Back stop for rifle target shooting.

[czac]

So Im making a small range in my yard, mostly for .22LR but on occasion a .32 and a .380
I have two trees about 8 feet apart and was stacking logs and branches up between them long ways, like as if I was making a fence or wall...lol they are all between maybe 1-1/2" -6" round and its now about 4 feet tall. and maybe 12" thick. Now at work we have wooden skids and so I am thinking if I take like two and put them back to back, then put steel mesh on the outsides or even just some scrap plywood, the fill them with sand and put them behind the logs, it should make a good backstop no? there would be 12" of wood, then the round would have to go through a sheet of say, 3/4 ply, then through 4-6 inches of dirt and out through another 3/4" ply wood sheet. I know it will stop a .22 and the .380 and im like 99.999% sure it should stop a .380 What im not sure is, will it stop a 7.62x54 R from a Mosin? (it would be shot very rarely due to it being really loud and a couple of the neighbors "may" take exception to the noise.

all in all id like the back stop to be like 8 or 9 feet wide by like 7 or 8 feet tall and I have a lot of skids here at work so its not a problem getting them.

[ezmoney1979]

How close are your neighbors? You should probably go far out into the woods if you want to shoot guns. No need to piss off the neighbors.

[redsox]

i dont think you'll have an issue with round stoppage if you hit the berm. what's behind your berm? take angles into consideration. are you low in comparison? high? consider where a round would go if it didnt hit the berm. if the answer is the neighbors kitchen, i'd reconsider.

[ironchop]

a mosin?.....NO. You are going to need more backstop for a Mosin.... 3ft min.

[czac]

How close are your neighbors? You should probably go far out into the woods if you want to shoot guns. No need to piss off the neighbors.

lol ill be shooting into the 35 acres of woods that border my property. I have one neighbor across the street from my house who used to be our towns first selectwoman and although we are very friendly, I can see her as the type to get PO'd really fast and complain, but on the other hand, she does own a little .22 pistol and may want to come over and shoot it... lol then there's the older hippie couple on the other side who probably wont care too much as long as its not a constant thing every day shooting. the other two house are gun people who are shooting and hunting a lot in the woods and stuff. they wont care.

[czac]

i dont think you'll have an issue with round stoppage if you hit the berm. what's behind your berm? take angles into consideration. are you low in comparison? high? consider where a round would go if it didnt hit the berm. if the answer is the neighbors kitchen, i'd reconsider.

behind the berm is woods but a mosin round may get lucky and make it to the part of the road that's maybe 400-500 feet past it...that's if it doesn't hit a tree first. im up a little higher than the ground behind the berm, on a hill.

[czac]

a mosin?.....NO. You are going to need more backstop for a Mosin.... 3ft min.

lol.. I was thinking that. maybe I should get those soft rounds that turn to powder on impact... lol or that reducer I see on ebay that lets you shoot .32 rounds in the mosin. lol like that's accurate! lol

[Chopsaw]

lol.. I was thinking that. maybe I should get those soft rounds that turn to powder on impact... lol or that reducer I see on ebay that lets you shoot .32 rounds in the mosin. lol like that's accurate! lol

I count 4 LOL ? Hmm . Glad I don't live close to you . Pull the trigger you should know where its going .

If you are serious about this , they sell lead lined traps for .22LR .
I know of gun shops that do repairs use a stack of phone books that will stop 30.06 , but that's indoor and wont work for you outside .
I had one made of concrete block filled with sand . .45 ACP destroyed it .
You need to stop the path , not redirect it . Wood and sand wont do it .
Solid dirt burm , height and width per yards of shooting lane .

[czac]

I count 4 LOL ? Hmm . Glad I don't live close to you . Pull the trigger you should know where its going .

If you are serious about this , they sell lead lined traps for .22LR .
I know of gun shops that do repairs use a stack of phone books that will stop 30.06 , but that's indoor and wont work for you outside .
I had one made of concrete block filled with sand . .45 ACP destroyed it .
You need to stop the path , not redirect it . Wood and sand wont do it .
Solid dirt burm , height and width per yards of shooting lane .

Oh I know where its going... just not too sure its going to stop once it gets there.
you think wood logs and skids packed with dirt wont stop a .22? 0r .380? I also have the option of making a sort of, plywood box what ever size I need it to be and fill that with the sand / gravel mix.
Like I said, I don't need to shoot the Mosin at the house, my main thing is basically the .22, .380 and the .38

I was thinking of the phone books too... since the phone company here seems to like throwing them all over the place. I saw a post somewhere once where a guy saw some company throwing away all these corrugated cardboard sheets so he took a bunch and laid them on top of one another then sorta, squished or clamped them down between two pieces of 2x8 (I think it was.. or 2 x 6 or so) anyhow, he compressed them as much as possible and used it as an archery target. Doing this with the phone books would work, even for outside because when clamped down the water wont be able to get in to the books as easily, apply a bit of water seal for decks and such and it'll be even better, then there's always the fact that it can be covered with a tarp when not in use.

