Building a berm - home range

[BobTheTomato]

Does anyone have suggestions for build a berm for a home range? Both size and construction methods?
I am buying some property and can have at least a 250 yard shot so will use it for both rifle and pistol.

 

[easy]

Big pile of dirt?

 

[Curator]

You might check with your States' Gun Range safety regulations. A dirt berm of 10-15 feet probably should be satisfactory. Are there occupied dwellings or paved roads behind your range--these things do enter into the equation,

 

[Chuck R.]

Are you looking for a simple backstop? or a berm that will support movement etc.? There's a couple guys on here that have posted some neat pictures of homemade backstops that aren't too expensive or difficult to construct.

For a berm to support a larger range for movement, drills etc. Much better/cheaper to use natural terrain IF possible, dozer work is expensive (about $125 hr) as is trucking in dirt ($250 per load depending on distance). I think you could easily spend 3-5K on a decent side single sided berm. The private range I used to belonged to had man-made berms that were 20' high, and about 30' thick at the base, probably about 10K per if you had to bring in material and equipment.

I was lucky in that I found a piece of property with a hill to cut into, then I managed to buy the 40 acres behind it giving me out to 750 yards or so. By cutting into a hill I gained an 80' berm that's about 1/4 mile deep ; ^ )





Chuck

 

[Cypress]

Tires stacked up and filled with dirt are pretty common here. I saw one being constructed where they had set posts to hold the tires then used the tires to hold the dirt. I guess if you think about it used tires are cheaper than dirt!

 

[Bang!]

Be mindful of what is on other side of your berm. On rare occasion you might have bullets go over.

May want to set up a dialogue with your new neighbors. Some of them might be shooters. Or maybe their kid takes a nap everyday between 1:00 and 2:00. Fences make good neighbors, but not necessarily berms and bullets.

 

[ericuda]

Same as on rfc, get some fill sand and build away. Easier to control vegetation in sand.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Use the ground to your advantage if at all possible. Tires and lumber if you have to build up the berm.

Check on the NRA site, I think they have manuals/info there if you dig enough.

 

[Frank Ettin]

Does anyone have suggestions for build a berm for a home range?...

Here are some resources that might be useful:

• NSSF Design Criteria
  
  
• Department of Energy Range Design Criteria
  
  
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Best Practices
  
  
• NRA Shooting Range Services and NRA and NRA Range Source Book

 

[Hardtarget]

Don't leave out drainage for rain season. Consider the natural flow so you're not fighting a loosing battle. Don't want to have a pond for half a year in your shooting range!

If you're going to move very much dirt get a 'dozier. Get it done in a tenth of the time of any other equipment. That tid-bit comes from a brother-in-law from when he put in his range. He really had a great range!

Mark

 

[243winxb]

See link bottom of page http://energy.gov/ea/downloads/range-design-criteria-june-4-2012 More then most ranges have. Oops link in post 9

 

[CapnMac]

If you take a stab at this yourself, go up a size when renting equipment.

Figure an extra day to do simple stuff, too.

Getting a skid steer with an auger attachment is handy for posts supporting cribbing for a backstop. But, you'll be tired and wore out when it's time to get that bucket back on. And, that bucket will be very small when it comes time to cut and fill.

An upslope can be your friend. Even as little as 6' rise in 100 yards can be exploited. You ger a D-sized Cat or Case dozer, you can cut in straight down your shooting lane, and racking the spoils to both sides and up at the back to build a horseshoe berm.

 

[BobTheTomato]

Thank you for all the links.

CapnMac - I wish I could get the D-9 or 992 from work. It would go a lot faster.

 

[jmorris]

For the house I built one from steel (no need for continuous dirt work), about 4000 lbs of it, 16 ft wide and 8 ft tall.





At the farm I used a natural oxbow (again no need for additional dirt work) that is about 30 ft high and cut through another tree line, across a creek to get the distance we wanted.