I have about 12 acres and want to put up a dirt mound back stop for a shooting range. Behind the backstop will be a few acres of woods before the next nearest property. How much dirt do I need to build a small mound that will make an adequate backstop? I'll be shooting .22, .223/5.56, .38, .40, and .44.
Range building. Dirt mound backstop?
- Thread starter newguy07
- Start date
- Status
El Mariachi
Member
Fwiw, I saw a cool pic a few months back of a guy who had slammed 4 steel I-beams (about 6" x 12") down into the ground and leaving maybe seven feet of them sticking up, used some 3/4" all-thread to bolt rail road ties horizontally across the beams (kinda looked like a thick, ugly sixteen foot wide by seven foot tall fence) then pushed a bunch of dirt up against it on the back side. Sorta resembled a poor man's version of Half Dome in Yosemite.....
sugarmaker
Member
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/information/club/constr-eng.pdf
Minimum 8 feet high and +/- 12 degree berm (25 degree total). Good bullet stop in front of that. Undeveloped area in the backstop zone, also +/- 12 degrees for a couple thousand yards. Terrain features help.
If you don't have this, you should find the nearest shooting range. I see guys shooting into a pile of dirt and it's scary. We had a guy killed here in VT eating dinner, done by a neighbor shooting into a few dumptruck pile of sand, he overshot. Tragic, avoidable, and incredibly bad PR. My criteria is would I stand on my property boundary behind the line of fire / feel safe to biuld a house / let my kids play while people shoot - if the answer is no it's probably not a good idea. Gotta be careful, even if it cramps our style. A few acres of trees isn't going to be at all effective. The guy that got shot here was shot through a few acres of trees, maybe 1,000 feet if I remember.
Minimum 8 feet high and +/- 12 degree berm (25 degree total). Good bullet stop in front of that. Undeveloped area in the backstop zone, also +/- 12 degrees for a couple thousand yards. Terrain features help.
If you don't have this, you should find the nearest shooting range. I see guys shooting into a pile of dirt and it's scary. We had a guy killed here in VT eating dinner, done by a neighbor shooting into a few dumptruck pile of sand, he overshot. Tragic, avoidable, and incredibly bad PR. My criteria is would I stand on my property boundary behind the line of fire / feel safe to biuld a house / let my kids play while people shoot - if the answer is no it's probably not a good idea. Gotta be careful, even if it cramps our style. A few acres of trees isn't going to be at all effective. The guy that got shot here was shot through a few acres of trees, maybe 1,000 feet if I remember.
Saakee
Member
When my friend built his range, he said he excavated about four feet of dirt by ten by sixty and used that as part of his backstop as well as having his fire basically going in to the ground due to the depth of excavation.
El Mariachi
Member
Really? Even at 8" x 8"?......
I watched .308/30-06 and even some 7.62X39 rounds go through one. They were starting to rot some. At one range (now closed down) we thought we had enough dirt on the mound to stop anything reasonable. The mound was probably 20 feet thick at 3 feet up from the base. Then some clown shows up with a 50 BMG and punches 750 grainers all the way through it. Exit holes on back side. Fortunately there was nothing behind the mound in line with his shots but it was a wakeup call. Of course the biggest and most common danger is people lobbing rounds over the top. See that all the time. Make sure you know what's beyond the mound for at least a mile. (or more)
Wood is VERY poor at stopping bullets. Earth is quite good. Bullets just punch through wood. Earth displaces and spreads the force out, slowing the bullet in the process.
Depends on how hard packed the dirt is and how much clay it has in it. But yes, spitzer rifle bullets will drill through wood like nail. For the last 15 years I have used a range on my own property where I shoot down into a valley. I know none of my slugs are leaving the range.
Chuck R.
Member
I looked long and hard to find a piece of property so I could build my own range. Unless you’ve got a lot of money to put into berms then terrain is the key. For mine I cut into a hill side, and I shoot long guns from an opposite hillside, so effectively downward. Even with this I have to repair my backstop every few years to fix the damage the rifles do.
Here are a couple pics of my range:
As you can see in the 2nd picture my “berm” is about 60’ high and about ¼ mile thick. I wouldn’t trust a “small” mound since you “own” every bullet that exits your property. I also have a small berm up on the hill that acts as a backstop for a couple swingers; it still has another 20+’ of hill behind it. A berm AND a downward slope or in front of an upslope might give you want you need.
As for railroad ties, I’ve put them at the base of my backstop to hold the dirt back from the gravel and the HP stuff tears them up pretty good.
Chuck
Here are a couple pics of my range:
As you can see in the 2nd picture my “berm” is about 60’ high and about ¼ mile thick. I wouldn’t trust a “small” mound since you “own” every bullet that exits your property. I also have a small berm up on the hill that acts as a backstop for a couple swingers; it still has another 20+’ of hill behind it. A berm AND a downward slope or in front of an upslope might give you want you need.
