Shooting on your property when a neighbor doesn't like it

[arakboss]

Bullets can ricochet off trees; I've seen it happen. But it seems to me if you have soft wood like pine and you have the logs pressed together, you're unlikely to have a problem. Never tried it though, we've only used dirt, sand or bark. And some really thick mulch once, which was a little smelly but worked surprisingly well. There's an NRA book on range best practices. I'll try to find a link to it if nobody links something better soon.

Any dirt or cinder I use will have to be dug and moved by hand. I have access to lots of pine logs. My back stop is only about 4ft high. Should sides be equal to that height?


Edit: the other material I have an abundance of is charcoal/ash piles from previous yard debri burning.

 

[patrikky]

Good thing no one cares about your opinion.

The individual in the YouTube video has gone far above what is responsible required. Pistol and rim fire...

The noise he generates for the neighbors is plain rude. The guy is an bubblegum. Suppressors should be mandatory.

 

[Burt Gummer]

As a small business owner, nowadays just about ANY decision I make has the little voice asking "what is the possible liability if I do this?" In my youth, not so much. The guy with the shed for the backstop and homes in site behind/level to that point is risking everything. One careless buddy with his finger on the trigger and it is goodbye fancy home, bank account. Hello stripes.

 

[Flopsweat]

Any dirt or cinder I use will have to be dug and moved by hand. I have access to lots of pine logs. My back stop is only about 4ft high. Should sides be equal to that height?


Edit: the other material I have an abundance of is charcoal/ash piles from previous yard debri burning.

4 feet seems really low to me. I'm used to berms 10 feet and higher. We have one that is probably over 50 feet. I'd be concerned bringing a new shooter to a range with such a low berm.

Yikes, the NRA Range Source Book is $50.

Catalog - Accessories - NRA Range Source Book (Current Edition)

- Accessories - NRA Range Source Book (Current Edition)

materials.nrahq.org

Here are some links to check out:

How To Build A Shooting Range

Building a shooting range is one of the best ways to become a better shooter and train more often. Depending on how often you go shooting, having your own range …

neckbonearmory.com

https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/rangedesign.pdf

U.S. Army range safety manual. There is supposed to be info on range specs but it's military so you may spend some time finding what you want.

https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/p385_63.pdf

 

[arakboss]

4 feet seems really low to me. I'm used to berms 10 feet and higher. We have one that is probably over 50 feet. I'd be concerned bringing a new shooter to a range with such a low berm.

Yikes, the NRA Range Source Book is $50.

Catalog - Accessories - NRA Range Source Book (Current Edition)

- Accessories - NRA Range Source Book (Current Edition)

materials.nrahq.org

Here are some links to check out:

How To Build A Shooting Range

Building a shooting range is one of the best ways to become a better shooter and train more often. Depending on how often you go shooting, having your own range …

neckbonearmory.com

https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/rangedesign.pdf

U.S. Army range safety manual. There is supposed to be info on range specs but it's military so you may spend some time finding what you want.

https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/p385_63.pdf

Maybe I could install a baffle in front of the shooting shack to guide shooters from aiming to high and shooting over the backstop. I could add a foot or two of height to the back stop but it will take a lot of work. Next trip down, I will snap some pics of everything that's currently there. I will be open to ideas for backstop improvements but I am going to focus on shooting shack first. If I can't solve the noise issue there won't be much reason to build up the backstop, add berms, etc.


Edit: Here are the most abundant and easiest to gather materials I have listed in order of availability and ease to collect:

Logs, branches

Charcoal/Ash

Pine cones

Rocks small

Dirt.

Cinder

Med to large rocks

 

[red442joe]

Its people like you that think there needs to be a law for everything. Yes, you are the problem, not the home owner doing what ever he feels like doing safely

THIS!

Joe

 

[Flopsweat]

Maybe I could install a baffle in front of the shooting shack to guide shooters from aiming to high and shooting over the backstop. I could add a foot or two of height to the back stop but it will take a lot of work. Next trip down, I will snap some pics of everything that's currently there. I will be open to ideas for backstop improvements but I am going to focus on shooting shack first. If I can't solve the noise issue there won't be much reason to build up the backstop, add berms, etc.


Edit: Here are the most abundant and easiest to gather materials I have listed in order of availability and ease to collect:

Logs, branches

Charcoal/Ash

Pine cones

Rocks small

Dirt.

Cinder

Med to large rocks

Overhead baffles normally extend several yards past the firing line because people can vary greatly in height and different shooting positions may be employed. They can be expensive to build and maintain.

If you have a cost effective way to make gravel from your rocks, your best bet might be to lower the entire shooting range and use that dirt to raise the berm. But I guess I'm assuming you have a bobcat, tractor, backhoe or dozer.

