Henry Rifle Forums

It has been my plan for a good while to add a 25 yard range to my range at the farm. From the range house steps, the range I built had about 80 yards to the berm. In the pic below, I had just trimmed away most of the overhang, and sitting in front of the steps it's a nice shot for a rifle.


I had laid out the plan to add a 25 yard range, but turning ninety degrees to the right, it was just a matter of finding the time, and then making arrangements to purchase the RR Ties or Landscape Timbers to build the retention wall for the dirt to create THAT berm. Then, Miss Tina suggested we use the Corner Post brackets we had purchased to modify the fence lines on the main fencing, since we had gotten rid of the livestock and no longer needed to repair the fences. Hmmm, She said we could fill in the space with cattle panels and add pallets. I said that the panels only need to support the dirt until it turned to concrete. (It happens here in Oklahoma) We could use tarps, excellent idea. By the time the tarps rotted, the dirt would be fine. It was just a Handgun Range.

While I had my guy here for the other projects, I had him drill the holes with the Tractor Auger....


Once that was done, we could set the brackets and concrete the legs.


A long view of the brackets....

My next step was to trim back the trees on the short range, they had been hanging down around the brackets, as well as hanging down in the sight line from the range house view down the twenty five yards.


Once that was done, Miss T and I wired Cattle Panels in place to support the tarps once they went up. Once done, the first layer of tarps were zip tied into place. They only needed to be held in place until the dirt was moved. The weight of the dirt would hold them. I still used heavy duty zip ties.


Next we used special tarp you can order online. It's the tarps used on Billboards. Once they come down, you can buy them fairly cheap. BIG tarps, with the ads still painted on one side. The back sides are usually black, gray, or white. This went over the tarps we put up, mainly concerned with the back of the berm, where most of the weight would be pushing. Up she goes.

Now it was time to get busy. There was a pile of Dirt that my guy had moved with the Backhoe using that big 5 yard bucket. I had him set it right next to the area where the berm would be, and I wouldn't have far to move it.


Using our small Kabota L2501 and the Front Loader, I got busy. Gimpy can run a tractor. I actually enjoy working with the loader, and in a couple hours, I had moved that entire dirt pile then spread the last bit to smooth out the area where I had worked, hiding the ruts.


The Brackets are mostly filled, I have a working berm for the pistol range. I will certainly move more dirt later, but I can shoot on this.


I'll keep you posted.

Note that there are 300 yards of woods behind this berm, no houses behind the woods. A low / No traffic road, then more woods.

Congrats Marine I wish I had the same type of set up.

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 26, 2025 4:54 pm

Congrats Marine I wish I had the same type of set up.

Yup, the same money will buy a condo in the big city. With neighbors to whine if your music is too loud or the grandkids make too much noise. We have to drive 30 minutes to buy milk, but ... ... it's quiet.

That is going to be a nice range. Tell us more about the soil.

The dirt came out of the same pile as that used on the main range, most of which came from the expansion and adjustment of the creek bed last year (or was it the year before.) It's a mixture of "dirt" and clay. Rains pack it down nice and tight, and when baked in the Oklahoma Sun in the summer at 100+ degrees, it will harden to almost concrete like consistency. This serves to prevent most of the wandering away you'd normally see with sand or loosely packed dirt. Although not too hard to accept the rounds fired into it. They pass right in, then the next rain smooths out the penetration and the sun cooks it over again. LOL.

I still have a good bit left in the pile over by the creek crossing near the roadbed, and will add more to the new berm as time and weather allows.

At first glance it looked like you had Larry the Cable Guy on that tractor.

When we first met Jimmy, I asked him if he was Larry's brother. He laughed and said, "Big Brother." They aren't related, but he sent me a picture of them together. Jimmy dresses like that all the time, year round. In winter, he adds sleeves and a Carhartt coat. It's Oklahoma. I'll post the pic when I get to my desktop.

Taken at one of the shows in Oklahoma:



Y'all will figure it out.

