Shooting range help

[Jbondmonroe]

I am wanting to build a rifle range and a pistol range behind my house. Just something for me and the friends to play with. How big of a hill should I build for the both?
Rifle range will be 100 yards and the pistol range will be 25 yards, and maybe something at 50.
My mother-in-law lives at the bottom of the hill beside me. I would have to shoot through the ground to hit her house but stranger things have happened. How tall, how wide, and how deep would you make it?

 

[Leo]

I am wanting to build a rifle range and a pistol range behind my house. Just something for me and the friends to play with. How big of a hill should I build for the both?
Rifle range will be 100 yards and the pistol range will be 25 yards, and maybe something at 50.
My mother-in-law lives at the bottom of the hill beside me. I would have to shoot through the ground to hit her house but stranger things have happened. How tall, how wide, and how deep would you make it?

I would say twice as tall and wide as you think you need, things happen, people mess up. I have seen people with little 5 ft tall X 5 ft wide mounds. At 100 yards it only takes a few degrees of error to completely miss.

I had an adjustable sight break on a pistol once and the bullet completely cleared the edge of the target board and hit in the dirt berm about 3 feet over my board. That was 5 feet above point of aim at 25 yards. How high do you think that would be at 100 yards? I was lucky, there was nothing within 2 miles of the backstop, far out of range for .45acp.

I am pretty sure it counts as being really bad to lob a few into the Mother In Laws house

 

[canav844]

And remember just because she is down hill doesn't mean you have to shoot through ground for her house to be affected, or anyone beyond her, bullets travel in arcs not lines.

 

[PGRChaplain]

Your mound should be twice as big as you think it should be.

 

[Scuba591]

Are there any local restrictions or requirements that need to be looked into?

 

[cbseniour]

Check out the range at Crowley outside n. Vernon,if you have the space it's a good layout.

 

[usafmora]

I go to the one at Crosley alot. Its a good place, but wear boots during wet times and and always bring your own finishing paper.

 

[rlmx]

My mother-in-law lives at the bottom of the hill beside me. I would have to shoot through the ground to hit her house but stranger things have happened. How tall, how wide, and how deep would you make it?

How long have you been married, and what do you think of your mother-in-law

If I would have been considering a similar project when I first got married, I would have put up a 4' tall pile of dirt.

Now I would make the pile 25' tall because I know that the woman is a Saint. That is because I have been married to her daughter for 23+ years, I know what the woman had to go through

 

[Mgderf]

My brother put a small range, only 25 yards, but that's about all the room available, in his front yard. His berm is about 5 feet tall, about 15 feet wide, and about 10 feet thick at the base, with a wall of railroad ties tied together behind the dirt.

This has stopped everything up to, and including, .308 Winchester, .30/06, 7.7 Jap, .303 British, .454 Casull, 500 S&W magnum...

YMMV