My new range...

[BillGabby1]

Maybe next time. When I retire I will move and having a better shooting lane is one of the things I will look for. The longest dimension of my current plot is one thousand feet, but I would have to cut down a bunch of trees to even see that far, plus it the slope drops off so I could not see more than maybe 150 to 200 yards even if it was clear. My next property won't be so steep.

As Hickok45 has his set up a gradual up slope would give you clear view of all distances, his of course is across a swale and gives down and back up visibility close to far.
Once the fire season is over if I'm still here that is.
I plan to create a good backstop about 75 yards from my deck, so I don't have to worry about my bullets striking sparks in the tall grass and weeds. I haven't fired a shot in weeks due to the extremely dry conditions.
Want to know what I'm living with look up the Chetco Bar fire in OR, about 160,000 acres so far and we are in stage 1 alert so far.
Rainy Oregon my eye, we could really use some about now!
Gabby

 

[Certaindeaf]

Sweet. I'd park a Barkalounger out there and try to not shoot my feet.. because that's the way I roll. lol

This has always appealed to me.. It seems quite a few have actually shot their feet though.. most of them ladies. Maybe because their tits block their view? don't know

International Lawn Steel shooting

 

[The Heretic]

Next time I will put some more thought into the berm. The dirt has settled and is now about half the height it was this summer.

 

[Flymph]

Maybe put some stumps and logs in the berm to help hold mass?

 

[The Heretic]

Maybe put some stumps and logs in the berm to help hold mass?

It will depend on location - e.g., whether there is a hillside to cut into, but next time I will give it more thought and put something under the dirt that won't settle so fast.

 

[11Charlie]

On the bright side it will only settle so far. It should make for a nice berm once you get it where you want it.

 

[BillGabby1]

You need to compact it as you pile the dirt up. If you have a tractor or backhoe with a loader bucket, you can use that to press it down, that is best.
Having some logs to back it up will prevent the dirt from slumping away to the rear, and give you something to build against. Loose dirt will usually fall away at a 2 or 3 to 1 slope, which means you have a much broader bass than you have rise, compacting as you go can reduce that quite a bit. another thing people don't ordinarily think of is that powder dry or very wet dirt will not compact some moisture is required though. If a water hose is handy you can spray it to keep it damp enough that when you pick it up and squeeze it, it will clump together something like when you squeeze clay but not that tight. Go ahead and play with it childhood memories may return. LOL
Happy mud pies,
Gabby

 

[The Heretic]

Too late. Dozer was return. It didn't really have a way of packing the dirt down.

 

[BillGabby1]

Next time rent a backhoe, much more versatile, if you know what you are doing you can do most of the dozer chores, maybe take a little longer, but you can dig and move dirt greater distances, use as a crane etc.. If it is an extendahoe so much the better!

 

[Flopsweat]

Next time rent a backhoe, much more versatile, if you know what you are doing you can do most of the dozer chores, maybe take a little longer, but you can dig and move dirt greater distances, use as a crane etc.. If it is an extendahoe so much the better!

Extendahoe? I could see how that might be popular around the holidays.

 

[BillGabby1]

That is kin of reaching isn't it Sweaty me lad? LOL
Reaching ------get it!
Might be handy to drag your but out of the ditch after you've had a few too many.

 

[The Heretic]

Next time rent a backhoe, much more versatile, if you know what you are doing you can do most of the dozer chores, maybe take a little longer, but you can dig and move dirt greater distances, use as a crane etc.. If it is an extendahoe so much the better!

The purpose of the dozer work was to clear brush and level out the ground:



after these:



Made a lot of ruts and left holes and other uneven ground behind thinning the trees.

A backhoe would have taken a lot longer and I suck at working a backhoe, while I can work a dozer a little better. There were a few times I wish I had a backhoe to dig up a stump, but with the dozer I was still able to get about a couple of dozen stumps, including this one:



The berm for the "range" was an afterthought. Something that occurred to me on the fly while moving around some dirt and fallen trees.

 

[The Heretic]

Next year I will back my truck up to the 50 yard line and use the flatbed as a platform to shoot from. Probably a chair and my tripod shooting platform.

Three years later:

 

[gunfreak]

Sometimes you can get railroad ties free people or utility companies just want to get rid of them. They make a great back stop.

 

[slimmer13]

Sometimes you can get railroad ties free people or utility companies just want to get rid of them. They make a great back stop.

You would think, but if you have targets set up in one area, you chew through them pretty quickly.

For them to be effective, you'd need two layers with staggered seams and preferably some earth behind that.

 

[The Heretic]

I already have some railroad ties and fenceposts along my driveway. That's a good idea. I could replace the railroad ties with rocks (looks better and rocks don't rot) and stand the fenceposts up vertically to attach targets to.

 

[Flopsweat]

I already have some railroad ties and fenceposts along my driveway. That's a good idea. I could replace the railroad ties with rocks (looks better and rocks don't rot) and stand the fenceposts up vertically to attach targets to.

You can also use them for overhang and side cover. Keeps your targets from getting wet and they blow around less. Also captures spatter if you put up steel targets.

 

[The Heretic]

You can also use them for overhang and side cover. Keeps your targets from getting wet and they blow around less. Also captures spatter if you put up steel targets.

I don't have enough of them to do anything but increase the height of my backstop. Since I made the range and added the backstop, I logged the acreage behind it, so that decreased the number of trees behind the backstop dramatically, which increases the chance that a shot over the backstop could go beyond my property if I have a wild shot.

The slope down to the backstop from where I am shooting is pretty good, so I would have to shoot maybe five to ten feet over the backstop for a projectile to not hit the hill behind it. The only house in that direction is more than a mile away and up on top of a hill with three ridges between us - but it is visible.

However, if someone is back there on my acreage, they could get hit if I shoot over the backstop at all. No one is supposed to be back there without me knowing, but it is possible. The dirt road to my acreage is chained and has a no trespassing sign at the top of the road, but neighbors could come onto my property from their property (I've only seen that happen once).

I am pretty careful about shooting there (no fast shooting, usually pistols and rimfire only), but I do want to increase the height and width of the backstop. There is a big log there that serves as the highest part of the backstop, but it is only about 8' wide.

If I am going to do any fast shooting, I would probably go over onto my back acreage and shoot down into the gully - it is much steeper on that side so I would have about 150' of hill to shoot into.

 

[Ironbar]

View attachment 374377

I am clearing/leveling some of my land, and in some areas I am pushing the brush and dirt into piles near the edge of a gully on my property.

It occurred to me that one area I was doing this at would make a decent impromptu range since I would be shooting downward into the gully (more or less) and there are no houses visible in that direction (there are some gullies and hills beyond my property in that direction).

I can get about 50 yards back from the backstop.

Granted, not much of a backstop for height, but it is better than what I used before.

I'll be right over. Oh BTW, what's your address?

 

[The Heretic]

I'll be right over. Oh BTW, what's your address?

123456 Bumf***, Egypt