Setting Up a Safe and Effective Home Target Practice Area?

[gerryaz]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to set up a safe and effective home target practice area and could use some advice. I primarily shoot a .22 rifle and an air pistol and have some space to work with, but I want to make sure everything is set up properly for safety and longevity.

For those who have done this before, what are the best materials for backstops to prevent ricochets or damage? Do any recommendations for targets that hold up well over time? Also, what steps do you take to ensure neighbors (and property) remain safe?

I’d love to hear about different setups—whether indoor, outdoor, garage, or backyard—and any lessons learned from experience.

If you have pictures of your setup, that would be even better!

 

[gerryaz]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to set up a safe and effective home target practice area and could use some advice. I primarily shoot a .22 rifle and an air pistol and have some space to work with, but I want to make sure everything is set up properly for safety and longevity.

For those who have done this before, what are the best materials for backstops to prevent ricochets or damage? Do any recommendations for targets that hold up well over time? Also, what steps do you take to ensure neighbors (and property) remain safe?

I’d love to hear about different setups—whether indoor or in home target practice, outdoor, garage, or backyard—and any lessons learned from experience.

If you have pictures of your setup, that would be even better!

thanks in advance for any help

 

[jimbires]

I used to shoot a few indoor pistol leagues through the winter . these clubs all had bullet traps . I helped to clean out my local club trap . all it was , is a heavy piece of steel , probably 1/4" , placed in at an angle . the top of the steel towards the shooters . I'm not sure of the angle , but I'm guessing 45* . we had a piece of heavy rubber belting hanging in front of the steel . we had clips on the belting to hold the targets . the belting also kept anything from trying to come back at the shooter . when the belting got a hole shot in it , say like 1" diameter , we would move the clip to change position of the target . I'll guess the steel plate was about 18" or 24" high . other clubs I shot at did not have anything hanging in front of the steel plate . I never noticed anything coming back at the shooters . the steel plate was probably 4 or 5 feet high .on the floor in front of the steel plate they had a sand bed a few inches thick . the steel plates would eventually get a hole shot through them . I'd bring the plate home and weld it closed , and grind it off smooth .I'm not sure if my local club had the wrong angle , or if it was due to the plate being short , why we had to have the rubber belting hanging in front . you can probably find instructions on how to build a trap online . maybe on the NRA website . a bullet trap also catches all the lead . the lead can be taken in for recycling . it also keeps the neighbors from worrying about lead contamination .

 

[JD338]

I have berms behind my 100 and 250 yard gongs. The the 200 yard gong is set at the base of a ridge so the hillside acts as the berm. I have access to sand and used my tractor to place the berms. I have added 3-4 additional buckets of sand on the 250 yard berm since this picture was taken and use the bucket to freshen it up as needed. There is also a half mile of swamp and woods behind my targets should a shot ever get past the berms.

JD338

 

[clearwater]

My Granddad has a range in the basement that ran under the sidewalk to the stand alone garage. It also served as an escape from the basement. He shot 22 and air.

He did not have ventilation, unknown issue at the time. Local pistol range under the town pool was shut down due to high lead.

Check with cowboy action shooters. They have specific requirements for ammo (metal, velocity etc) and target placement.

 

[diverdown]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to set up a safe and effective home target practice area and could use some advice. I primarily shoot a .22 rifle and an air pistol and have some space to work with, but I want to make sure everything is set up properly for safety and longevity.

For those who have done this before, what are the best materials for backstops to prevent ricochets or damage? Do any recommendations for targets that hold up well over time? Also, what steps do you take to ensure neighbors (and property) remain safe?

I’d love to hear about different setups—whether indoor, outdoor, garage, or backyard—and any lessons learned from experience.

If you have pictures of your setup, that would be even better!

If you are shooting indoors make sure you have proper forced ventilation. When I was a range officer on the PD we had a brand new range built with air filters and other equipment that supposedly eliminated the need for ventilation going to the outside. We religiously kept the floor clean and cleaned the filters but three months later ended up with lead poisoning. (which was not fun) Double check on your ventilation!!

 

[TexasLife]

pictures of your surrounding area where you propose to shoot will help on what's needed

 

[salmonchaser]

It’s been a long time since I had much to do with the NRA; however, they use to have quite a library of range plans available designed to meet a wide variety of locations.
The best back stop materiel we ever used, at the time, was shredded tires. Department had an indoor range with a steel bullet trap about 30 feet wide as I recall. The trap was rated for pistol and shotgun only. In 1990 we traded in the shotguns for AR-15s. Through the NRA we found an outfit that would convert our existing trap to hold shredded tires, about 2feet thick, for minimal cost. They then demonstrated for our command staff and city attorney, how effective the material was by firing a 50bmg into the materiel and recovering the bullet.
Over the next ten years we fired upwards of a million rounds, rifle and handgun into the backstop before we started experiencing some bullets bouncing back out. Took me two days to find a recycler who took one look at the project, spent two days separating the material and reinstalling the shredded tires. We added vertical rubber mats in front of the trap as well. The range trap is still in use as far as I know.
If there is a tire shredder in your area a pickup load of the stuff shoveled in front of a dirt bunker would work great and keeping rounds from hitting rocks and richoceting over to the neighbors.
If your soil is clean, no or very few rocks I would think you’re good with that for a bunker/backstop.
If it’s just you and your neighbors can’t see what you’re up to, you’re probably good with a clean dirt backstop and wooden target frames. Might be worth letting your immediate neighbors know and perhaps show them your shooting range.
Good luck.

 

[grry10]

I have a dirt berm behind my 50 yard target and beyond that is the neighbors woods. The berm is dirt, with no rock and is about 5&1/2' high. I have stakes also set at 25 and 15 yards for shooting my pistols and .22. Because the range is only 50 yards range I avoid any type of steel targets to avoid ricochets. I would not try to setup a indoor range without some type of sophisticated ventilation system, unless it is being used strictly for air rifles and air pistols.

 

[TackDriver284]

I have two berms at my ranch that i had set up, one berm is 8 feet high and 15 feet wide, and its used for shots out to 1400 yards across a crop field, but can use after crops are harvested in Fall season until mid Spring. The 2nd berm is smaller and accessible all year round and shots are out to 1000 yards. It's a 30 minute drive to my place, but I usually use a buddy's shooting range to test shots at shorter ranges out to 400 and its a 10 minute drive there. There are 4 berms there as well.