugs are for shotgun.

- My go to steel target vendor is Make It Ring Targets  Quality product at a good total cost.  I have bought from their Bargain Bin as well, and that stuff has been fine except finish is a little rougher.



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That tree behind the steel all the way to the left makes it look like you miss a lot

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Luckily I have natural backstops. I still drive up to the top of a hill and glass in case there is a trespasser hunting yotes or something. Only had one.

That is beautiful.

Unfortunately there's so many trespassers my own range will be off limits during deer season.

Foreman is taking a truck driver over today to check out the site.

Fingers crossed.

If guys who NEED to get rid of dirt don't want to do it, I'm fucked.

heres a few more pics of mine. its located in a creek bottom / valley and rifle shots are downhill at a 30* angle, so any potential misses go into the ground / dirt hill behind the berm, pistols are generally shot either downhill at the flipper target, or at the bottom at the big steel torso plates. nearest house behind the berm is @Godzookies house approx 2 miles away.  but theres a nice big hill between here and there and its offset 45* to the side and not directly downrange.

my last range was better as it had 200 yard berm and berms at 50, 100, 150 and 200, but i had to sell that property. so this one is mainly for handguns, plinking,  zeroing, and ESPECIALLY
for testing reloads which is EXTREMELY  nice as the range shooting table, is only 50 yards from my reloading bench. Which makes it better than a awesome range 20 miles away for working up and testing loads.

But, i have a awesome range 20 miles away too !

Its on my buddys farm, he's big into long range competitions,  his big range is for anything longer. only limitation there is the property line at 2500 yards ,corn getting too high to shoot over / you cant see targets anymore and night hunting coyotes. I have basically unlimited access 24/7/365.

i think in a month or so ill be putting in a couple 10' tall posts and hanging window screen to catch brass.

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That is beautiful.  Reminds me of my woods.

Truck driver checked it out today, no issues.  Dirt is coming next week.

Still so happy I got this for free.  Glad I called so many places.

Tag for ideas and your progress.

Nice!

Scrub all that.
Buy a trailer trash home in the ghetto.
Shoot outside as much as you please.
The only complaint you might get is some ring owners on the ring app asking about anyone hearing shots.
I’ll take a check for all the money I just saved you.

Using tires as the impact surface is not a great idea, as lower velocity projectiles can bounce off them.  Will probably be fine with most stuff, but I bet a some .22 subsonic, like maybe a CCI Quiet round, might come back.  Maybe a big slow .45 also.  Would be an interesting test to see what velocities penetrate and which bounce off of various projectiles…

I know several folks who tried to shoot inflated tires on vehicles with poor penetration.

I would dump a pile of sand, gravel, or dirt in front of the tires.

I am using tires also- but as side containment walls.  They are solely to catch errant bullets escaping the range, so I don’t care if something bounces off them.  Anything hitting them is already probably a ricochet or frag so it is slowed down as well.  My tire walls really are not bullet traps/berms, more like safety barriers.  Don’t need anything landing on a neighbors property basically…

@buck19delta

Good deal.  Hard to beat free!

appreciate the concern, but tires were used to do it cheap, its a difficult spot to reach and the back of the berm is  touching the property line, with a creek running 6' behind the berm and 10 feet in front as well,  which is why i built that little bridge, to allow my tractor to cross close enough to fill the tires with dirt,  theres really no room for piling extra sand, if i did there would be no way to hang targets, plus the bridge is probably rotten by now so would need to be rebuilt via buying materials, to allow access to add sand, buying sand, rebuilding the targets, so, not happening. iv got too many things going to even get to it even if i wanted to do it, and had materials on hand etc.

perfectly fine for my uses. hell 99% of shooting here is just people blasting away thru the woods at random targets, iv gone FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR beyond what most people do when shooting to make sure myself, friends, family and especially my neighbors .

maybe ill take the military playbook and require every shooter to wear eye pro, flak jackets / ibs armor as well as helmets to mitigate possible injury.

every range has dangers, hell im shooting steel armor plate targets most of the time at pretty close range which is a much bigger danger than a 22 bb gunning back off a tire, due to spalling, splintering, etc, just have to be as careful as possible and wear eye protection. but im the one doing 99.9% of the shooting on this range right now and any other shooting by anyone else is closely supervised for safety.

that would actually be fun and nostalgic honestly.  

timmy... uncle buck19delta this big helmet and armor is heavy and uncomfortable ! i dont like it, its hard to aim the gun and im sweating !    

me... FUCK YOU TIMMY , YOU LITTLE WORTHLESS PUKE ! ITS A WEAPON, NOT A GOTDAYM GUN ! SHOOTING IS DANGEROUS ! YOU WANT TO LOSE A TESTICLE OR A EYEBALL !?!? YOU WEAR THE PROTECTION !  YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO JOIN THE MILITARY WHEN YOU GROW UP ! WELL THIS IS HOW ITS DONE ! YOU WANT THE RUSSIANS TO WIN DONT YOU TIMMY ?!?!  PUT THAT FUCKING WEAPON ON SAFE ! DID YOU GET YOUR RIFLE RODDED WHEN YOU ENTERED THE RANGE?!?! LOCK THAT BOLT BACK ! KEEP THAT WEAPON POINTED UP AND DOWN RANGE ! DONT FORGET YOUR DOING RANGE DETAIL AND NEED TO GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GO HANG TARGETS, AND AFTERWARDS YOUR ON RANGE CLEAN UP AFTER SHOOTING ENDS AT 18;00 HOURS , TO POLICE UP ALL THIS BRASS !  

