Big price increase for local range

[fortyshooter]

All good points BOM. The range I belong to allows reloads and big bore guns but the rest of your points do apply. This range is set up for paper punching only. That’s fine for sighting in and doing group/load development. For safety I would do better to go to the public land with others but I would avoid it on a weekend (crazy busy) so that leaves out many others to join me.

I have property up north near the border that would be perfect to set up a range on and I have considered that often. Trouble is that it’s a 90 minute drive away. Can’t shoot here at home due to to community rules but I have shot rimfire here from time to time.

Maybe get a built shed setup up there and go for weekend shoots?? I need to insulate mine and do some camp outs at my place.

[Hatchdog]

All good points BOM. The range I belong to allows reloads and big bore guns but the rest of your points do apply. This range is set up for paper punching only. That’s fine for sighting in and doing group/load development. For safety I would do better to go to the public land with others but I would avoid it on a weekend (crazy busy) so that leaves out many others to join me.

I have property up north near the border that would be perfect to set up a range on and I have considered that often. Trouble is that it’s a 90 minute drive away. Can’t shoot here at home due to to community rules but I have shot rimfire here from time to time.

Maybe get a built shed setup up there and go for weekend shoots?? I need to insulate mine and do some camp outs at my place.

Fortunately there is this building on the property. My wife’s uncle used to live here in a shack that was so awful that we had it demolished. This building is still in pretty good shape. In the foreground is the rv pad my wife and I put in. We have power and phone but no water. I’m thinking strongly about putting a range in up there and I like your idea about setting up “shooting” camp. Just to the right of my tractor is a dirt berm her uncle dug out when he needed dirt which would make a backstop with improvements. Trouble is the property line is right behind the berm and I don’t like the idea of shooting towards the neighbor’s property. I understand that this spot is not accessible by vehicle due to not being able to cross the creek but still it’s not a good idea. The property takes a pretty steep uphill climb and then level’s out somewhat. That’s probably where I would put the range. We’re heading up there today to take an overall look and I’ll give a look at a range site.

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[Wabash kid]

Even though I built a shootin range on my property, I still keep up my membership at my club. If I were you, I would think long and hard before you let your membership laps. You can still go to the quarry and practice off hand shootin. And I also agree, learning to shoot offhand is the best annd only way to defend yourself, there’s no benches in a defensive situation. But still having a bench to sight in your guns and play the 1/4 inch game are good things too, keep your membership up, and have the best of both worlds!
Paul

[BrokenolMarine]

I don't know if you remember my range project when I started. But I used 48 railroad ties to build the u shaped berm backing. As you'll see, there are gaps between the ties because they are used, and unless you buy HIGH dollar new ties you'll get the gaps. I didn't want the stray shot to slip thru and nail a duck, goose, cow, or donkey... or somehow fly over the woods due to a richocheet and land somewhere it shouldn't.

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It was always my intention for that berm wall to enclose and contain a dirt berm. I filled the inside of the U with dirt from the various spots around the farm and a 13 ton load from a construction site they were looking to dump. (Always available at a low cost.) I'll keep adding as I can. Here you can see I came back in after it settled and added ten more buckets from the pile at the end of the dam by the pond. (You can tell by the difference in color.) I'll keep adding until the entire loop is filled in. Maintenance.

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For a bench? Folding table and a small step ladder....

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Works pretty good, since the groups are tight. My point of aim here was the intersection of the lines between the four orange blocks. Scope sighting target.

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I keep all this stuff in my range house on the range. A risk, but a slight one. All covered by the cameras and there are signs warning of video surveillance. The building is well back off the road, behind the cattle barn.

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[Hatchdog]

Made a trip up north today so I replicated the picture above. Last year I pulled all the thistle and sprayed Ground Clear on the pad. Earlier this spring it looked great but today, not so much. What a mess. We will want to get up here in September to do some grouse hunting so I’ll get up and clean it up before then. I want to mow the field and I am surprised how green it is this late in this hot dry summer. This area however has a micro climate and gets much more rain than where I live 60 miles south. Plus I believe it is sub-irrigated, at least on the other side of the creek there’s a spring that is wet most of the year.

I don’t want to mow until the field gets a bunch of rain, both because of my mower blade hitting a rock and sparking a fire and just the misery of sitting in a hot cloud of dust while mowing.

I did find a location that I think will work great for a range. This spot is just above where the building is and the direction of shooting is to the rear of the property. Advantage of that is the rear of the property is hundreds of acres of timber company land and there are zero homes that direction. Plus from where I took this picture my place rises another 50 - 75 heavily timbered feet which will provide an excellent backstop. This is 50 (paced) yards and I can cut into the trees to extend the distance but I think if I do my target will be in the low light.



Here’s the spot for shooting. (Sorry for the picture size, I need to learn how to resize)

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Here’s my disaster of an RV pad.

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Field mowing pending…

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[Shakey Jake]

I envy those of you with land that can shoot outside your back doors. I pay a bit over $500/yr to shoot. It's still better than paying the per session price. That's for a family shooting plan. It would only be about $50 cheaper for just having an individual plan.
Jake

[The Happy Kaboomer]

That's not a bad price to me even with the increase..........Taxes/Insurance/morgage/rent paymnets/range upkeep..........It all goes up just like groceries and gasoline.

[BrokenolMarine]

My initial investment to build MY range, not including the range house, was about $1,000 not including labor. BUT, I caught the RR ties on sale from the RR. Just under $8 each. Normally they are about $20 each at the box stores or Home Depot. I bought three 16 tie bundles, wish I had bought four to six.

I'll improve as I go. I intentionally built mine in the shaded corridor. It's OK. Temps in the summer easily pass 100. The shade offers a ten to fifteen degree drop.
Plus, I'm no longer training for match competitions so there is no pressure.

[Hatchdog]

My initial investment to build MY range, not including the range house, was about $1,000 not including labor. BUT, I caught the RR ties on sale from the RR. Just under $8 each. Normally they are about $20 each at the box stores or Home Depot. I bought three 16 tie bundles, wish I had bought four to six.

I'll improve as I go. I intentionally built mine in the shaded corridor. It's OK. Temps in the summer easily pass 100. The shade offers a ten to fifteen degree drop.
Plus, I'm no longer training for match competitions so there is no pressure.

BOM, I searched yesterday for your original post regarding your range build but couldn’t find it. I’ll look some more today but my question is this. I recall you used a very clever method to tie your RR ties together using rebar. Would you remind me how you did it? Even tho I have a safe backstop I would rather have a RR tie wall to collect the bullets and not have them damage live trees. My intent is mostly to shoot pistol caliber carbines and handguns but there will be the occasional bottle neck rifle cartridge fired, mostly .223 from a bolt or semi. I don’t own any big bore rifles anymore so no magnum rifle cartridges for me.

[Hatchdog]

I envy those of you with land that can shoot outside your back doors. I pay a bit over $500/yr to shoot. It's still better than paying the per session price. That's for a family shooting plan. It would only be about $50 cheaper for just having an individual plan.
Jake

I hear ya Jake and I too wish I could just step outside and shoot but while that’s legal where my home is the community rules prohibit it.