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 27, 2025 2:22 am

The dirt came out of the same pile as that used on the main range, most of which came from the expansion and adjustment of the creek bed last year (or was it the year before.) It's a mixture of "dirt" and clay. Rains pack it down nice and tight, and when baked in the Oklahoma Sun in the summer at 100+ degrees, it will harden to almost concrete like consistency. This serves to prevent most of the wandering away you'd normally see with sand or loosely packed dirt. Although not too hard to accept the rounds fired into it. They pass right in, then the next rain smooths out the penetration and the sun cooks it over again. LOL.

Gotta love a “self healing” backstop!

Lots of great work on the short range BM! I did a similar thing on my main range backstop but used corrugated metal roofing sheeting for the sides over a wood structure to hold the 24 tons of sand/dirt mix. My 80 yd. gong is down in the woods in a low area and the upward slope behind it catches any misses within reason.

Very nice..........Now build you a nice covered shooting bench to shoot from,

The Happy Kaboomer wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 30, 2025 10:38 am

Very nice..........Now build you a nice covered shooting bench to shoot from,

Funny you should mention that. I have a 12 x 12 cover planned for the gravelled area in front of the range house. A 4x4 or 6x6 post in each corner, and a roof overhead to keep the rain and sun off. We will get it done eventually.

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 30, 2025 1:45 pm

The Happy Kaboomer wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 30, 2025 10:38 am

Very nice..........Now build you a nice covered shooting bench to shoot from,

Funny you should mention that. I have a 12 x 12 cover planned for the gravelled area in front of the range house. A 4x4 or 6x6 post in each corner, and a roof overhead to keep the rain and sun off. We will get it done eventually.

Maybe put it on skids or something so that you can drag it to your different yardages to shoot from.

Mags wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:35 pm

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 30, 2025 1:45 pm

The Happy Kaboomer wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 30, 2025 10:38 am

Very nice..........Now build you a nice covered shooting bench to shoot from,

Funny you should mention that. I have a 12 x 12 cover planned for the gravelled area in front of the range house. A 4x4 or 6x6 post in each corner, and a roof overhead to keep the rain and sun off. We will get it done eventually.

Maybe put it on skids or something so that you can drag it to your different yardages to shoot from.

Things like that here need to be securely anchored. It's Oklahoma, where the wind comes whipping down the plains. 100mph+ at times. Yup. Things have to be secure. Our rollaway trash can that we roll to the street every Thursday morning? Strapped to the railing of the back porch the rest of the week.

Say I wanted to shoot at 15 yards on the 25 yard range, I have moveable target stands, I'd put THEM 15 yards from the covered shooting position if the weather was that bad. But, good idea otherwise... You know, without Mother Nature blowing things around.

You know you are in Oklahoma when you are driving down the country road through farm country and the road is straight as an arrow, and all the telephone poles are leaning 20 degrees off vertical as far as the eye can see. The bean fields don't offer a wind break.

A pic of the pistol range after working it with the tractor, extra dirt added, worked the dirt that was there as well. I also moved the Iron Beotch up from the Rifle Range, and put five coats of new paint on her. She's a reactive steel B-27 target. Fun to shoot, mounted on a solid base, she rings and moves when hit, but doesn't fall. I intend to add some low mounted steel places and swingers as well. Will still be able to shoot "Cardboard" above the steel plates. Should get the steel in place tomorrow or Monday.


Also on the to do list are some wings to the sides to protect against splashes and / or ricochets.

Got out this morning and added the 8" plates. Drove the dual rebar rods to rest the plates on, repainted the faces of the plates, and got them situated. HOT out today... 90s already at noon. Will go shoot this afternoon, making the plates dance and ring. Too hot right now. If I need to add dirt down the road, Just pull the plates and rods and lay them aside, dress the range and then put the plates back up.


I cant them forward so the splashed of lead and copper go DOWN into the dirt and don't splash back at the shooters. I also require a minimum of ten yards for any reactive steel. Usually shoot from fifteen.