 

[American123]

I have a very simple solution:

Is it legal to shoot on the property. Regardless of how the neighbor feels?

Yes/No?

If yes, shoot all hours of the day that are legal to do so.

If no, probably shouldn't or face legal issues.

 

[SCARed]

I remember 10-15yrs ago, 4-6 of us going shooting at a buddies house in rural Clackamas Co. on 8ac with a big berm as a back stop.
When he first moved in several years prior, he had called CCSO to make sure he was legal. They said yep, and that was that. Fast forward to the day we were shooting. We had the typical toys, up to 308, and some tannerite. After an hour or so, there was a lull in the pace of fire, and we heard my buddies phone ringing. He answered and it was CCSO. They told him there had been several calls to 911 saying WW3 was going on, and were just checking to see if it was us, and if we were being safe. We said yes to both questions, and they responded that they would tell future 911 callers that it was just some boys and their toys, not to worry.
2-3 hours later we were done and picking up brass. We heard a noise behind us at the driveway. We turn and look and see 2 CCSO deputies just getting out of their cars. We step a little further away from our table of guns, and they just put their hands up as if saying " we really don't want to be here". My buddy heads over to talk to them, and the first words out of their mouths were " You guys are well within your rights to be out here shooting, BUT, you may consider calling it a day. The neighbors (55+ trailer park community) are calling 911 incessantly that they are being traumatized by all the shooting and loud explosions. They are complaining the explosions are almost breaking their windows." He rolled his eyes a couple times when explaining all this to us. The deputies were cool with us, and left pretty quickly. They didn't want to see our guns, IDs, or anything else. Just let us know what was going on and that's it.

I think my buddy still shoots there, but now has cans for most of his guns.

 

[Mr Smith]

Part of the reason I got a suppressor for my 22s. Shoot on property without having to hear the neighbors complain about the noise.

 

[Tlock]

Part of the reason I got a suppressor for my 22s. Shoot on property without having to hear the neighbors complain about the noise.

That's why I moved so far out of town. I have 1 neighbor that has horses and I just send her a text a little before we start and no problems. Some new people moved in a while ago and came over and threw a fit but that's the last I heard from them. Move back to town if you don't like the noise!

 

[arakboss]

I have a very simple solution:

Is it legal to shoot on the property. Regardless of how the neighbor feels?

Yes/No?

If yes, shoot all hours of the day that are legal to do so.

If no, probably shouldn't or face legal issues.

I am trying to be a better neighbor, I never know when/if I might need a favor or help from them.

 

[arakboss]

Overhead baffles normally extend several yards past the firing line because people can vary greatly in height and different shooting positions may be employed. They can be expensive to build and maintain.

If you have a cost effective way to make gravel from your rocks, your best bet might be to lower the entire shooting range and use that dirt to raise the berm. But I guess I'm assuming you have a bobcat, tractor, backhoe or dozer.

I have gloves and a shovel. There are lots of rocks there as I seem to hit one everytime I try to dig up a shovel full of dirt.


Edit: Clean dirt is hard to come by, but there is lots of other debris. Pine needles, pine cones, branches, etc. I could pile that kind of stuff up first then throw my precious dirt and cinder rock on top. Eventually all that stuff will become dirt? I could stack firewood around the area too. Swapping it out every fall.

 

[American123]

I am trying to be a better neighbor, I never know when/if I might need a favor or help from them.

If they don't like you shooting, they are already a bad neighbor. F them.

Otherwise, get into suppressors and only shoot subsonic loads.

That or dig a 6ft deep underground trench and bury/concrete a wide diameter pipe the length of your trench and create an underground shooting lane and your neighbor won't hear it anyway.

 

[Mikej]

Being rural and hearing shooting 100-100 plus yards away is one thing. Tannerite explosions might be pushing it. My guess is people don't usually us a "Minimum". From what I've seen it's not any fun, for them, unless it makes a real KaBOOM. The kind that shakes window 100, and more, yards away. Nobody wants to be hearing that bubblegum.

 

[Bobbygun]

Tannerite explosions might be pushing it.

How very true. I live out where many of my neighbors shoot with some frequency. Even though I only have about 3 acres, I have been known to try out a handload or two on my property, along with the occasional shot to the head for unwelcome critters. About five years ago, one of my neighbors must have been messing around with some Tannerite. The explosion was so loud and forceful, it shook the windows in my house violently enough that I went and checked to make sure they all still had solid glass. I think they surprised themselves and it hasn't happened again since.

