building a range... what is needed ???

Magnum Wheel Man · July 27, 2006, 08:14 AM

I have my own range, & have occasional rifle & pistol shooting contests at my range...

the range consists of...

the shooting shack ... the floor is aprox 6 ft off the ground, it has a 1/2 wall, & tin roof ( for shade ), protective screen between the shooting bench & the enclosed stairway... a rifle / shotgun rack, 2 large built in benches for sitting on, with storage under, a pair of light weight plastic chairs for the shooting bench.. eventually I'll screen in the top 1/2 of the 1/2 walls, to keep some of the mosquitoes out...

a pistol range consists of 6 - 55 gallon drums full of dirt, & lined in 2 rows of 3, with 3 more drums full of dirt set on top of the back bottom row of 3 barrels... treated 6 X 6's bolt the barrels together in a rigid & pretty much bullet proof assembly... 3 small angle iron target frames are bolted onto the top row of barrels, & an assortment of spinners are pressed into the dirt in the top of the front row of barrels, the pistol range is 60 ft from the bench inside the shooting shack, & 50ft from a small concrete patio in front of the shack, & sits along side the rifle range, so that both can be accessed from the bench in the shooting shack...

the rifle range consists of groups of 3 empty & easy to move out of the way 55 gallon drums lined up across the shooting lane at 75 yards, 100 yards, 200 yards, 250 yards, that I attach large preprinted targets to... & a large treated wood backstop 8' high X 20' wide that is 4' thick, & filled with dirt, old sheet rock, & several years of rusted out old farm burn barrels, sits at range end of 300 yards...

the range has litterally 100's of trees planted along both sides, & is about 12' wide out to the rifle back stop, is grass that I keep mowed... it's on a line fence, on the edge of a field on our farm, about 30- 40 yards off the driveway, & I keep a cleared path through the field to the range year round...

I'm really totally happy with the rifle range, except that I don't consider it safe ( or long enough ) for something huge like a 50 Browning, but I find that I normally shoot from 75 to 200 yards, & rarely shoot out to 300 yards with the rifles I currently have... but seems like I'm always fixing the spinners, on the pistol range, & even though I spray the grass & weeds around the barrels, it's higher maintenance than I had hoped...the pistol backstop does sit on a small concrete pad, but I hate to put too much there to help keep any ricochets down... I'm looking for something more out of the pistol range... you guy's got any suggestions, for something else to do there ??? I did buy a crap load of old bowling pins a few years back, & have done a shoot with them... & the spinners are nice, but seems the ones that work with the 22's, always catch incedental big bore fire, & break, & the ones big enough for a 44 mag, don't offer much action to a 22...

... I've also been thinking about doing up some metalic targets & might have someone that could cut them out for me, if I had a better idea of sizes & metal thicknesses needed, & bases ???

all in all I'm looking for as versitile & action packed range as possible, with as little maintenance & repair needed as possible... your comments & suggestions would be welcome...

WESHOOT2 · July 30, 2006, 07:56 AM

You need liability insurance.
Really.

ClarkEMyers · August 21, 2006, 04:17 PM

Talk to the National Rifle Association first then follow up on their leads. I don't know that anybody formally replaced Dave Parsons and that was long ago so it may be any replacement was replaced. At times the NRA has had quite extensive range building information readily available.

July 27, 2006, 08:14 AM	#1
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	building a range... what is needed ??? I have my own range, & have occasional rifle & pistol shooting contests at my range... the range consists of... the shooting shack ... the floor is aprox 6 ft off the ground, it has a 1/2 wall, & tin roof ( for shade ), protective screen between the shooting bench & the enclosed stairway... a rifle / shotgun rack, 2 large built in benches for sitting on, with storage under, a pair of light weight plastic chairs for the shooting bench.. eventually I'll screen in the top 1/2 of the 1/2 walls, to keep some of the mosquitoes out... a pistol range consists of 6 - 55 gallon drums full of dirt, & lined in 2 rows of 3, with 3 more drums full of dirt set on top of the back bottom row of 3 barrels... treated 6 X 6's bolt the barrels together in a rigid & pretty much bullet proof assembly... 3 small angle iron target frames are bolted onto the top row of barrels, & an assortment of spinners are pressed into the dirt in the top of the front row of barrels, the pistol range is 60 ft from the bench inside the shooting shack, & 50ft from a small concrete patio in front of the shack, & sits along side the rifle range, so that both can be accessed from the bench in the shooting shack... the rifle range consists of groups of 3 empty & easy to move out of the way 55 gallon drums lined up across the shooting lane at 75 yards, 100 yards, 200 yards, 250 yards, that I attach large preprinted targets to... & a large treated wood backstop 8' high X 20' wide that is 4' thick, & filled with dirt, old sheet rock, & several years of rusted out old farm burn barrels, sits at range end of 300 yards... the range has litterally 100's of trees planted along both sides, & is about 12' wide out to the rifle back stop, is grass that I keep mowed... it's on a line fence, on the edge of a field on our farm, about 30- 40 yards off the driveway, & I keep a cleared path through the field to the range year round... I'm really totally happy with the rifle range, except that I don't consider it safe ( or long enough ) for something huge like a 50 Browning, but I find that I normally shoot from 75 to 200 yards, & rarely shoot out to 300 yards with the rifles I currently have... but seems like I'm always fixing the spinners, on the pistol range, & even though I spray the grass & weeds around the barrels, it's higher maintenance than I had hoped...the pistol backstop does sit on a small concrete pad, but I hate to put too much there to help keep any ricochets down... I'm looking for something more out of the pistol range... you guy's got any suggestions, for something else to do there ??? I did buy a crap load of old bowling pins a few years back, & have done a shoot with them... & the spinners are nice, but seems the ones that work with the 22's, always catch incedental big bore fire, & break, & the ones big enough for a 44 mag, don't offer much action to a 22... ... I've also been thinking about doing up some metalic targets & might have someone that could cut them out for me, if I had a better idea of sizes & metal thicknesses needed, & bases ??? all in all I'm looking for as versitile & action packed range as possible, with as little maintenance & repair needed as possible... your comments & suggestions would be welcome... __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust... Last edited by Magnum Wheel Man; July 27, 2006 at 09:48 AM.

July 30, 2006, 07:56 AM	#2
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	'need' vs 'better safe than sorry' You need liability insurance. Really. __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"

August 21, 2006, 04:17 PM	#3
ClarkEMyers Senior Member Join Date: November 13, 2004 Location: PacWest Posts: 455	Talk to the National Rifle Association first then Talk to the National Rifle Association first then follow up on their leads. I don't know that anybody formally replaced Dave Parsons and that was long ago so it may be any replacement was replaced. At times the NRA has had quite extensive range building information readily available.