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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:26:44 AM EDT
[#1]
I always it would be cool to bury a couple shipping containers to make a pistol range. I'd have to think it's way more trouble than it would be worth.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:28:24 AM EDT
[#2]
I think Mark LaRue had something like that built but longer for rifle. He posted about it sometime back.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:32:48 AM EDT
[#3]
I was friends with a chick in high school who lived in an upscale neighborhood. Her house was on a canal that led to the ocean so most of the houses were built up on a berm. Her dad had a pistol range underneath the house that you could access through a door in the kitchen, kind of like a basement door up north. If he could do it in Miami then it's not retarded at all elsewhere.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:34:16 AM EDT
[#4]
Every backyard is a shooting range, if you're brave enough.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:35:10 AM EDT
[#5]
I know several people who have underground shooting ranges on their property here in Montana, just takes the time, proptery and money to build it.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:36:51 AM EDT
[#6]
It sounds like a blast. I would guess lead would be something that should be addressed however.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:40:56 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It sounds like a blast. I would guess lead would be something that should be addressed however. I should also add: I'm trying to do this on the cheap. If I could do this for a few grand, I will probably do it, but much more than that and I'll just drive to the hills. I know an excavator that'll cut me a huge deal on it, I can probably scrounge the pipe, but don't know about the rooms at each end. Not sure if pouring concrete or building from cinderblock would be smarter. I would use a bobcat to backfill and reseed the lawn myself over the top. I'll also have to replace a bunch of sprinkler pipe. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:41:21 AM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It sounds like a blast. I would guess lead would be something that should be addressed however. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:48:03 AM EDT
[#9]
Feasibility depends largely on resources...You'll need at least a 6' dia. culvert pipe however long you want the range to be and the earth moving equipment to dig the big ass trench to bury the pipe. Then pouring what amounts to a small basement at both the shooting bench and target ends, drainage, lighting, ventilation, etc.
Once you have all that accomplished you'd just have to worry about upkeep on the whole thing and earthquakes  .
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Posted: 4/24/2017 1:50:21 AM EDT
[#10]
How did your neighbor do it?
I'm curious about how drainage issues are solved with such a low-cost setup. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:07:03 AM EDT
[#11]
You'll have more moisture issues than what you're planning on. Plus, if you have the space and a building code that would allow for such, why not just build something above ground?
A rhetorical question to illustrate why most wouldn't do that. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:16:10 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I always it would be cool to bury a couple shipping containers to make a pistol range. I'd have to think it's way more trouble than it would be worth.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:24:43 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I know several people who have underground shooting ranges on their property here in Montana, just takes the time, proptery and money to build it. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:28:22 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This is my interests in the near future. Where do I go to find out more? I know of a rich persons summer home that has a pistol bay semi underground in their garage but nothing completely underground. Hell, i dont know many people who even have basements. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:30:43 AM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
How did your neighbor do it? I'm curious about how drainage issues are solved with such a low-cost setup. It's roofed with steel plate over concrete cinder block walls. Drainage wouldn't be a huge issue, the ground is rocky and really dry. I'd dig a few feet lower than the floors, drop some French drains running off into the yard and backfill with gravel then soil so it'd have gravel underneath for draining. But it's Utah so we don't have water issues and I live on a bluff so I basically have zero chance of flooding. If my house or yard floods, trust me, you guys would know about it.it would be a major major event |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:34:22 AM EDT
[#16]
I don't think I need a six foot pipe, I visited the sako factory in Finland once and their underground test range had tubes in the two foot diameter range if I remember correctly. They were very very small.
Very cool 100m range.they were test test firing machine guns at the time |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:36:42 AM EDT
[#17]
When I win the lottery, I plan on building a 1300 yard underground range for rifles and a 4 bay 50yard ug range for pistol.
I've already got it designed in my head along with the house 
Ed |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:43:10 AM EDT
[#18]
Federal cartridge in anoka mn has two test ranges, underground. They are 2' culvert pipes. 100 yards long. At 100 yards, there isn't that much trajectory. They use a motorized pully to run targets. There is a track on the bottom for a light. Only the target needs to be illuminated for the scope to see it.
