Building a gun range, suggestions?

[greenmule]

Thats about 800 yds or more,I wouldn't even complain over that if I was your neighbor!I envy you,thats how I was raised,if you went out on your porch and after listening real good and you than heard a cars motor way in the distance,just wait about 5 min and you'd see it coming up your road.No trouble with neighbors,you looked forward to seeing them[and even hearing them]

 

[DieselPower]

An effective bullet trap can be made for far less. It only cost me 2 or 3 hundred bucks to make a 36"X36" one. The most expensive part was the 36"X48"X1/2" piece of armor plating which is welded in the box at a 45 degree angle to deflect all of the bullets down into the sandbox at the bottom. I need to get it back from the gun club I loaned it to a few years ago now that I think about it.

It's probably taken hundreds of thousands of rounds by now without a single issue. Guys are more than happy to bring in fresh sand to replace the lead filled sand so they can have the lead out of the old sand. I made a 6" deep sand tray at the bottom that slides out for changing. It takes about 100 pounds of sand to refill but it's common for guys to get 10 to 20 pounds of lead from the 'used sand', which is generally recycled.

I have no doubt a very effective bullet trap can be made for far less. I needed one like I built because I shoot a lot of surplus AP ammo. Even armor plating turns to swiss cheese after a couple of hundred rounds or in the case of a 50 BMG a couple dozen.

 

[DieselPower]

A few words of caution about "dirt piles": My 50 BMG easily makes it thru a dirt pile after 5 rounds because of the tunneling effect that occurs when target shooting. That's a depth (thickness) of 10 yards of settled stone free earth. You could look thru the tunnel when penetration was complete. I hollowed out a target area on the side of a hill with my loader for my own personal range out back. The hillside also cuts down on sound levels. Not saying that you need to prepare for this size round, but in case i ever comes up, you need to know the consequences.

Nice to see I'm not the only guy here that isn't afraid of a real gun. The 50 was my favorite to shoot until about a year ago when I got a 338 Lapua. Man, that baby is even better than the 50 out past 1,000 yards.

 

[forgeblast]

What kind of 50 do you have?

 

[Soundguy]

Wow.. all this talk of 50 cal rifles makes me feel left out.. all I have are 50 cal hand cannons..

soundguy

 

[Dargo]

I have no doubt a very effective bullet trap can be made for far less. I needed one like I built because I shoot a lot of surplus AP ammo. Even armor plating turns to swiss cheese after a couple of hundred rounds or in the case of a 50 BMG a couple dozen.

Funny, I have 3 rifles that shoot .50 BMG ammo. Hundreds of rounds of surplus ammo has caused exactly zero damage. I guess you've never had any of the level of armor plating I have. If it were getting hit with armor piercing rounds via a right angle at the same spot you'd get through. At a 45 degree angle, knocking the bullets down into the sand, the .50 BMG would likely take tens of thousands of rounds to hurt it. I know for a fact that hundreds of rounds have just scratched it. Here is a Barrett M107 the day I brought it home.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Dargo, you are my Idol! I've wanted that piece of hardware since I can remember! However,

DieselPower,
You are my HERO! I gave up on the .50 cal some time back, but fell in love with the Barrett 98Bravo, which in my opinion, is the sexiest (yeah, sexiest) firearm I have ever laid eyes on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.98bravo.com/

Of course, since I'm not allowed by CINC-Checkbook to make that kind of a $ purchase, I'll probably "settle" for the Armalite AR30 instead.

I'm looking right now, unbeknownst to my wife or course.

Podunk

 

[deputyrpa]

Nice to see I'm not the only guy here that isn't afraid of a real gun. The 50 was my favorite to shoot until about a year ago when I got a 338 Lapua. Man, that baby is even better than the 50 out past 1,000 yards.

I was recently looking into a 338 Ultra as a cheaper alternative, but if I had the money, I'd go for the Lapua. I'm planning on testing one out in Colorado elk next season.

 

[deputyrpa]

Thats about 800 yds or more,I wouldn't even complain over that if I was your neighbor!I envy you,thats how I was raised,if you went out on your porch and after listening real good and you than heard a cars motor way in the distance,just wait about 5 min and you'd see it coming up your road.No trouble with neighbors,you looked forward to seeing them[and even hearing them]

Ditto. That's how I grew up too. You had to see who it was driving up the road, and then discuss where they were going, or had been!

We had "old farmer Jones" who drove to town on his Farmall M. He was a gracious man living a lonely widower's life, who always took time to reveal life lessons to a spastic kid, as only a man of the earth could. I went to college, entered the hustle and bustle of megatropolis, and never took the opportunity to see him during his final years. I regretted my selfishness, and that money-chasing lifestyle. I am in my element again. I could only hope to become "old wannabefarmer Marc", with an opportunity to dispense if only a piece of his wisdom. He'd say that was "a might" better than thanking him.

Oh yeah....one of his best lines was when I was down at the bridge with my new fly rod. He was putting up through on the M. He stopped, leaned over and shouted, "Fly fishin' is for folks who already have somethin' to eat!" Gave a big grin and continued on his way.... It took a while for that one to sink in!!!

 

[DieselPower]

Funny, I have 3 rifles that shoot .50 BMG ammo. Hundreds of rounds of surplus ammo has caused exactly zero damage. I guess you've never had any of the level of armor plating I have. If it were getting hit with armor piercing rounds via a right angle at the same spot you'd get through. At a 45 degree angle, knocking the bullets down into the sand, the .50 BMG would likely take tens of thousands of rounds to hurt it. I know for a fact that hundreds of rounds have just scratched it. Here is a Barrett M107 the day I brought it home.

What kind of surplus ammo? I suspect it was either regular ball or only conventional AP ammo. Try throwing a couple of Raufoss Mk 211 mod 0 rounds at a 45 deg. armor plate. I think you will find quite a hole. You might be surprised how much armor plating you can penetrate with a couple explosive tungsten core round. My first attempt at making a trap to contain these rounds failed. I ended up having a friend at Aberdeen PG give me a hand designing it. He designed the entry plate to help deflect the explosive force into the water portion of the trap. It still takes a beating but is nothing like it was. I figure the entry plate will need replacing by the end of this year.


Podunkadunk - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Barrett 98Bravo is a beautiful gun. I was thinking of getting one of them next but opted instead for a 338 Lapua Mag Windrunner M98 made by EDM. I already own the 50 BMG Windrunner M96 by EDM. I guess I figured my 96 needed a friend.