Anybody built a shooting range?

MIKE7639 · Apr 20, 2013

These photos are about midway through my build. I built a railroad tie corral and put in several blue plastic 55-gallon drums and filled them with topsoil. I figured having the dirt in drums would prevent it from migrating. What is not shown is that I then filled the entire thing with topsoil (5 pallets) and built a roof of treated 2x6s and built a front out of treated 3/4" plywood that I can affix targets to. It has held up well. Our soil is rocky and I wanted to avoid ricochets so I used topsoil as the fill material. Yes it was expensive at 90 cents per bag but I have peace of mind that my grandchildren have a safe place to shoot.

Ken45101 · Apr 20, 2013

A rifle round will penetrate regular (mild) steel. Even the AR500 armor plate is at risk for any bullets over 3000 fps. That means a minimum of 100 yards for .223.

I got some steel targets last winter and had fun with them but at 100 yards it's not always easy to hear whether you hit it or not.

If the target starts to get pock marked from bullet impact, you need to either replace the target or keep further back, even for handgun shooting.

With ammo prices as they have been, I've mostly been just shooting .22s.

MIKE7639 · Apr 20, 2013

Ken brings up a good point. After being instructed not to shoot our steel targets with his AR-15 a guest shot the tar out of all of our steel targets with 5.56 green tip penetrator rounds. It made Swiss cheese out of them. He said he just had to do it because he'd never shot steel targets before and he thought it would be so cool. I'm a bit of a pacifist but this jerk really deserved a fat lip. He won't be invited back.

Jeff F. · Apr 21, 2013

Most of the steel targets that are made of AR500 steel can also be purchased in AR550 steel. All of the instructor classes that I attended recommended 100 yards when shooting with a rifle unless using frangible ammo. I believe this is to protect the shooter and to make the steel last longer. This thread is motivating me to work on my own range. Thanks for the ideas.

grsthegreat · May 6, 2013

Ive not been working on the range for a while due to the rodent putting a hole in my fuel tank.

Now that thats repaired, i went out and cut down the 2 trees that had to go, pulled the roots and started to level the area out and geet ready for the RR ties.

It will probably be 2 weeks before i get to the ties, as the guy supplying them wont be back in town till then. Im getting a great price on them. He has 1,000;s for sale. Apparently he just dismantled a large RR line for BN. I dont need pretty ones, jut need to be 8' long

grsthegreat · May 6, 2013

I have also started to build up the rifle range area. It had an original 6' cut into natural soil.......the thickness goes on forever. I have started to add soil to the top. I have added aprox 3' high so far, and that is over 4' deep. Ive been driving on it as i add the lifts, so is very compact. Im going to add about 1 more foot to height, and possible some to the width. However i really dont see any danger as to the width. Im just a little paranoid.

The people using this site are all very knowledgeable about firearm safety, so i really dont see anyone missing by that much. The general area that we will be targeting is so thick nothing will ever get thru it. I will be adding a good deep layer of sand to both ranges after all is said and done to help prevent the possibility of ricochet off of some rock that may become dislodged in the future. Ive been diligently pulling all rocks near surface....but ya never know.

grsthegreat · May 21, 2013

OK, after much searching i was finally able to locate 60 RR ties that wern't completely destroyed. The guy selling them even had them banded and a forklift to load them. Most of the people i called wanted me to load them off of a pile.

MAN...those suckers are heavy. most are OAK. a few i had to move must have topped out around 200#.

A stack of 15 was just about the upper limit of my tractor.... had to add the chipper to get them off of the trailer.

Was able to get some help from my wife.....but will have to avail some help from my neighbor to actually set them up.

Im planning on a large C shape and will cross stack ends and drive 1/2" rebar at critical points to lock them together. some fun ah?

MIKE7639 · May 22, 2013

I also used rebar to anchor the ties together. While I was at it I laid these rigid perforated steel straps across the corners between every second or third course of the railroad ties. Everything is holding up well. I bought the straps at Tractor Supply Company. Good luck.