It's pretty slick. And easy to do. Put in a 6 inch pvc stand pipe at the target end with a powered fan to suck out the fumes. Put an air intake in your shooting area. Power up the vent fan, positive pressure In our shooting room and all will be well. Angle a one inch plate at the end of your pipe to drop into a 4 foot catch box. I doubt if you could fill it up. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 2:51:54 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Depends on where you are, most of the folks I know live in NW Montana in Flathead county, several of them in the Bigfork area. I know of one that is a hundred yard range, fully buried with ventilation and heat so he can shoot in the winter, when everything above ground is frozen solid.. The guy I know down this way has a big metal building half built into the hill and insulated. He partitioned 10' on the side of it off with a well insulated room and shoots towards the hillside. Not really sure what a lane/range underground would entail. It would be nice to see. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:01:29 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've lived up in Kalispell, but now I'm down outside of Missoula. When I was up in the Flathead I had a few acres I could just shoot into the hillside. Now im down in Missoula woth Deer Creek a mile away. I'm now looking at doing something down in the Bitterroot. A big shop, with a pseudo basement that's pretty much a shooting lane. I can't really find any land with what my needs are (power, broadband) to just do a range outside, but even a 25 yard lane below ground would be fine enough for my purposes. The guy I know down this way has a big metal building half built into the hill and insulated. He partitioned 10' on the side of it off with a well insulated room and shoots towards the hillside. Not really sure what a lane/range underground would entail. It would be nice to see. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:15:20 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
other than ventilation, which he addressed, what do you mean? Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
It sounds like a blast. I would guess lead would be something that should be addressed however.
That being said. A small fan wouldn't do much in any case if you don't have a decent sized hood/exhaust and air flow to go with it. Don't know about the building codes in the OP's area, but I imagine someone could cause a stink. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:16:59 AM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A metal pole building backed up to a hillside with metal plates is actually a good idea, I know of one in the Hamilton area that has worked for quite a good number of people for many years now, it is on the road up to Lake Como, I will root around and see if I can find the guys information to see if he would let you stop by and take a look. Not sure how anything would work out underground with the bitterroot 50' away. Right now I'm renting just off the clark fork and despite the river being 25' down and 100 yards away, the land is all swampy during run off and melt seasons and a basement area won't work. My entire crawl space now is super damp already. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:17:18 AM EDT
[#23]
You can't bury shipping containers.
16' x 7' corrugated pipe around $2400 delivered. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:19:43 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I always it would be cool to bury a couple shipping containers to make a pistol range. I'd have to think it's way more trouble than it would be worth. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:25:50 AM EDT
[#25]
What would something like that cost?
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Posted: 4/24/2017 3:26:31 AM EDT
[#26]
Everything is feasible if you have the space and the money.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 4:26:28 AM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You can't bury shipping containers.
16' x 7' corrugated pipe around $2400 delivered. 
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Posted: 4/24/2017 5:15:12 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
You can't bury shipping containers.
16' x 7' corrugated pipe around $2400 delivered. http://liveincontainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/54.jpg |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 5:37:34 AM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The way I understand it is that the roof can't support the weight of the earth, only the walls are structural. Maybe that's why the roof of the one in your pic is beefed up and overlaps the walls. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 5:53:22 AM EDT
[#30]
When it gets too cold to shoot outside I shoot my airguns in the basement.
An ammo can packed with duct seal make a great silent pellet trap. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 5:54:05 AM EDT
[#31]
Knew a guy (he died a long time ago) who had a pistol range underground on his lot. I never got a chance to see/shoot though. IIRC, it was pretty expensive but he and his wife were DINKs so money was not an issue. He also had some nice firearms.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 6:07:04 AM EDT
[#32]
There is a 100 yard underground tunnel to shoot through on the local base.
It sucks, the culvert is too small so the groups get all jacked up, I think because the shockwave of a SS bullet messes up the bullet flight. It is also STUPID loud, even with double EPs, and the pit filled with grey egg shell foam. A pistol range could be done, but you need more room than a long culvert. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 6:21:58 AM EDT
[#33]
Quoted:
A neighbor of mine put in a new driveway and put a 25 yard shooting range under his driveway. Well, kinda to the side of it. I was wondering how feasible it would be to have a trench dug in my back yard, say 30 yards. I'd bury a 2-4 foot corrugated irrigation pipe, or maybe a little larger if I could find one. There are construction projects all over here and I suspect I could source a 25 M corrugated steel pipe pretty easily. I passed on a 6' diameter one for free a couple years ago. Then at each end I dig a small room, one to hold targets, and the other to shoot from. Both accessible via an insulated door at the top. a vent fan pulls air out the top on the target end so any combustion gases and fumes travel down range and out the other end. Feasible or retarded? You have to clean out any unburned powder every now and then. Make sure you can legally discharge a firearm where you live. You can use a pulley system to run your targets downrange. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 6:54:42 AM EDT
[#34]
We used to come home from the bar, tape 3 phone books (when phone books were big) together and shoot the 22LR down the hall. We had a split level home so it was a blast to shoot, have a drink and shoot some more..... Just printed the targets and taped them to the books. Never had a round miss the targets or go anywhere close to through the books. But with a wife now, she isn't keen on my potentially shooting her stuff in the closet behind.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 7:07:36 AM EDT
[#35]
It would be flooded in a week where I live. My neighbor built their house with a basement.