 

[Tlock]

How very true. I live out where many of my neighbors shoot with some frequency. Even though I only have about 3 acres, I have been known to try out a handload or two on my property, along with the occasional shot to the head for unwelcome critters. About five years ago, one of my neighbors must have been messing around with some Tannerite. The explosion was so loud and forceful, it shook the windows in my house violently enough that I went and checked to make sure they all still had solid glass. I think they surprised themselves and it hasn't happened again since.

Being rural and hearing shooting 100-100 plus yards away is one thing. Tannerite explosions might be pushing it. My guess is people don't usually us a "Minimum". From what I've seen it's not any fun, for them, unless it makes a real KaBOOM. The kind that shakes window 100, and more, yards away. Nobody wants to be hearing that bubblegum.

Ya I don't do stupid stuff like that. We are on 10 to 40 acre plots up here

 

[ORhutner]

I have gloves and a shovel. There are lots of rocks there as I seem to hit one everytime I try to dig up a shovel full of dirt.


Edit: Clean dirt is hard to come by, but there is lots of other debris. Pine needles, pine cones, branches, etc. I could pile that kind of stuff up first then throw my precious dirt and cinder rock on top. Eventually all that stuff will become dirt? I could stack firewood around the area too. Swapping it out every fall.

Rent a mini-excavator for a day, should run you around $250/day and will burn less than $60 in diesel running the full 8-hours on the meter you get. The amount of dirt you can move and progress you can make in a single day is well worth the dollars. With proper planning you should be able to dig your range and berm in a single day with some time left on the meter for other projects around the property. If you have never run one, you can get up, running and reasonable proficient within the first two hours of use. You aren't doing anything that requires finesse so all the easier to get up and running if you don't have experience and no worries about hurting/damaging anything.

 

[rjmt]

How very true. I live out where many of my neighbors shoot with some frequency. Even though I only have about 3 acres, I have been known to try out a handload or two on my property, along with the occasional shot to the head for unwelcome critters. About five years ago, one of my neighbors must have been messing around with some Tannerite. The explosion was so loud and forceful, it shook the windows in my house violently enough that I went and checked to make sure they all still had solid glass. I think they surprised themselves and it hasn't happened again since.

we live in an area full of logging families with explosive permits
they ignite 1/4 sticks of dynamite for entertainment

 

[eb in oregon]

I remember 10-15yrs ago, 4-6 of us going shooting at a buddies house in rural Clackamas Co. on 8ac with a big berm as a back stop.
When he first moved in several years prior, he had called CCSO to make sure he was legal. They said yep, and that was that. Fast forward to the day we were shooting. We had the typical toys, up to 308, and some tannerite. After an hour or so, there was a lull in the pace of fire, and we heard my buddies phone ringing. He answered and it was CCSO. They told him there had been several calls to 911 saying WW3 was going on, and were just checking to see if it was us, and if we were being safe. We said yes to both questions, and they responded that they would tell future 911 callers that it was just some boys and their toys, not to worry.
2-3 hours later we were done and picking up brass. We heard a noise behind us at the driveway. We turn and look and see 2 CCSO deputies just getting out of their cars. We step a little further away from our table of guns, and they just put their hands up as if saying " we really don't want to be here". My buddy heads over to talk to them, and the first words out of their mouths were " You guys are well within your rights to be out here shooting, BUT, you may consider calling it a day. The neighbors (55+ trailer park community) are calling 911 incessantly that they are being traumatized by all the shooting and loud explosions. They are complaining the explosions are almost breaking their windows." He rolled his eyes a couple times when explaining all this to us. The deputies were cool with us, and left pretty quickly. They didn't want to see our guns, IDs, or anything else. Just let us know what was going on and that's it.

I think my buddy still shoots there, but now has cans for most of his guns.

I'm all about private rural property and the right to shoot on one's own property. However using large or numerous quantities of tannerite within an essentially urban area (55 or more trailer homes right close) on days other than the 4th of July seems an abuse of the right. We had a guy a few years back that moved in about a half mile away. He built a moto-cross track on his property as he was a semi-pro rider. Fine. He rode a few hours a day or less. Soon all his friends and their friends showed up. Most days (especially good days) it was all day. Dawn to dusk. While he had the right to do what he wanted on his property as long as he didn't violate noise standards, he really had no right to essentially open his property up for others to the detriment of everyone within a mile or so. The pressure of his neighbors (me included, and I had a scooter and had been riding since I was 13 years old) caused him to move. Abuse of rights leads to losing rights in my opinion. Oh right, I've lived in rural Clackamas County for 40 or so years. And have had a Deputy show up a time or two. I'll merely mention it's not a good thing to piss off your neighbors. A person might need them a time or two.