If You Could Design Your Own Shooting Range...

[andy52]

I have 78 acres that I built a range on for friends and family only it's not open to the public.
Two berms, one at 100 yds with a covered bench and one at 25 yds. Both have 4x8 target stands with fiberboard as backers.
The property is unimproved, with no water or electricity., there is one lean-to building that's 30x16 with one end enclosed to store shooting supplies. I also have two battery powdered skeet throwers that I keep charged with a 2x4 solar panel.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

It’s not my range but it might as well be. Usually have it all to myself.

 

[Whitworth]

Having my own range was a requirement when I bought my piece of Elk Ridge Mountain 40 years ago. It's only 100 yards but right out the door. The hanging white target at 75 yards represents Davis Tutt to replicate Bill Hickok's famous shot. Sponge Bob is just for laughs and sports a cowboy lots of times

 

[mushka]

God made my shooting range. It's called the Sonoran Desert. Has a nice canyon that most won't try to go to as it has a really sandy trail to get to. Others have used the place but really infrequently. I've not been troubled by them. Making a personal closed range can be troublesome to protect and maintain nowadays where everybody thinks they can do anything, anywhere they want.

 

[Eutycus]

All the above but with restroom and handwashing facilities. We have a real nice range at the old Naval base (now a prison) but it had nothing but skid-o-cans and no running water.

 

[Okie Hog]

There’s a big concern about letting strangers on the range. In today’s lawsuit happy society, yeah big concern and would rightfully shut down most of our desires to share what we have with others.

This.

Years ago i built a very nice firing range on 160 acres east of I-35. There were gongs and target berms to 300 yards and a moving target at 100 yards. There were two covered shooting benches. Made a big mistake of allowing others to use the range. Shooters usually left the area trashed and i cleaned it up.

Finally someone killed a cow on the adjacent property. i paid the farmer for the cow, mounted the JD 450 dozer, destroyed the range, put up no trespass signs and changed the lock on the gate. What crying and whining. You would have thought i violated peoples civil rights.

My current range is on 80 acres with berms to 250 yards. Only family is allowed to use the range.

 

[nkbj]

In Texas I'd wheel the bench out onto the rear apron.
I miss that place.

 

[satwel]

Were I designing my dream rifle range, the first thing I'd build is a reproduction of the log blockhouse that sits next to the Hudson river in Stillwater, NY.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

This.

Years ago i built a very nice firing range on 160 acres east of I-35. There were gongs and target berms to 300 yards and a moving target at 100 yards. There were two covered shooting benches. Made a big mistake of allowing others to use the range. Shooters usually left the area trashed and i cleaned it up.

Finally someone killed a cow on the adjacent property. i paid the farmer for the cow, mounted the JD 450 dozer, destroyed the range, put up no trespass signs and changed the lock on the gate. What crying and whining. You would have thought i violated peoples civil rights.

My current range is on 80 acres with berms to 250 yards. Only family is allowed to use the range.

I’m so sorry to hear about what you had to endure. That would be scary. There truly are heathens among us.

Vetting on who gets to use the range, or having someone watch the range…that can get tedious, boring and drain you.

 

[Ninering62]

I read a post just a moment ago and it got me to thinking...I like to ponder things these days.

If you had a piece of property, or were going to buy a piece of property, and build out your own shooting range; what would you want to include?

How would you layout the range?

What would you include as additions, ie woods walks, smoothbore only walks (BP Sporting Clays) etc?

Close friends and family only, use it as a foundation to form a club?

Would you include Rendezvous at the site?

If it included hunting options, would that be attractive?

Thanks for a very interesting post.
I actually do have a 400yd shooting range set up on the fam property. Its nothing fancy, quite hucklebuck in fact. A cpl friends just helped me build a very nice & solid shooting bench & set it in concrete a cpl wks ago. I have targets set up at 50,100,200,300,400yds with a sandbank backstop I built. I wish there were space for a trap or skeet set up. Its invite-only & always will be. I would not make hunting an option either, the property is just too small for that. I would however consider putting on some turkey shoots or small invitation only muzzleloader competitions to raise some funds to support my own shooting expenses throughout the yr. I'm just grateful as hell to be able to walk out back or load up the golf cart or lawnmower cart with shooting gear & spend the whole day at my range any time I want.

 

[Whitworth]

I’m so sorry to hear about what you had to endure. That would be scary. There truly are heathens among us.

Vetting on who gets to use the range, or having someone watch the range…that can get tedious, boring and drain you.

Used to shoot in a big deep limestone quarry, wonderful place with all sorts of rock formations at various ranges (over a thousand yards) to shoot at. In the winter the walls would have huge frozen water falls with icicles to shoot. Manager liked another guy and I shooting there on weekends to keep an eye on things while there. Unfortunately some horse's ass shot up some equipment when no one was there and that ended that.

 

[Dale Lilly]

It’s not my range but it might as well be. Usually have it all to myself.
View attachment 129199

Nice and you look as if you belong there. Polecat

 

[1950DAVE]

I am picky about who uses my gravel pit. No one uses w/o permission. Anyone caught shooting w/o permission is ordered off property and told of not return. Parts automobiles, trucks tractors, jeeps and other things are parked there and they are not targets. Only one shooting lane, no exceptions.

 

[Robby]

I'd wanna be able to roll out of bed, slide the door open, scratch my a$$, blast away, walk thirty feet and brew myself a strong cup of coffee.
Wait, I already can, never mind.
Robby

 

[hawkeye2]

Designing a range is no problem, I can do that between the time my head hits the pillow and I nod off. Financing it is the real problem.

 

[Jim]

I'd wanna be able to roll out of bed, slide the door open, scratch my a$$, blast away, walk thirty feet and brew myself a strong cup of coffee.
Wait, I already can, never mind.
Robby

Robby . . . .
You reminded me of my late friend, Paul . . . .
He had a sister with a small farm in north-central Pa.
During deer season, he would go visit her.
On the gable end of the attic, was his bedroom with a window overlooking the fields and woods.
In his PAJAMAS, with country music playing in the background, he would roll out of bed, crack open the window, scan the fields with his scope-sighted unmentionable in 300 Winchester Magnum, and pop some venison!
All this, while his sister was down in the kitchen rustling up his breakfast!!
Deer hunting!. . .in his PAJAMAS!! . . . .JESUZ!!!

 

[mushka]

Mostly the lack of personal property large enough is the hold back of making a range. If not large enough property encroachment and trespassing will be a problem.

 

[Va Hunter]

I built my own range, 25, 50 and 100 yard backstops. Great thing is the bench is only 35 yards from my front porch. Sometimes I even shoot from my porch.

 

[Gkarp429]

Five stand or sporting clays for muzzleloaders would be feasible for smaller properties, but for a guy who lives in a trailer down by the river, I can dream, right.

 

[Eutycus]

In the future you can mine for lead like on Hickok45's range. Greg Kinman's gong is a feature on his range too.