IS THERE ANYONE DOWN RANGE?!  IS THE LEFT READY ?  IS THE RIGHT READY?   YOU MAY COMMENSE FIRING !

So steel targets.  Go to place?

Also, skid steer or back hoe?

Man the stars are aligning for me.  My brother's friend is getting me a skid loader for free.  Just have to pay for the fuel

I buy my steel from this guy. I always buy the “ seconds” cause we are going to shoot it anyway.

Steel silhouette

I used this style of hanger.

Hanger

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I love it

Had a paranoid thought this morning that I might need a permit, variance, etc to do this - specifically the dirt dump.  

I can't find anything in the ordinances.  State law only cares about altering more than an acre.  I'm pretty sure a huge reputable excavating company wouldn't risk getting in trouble either.

Should I do anything more than just hang steel in front of the dirt?

Do I need to worry about deflection off the steel?  Basically, should I put wings on the berm?

I would highly doubt you will need anything like that.  Your personally owned property and all that.  I built a range on my place and never needed anything like permits, etc. but I'm in Gawgaa so YMMV.  Plus I never invite 'the man' into my life as it usually works towards the negative

I need to take some pics of my range and post here as it might give you a few ideas.  Main range is 25 yards and have 5 shooting lanes, metal targets, ets.  Just to the right of the main range is the rifle range with targets at 50, 100, and 150 yards out.  Went to great lengths to keep the berms adequate for safety.  Mine sits on 26 acres, and has been a 'work in progress' for 18 years

Not sure if its been mentioned OP, but if you build a shooting range you will acquire a lot of friends.  I ended up after a few years whittling my 'friends' down to about 25 or so and a started asking for a $100 annual 'donation' to help with expenses.  Everybody contributes to the cause and over half have equipment and skills that have been invaluable keeping the place maintained and updated.  We're always building something.  The reason I notate their $100 as a donation is the county I live in requires at least 100 acres to have a 'gun club'.  Mine is not a club, its my personal property with my personal range on it and 'donations' arent considered 'dues'.  Have a local Deputy that lives on the rental house on the property as well for built-in security so to speak.  

I do have a shooter friend who is an attorney so he's on full-time retainer (his donation to shoot every now and then) in case I have any legal issues with the retards that run the county.  I also have invited my local PD to use the range every couple of weeks and after creating an LLC, and they pay my annual taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs, so I consider that a big win-win.  

Eventually, if I live long enough, civilization will creep up to around my place and I figure the new neighbors might gang up on me and file complaints with the county, but for now the county cant stop me from doing anything.  If they ever do, I'll sell the place and buy a new place much further out and start over

A bit long, but here's my range build video:

Where there's steel and bullets there will always be deflection.  

I have my steel plates set so they are angled back at the bottom so most lead splatter is directed to the ground.  

We did have some problems with bullets deflecting off metal occasionally and going about 50 yards (that we knew about).  Figured bullets were hitting the top side of the metal and sail off upward and over the berms.  So I built a 'containment' structure mostly out of wood with a top and side sections.  They work beautifully and the evidence is in the wood when bullets deflect and hit the containment walls.  For my place, they are a must have IMO.  

Built them on the 25 yard range where the steel targets are, and also at the 150 yard rifle side where I have 3 metal hanging targets.  If you can get some used fire hose from your local fire department they are perfect as they take several hundreds of hits before they let go.  Steel chains only last as long until the first bullet hits them usually.

I do plan to make all steel angled downward.

Stacked railroad ties with a mud berm in front

No updates from me.  

Been raining on/off all week so the excavating crew isn't working their site and they're sure as shit not going to be dumping at my site.

There is no end in sight with this fucking rain.

Just texted the foreman asking if it's the dig site or my dump site being wet causing the problems.

And the answer is both.

They're digging out a holding/storm water pond and my field gets muddy

Check your state's laws. In Louisiana, a 'range' requires a bond to be posted. There are also berm size requirements plus buffer zones.

Thusly, I only have a bullet trap that I intermittently shoot into.

Yeah none of that bullshit here

Bump for continual updates and ideas. Just bought 57 acres to move to; looking to build a range on it once I finish the house.

My only update is it won't stop fucking raining.

Dirt guy texted me last night and said they're digging Monday no matter what and dumping Tuesday or Wednesday

Dirt is coming tomorrow.... And I'll be in meetings

When they started

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Removed. Apparently I can’t read, my apologies OP.

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Step away from the crack pipe.

No no no no no no no.

The psycho asshole drunk was a neighbor, not my dad.

Literally every single ounce of dirt has to be moved.  The piles are parallel with the direction I'm shooting lol

Heavy construction companies will gladly deliver as many used scraper tires as you want, if they aren't too far away. They'll be super heavy and you'll need a backhoe to arrange them.

@Into_the_Void

I’m really sorry about my response, reading comprehension is important, and apparently I don’t have that today. I was taken back by what I thought I understood, I have removed my comment to not derail your thread. Once again, I’m sorry.