Round bail bullet stop?

[floorit76]

I have a bit over a mile of gently rolling soft sandy dirt between my neighbor and I. Pretty flat here on the plains, and not enough trees to catch bullets. I was considering buying a large straw round bail for a bullet stop. Biggest things I'll be throwing at it will be 7.62-39 and 223. And they will have traveled 200+ yards before hitting the bail. I can't believe it wouldn't be enough, as long as I didn't shoot it out, or let it rot too badly. I figured a plywood sheet behind it to keep track of how many were getting through.
Opinions?

 

[chevyman097]

doesnt seem like it will last long if you shoot very much. Between the bullets and the weather it wont last as long as you think. NOt to mention the possibility of setting it on fire. Hot bullets, dry hay...

Why not just build a real berm? Money issue? maybe you could find an area to dig up your own earth rather buying loads of dirt.

 

[floorit76]

Oddly enough, I have a backhoe and room to spare. But I was looking for something less permanent. Fire wasn't something that had occured to me. This summer that may have been a bad deal as dry as it is here. Bails are cheap, and I can move it anytime. Just looking for an easy answer. My family owns alot of ground, but out here on the flat, there aren't that many good, safe places to shoot.

 

[RustHunter87]

make a berm out of all that sand that stuff catches bullets great

 

[lmccrock]

I would not count on a round bale (big? like the size of a pickup bed?) to stop bullets reliably enough. If you want to spend a bale, and not use up backhoe hours, pile dirt on the bale. The hay is a form, not a backstop.

Using plywood to see if any get through is kindof "oops-after-the-fact". If any get through, its a problem.

Lucky you having cheap hay. Around here they do not have "straw", it is all baled as hay for feed.

 

[floorit76]

Hay isn't even cheap here this year, after our drought. Nearly as bad as your last year. Starting to worry about 30+ y/o trees dieing. But straw bales are $25 or so. If you can find anyone that bothers with them anymore. Livestock is dwindling on small farms. I don't want to do alot of dirtwork, too permanent. And our sand is so fine the pile would have to be 20 times bigger around at the base than the height.

 

[PedalBiker]

I don't think hay/straw makes a good bullet backstop. A .22LR zings right through a regular hay bale, they tend to destabilize so you can often hear them zing off into the distance, but many of them don't zing until they hit the ground.

I'd second the berm suggestion. You need ~16" of dirt minimum.

 

[chevyman097]

Any large trees around that have been downed in a storm or what not? Could pile up wood. Would deff be a better back stop than hay.

I know you have already made clear you dont want to build a earthen berm but it is the most reliable bullet stop you will probably find.

 

[floorit76]

A large round bail is quite a different thing than a small square bail. 2000 to 2500 lbs. and 8' diameter. And can be quite dense.

 

[chevyman097]

I am very familiar with round bales of hay. We have tons of them were im from. Cough Texas.

I would not trust one to stop every round reliably.


Maybe rail road ties? 2 deep 6 foot tall. Would stop anything I have in my safe.

 

[floorit76]

I have considered dead wood. I have a decent supply of downed logs to pick from.

 

[floorit76]

Keep in mind it is 1 mile to the next house, I am shooting parallel to the ground, nearly entirely Vmax bullets. And the soft sand eats bullets.

 

[chevyman097]

My opinion is that I would not trust a hay bale as a back stop. It may very well stop expanding bullets, but I highly doubt it would stop FMJs of most kinds.

You asked for opinions and I gave mine and a couple others gave theirs. You seem to be steadily talking down all of them. It seems you were dead set on the hay bail before you asked for advice. I hope it works, for anyone's sake that may be behind it.

I don't think I have anything else to contribute. Maybe others will have some good ideas you take a liking to.

Good Luck with whatever you decide. Don't risk safety for convenience.

 

[floorit76]

I believe you are incorrect. You took my explanation of a round bail as directed toward you, it was not. But to the reply before you. We have loads of people around here that go to much less effort to be safe than I. My neighbor blazes away with his 270 whenever he sees fit. Most of them count on sheer distance and soil composition. I'm not comfortable with that. As I said, dead wood is also on my list. I believe that was a sugestion here. I'm not certain who wound your spring, but I don't believe it was me.

 

[chevyman097]

I really dont understand what you are saying. I dont see any posts that would indicate anyone was offended or insulting each other(still not sure if thats what you mean, its not very clear). As I said before, your posts show that you are pretty set on this hay idea. You in fact asked for advice and have received it.

 

[Tinpig]

Turn it around. Would you be happy if your neighbor was shooting .223 and 7.62x39 in the direction of your house from a mile away with only a round hay bale between you? I know I wouldn't.

Tinpig

 

[floorit76]

I don't think I have talked down to anyone, or their ideas. I reiterated the circumstances, distance, bullet type, etc. Then you told me you were done with the conversation. You seemed annoyed, and I tried to explain. Apparently we have a misunderstanding of some kind. Thank you for the opinion, it is what I asked for. Good or bad.

 

[floorit76]

I have neighbors that shoot much larger than 223 shoot into nothing at all, in any direction. There has never been a problem. Perhaps our soft soil is the key. However, I would like to take more precations. That is why i am here.

 

[chevyman097]

No one said you talked down to anyone. I said I had no other advice other than what I posted. Its pretty clear what was posted. You are misinterpreting it. Im not sure how you interpret emotions from typed letters on the internet. Maybe I should use those smiley things more often, im not really into those.

 

[floorit76]

Sorry for any confusion. Your post say talking down ideas, not talking down to people.

 

[hammerklavier]

Fire up your backhoe and build a berm. You'll be happier and it's not permanent (fill up the hole when you're done).

 

[rcmodel]

The other bad thing about using hay bales for bullet stops?

The hay bales will end up full of bullets.

If they don't catch on fire?
And cow eventually eats them, they are eating jackets & lead, and it will kill them.

Look up Hardware Disease.

rc

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Look up Hardware Disease.

And the magnet isn't going to help either.

 

[EmbarkChief]

rcmodel and Jorge have a very valid point. Besides a round bale isn't going to stop any "serious" FMJ's. I made a frame from some old pipe and filled it with old railroad ties and logs for my place. When the logs get old and beat up they are easy to replace, not to mention it's easy to move with the front end loader.

 

[Buck Kramer]

An arrow will bury itself into a round bale about 3', imagine what something moving 3-4 times that fast with less mass would do.