How to build a new 50' indoor range?

[Gaffer]

Here is a question for you all. One of the small indoor rifle clubs in our league has lost their lease on an 8-10 position 50' indoor range. They do have land but has any of you seen the cheapest method of building a 50' indoor range? My opinion would be that one of those steel building that run ads in gun mags might be the cheapest way to go but thought that others may have seen it done and that we we would not have to reinvent the wheel.
Thanks!

 

[nbkky71]

Gaffer, your best bet might be reach out to NRA and get their assistance. The NRA Range Sourcebook has info on the design and building of ranges,

http://www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/sourcebook.asp

 

[rondog]

Probably not the cheapest solution, but I'd love to have one of these! http://www.ais-sim.com/training_products/training_products_quickrange.htm

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

are you allowed to build one of those of private property?

 

[Gaffer]

I have contacted the NRA and NSSF and asked for their input as to sources of funding, ideas, plans etc.

I was hopeful that I might get ideas that we had not thought of already.

 

[ilbob]

I have been through a couple new ranges being built. The NRA has a lot of good information, and it is well worth the time and money to purchase it. They also have some people who can come out and help you, for a minimal fee.

I would suggest a couple of things you consider about indoor ranges.

Noise. Big problem if you are anywhere near where someone lives. Often you cannot tell until after the range is built just where sound will propagate. Attenuating it is often times a matter of trial and error.

Insurance. Might be your biggest expense after the mortgage. Bullet resistant construction is probably going to be something your insurance company may want. A typical steel building is not bullet resistant. Most ranges these days have steel baffle plates overhead, and block walls.

Ventilation. You heard it here. It is a near certainty that indoor ranges are going to at some point be required to have adequate ventilation. Just what that might entail is not clear, but we are headed there. If heating is not an issue, you may get by just pulling air past the shooters and exhausting down range behind the backstop so lead dust from the bullet impact is pulled outside along with the smoke generated by the shooting itself at the shooting points. You may or may not have to get a lead discharge permit to do this.

If you have a sewer connection there, you may have to get a lead discharge permit for that as well. They are not as onerous as they sound. They just state the limits of what you can discharge, based on wild guesses of what it might be.

Be aware that at some point down the road you may have to install hepa filters to trap lead from being exhausted outside. I would not worry a whole lot about it right now, but make plans to eventually do it.

If heating is an issue, infrared heating may be an option.

The current state of the art in heating/ventilation of ranges is a recirculating system that pulls air down range past the backstop, pushes it through a HEPA filter and brings it back behind the shooters, reheating it as needed, with some small amount of makeup air. This way no lead is discharged and shooters get no lead dust returned to them. Very pricey due to the size of the blowers required and the energy to run them.

 

[WNTFW]

EPA is the biggest hurdle from what I have heard. That was from a large PD that built a new range. The range is quite nice.

 

[HB]

Check out crushed rubber backstops, they are great

 

[ants]

Don't make your big mistakes last. Go slowly, step by step.

First step is to contact the local Zoning department to investigate their requirements for an indoor range on the subject parcel of land. They won't tell you anything about your bullet traps, baffles, or anything about range safety. But bullet traps and baffles will be meaningless until you get the zoning approvals required in your jurisdiciton. Failure to explore zoning approvals is a big dumb mistake made by range operators all over the country. You don't sound dumb.

Most zoning codes allow indoor shooting ranges. In some cases, zoning codes see an indoor range as a recreation use. If you offer training classes, they also see it as an adult educational use. You may need to meet the requirements of both. Perform your due dilligence first.

In addition to the NRA and other industry organizations, the manufacturers of bullet traps and baffles will tell you everything you need about building a safe range.

 

[Grump]

Your ventilation standard is 30 CFM per firing point. Ilbob's advice is sound.

I see no location in your profile, so I don't know whether the range is likely to be in a Clean Air Act "compliance area" or whatever they call those too-dirty regions. As part of that club's planning for operations costs, I strongly recommend researching the HEPA filters and authorized disposal sources, as the lead content is almost certain to turn the club into a "producer" of hazardous lead waste (the filters) under CERCLA or RCRA or whatever federal scheme is going to apply. The backstop lead, IIRC, can be recycled as a commodity without becoming hazardous waste.

With the loss of the lease, I really, really hope that the club can remove the backstops. What type?

Don't skimp on foundation and slab support for the backstops. If you want to be really cheap, there is the option of open packed dirt between the firing points and about 8 feet in front of the backstops.

If caliber restrictions of rimfire rifles and pistol-caliber carbines, excluding .357 Mag and up, are enforced, the club may be able to use lighter-weight steel in the safety baffles, especially if clad with a thick layer of wood AND it plans to maintain (wood putty) and replace the cladding on a regular enough basis.

The old practice of sound abatement using old fiber egg cartons stapled to the walls is...not really recommended any more, AFIK. There's a fire hazard there, especially from powder residues if there is not (again) a regular maintenance schedule. If you can get an architect or fire department to sign off on it by having the things treated with fire retardant, it should still be a maintenance item--some powder residue just won't vacuum out, and the only fire retardant I know for cellulose (boric acid or something like that) has a limited life and will break down over time.

The steel building thing is worth looking into, but that should be done in coordination with the shot containment function. Savings on the overall building might be more than offset by additional costs of lining the firing lanes...

 

[lonegunman]

One of the neighboring clubs built it underground. Basically they built the building 2/3rds below ground level with poured walls. There venilation sucks, but can be improved. One of the ranges uses floor heat and had good luck with that.

The only thing I'd say it if you have members who are engineers, lean on them and offer free memberships for good help, even lifetime memberships if need be.

We built a target retrieval system using reversible two speed electric drills for power. They are cheap when on sale and easy to replace. The turning targets use washing machine parts and work fine. There are simple switches on the track for 7yds, 10 meters and 50 feet.

Spend money on lighting and a good barrier wall between the shooting range and waiting area. Sound proofing is great and makes waiting, training and scoring targets a snap. Remember to build a bathroom or two and some sort of kitchen area can make it a nice place for club meetings and functions.

Do this on property you own or have a 100yr lease.

 

[Grump]

I *still* prefer the manual hand-cranks for target hangers. No switches to fail and result in banging the mechanism and dropping your targets.

A little kink (not too much) in your carrier wire at the preset distances is all that's needed if your baffles, etc. are up to using targets at less than full-distance. No target should be shot at at any location where a ricochet (including a direct vertical) would miss an overhead baffle.

Combine the kinks with some markings on the floor and you've saved a fair pile of initial money and maintenance money. But unless you have some rigid carrier mechanism with periodic slide-up braces, you'll have some horizontal swinging at the non-full distance. At the full distance, the carrier's angle iron mates with the stop's angle iron to stop the swinging.

 

[lil ski]

We built a target retrieval system using reversible two speed electric drills for power. They are cheap when on sale and easy to replace

My club also uses thes and work very well. We have swiches in the track that slow the drills down when they get close to either end to save on the drills and the target holders from slamming into the ends.