Posted: 9/11/2013 6:23:58 PM EDT
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I am living on about 110 acres and want to do some shooting with my new AR. There is a slope running downhill from about halfway through the property to a dry creek that forms the property line about 850 meters away from my planned firing location and through 2 tree lines. From the creek bed its another 3000 meters uphill through woods to the nearest home (From what I can tell the house would be higher than my firing location and the only way I know it is there is from google maps). I plan on having a target area at the first tree line with a max distance to the shooting location of 300 meters which would be near the top of the hill.
I feel like my main concern would be ricochets ending up in the woods past my property. While there are not any houses in the woods, there are a few dirt roads visible from google maps. I have been looking online for ideas but nothing seems to take into consideration shooting downhill and at that distance (most of what I have read have been for pistol distances in back yards). Mostly it is just making me feel anxious about shooting anywhere on my property  .
What would be a good size backstop for shooting out to 300m? One article suggested 8* above the target which would mean a backstop of 150 feet! |
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Quoted:
Link to article please. Its on my desktop so dont have a link right now. Granted its South African government guidelines I was just looking for ideas. And I could get some paint pictures a little later on 
Any ideas for how large a backstop should be for this distance? Or would I be ok without one because im firing down into a small valley? |
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I would not want to fire an AR without some sort of back stop.
The NRA had (still does?) some good resources about proper range construction. There was a guy here about a year ago that built a personal range. He hired someone with a bull dozer to build a berm about 20 ft high and about 100 ft long. It took the dozer operator about day and cost about $1,000 - $1,500, IIRC. WhiffleBat is right – we need a MS paint diagram and pics.
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I've always heard that you want a 20' berm, anything above that is overkill and wasted money. If you really want to do it right, put your 20' berm in and the place an "eyebrow" at the top of the berm to catch any ricochets that aren't caught by the berm itself.
nick |
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This is the page I read mentioned in the OP. http://www.saps.gov.za/crime_prevention/firearms/forms/sabsstd.pdf Like I said its from the South African government and I just wanted to get an idea size wise.
Working on MS Paint right now 
Edit: MS Paint Complete Slope from shooting line to target isn't accurate. It is maybe 50 feet over the 300m. Definitely visible slope but not too bad. Also the nearest house is 1 or 2 contour lines (in google maps) higher than the firing location. Sadly I couldn't find a scale for the lines so I have no idea how much higher it is. 
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Quoted:
This is the page I read mentioned in the OP. http://www.saps.gov.za/crime_prevention/firearms/forms/sabsstd.pdf Like I said its from the South African government and I just wanted to get an idea size wise. Working on MS Paint right now
Edit: MS Paint Complete Slope from shooting line to target isn't accurate. It is maybe 50 feet over the 300m. Definitely visible slope but not too bad. Also the nearest house is 1 or 2 contour lines (in google maps) higher than the firing location. Sadly I couldn't find a scale for the lines so I have no idea how much higher it is. http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g471/erkeric/MSpaint_zps8281a66f.png Since you are shooting downhill and the nearest house is 1.864 MILES past the target area..... It'll " probably " be ok. Just don't shoot any tree top squirrels at 300 yards. 
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Quoted:
Where the nearest house is is irrelevant. You need to be only focused on the property line. It is irresponsible and illegal for your bullets to cross the property lines. X 1,000 Build a berm. I will try to find a pic of the one I mentioned this weekend. Posts from old timers with low post counts are usually very profound.
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We made a trip to the local tire recycler and got about 250 old worm out tires for about $75. We then took some old telephone post and burried them with 12' sticking up and stacked the tires on them and filled with dirt. We staggered then so it has overlapping coverage. Works great and only took two weekends to fininsh it up. I had 4 other guys helping and a tractor with a loader and bucket so that was a life saver,
When my broken leg heels and I get up to our place I'll snap a few pics. |
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why wouldn't you shoot in the other direction?
based on your drawing you have 500 m or feet to the start of the hill going up into your property. use the hill as part of a natural back stop. build up a barrier for your range on the flat. anything that might come out of it still is on your property. put up tires, sand bags, or whatever to try and catch anything. but as posted above you can't have anything come out of your property. § 229.002. Regulation of Discharge of Weapon A municipality may not apply a regulation relating to the discharge of firearms or other weapons in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality or in an area annexed by the municipality after September 1, 1981, if the firearm or other weapon is: (1) a shotgun, air rifle or pistol, BB gun, or bow and arrow discharged: (A) on a tract of land of 10 acres or more and more than 150 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and (B) in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; or (2) a center fire or rim fire rifle or pistol of any caliber discharged: (A) on a tract of land of Search Term Begin 50 acres Search Term End or more and more than 300 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and (B) in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract. § 229.003. Regulation of Discharge of Weapon by Certain Municipalities (a) This section applies only to a municipality located wholly or partly in a county: (1) with a population of 450,000 or more; (2) in which all or part of a municipality with a population of one million or more is located; and (3) that is located adjacent to a county with a population of two million or more. (b) Notwithstanding Section 229.002, a municipality may not apply a regulation relating to the discharge of firearms or other weapons in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality or in an area annexed by the municipality after September 1, 1981, if the firearm or other weapon is: (1) a shotgun, air rifle or pistol, BB gun, or bow and arrow discharged: (A) on a tract of land of 10 acres or more and: (i) more than 1,000 feet from: (a) the property line of a public tract of land, generally accessible by the public, that is routinely used for organized sporting or recreational activities or that has permanent recreational facilities or equipment; and (b) the property line of a school, hospital, or commercial day-care facility (ii) more than 600 feet from: (a) the property line of a residential subdivision; and (b) the property line of a multifamily residential complex; and (iii) more than 150 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and (B) in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; (2) a center fire or rim fire rifle or pistol of any caliber discharged: (A) on a tract of land of Search Term Begin 50 acres Search Term End or more and: (i) more than 1,000 feet from: (a) the property line of a public tract of land, generally accessible by the public, that is routinely used for organized sporting or recreational activities or that has permanent recreational facilities or equipment; and (b) the property line of a school, hospital, or commercial day-care facility; (ii) more than 600 feet from: (a) the property line of a residential subdivision; and (b) the property line of a multifamily residential complex; and (iii) more than 300 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and (B) in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; or (3) discharged at a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of a tract of land. |
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Can't shoot in the other direction without some major tree trimming. There are two tree lines crossing the property, one just behind the target location and one about half way through the 500m flat area. I would like to keep as many trees around on the property as possible also as most of it is pasture. Also I would feel more comfortable safety wise firing towards woods than towards my house and a road.
And thanks for the regulations. I was having a little trouble finding anything other than forum posts about the legal side of shooting. |