Big price increase for local range

[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.

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.

Hatch, I'll pull the pics and post them here in a few minutes, but I interlocked the legs with the back, and drilled down thru the two and drove an 18" rebar spike down thru both. Worked like a champ. Between the spike keeping them from moving and the weight of the Railroad ties, they were locked in. To brace against the great weight of the dirt to be piled in front of the wall, I put 10' steel posts behind the wall.

[BrokenolMarine]

I cut the spikes at 36" squared, then cut them at 18" at a 45 degree angle to make them easier to drive in. Left some at 24" to anchor the base ties to the ground so they wouldn't slide or twist.

spikes cut 220521.jpg (741 KiB) Viewed 871 times

I pre-drilled holes thru the Ties with a 1/2 drive hammer drill, and a LONG bit. Then used the forks to drive the spike in.

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As I said, I had the legs on either side overlap the back of the wall, shifting the wall Ties left and right to interlock. As you can see here, it's like stacking lincoln logs as a kid.

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These are the posts in the back to support the extra weight / pressure of the dirt inside the U shape.

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Toward the end, I had reached the end of the reach of the lift for the tractor, so we used some of the leftover ties to extend the legs of the U on either side, making them longer.

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I will continue to add more dirt to the range until it settles in well. It will eventually pack down hard. Every now and then I'll have to add dirt to the front of the berm to fill in where the rounds impact. "Range Maintenance." But... it's nice to have a place to shoot here on the farm. The shaded range gives me up to 90 yards. Here is a view from 75 yards....

75 yards 230510.jpg (3.01 MiB) Viewed 871 times

Most of my shooting will likely be at seven and fifteen yards for draw and fire.
Twenty Five yards or so for "Target" shooting with the handguns and some rifle.
Fifty for the larger calibers...

I may test the Varmint stuff at 75 and 90 just to KNOW where they hit, but most of the shooting on the farm, due to the layout will be in the 50 yard range.

I think the longest shot I could safely take would be from the North pasture down toward the pond dam.

pond and pastures look great 230617.jpg (256.89 KiB) Viewed 871 times

[BrokenolMarine]

Most of the other shots on coyotes or other vermin would be in the 30 to 50 yards at the max. So I sighted the Ruger Ranch 223 in at 50 yards and the CZ455 .22 at 25 yards. So far, so good. There ARE wild pigs in Oklahoma and some in our county, but we haven't seen any. So I haven't sighted in the AR10 308. If I do, it will get the 50 yard zero as well. Can't let the pigs tear up the orchard, or injure the livestock. Big bruisers here, just like TX.

[Hatchdog]

Thanks BOM, that’s exactly what I was looking for in my failed search. I sent you a PM with some questions and do appreciate your help.

[BrokenolMarine]

I answered the PM. If you like, feel free to copy the pm, with any edits you feel appropriate, and my reply. Then post here if you think others might have some of the same questions. I'll leave that up to you.

[PJM]

I too am lucky to shoot on my land. Brought in 10 yards of clean sand and poured over 4 tires. Had the local chief look at it and said it was fine. The woodlot next to me was sold and house soon to be built. Will see how that goes. Distance from my backstop is within the regs. But one never knows. Maybe he will be a shooter.

[BrokenolMarine]

I had the same thing happen in VA. Fifteen years after I built my range, someone bought behind it and built, but not directly behind the range and there were still several acres of Timber between us. Never became an issue. A deputy told us he had asked him about my background... When he learned my bona fides he no longer had the least concern.

[Hatchdog]

I answered the PM. If you like, feel free to copy the pm, with any edits you feel appropriate, and my reply. Then post here if you think others might have some of the same questions. I'll leave that up to you.

Good idea, good info here:


Morning BOM,

Thanks for taking the time to repost your pictures, it’s exactly what I was seeking. A couple of questions, did you drive the 18” rebar thru two ties and then into a third or thru one tie into a second? When you predrilled the holes I suspect that the top tie was drilled and the tie under it not drilled in order to anchor the top tie? I’m thinking with the 18” length you drilled thru two ties (7” each) and four inches of the rebar then driven into the tie below.


From BOM below.

My ties were about 9" thick, and covered in old creosote and years of dirt and gravel. Some weren't completely flat. Hence the gaps you see in the pictures.

I used an old machete to literally cut away layers of dirt and gravel where I could. A half inch hammer drill with a side handle was used to drill thru them. I drilled thru BOTH and the hole was the same size as the rebar. I wasn't worried about "nailing" the ties together, but pinning them so they couldn't slide or move. The weight of the ties kept them down.

[BrokenolMarine]

I performed a search and found the original post on the build of the berm... Wow, that brings back memories. During that build we met our Hay guy, and had a coyote steal a chicken on camera in broad daylight... .... Here is the link if anyone likes old history... I'm going to go back myself and read all the way through.


http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... es#p199372

[Hatchdog]

Well it looks like I had better get my range built at our place up north. The DNR land I shoot on has just been closed to shooting. So now the closest place to shoot without going to an organized range is nearly 50 miles from me. Once again a few slobs and irresponsible gun owners have ruined it for all.


I have a good start….here’s plinking with my 39-A last week up north.

IMG_4341.jpeg (6.89 MiB) Viewed 769 times

DNR CLOSES BOGGS PIT SHOOTING RANGE
https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/ ... 0fb&pnum=2#