Hmmmm.... Maybe I should start saving those phone books now.

[czac]

How bout targets with pic`s of dudes with CREEPY HIPSTER BEARDS that look like Yady-Cum-Lady !

lol... nice.

[Caminofeld]

I've never made a backstop before, but I wouldn't feel comfortable shooting into anything outdoors that's not a hill with significant overage and lateral spread (also free of rocks that could ricochet). Remember, you are representing the firearms community as a whole and a mishap will have repercussions that affect more than just you. Every time an accident or incident occurs with a gun, the antigunners have another excuse to chip away at our second amendment rights.

Aside from shooting responsibly, remember that your neighbors may not like the noise and can file a nuisance complaint...or work to ban shooting in your area altogether. I just went through this with the farmer next door. My range is perfectly legal due to a large natural backstop and being greater than 150 yards from any occupied dwelling. However, he didn't appreciate the "rapid fire" 3-4 times a week for hours on end...and understandably so (we run tactical shooting drills on a regular basis). In talking to him I realized how inconsiderate it was of me to do that and also how some of the surrounding towns had passed "no shooting" laws due to similar disputes making their way to town hall meetings. In short, he turned out to be a nice guy and we worked out an arrangement where I can shoot Sunday afternoons for less than an hour and once or twice a month with advance notice can have my friends out and drill for 3 hours or less. You should definitely find out the local laws and then discuss shooting with your neighbors first. We all need to work really hard to reverse the negative image of gun owners.

[Chopsaw]

Oh I know where its going... just not too sure its going to stop once it gets there.

Then I would say you don't know where its going .

Caminofeld , well stated .

[Scootertrash]

I agree with chopsaw: Your use of lol's sounds juvenile and immature. You're asking about a very serious subject that has the potential of damaging property and/or injuring or killing innocent bystanders if you don't construct a proper backstop for your bullets.

Do you know that a .22 LR fired at a 30-degree angle from a rifle will travel approx. a mile or so?

First and foremost, check your local laws and ordinances and see if they have anything that prohibits or restricts shooting in your area. As long as you're not breaking any laws the neighbors can't do anything about you shooting, as long as you are being safe about it. That said, be courteous: Don't start shooting at 5 in the morning or at midnite.

ill be shooting into the 35 acres of woods that border my property

If it's not your property, you shouldn't be lobbing bullets onto it unless you have permission. Even if you have permission, how will you be sure that no one is wandering around the property in the area you will be shooting? "Nobody ever goes back there" and "I'm pretty sure no one is back there" are not the proper answers. It also doesn't matter whether or not they are trespassing or have permission.

If that 35 acres is state land, that will raise other concerns and will be governed by any state laws.

I have two trees about 8 feet apart and was stacking logs and branches up between them long ways, like as if I was making a fence or wall...lol they are all between maybe 1-1/2" -6" round and its now about 4 feet tall. and maybe 12" thick. Now at work we have wooden skids and so I am thinking if I take like two and put them back to back, then put steel mesh on the outsides or even just some scrap plywood, the fill them with sand and put them behind the logs, it should make a good backstop no? there would be 12" of wood, then the round would have to go through a sheet of say, 3/4 ply, then through 4-6 inches of dirt and out through another 3/4" ply wood sheet.

Very bad design. Using logs and sticks as your primary bullet stop is a bad idea. Logs and sticks are round(ish) and can deflect rounds and cause ricochets. You should reverse the installation of your sand and logs. Your log retaining walls should look like this (sort of): /-\ make a modified "V" and square off the point. Fill, and I mean FILL, the inside of the V with sand. I would say you should have 3-4 feet of sand (front to back) where you will be locating your targets, as well as 3-4 feet high.

You should also have a 3/4 plywood top over the V. Eventually the areas that you locate your targets in front of will become loaded up with spent bullets which can also cause ricochets, including up and over your bullet stop.

fill that with the sand / gravel mix

No gravel. Bullets ricochet off of rocks, even small rocks. Sand only.

There is a reason the military and outdoor shooting ranges have used sand as a bullet stop forever. Because it works.

a mosin?.....NO. You are going to need more backstop for a Mosin.... 3ft min.

Nah. Less than 6 inches of sand stopped a 7.62X51 (.308). Mosin shoots a 7.62X54 not much more that a .308. I do however agree with your 3 ft minimum, just for safety's sake in general.

