Home Rifle Ranges -- Lets see them!

[Greebe]

My wife and I are moving out to the country this coming spring. This gives me plenty of time to dream and scheme and I have been thinking about how to set up a rifle range that would be safe for others around the property.

I have about 440 yards that I can shoot out to and I was hoping to get ideas for setting up a rifle range on a flat property.

I was thinking of building a big berm to shoot into. If any rounds were to leave the property it wouldn't go far at all because of the dense woods, but still I want to be safe.

Love to see pictures of your home ranges and how you went about setting them up.

Thanks,
Greebe

 

[Stumpkiller]

Here you go. 2,600 feet no one can kick me off for shooting.

My 100 yard range is a bit more intimate.

 

[qtrhrs7]

Charlie, did you put in those zip lines, too? :haha: Bud.

 

[tenngun]

I dont have photos.A year ago I had to move in to town due to wifes health. But I just built a wall out of a rick of wood then an old barrel cut in half and filled with sand. The wall was just a safty and the sand stoped the shots.Changed barrles every couple of years. I had thick ozark woods and two miles of it to the next house.I didn't own that but it was an unused wood lot on an old farm.

 

[cynthialee]

picture a piece of plywood propped against a 55 gallon drum, the plywood has playing cards, post-it notes and targets of various types stapled to it
30-60 yards depending on where you stand in the yard

 

[coloradoclyde]

I have several ranges but most of my muzzleloader ball go into a bullet trap that I built so I can recycle that good soft lead.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Not much of a pic. We live surrounded by woods. My backstop is just a brush pile where I toss all my dead branches and other scrap wood. Hard to see in the pic is a frame I had welded up of rebar. Behind the pile is nothing but dense Ozark woods. Very safe place to shoot. My bench is only 35 yards away but I can back off for more distance if I need to. Great for practice. I love living semi-isolated in the woods.

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[bpd303]

Not a very long range 32 yards, set up mostly for pistol shooting. It is cut out of the hill when we put in the drive. The target stand is a scrounged movie house poster stand that holds a B27 target. We also live in the woods and the nearest neighbors (in-laws) are used to our shooting and they shoot too. I also sift out the spent rounds to re-melt them. If I need a longer distance, I just drive over to Berryville and use the Saunders range.

 

[Ranch 13]

This is in the pasture west of our house. It's good to a mile, but mostly we shoot from 100-1000 yds here. Also have a little set up off the upper deck of our house, that reaches out to 300.

 

[Rifleman1776]

OK, now you have us all drooling with envy.
Really, nice. Enjoy. :grin:

 

[Ranch 13]

Thanks

 

[matt denison]

Boy, wouldn't I like to have that in my back yard.

:thumbsup:

 

[Ole Mule]

This is my 100 yard rifle range not fancy but it works.

My rifle Range

 

[Okie Hog]

This is my range. There are berms at 77 and 125 yards. There will soon be another berm at 225 yards.

 

[nkbj]

Just a suggestion to ponder...
a stack of freebee worn out truck tires filled with dirt makes it easy to put together a bullet proof backstop and also to recover the lead with a screened shaker frame.

 

[Herb]

Here are my ranges at 6000 feet altitude. I built three benches which get a lot of use. There are three 100 yard ranges, three 200 yards, two 300 yards, one 400 and one at 530 yards, for centerfire rifles, and any distance one wants. I could have up to 1000 yards or more but have not yet had reason to shoot that far.
Here is a bench looking at a 300 yard target, that white spot just over the muzzle.

I like to have dirt banks for bullet stops so I can recycle lead balls

 

[Rifleman1776]

Just a suggestion to ponder...
a stack of freebee worn out truck tires filled with dirt makes it easy to put together a bullet proof backstop and also to recover the lead with a screened shaker frame.

Some places that would be illegal because stacks of old tires are mosquito breeding habitats. :shocked2:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Herb, you have a great location and range. And, it is obvious you put it to use a lot. :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

I was thinking of building a big berm to shoot into.

If you have access to a cat or backhoe, berm away. But on flat ground, only one will work. For that setting you might like my "mobile" range setup. I slide the best part of a sheet of 3/4" ply into the bed of my truck, cut short enough for the gate to close. On top of that I toss a saw horse and a folding chair. At the shooting spot I pull out the saw horse, drop the gate, and slide the ply part way out to rest on the sawhorse. Unfold the chair behind my "bench" and I'm ready to shoot.

Might work real well for you with a single berm, while saving you building benches at each range you want to shoot.

As for "berms," I don't. I have access to a whole lot of different places to shoot, and I pick the one each day for not bothering anyone. My "berm" is a 5-gallon bucket, lined inside the front with a hunk of truck innertube and filled with sand. Tape a target to that side and shoot. Instant lead trap for screening and reusing my lead.

BTW- That bucket of sand will stop anything I can imagine you'd shoot from a shoulder-fired muzzleloader. As an experiment I hucked 30-06 ball into it at 25 yards, and not a one made it out the back. Must be a reason our boys in service are so enthused about filling sandbags.

One more idea for your range, especially if single berm: In your shoes I'd mark out a spot on the berm, say 3' wide by 4' tall. Then make sure your target was always in front of that. Every year or two when you're feeling pinched for lead, go to digging and screening in that spot to recover your lead while not scattering it all over your berm and making recovery an industrial affair.

 

[bpd303]

Just a suggestion to ponder...
a stack of freebee worn out truck tires filled with dirt makes it easy to put together a bullet proof backstop and also to recover the lead with a screened shaker frame.

Some places that would be illegal because stacks of old tires are mosquito breeding habitats. :shocked2:

I just put old tires behind my target stand to reclaim lead easier. Filled them with loose dirt. Should keep the skeeters out of them.