Suggestions for a home range targets

[Magnum Wheel Man]

what type of stages / targets, etc. do you like to shoot ???

I have my own 300 yard rifle & pistol range... I'm trying to build the nicest range around...

I've posted a few pics, I use 55 gallon drums for target backers at 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 250 yards, with my back stop at 300 yards, have a pistol back stop at 60 ft from the bench... 50 ft from a small patio, the handgun back stop has a couple of target frames, 22 rimfire spinners, & magnum handgun spinners for the pistol range...

I think I'm going to do some metalic targets up, maybe a gong or two at different distances for the rifle range & we often shoot water jugs / bottles, if we have new or young shooters around... I also have 30-40 old bowling pins that I use occasionaly...

what do you guys like to shoot, & or how do you think I could improve my range ???

from the bench looking down range... I'm planting & trimming the trees to keep a nice mowed tree lined 300 yard 2 place rifle range



Shooting shack... the bench is elevated to about 9' to allow full range of shooting through the slight valley that my targets get placed ( note the rifle on the bench, visible at the front ) BTW... I had to add the screen door, to keep the racoons & opossums from going up & craping on my seats & floor in the shooting shack, over night...



the "lil mule" range tool... hauls shooters & gear to the range ( about 75 yards from my driveway ), & speeds the target replacement on the long range targets...

[Magnum Wheel Man]

Rifle rack, & sitting benches on 2 walls, with storage under the benches for rifle & ammo cases...



come on up & shoot a bit... I had to enclose the steps, & trim back the trees a bit before the screen door could effectively keep the night varmints out... I don't know if they were crapping up there to mark thier turf, or what... but thats my turf, & the screen door with 1/4" mesh, seems to have done the trick... no more poop piles & urine smell in the shack, since installing the door

[chris in va]

Wow, that's the nicest 'home grown' range I've ever seen! Looks like fun.

I just have one question. In the first picture, what lies beyond those trees in the distance? In other words does your property go for at least 3 miles?

[Magnum Wheel Man]

its tough to see "all the way down there" but there is a 24ft wide 4ft thick & about 8ft high ( right now ) back stop that is double layered 2 layers thick & ( staggered so the seams don't line up ) on each side with green treated 2 x 8s, using old telephone poles as the uprights in the corners & center of the long sides & filled with dirt & "junk"... there is also no building sites lined up with the range for at least 4-5 miles... also a drainage ditch about a 1/4 mile behind the back stop, & the range is built into a small hill... with the trees planted along side to deflect any stray bullets, it's about as safe as I can get for an agriculteral area like we live in...

... I'm still building on the back stop, it's going to be at least 10ft tall when completed... I revised my thinking on back stops, when I used to shoot only 200 yards, & used a large chest freezer stuffed solid with sheet rock as a back stop, & I found my 338 Win Mag with Trophy Bonded Bear Claws was blowing through the freezer at 200 yards, if I attached tagets to it... now that freezer is inside the existing back stop...

bad pic... but this is the back stop enlarged from the 1st pic

[Antipasta]

That is a very nice setup and you've obviously put a lot of thought and work into it. That's right up there with another home range I saw awhile back in a reloading thread. He was able to shoot out the side of his reloading room and he even had a jeep that he'd use to go out and change targets.

Again, very nice. Enjoy.

[4V50 Gary]

Are those drums dirt filled (for safety)? I love that range shack and as a kid, I would have called it a fort.

If I tried that at my home, I'd have an univited SWAT team assaulting my house.

[rampage841512]

I like these targets. The stands I made out of scrap wood I had lying around. It took about ten minutes with hand tools. The actual targets are just big pieces of cardboard I cut into silhouettes and then stuck some sticky targets on top off. Cheap, quick, and expendable.

[djonathang]

Magnum Wheel Man,

The adoption papers should arrive at your home in a couple days. I'm looking forward to spending summers at home!

Very nice.

Cheers,

DG

[Magnum Wheel Man]

Thanks guys...

GARY... actually they all have have the tops cut off, & at least a 5 gal bucket of dirt in them, so they aren't too heavy to roll around, for mowing & trimming, as well as allowing me to position them to control at what distances I want to shoot at... while the added weight keeps them from blowing away on windy days

THANG... you'll need to let me know your style of shooting & favorite targets so you be able to be happy for a long time then...

RAMPAGE... we shoot a similar target, but the "blue men" ( yes if we put three or four of those targets out... we shoot at the "blue men" group )are painted on to 3.5' X 4' cardboard, so we have a little extra around the profile to see any strays or misses... they work on either the handgun target frames, or can get taped to a barrel for the rifle range....

we also have several paper pic targets of prairie dogs, crows, etc, that can be taped to the barrels, or fitted to the hand gun target frame...

I used to hold an annual shoot for several years... as the result of not mowing the range for a couple months, & going out to find that the rag weed had grown to 5-6' tall, & I couldn't shoot untill I cleared it... by holding the annual shoot, it forced me to keep the range mowed & trimmed, through the years that I was too busy to shoot every week... I've actually been too busy to hold the shoot the last few years, but "force myself" to shoot at least every 2 weeks, & keep the range maintained... there is a small "clear" grassy area behind the shootin shack, big enough for a 10' x 20' tent for shelter, as well as an area with 6-8 shade trees beside the tent area behind the shack, to allow those not shooting immeadiately to have a shady area to set up a few chairs & sit around, untill thier turn to shoot...

when I was holding annual shoots, I had a 1000 bright yellow 10" ringed targets printed on 18" X 24" poster board with a few lines for shooter & stage info... I usually stuck a bright orange 1" circle in the center... I still have lots of those left, so those are the "normal" targets I shoot for recording load & gun data on...