Here's a little look at why sand is used for backstops:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

[ironchop]

I've never made a backstop before, but I wouldn't feel comfortable shooting into anything outdoors that's not a hill with significant overage and lateral spread (also free of rocks that could ricochet). Remember, you are representing the firearms community as a whole and a mishap will have repercussions that affect more than just you. Every time an accident or incident occurs with a gun, the antigunners have another excuse to chip away at our second amendment rights.

Aside from shooting responsibly, remember that your neighbors may not like the noise and can file a nuisance complaint...or work to ban shooting in your area altogether. I just went through this with the farmer next door. My range is perfectly legal due to a large natural backstop and being greater than 150 yards from any occupied dwelling. However, he didn't appreciate the "rapid fire" 3-4 times a week for hours on end...and understandably so (we run tactical shooting drills on a regular basis). In talking to him I realized how inconsiderate it was of me to do that and also how some of the surrounding towns had passed "no shooting" laws due to similar disputes making their way to town hall meetings. In short, he turned out to be a nice guy and we worked out an arrangement where I can shoot Sunday afternoons for less than an hour and once or twice a month with advance notice can have my friends out and drill for 3 hours or less. You should definitely find out the local laws and then discuss shooting with your neighbors first. We all need to work really hard to reverse the negative image of gun owners.

that's the most intelligent and responsible thing I have heard from a fellow gun owner in a long time. Too often these days, we all get caught up in the relentless attack upon us by those who are only interested in their own rights and comfort at the expense of ours and then out of resent, we just throw our hands up and say them and go on being loud and irritating with no regard for consideration.

I was able to quiet many of my neighbors after my constant gun shooting and loud as hell four stroke riding out back was irritating them to no end. It was sometimes all day long. Once I had a few complaints in person and we worked it out in person, they quit calling the cops and my landlord and are friendly now. All I had to do was not be loud ALL the time but rather only part time and ASSURE them that I was exercising firearm safety and INVITE them to try out my rifles. Some did, some declined, but everybody went away from it feeling respected and content

Thanks for that post.

[czac]

I've never made a backstop before, but I wouldn't feel comfortable shooting into anything outdoors that's not a hill with significant overage and lateral spread (also free of rocks that could ricochet). Remember, you are representing the firearms community as a whole and a mishap will have repercussions that affect more than just you. Every time an accident or incident occurs with a gun, the antigunners have another excuse to chip away at our second amendment rights.

Aside from shooting responsibly, remember that your neighbors may not like the noise and can file a nuisance complaint...or work to ban shooting in your area altogether. I just went through this with the farmer next door. My range is perfectly legal due to a large natural backstop and being greater than 150 yards from any occupied dwelling. However, he didn't appreciate the "rapid fire" 3-4 times a week for hours on end...and understandably so (we run tactical shooting drills on a regular basis). In talking to him I realized how inconsiderate it was of me to do that and also how some of the surrounding towns had passed "no shooting" laws due to similar disputes making their way to town hall meetings. In short, he turned out to be a nice guy and we worked out an arrangement where I can shoot Sunday afternoons for less than an hour and once or twice a month with advance notice can have my friends out and drill for 3 hours or less. You should definitely find out the local laws and then discuss shooting with your neighbors first. We all need to work really hard to reverse the negative image of gun owners.

my neighbors should be ok with the noise as I wont be shooting more than a couple times a week or if im sighting in a scope or something. and two of them shoot on their land all the time and the third has a gun so Id invite her to come shoot any time she wants to, not that I think she would but you never know, plus she's in Florida all winter long so in the colder months id be fine there. As for noise ordinances, there's none except between the hours of like 9 pm and 6 am or something like that, I forget but I looked it up last summer. Also the only shooting laws is no shooting on public land and no shooting within 500' of any buildings, but that's for hunting and not target shooting... and there's no laws or codes for shooting ranges as in sizes and types. the cops will come over if they get a complaint but as long as you have a back stop you're good. unless your shooting into the forest with no one around... I think it would be hard to pass a shooting ban in my town as everyone it seems is out side shooting on weekends...lol between hunting and targets, it sometimes sounds like a war zone... lol The only real complaints are from people who move in from the cities and from the more densely populated towns thinking they are going to move to the country and have peace and quiet...lol but these people also complain about the smells of manure from the farms, about animal neglect because the farmers chickens are roaming, or the cows were standing out in the rain, or about tractors or other farm equipment driving on the roads... I think its a kinda shock to someone not used to this stuff. And the town isn't even that rural... its being built up rather quickly. When some old land owner dies he gives the land to his kids who promptly sell it to some developer who makes a bunch of McMansions and gives it some silly name like Forest Glen or Peaceful River View Bluff or some BS like that. lol