As for railroad ties, I’ve put them at the base of my backstop to hold the dirt back from the gravel and the HP stuff tears them up pretty good.
Chuck
Owen Sparks
member
- Joined
- May 27, 2007
- Messages
- 4,523
The danger with dirt mounds is that over time rain causes them to settle and become firm. The slope becomes more like a ramp than a cliff. A firm 45 degree surface can act as a ramp and launch a bullet like a bank shot on a pool table. I used to shoot competition at a range that had this problem. After a couple of cars were hit they had to bring in a bulldozer to square up the berms.
medalguy
Member
I built a backstop much like the one shown by TXSWFAN, except mine is RR ties at the back, 10 ties high, with the ends swept outward about 45 degrees into something of a U shape. The center is filled with dirt and to solve the problem of dirt falling down the front, I built up the front 3 ties high (about 24 inches) and then installed recycled rubber 3/4 inch thick "stall mat" purchased from Tractor Supply above that. I staple targets to the rubber mat and bullets do make holes but it's kinda "self sealing" and dirt doesn't fall down the front, and I'm shooting into a 90 degree backstop. When the rubber needs replacing, I can just put another mat in front of the old one.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
really.
It takes no time at all to bore a hole through a railroad tie, even with .22 LR.
Assuming you are shooting at a taget, and are a halfway decent shot?
All the bullets are hitting in the same place.
rc
Armored farmer
Member
...especially after a few years in the weather, and in contact with soil.
If I were you I'd try to find a good local excavation contractor, more likely than not they'll come acrossed some fill dirt that you guys could work out a deal on. How wide you'll want your shooting range to be will dictate how wide of a berm you need. If you wanted some added protection I would say to build the most of your berm out of pit run, compact it in 12" lifts to your desired height, then finish it how ever you desire. I'd reccomend putting down some topsoil and seeding it for erosion control's sake. If you' If you're located anywhere near to me I could help you out with type of a project it's what I do for a living, If not I'd find a local guy with a good reputation and get with him and get something drawn up and get some specific figures ironed out. They had ought to have a line on 1. Materials, 2. Trucks to get it where it needs to go, 3. Equipment to construct the berm at your site.
Last edited:
hermannr
Member
A truncated V shaped Baffel full of sand hanging over the range will keep fliers from leaving the range area if you do not have an upslope behind where you are shooting. Your backstop should be as soft as is possible. I like that recycled rubber mat idea a lot. IMHO, absolutely no rock. sand if possible
I shoot into a natural slope of soft dirt (volcanic ash) that is about 40' high, then another 200 yards behind that is another upslope for a total of about 65' front to back. Even though I have a lot of trees and a tall backstop I have to be a bit careful. Anything that leaves the property will end up in National Forest, and that is public land. You never know who or when someone might be back in those trees.
I shoot into a natural slope of soft dirt (volcanic ash) that is about 40' high, then another 200 yards behind that is another upslope for a total of about 65' front to back. Even though I have a lot of trees and a tall backstop I have to be a bit careful. Anything that leaves the property will end up in National Forest, and that is public land. You never know who or when someone might be back in those trees.
Steel Talon
Member
FWIW.
I would build it with Tires filled with packed dirt inside. Next apply a dirt mound over the tires, then plant some type of ivy cover on the mound. Great stability, excellent bullet stop, good erosion prevention.
If you plan on lead recovery for melting, you can make a sand catch in the berm behind the target stands.
If you ever sell your place or need to take your range down and remove the lead. this is a pretty staright forward design to tear down.
I would build it with Tires filled with packed dirt inside. Next apply a dirt mound over the tires, then plant some type of ivy cover on the mound. Great stability, excellent bullet stop, good erosion prevention.
If you plan on lead recovery for melting, you can make a sand catch in the berm behind the target stands.
If you ever sell your place or need to take your range down and remove the lead. this is a pretty staright forward design to tear down.
MtnCreek
Member
If you go the excavation route, you need to consider subsurface conditions prior to mobilizing a contractor. It would be a shame to spend a few thousand and get nothing for it.
What would probably happen is to strip down the topsoil, stockpile it on site to be used for covering the berm, under that hopefully there would be a good base, bring in your material, build berm, and then dress it with the topsoil. I don't know where this guy's at, the whole place could be on clay, could have good pit run, tough to tell without knowing where he's at or knowing what the dirt's like in the local area.
wannabeagunsmith
Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2011
- Messages
- 669
Why not dig a WWI- style trench and shoot down there?
MtnCreek
Member
Soil classification. Around here, you would be building a potential death trap.
230therapy
Member
I attended a class in Lima, Ohio. The land owner built his berm. It was at least 20 feet high and very, very wide. You have 12 acres, which is plenty of space to accommodate the new pond you're going to make. Get a loader and get to work!
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