When I saw what they were doing, I walked over and informed them that the underground creek was down there about twenty feet. They didn;t listen and the Pine Land Inspector told me someone must have got paid off. The house flooded and it mysteriously burned down. It was rebuilt without the basement and he no longer lives there. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 7:20:18 AM EDT
[#36]
Barnes Bullets had 2, side by side underground shooting ranges when they were located in Lindon, UT. I believe you can still see one of the lanes ventilation towers on the west side of I-15 in Lindon.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 7:26:46 AM EDT
[#37]
I voted "stupid idea" because in my backyard you'd have to blast for a week to get through the rock just under the surface.
Some area of the country aren't condusive to underground anything. YMMV |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 7:30:07 AM EDT
[#38]
Quoted:
A neighbor of mine put in a new driveway and put a 25 yard shooting range under his driveway. Well, kinda to the side of it. I was wondering how feasible it would be to have a trench dug in my back yard, say 30 yards. I'd bury a 2-4 foot corrugated irrigation pipe, or maybe a little larger if I could find one. There are construction projects all over here and I suspect I could source a 25 M corrugated steel pipe pretty easily. I passed on a 6' diameter one for free a couple years ago. Then at each end I dig a small room, one to hold targets, and the other to shoot from. Both accessible via an insulated door at the top. a vent fan pulls air out the top on the target end so any combustion gases and fumes travel down range and out the other end. Feasible or retarded? With time and money anything is feasible. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 7:39:04 AM EDT
[#39]
CBR -
I shot in an underground range up in Immigration Canyon years ago. He used 2' concrete pipe right to the edge of his basement and just a simple sheet of steel at the end with a sand trap. He had ropes and pulleys set up with a spot light to shine on the target. The problem was it was really loud inside the house. He had a ton of egg-crate foam all over the place but with a.22 it was loud and with a.45 it rocked your ears. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:04:56 AM EDT
[#40]
When I worked construction the company I worked for had us install a 300ft RCP 32" concrete pipe in a guys yard. There was an underground room from the garage and another at the end of the pipe. It was set on like a 1% grade away from the garage.
This was in southern Utah. It was much more than $1000 but also 100yds long. You could do shorter pipe and not have a room on each side. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:10:50 AM EDT
[#41]
If you don't think this thing through you will end up with an underground water storage tank.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:17:48 AM EDT
[#42]
The terms 'cheap' and 'inexpensive' do not belong here OP.
And, considering it is underground,I would tather do it right than do it cheap and have something critical fail on you. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:21:03 AM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I think Mark LaRue had something like that built but longer for rifle. He posted about it sometime back. LaRue 25 yard Underground Range A.W.D. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:23:30 AM EDT
[#44]
Three things to address:
1. Noise abatement. 2. Lead contamination. 3. Water. Any underground piping will accumulate water either from rain, water table or condensation. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:50:12 AM EDT
[#45]
one of my friends has built his own private underground shooting range at his house in Highland Park, Texas
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:52:56 AM EDT
[#46]
I voted Stupid Idea, but then I live in FL with the water table at 8 inches. There is a reason we don't have basements here.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:56:11 AM EDT
[#47]
If you have that kind of money just buy 20 acres.
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Posted: 4/24/2017 8:56:51 AM EDT
[#48]
How about building a berm instead and going outdoors?
ETA I feel that the ideal spot would resemble what hickock45 has. All those steel targets spread out like that. |
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Posted: 4/24/2017 9:05:27 AM EDT
[#49]
Go with a smaller tube and use a garage door opener with extended rail to run a target holder out to whatever distance. I know a guy that could help you with some of those parts
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Posted: 4/24/2017 9:07:59 AM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I don't think I need a six foot pipe, I visited the sako factory in Finland once and their underground test range had tubes in the two foot diameter range if I remember correctly. They were very very small. Very cool 100m range.they were test test firing machine guns at the time Include a means for cleaning unburned gunpowder out of the tube. This argues against corrugated tubes. I have been in the Lapua range in Phoenix. It is constructed from concrete pipe that is 8 feet diameter, or close, above grade. |
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