# Rifle Range : DIY



## Wintergrower_OH

I have access to farmland that more than 600 acres . Using a 22 250 rifle . Looking to do med to long range shooting . Suggestion on building a backstop for target shooting (their is a woods behind the project backstop) . Thought about also using it for ground level blind for deer season .


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## TnTnTn

I made mine out of rocks and dirt in layers about 6' square and 5' tall. Other options would be logs/dead wood stacked in a pyramid like structure so that the thickness is 6' or more where the bullets impact. Maybe if you make it stable enough you could sit on it for a ground blind in the Fall. TTT


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## megafatcat

Be extra safety aware. Kids love to wander in woods even when not allowed. The sound of gunfire may even bring them there.
Dirt works. Sink some posts in it for stability. Chicken wire will also help prevent slumping, then plant some thick grass or whatever on top.


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## ace admirer

hmmm by long range you mean 1000yards?

anyway, NRA has guidelines for ranges....but they call for a 40 foot high back berm. and fencing or berms down the left and right.

you will need a good berm,,, i've wondered about railroad ties built into cribbing filled with soil and some type of aggressive vegetation . the bullet drop zone is always troubling like other have pointed out....kids, horse riders, trespassers. you will be responsible for all those.

at the firingline, an over head blind can beused to remind shooters not to elevate muzzles.


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## Micheal

Had a friend that had a 6'x6' piece of 1/4" steel slanted at 45 degrees that directed bullets downward into a sandpit. It seemed to work quite well for what he shot.
Me I use a cleared sandy hillside for my backdrop.
I would say that whatever you use make sure that there is no chance of a ricochet....


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## alleyyooper

Many years ago I worked the second shift at a factory. On the way to work there was a state run shooting range where several of us got in the habit of shooting several times a week on the way to work.
This state range used old semi tires filled with sand as a back stop. It worked for every thing we shot from 300 win Mags to 69 Cal muzzle loaders. shortest yardage was 25 yards and the longest was 150.

When I was looking at building a range here at home I decided that the state had a good Idea and recycleing truck tires was the way to go. I used 16 inch pick up tires for my back stop. It has worked when sighting in scopes on a 54cal muzzle loader at 25 yards as well as a 300 win mag.
Lots of rounds from the 220 swift has been shot in to it also at yardages out to 168 (longest I can get.).
Nice thing about it is if a tire gets to shot up you just turn it or place it in a different area of the stack of 4 foot. 

some where I have a picture of my range but I can't seem to find it today.

 Al


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## Wintergrower_OH

http://www.snailtraps.com/ . They use rubber like you would use like mulch . Not sure why i would buy from savage . Just find rubber mulch and create a backstop .


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## TnTnTn

Ok I was sighting in my 6.5 AR this morning when it was still relatively cool and made a couple of pics of my backyard range backstop. It is 104 yards(the way it turned out) from my shooting bench. It is smaller than I thought I guess but it is made with layer of chert cobbles, dirt, layer of chert cobbles, dirt and so on. I have some old field fence in the front behind some t-posts and some plywood for stapling targets attached to the t-posts. Works for me. TTT
Front view









Side view


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## Chuck R.

How big of a backstop are you making?

I cut into a hill and graveled the base to make a 30M x 30M pistol range and rifle backstop. From my bench it's 200 meters and from where I shoot prone it's out to 350 meters. I then used a skid steer and scraped another smaller berm large enough for a couple swingers towards the top of my hill:

















Both of my current backstops are below the crest of my hill by about 30 feet of elevation. The plan for this fall is to use railroad ties and a load on fill to create another berm for a ram swinger which will be good to close to 600 yards or so. This will still be below the crest of my far hill for a margin of error and ricochets. The most I can probably get out of my 80 acres is about 800 if I shoot hill to hill lengthwise on the property.

If I were dealing with flat ground, Iâd go as big and as high as I could manage because itâs just a matter of time before someone puts a round over a smaller backstop. 

Chuck


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## Wintergrower_OH

Love the DIY Shooting bench . The target will be a Flash target . No hills , just woods behind . Found that if we use rubber mulch it must be 3 feet thick .


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## Wintergrower_OH

http://www.metaltargets.com/NewTargets.htm#SwingOutVitals is another one we are looking at , as the skill level goes up .


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## alleyyooper

For got to mention that with the sand in the tire back stop it is easy to reclaim the lead and copper jackets by sifting the sand thru a rocking sifter.

 Al


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## Wintergrower_OH

Any idea if farm tractor tires , have any metal or metal threads that i might have to worry
about ? i.e ricochet bullets .


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## Chuck R.

Iâve been buying AR500 targets and portable stands from Arntzen targets:

http://www.arntzentargets.com/

I also had some animal silhouettes and two sets of 15â Bowling pins made in AR500 from this company:

http://www.qualitytargets.com/servlet/the-Bowling-Pins/Categories

Both companies are great to deal with and the shipping was very reasonable. The guy at quality targets will work with you and can cut pretty much any design you want. He even made me some rabbit and squirrel silhouettes out of clutch plate for .22s. The AR500 is proofed for rifle and has held up very well. I also bought a knockdown target from Arntzen that I use to trigger an IDPA swinger that one of the guys in our club made for me. 

Whatever you do, try to get the AR500, and a target that can be reversed. The steel will bend over time and I flip-flop mine about every other year. This is one of those you get what you pay for type of deals. The harder plate holds up better and you wonât get dimpled targets. Once your targets get dimpled, youâll start getting splash back at handgun distances. For my long range steel I paint one side white and the other black, so they can be rotated depending on the light conditions. IF possible, a north facing range is ideal as the targets will stay lit up, and you wonât have the sun in your eyes regardless of time of day. But, terrain âis, what it isâ, and the best I could do is a west facing range. 

I also got one of those little garden sheds and put it on my pistol range to hold all the plate, stands, paint, pasters and targets. 

Just Google âShooting bench plansâ and you should find the design I used, the only change I made was using the synthetic decking boards rather than wood. 

Chuck


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