Safe distance without backstop?

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Jason977

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I have some farmland available for shooting, but of course there is no backstop available. I can get a lay of the land from satellite view, but I want to know what my minimum distance should be from any roads, etc.

I would be shooting .308 out of my truck bed, so the muzzle is ~5ft from the ground, and I am aiming at targets set ~2ft off the ground at distances starting at 100yds. I believe at a minimum I have a square mile to work with, so if I set up diagonal, that's about a 1.4mi range before I leave my field. Is this enough? How many skips will a 308 take through a plowed field?
 
OP said:
I have some farmland available for shooting, but of course there is no backstop available. I can get a lay of the land from satellite view, but I want to know what my minimum distance should be from any roads, etc.

I would be shooting .308 out of my truck bed, so the muzzle is ~5ft from the ground, and I am aiming at targets set ~2ft off the ground at distances starting at 100yds. I believe at a minimum I have a square mile to work with, so if I set up diagonal, that's about a 1.4mi range before I leave my field. Is this enough? How many skips will a 308 take through a plowed field?
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.308, Federal GM308M, 168 gr., 2600 ft/s, 4988 yards, 81 ft-lbs
source


This is THR, so there are rules against posting rude things, but rest assured, I'm totally saying them in front of my monitor.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...2/amish-teens-death-ruled-a-homcide-in-ohio/1
 
Unless you have literally miles of land behind your target without any humans or roads, I would say no without a berm.

Your .308 in the hands of snipers in combat has recorded confirmed kills of up to 1250 yards, and can travel miles beyond that with a clear line of sight. Better to be safe than sorry.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
Just for a bit more background, I have an old farmer telling me I can shoot on his farmland where he's always shot & hunted coyotes. I don't know anything more at the moment, except that it's probably typical South Texas farmland which is perfectly flat, usually divided into sections, with turnrows (unfarmed dirt "roads") in between. And bordered on all sides by the same.

Regardless of what the old man says, it's my bullets going drown range and if I don't feel that it's safe I won't shoot. My gut tells me that bare plowed soil is a poor "reflector" of bullets, and that 3mi would be perfectly safe. 1-1.5mi seems iffy. Hoping there's some data out there.
 
You won't need much dirt to build a berm...shooting at a slight downward angle like you are, it wouldn't need to be all that high.

A shovel, a wheelbarrow, and maybe 2 hours at most...depending on your shoveling skills.
 
Find a small swale or other natural depression to shoot into. I'd agree that you need some earth to give your bullets a resting place you control.

BSW
 
A .308 won't be taking any "skips" in a plowed field! You don't need a berm.
 
Put up that berm and use it. You may hit a rock or even a hard dirt clod and the bullet ricochet for miles. Ask yourself, would I want to be downrange from some one shooting toward me. Few years ago a girl was killed at Carowinds swimming pool near Charlotte by an errant round from over a mile away. Even simple 22 rimfire ammo comes with a warning---"Dangerous a mile away". Please do yourself and your "neighbors" a favor and take the time to put up an adequate back stop. We do not want to be reading about some innocent life being lost and the shooter in jail.
 
You only need a small rock at the proper place for a rifle round to ricochet. I have seen this. I have seen rifle bullets ricochet also from water surface, trees or even compacted soil when shot from a small angle. Build a backstop - you better be safe than sorry.

Boris
 
Put up that berm and use it. You may hit a rock or even a hard dirt clod and the bullet ricochet for miles. Ask yourself, would I want to be downrange from some one shooting toward me. Few years ago a girl was killed at Carowinds swimming pool near Charlotte by an errant round from over a mile away. Even simple 22 rimfire ammo comes with a warning---"Dangerous a mile away". Please do yourself and your "neighbors" a favor and take the time to put up an adequate back stop. We do not want to be reading about some innocent life being lost and the shooter in jail.
__________________
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I think I remember that case. However, I just can't remember the evidence that the bullet ricocheted off a dirt clod. How did the authorities determine that the bullet had ricocheted off a dirt clod?? :eek: Not likely that the OP is going to be ricocheting bullets off boulders in a plowed field, either. Any rock small enough to find itself in a plowed field won't be causing any ricocheting for miles.
 
Shooting upward at about forty degrees, a centerfire rifle bullet can travel about three miles, give or take a bit. But shooting basically horizontal and then figuring on a ricochet? Odds are, less than a half-mile. The impact on the ground is going to notably reduce the velocity. Deformation will further reduce the aerodynamic capability.

If you're using a sighted-in rifle, a few shovel's worth of dirt should be all the backstop you'd need at 100 yards. Me, I'd just angle a bit of a sloping-trench sort of hole, pile the dirt behind it, and set the target on the ground.

Kinda hard to miss a couple of feet of dirt with a one-MOA rifle. :)
 
I'm all for backstops but from another angle I'll ask the question. Does no one hunt with a rifle the flat farm lands of Texas?
 
Few small square hay bales. Maybe couple layers of plywood behind that. Easy to set up and tear down. Sure it'll go right thru it but I'd think it would take a lot of energy out of.
 
We had a ricochet that hit something hard, maybe a rock or steel at a bad angle. 600 yards... A piece of the steel jacket hit one of the guys at the line. This is with a BIG freakin' berm on 3 sides. Think about that before you start shooting w/o a berm or miles & miles & miles of open space beyond the target.
 
Depending on the ammo you will be using, a 308 sighted in at 200 yards will drop over 350 inches at 1000 yards (about a half mile). Since Murphy is with us all the time, a backstop of some sort would be the wise thing to put up. Old railroad ties, cinder blocks 3 deep covered with dirt, an old car or truck covered in dirt can be used as the base of a berm at least 4 to 6 feet tall.

Knowing what is behind the target and how your bullet will be stopped is essential for safe shooting, even when hunting. If you can't see what is behind the target you are shooting at, then don't take the shot. Shooting from a higher elevation down into the dirt would go a long way in making sure you will not shoot someone off in the distance.

Remember when in doubt, don't pull that trigger.
Jim
 
Hay bales won't stop anything. My 9mm went right through large round hay bales at a distance of 30 and 50 feet. Why not play it safe and just build a berm? No one can possibly be THAT afraid of a little work...
 
^^^^^^ Then he'd best not shoot if he won't be "neighborly" and fix the berm right the first time! I'd sure as hell not want to know I'd shot someone because of my negligence! YMMV !
 
^Not every farmer wants a berm in his fields
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That's why the shotgun is the farmer's best friend.

I've been to Wyoming, nice place to shoot, I can fire a round at the SD border across the whole state and not hit anything except a cow or two (LOL). But seriously, you are lucky to have that much wide open space.

Jim
 
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I'm guessing that I'm not familiar with the details of the specific scenario terrain / geology of the OP's land?? !!!
I'm guessing that making un-safe suggestions on a web-site is OK because I am familiar with my plowed fields and my soil and my specific piece of land??!?!?!?!?one!?
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There, I fixed your post.

The OP referenced a square mile of land.
You're assuming (probably incorrectly) that the entire square mile is plowed.

The OP also mentioned roads, which is another important variable.


Hotspur: hiding in the grooves of a plowed field made a great hiding spot when I was a kid playing hide n seek
 
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If the ground is flat and he can see the horizon and there is no one/nothing in it and he would take a shot at game then I say fire away, If you wouldn't take a shot at game then don't. There is a lot of talk about berms and ricochets. To adequately protect against the later one needs a U shaped berm.
Thousands of rounds are sent downrange during hunting seasons with near immediate judgement made as to the safety of the area behind the target, if he takes careful time to drive out and assess the downrange safety of buildings, habitation he is safer than if he was hunting.
 
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