Never heard of that but it would certainly put most ranges out of business. I don't know exactly what it would cost to install overhead or side baffles on a 200-1000 yard range but I'm sure it would be astronomically expensive.
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Backstop for home made range
- Thread starter Robbins290
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This gives an idea of the concept. It doesn't even go 25 yards out, but it provides 100% containment. It could very easily be scaled up or down for a private range.
The bullet holes in the planks show that as long as idiots exist, such precautions are not only wise, but necessary.
The bullet holes in the planks show that as long as idiots exist, such precautions are not only wise, but necessary.
My 100 yard range in my back yard is roughly 40 yards wide and all of it is used. I've been to a 700 yard range that was somewhere around 300 yards wide. What you suggest would work on a small pistol range with static shooting positions. It wouldn't work on a range where movement was being incorporated into the training or on wider ranges. Besides that, "solid" planks will not necessarily stop or even significantly slow down many bullets and would contribute to a false sense of security, IMO, similar to the weeds on top of a berm that someone mentioned.
The range in the photo is a club range that is more than a hundred fifty yards wide, with distances from 25 yards out to 300 yards. Cops train there, as well as defensive classes that incorporate all manner of movement.
In the picture, you're looking at one small bay of the range.
In the picture, you're looking at one small bay of the range.
I ran some rough calculations. If that bay is 20 feet wide and the lumber is pressure treated (it would need to be if it was going to last very long) there is somewhere around $3000-$5000 in material there, including concrete for posts, fasteners, etc. That's for one bay. Simply not gonna happen on most ranges. And again, that's just completely ignoring the fact that those planks are going to just barely slow down most bullets. Not gonna actually stop anything. Provide some nice shade though.
buck460XVR
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Most folks, when thinking about home ranges, do not consider the worst case scenario. The believe that every round is going to hit a small pile of dirt. They don;t consider ricochets or the occasional round that misses the berm. One needs to be sure of what his behind the berm and where a ricochet or a bullet that misses the berm will end up. I have a virtual mountain behind my shooting range with nothing but forests and cornfields for 5 miles after that. Still, because I am responsible for every bullet that leaves the muzzle of my gun, when shooting rifles, I always worry. Handguns, not so much.
rdnktrkr
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A friend built his with tires and filled them with dirt stacking them like bricks, the tire store gave him all he wanted. He shoots mostly pistol but has 50yrds and 100yrds marked off for rifles. He used rebar driven into the tires to tie them up. I've never known him to reclaim the lead but I think it would be hard to do. I like his setup except having to move the shooting table for different ranges
Hmmm.
I have been a big tire fan for a long time....I liked standing them on end and hanging the plate "inside" the tire....the round of the tire "catches" most of the splatter, but they do not last long. I usually use tractor tires for this held up with T-posts.....then when they get too tore up just add them to the back stop with the track hoe.
I don't think I would suggest using tires even filled with dirt.....and having tires ranging from skid loaders to combines I don't think I have ever seen one "stop" a 7mm Rem mag let alone a 50.
Even with steel belts in the tires if you shoot much they are not going to last, and if that is what is giving your "backstop" form and rigidity it will eventually get tore up and need some work.
I would suggest the tires on the inside of your berm....if you are digging into a ledge you might need to look into "dead men" to hold the wall together....then do dirt in front of it.
It was interesting to me when I started looking up how things are actually designed - or recommended by sources for how to be designed. The pile of dirt berm is actually supposed to have an overhang parallel to the earth that extends from the back of the berm past the start of the berm where it turns into an incline in some sources I've read. That cover has some specs for thickness and material to stop rounds based on caliber. Baffles are interesting because basically, if you have a fixed shooting position, say in a 50 foot pistol range - this is what I was thinking of doing, you really need something like 3 baffles between the shooter and the backstop. In this case - think of the baffle as being like a wall with a door or window in the middle, so - from the shooting position, if you bounce a round it hits a baffle, if you are shooting a revolver single action and cock the pistol, and it has a light trigger - and fire early and launch a round at 15 or 30 degree angle up in the air, you hit a baffle - same with something that would go to the side, so - basically this would be planning for the worst cases. If the shooter was in a covered enclosure, also designed to contain rounds - you'd be covering all your bases - even if someone fired directly vertical by accident - go to an indoor range and look up when in one of the booths, it happens - you'd just hit a ceiling designed to contain rounds. My quick ballpark estimate was something like this would be between 5 an 7K to actually build out correctly - maybe a little more, but where I am - houses 400-600 feet all around, can't see doing less if there was going to be regular periodic shooting, especially with guests and friends/family etc. The thickness of the baffles is based on caliber used - higher caliber, thicker baffles, more money to construct. I will probably never do this, because I can drive 15 minutes and there is a local pistol range, and for the expense I could buy everyone I know who shoots a lifetime membership there.
IMHO you bring up real good points....and we have to think.....really think about what we are doing..
Story:
I live in the boonies, the people around us have enough land to be dangerous....think 5-a few hundred AC.....with most being in the 20ish range. Shooting in the county is perfectly legal as long as you are not stupid....shooting over roads....being a real idiot....you get the drift.
My next door neighbor....about 3-400 yards away (our houses sit on about 20, and the fields go back from there)....ended up with a 9mm bullet going through the side of the house and getting stuck in the night stand. Now that had to be someone being somewhere they should not be....likely city people out "in da country shootin" and something "left the range".
A report was filed, but not my county so I really did not stick my nose in there....but not much they can really do.
Now I shoot "at home" and everyone knows it.....I have what I think is a safe range....and it is safe as I am not an idiot....yes there is risk.....but if the bullet left my range going the direction (basic direction) it would have to jump up about 100 feet in elevation....make it through two of my barns full of all kinds of junk.....keep climbing, then start to come back down again. Sure there is a chance.....but it is acceptable to me and only I shoot there with people I will accept.
Now a "public" even if it is a private club it is "public" has an entire host of different "rules" that it needs to follow....people are really stupid....my club had a 500 yard range that they had to shut down after (they think) a bullet from the range left.....it could have been anyone.....and real easy not connected to the club as it is VERY rural.....but the club is an easy target.....on the line they have baffles that if you stand, sit or go prone you do not see sky.....you will hit the berm or a baffle.....and from the looks of things people shoot the baffles and their supports for "fun".....this is a private club now.
If you are going to shoot at home or property you own you take a big risk.....you need to do what you can to reduce that risk.....and this time of year with people running around with hunting coming up you really need to watch....I bet I get at least one person ask if they can track a shot ______ onto my property.....first you suck and you can't kill it, and second yes you are responsible to come and ask...I can only wonder how many are wondering around in the woods with no permission....the sounds of small arms will be cracking in the back before long.....just makes you nervous to be outside.
Personally, I think my tax dollars should pay for someone from a government agency, to come bye and advise me on how to shoot safely on my property. I can have someone from a local extension agency come show me how to grow lettuce, but there is nothing as far as I have found that helps people know if they are shooting safely or not. I'm guessing there are a lot of people who just read that it is legal, and they have rights, and figure that is all they need and start shooting and then get mad and think they are having their rights violated when people complain that they hear rounds buzzing over their heads during Sunday BBQs next to their pool and patio with their children. You might think that's extreme, but I know people who think like this.
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