Building a home range

[firecadet613]

I'm getting ready to get plans together to build my own private range on my "back 40". I'm in no hurry to do so, just want to be sure I do it right when I get to that stage.

I think my best placement will be shooting down into a valley with a big hill behind it, all my property. No houses for a long ways and with the backstop where I'm thinking, there should be no issues with stray bullets.

I did a search and found a few older threads... and I'll need to clear out a few trees and brush, but what's the best bet on a backstop? I saw a lot on railroad ties, dirt and sand....

 

[Mij]

JMO, if possible, 3 cases of beer and a buddy or 3 with a d7 cat, shape the terrain. Not a joke. You may have to pay for fuel and tractor time, but it dont take long. You said you wanted to do it right. It only takes once and lasts forever. Used T post that you can move at will, make great plate (target) holders.

 

[cg21]

If possible aim towards the north so the sun isn’t as big of a factor.

 

[firecadet613]

If possible aim towards the north so the sun isn’t as big of a factor.

Good call! I'll be aiming west, but into a forest of 80'+ tall trees, so thankfully the sunlight isn't much of a factor.

 

[ditcherman]

I had roughly 80 loads of dirt brought in that was stacked as high as I could get with a backhoe, it was nice and tall to begin with but settled to 10-12’ over 6-8 years.
Last summer had 105 more loads brought in that we ran on top of that with a track loader, hoping it doesn’t settle much since it was tracked in. It’s high enough it sticks out like a ridiculous sore thumb, pretty awesome.

 

[STEEL CORE]

Just shot behind my sons house in Washington Indiana.
I built a parts Glock Gen 3 G-17 and put 16 rds of Remington FMJ 115 gr into a white square on an old Satellite dish.
Anywhere off his porch is a range.

Good luck in your endeavors.

 

[KLB]

Lots of dirt. If you have room, that should be all you need.

 

[ditcherman]

My backstop is all dirt, and I have no idea how many railroad ties it would take to help extend the dirt, but I did think about using telephone poles to try to back up the dirt and make it go farther. Put poles in vertically 25’ apart, then lay poles crossways against them as you stack dirt up to them, building as you go.

 

[firecadet613]

Just shot behind my sons house in Washington Indiana.
I built a parts Glock Gen 3 G-17 and put 16 rds of Remington FMJ 115 gr into a white square on an old Satellite dish.
Anywhere off his porch is a range.

Good luck in your endeavors. View attachment 265215

Honestly, I could likely make due with just a clearing at the bottom of the hill...

Is there any concerns with just leaving the bullets a pile of dirt? I'm thinking not.... since that's what most folks do.

City boy turning country here fellas.... and have no intentions of bringing the city with me to the country!

 

[ditcherman]

Honestly, I could likely make due with just a clearing at the bottom of the hill...

Is there any concerns with just leaving the bullets a pile of dirt? I'm thinking not.... since that's what most folks do.

City boy turning country here fellas.... and have no intentions of bringing the city with me to the country!

The ricocheting we see at night is pretty crazy, but if you’re far enough away…

 

[Mij]

Nothing more country than your own outdoor shooting range.

 

[gsxr219]

I'm on flat land. Used railroad ties to make a "frame" if you will. Verticals 4ft into the ground for support, then horizontals. Drilled holes and put rebar in to lock them together. Piled dirt (mostly sandy dirt mix) about 9-10ft tall by about 20ft wide. Got some semi tires for free and made a shelf in the dirt pile to stack them on. This makes the face almost vertical and lessens the ricochets. Plus you can staple targets to them and they pretty much self heal. Then back filed dirt behind the ties.

 

[Mij]

Heck, I just went out to check water troughs, there are two guys shooting now. One to the north, nother to the west. There are shooters all around me more than 300 days a year. Some days including myself I can hear 6 shooters.

 

[DataGeek19]

A good backstop is the main concern. It sounds like you have that covered naturally with the big hill behind. I think of what Hickok45 has for a range.

 

[Aszerigan]

I shoot down into a ravine also. There is absolutely no chance an errant round leaves my property. It's good piece of mind.

 

[jagee]

I got railroad ties from an INGOer. Stacked up with more behind them. It's not very tall, but works ok for now...I plan to stack them taller and have topsoil piled up behind them.

The topsoil will be removed from the pasture when I eventually put in my gravel drive and parking area.

 

[G192127]

I would consider an "eyebrow" or 2 at the firing line. MCFG and Atterbury have them for ideas on what works.

 

[Remington 90T]

First thing would be to check township rules. Private use on your property is one thing, have 20 friends over and breaking out the Tannerite could be a different story . Only took five blocks for the cops to show up.

 

[LongRangeBushy]

I got lucky and didn’t have to haul any dirt …12’ tall berm. 32 ‘ wide and 25 yards deep over 6 inches of limestone.

 

[DadSmith]

I got lucky and didn’t have to haul any dirt …12’ tall berm. 32 ‘ wide and 25 yards deep over 6 inches of limestone. View attachment 265238

Rental fee $5 a hour per person