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Post by magnumwheelman on Oct 9, 2017 10:56:36 GMT -5
I own my own private rifle & pistol range, & with my rifle backstop at 300 yards, it's lasting a long time, as I use steel barrels I get from work as target backers at every 50 yards, out to my backstop...& while my pistol backstop has proven pretty durable... it is due for replacement soon... my pistol back stop is 12 - 55 gallon drums filled with dirt, 3 on a cement pad, with 3 more on top, & 6 more stacked the same in front. the top barrels were lag bolted to a pair of treated 6 X 6's that fit into the spaces between the barrels, before the top ones were filled with dirt... this seems to work pretty good, at reducing ricochets, & used to work well at preventing any penetration... but after 10's of 1000's of rounds being fired over the years, the dirt has been slowly leaking out of the barrels, & I'm now getting an occasional pass thru... which isn't a huge issue, as the pistol backstop is in front of a row of trees that line my rifle range... I just don't like damaging the trees...
curious if any of you have suggestions for anything more durable, yet safe as far as ricochets... I thought of bolting stacks of tires filled with gravel or dirt, but think the bullets will bounce off too easily... wood gets destroyed too fast if my targets have any kind of regular placement... I may just end up doing the same, as these barrels have been in place for well over 10 years... but I thought I'd see if any of you guys had a better idea...
Thanks
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jsh
.327 Meteor
Posts: 884
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Post by jsh on Oct 9, 2017 16:54:08 GMT -5
Stacks of tires filled with dirt. I know of such a set up that has survived around 30 years of shooting. Some tires and dirt have been added. These were the old nylon belted tires. Some places may frown on such use of tires today.
It has seen a lot of 50 BMG use the whole time as well as everything else imaginable.
Jeff
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Post by magnumwheelman on Oct 9, 2017 17:08:22 GMT -5
My only concern there ( I already have a good tire pile ) would be ricochet from cowboy 45 Colt loads, 45 acp, and the like, shot from close range... the barrels rarely bounce anything off
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Post by bullseye on Oct 9, 2017 17:29:09 GMT -5
I say invest in a good centrifugal bullet trap with a removable catch for lead bullet loads, I've had one in my backyard range for 25 years & have used the same alloy's over & over for the same amount of time...Save's a LOT of $$$ on lead! For jacketed rifle & handgun loads I used old railroad ties stacked double & 5 high with a couple tons of dirt behind them. When the front ties get shot up & worn out, just replace them with newer ones.
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Post by dougader on Oct 9, 2017 17:47:24 GMT -5
My only concern there ( I already have a good tire pile ) would be ricochet from cowboy 45 Colt loads, 45 acp, and the like, shot from close range... the barrels rarely bounce anything off It happened to my girlfriend once when we were shooting some real light 38 Spl full lead wadcutters. She fired a bullseye through the paper, the wc went on to hit a tire at the back of the pit and bounced back, and gave her a fat lip. I don't know why someone put those old tires in there.... |
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cmh
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 3,745
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Post by cmh on Oct 9, 2017 20:34:48 GMT -5
North Korea 🤔😁
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Post by magnumwheelman on Oct 9, 2017 20:59:38 GMT -5
LOL on Korea  |
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Post by bigbrowndog on Oct 9, 2017 21:48:03 GMT -5
I believe the USAF recommends 4 foot of dirt over tires to prevent bullets bouncing back. I could be wrong it's been a few years since I had my head in a range building book from tech school.
Another really good back stop is one of those sheets of steel the DOT uses to cover trenches or holes in the roads. Hung at 45degrees it will deflect everything that hits it down and then you could easily gather up your used lead to recycle it. Sometimes those steel sheets can be found fairly inexpensive.
Trapr
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jsh
.327 Meteor
Posts: 884
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Post by jsh on Oct 10, 2017 6:09:58 GMT -5
Yes you have dirt over the tires. That was just to keep the burm from getting bad holes from repeated use in the same spot. Take it from me, the holes are a pita to try and repair. Guys shooting 50 BMG at 100, stupidest thing one could ever think of. Almost ruined a berm at my club before I convinced the BOD how bad it was. Shotguns at close range mess them up pretty bad with repeated use.
Jeff
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callshot
.327 Meteor
Living another day in the worlds largest playground
Posts: 780
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Post by callshot on Oct 10, 2017 9:46:54 GMT -5
I had a piece of steel to put at 45 degrees but hadn't got it done. Someone donated it to the shooting club for me which hung for about a year then got stolen. Now I use a wet Kleenex. I don't have a place to put up a perminate one now anyway.
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