Want to build a 25m range on my own land

[mgconnor13 206]

Any one know what it would take for me to be able to put a range on my own property here in NC (laws, zoning, etc....)? My wife and I are looking at buying a home outside city limits with a couple of acres of land and I'd like to build a 25m range in the back yard if we do buy the house. I've been thinking about how to build a small range and ways to help keep the noise down. One of my friends suggested buying a couple old 40 foot shipping containers and burying them to build an underground 25m range. I would need to put in a drainage system, sump pump, lighting and ventilation system, it would be pretty quite for the neighbors and I could use it year round regardless of weather. But would cost a few thousand dollars to build so that's out for now.

 

I was thinking of taking some logs (there are tons of pine trees down here) and building a three sided box about 8 foot high 12 foot wide and 10 feet deep then filling it with old tires and then filling the tires with dirt and then covering it all in dirt. I mostly shoot 12 gauge, 7.62x39mm and pistol. Would that be enough to be a good back stop? I know a hill side would be ideal but it's pretty flat here with only small rolling hills down here so a good hill side is hard to find.

 

Any one have any ideas to help dampen sound other then buying suppressors for ever gun I own ?

Any other considerations or ideas would be welcome.

 

Here is a couple quick sketches I did of what I have in mind so far.

[ktcm7271 999]

I think the cheapest and easiest way would be to buy a bunch of tarps, make a pvc pipe frame, and line the inside of it with sound dampening material like 4 x 8 foam or something similar. Most areas have a noise ordinance from 10:00 pm to 10:00 am or so, and that would dampen it enough for compliance.

[Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393]

I think the NRA has free/low cost CDs/books you can order from them with all kinds of info on range construction

[IndyArms 10,186]

Where I live, I just open the window on the back porch and start blasting away... Mind you I dont do it at strange times of the night or early morning... but for the most part... any NORMAL time of day I want, I just shoot...

 

 

[Paulyski 2,227]

Read THIS.

 

Don't do THIS.

 

Watch out for THIS happening when word gets out..

Edited April 13, 2010 by Paulyski

[22_Shooter 1,560]

For the noise reduction dilemma...........I've seen pictures of private ranges where people take a bunch of tires, line them up in a row (upright) and attach them to eachother to form a "tunnel". Then they cram padding/some sort of insulation into the tires empty cavities to muffle the noise even more. They then put the whole tire contraption onto a support device, and put a shooting bench behind it.

 

So the muzzle of your gun is inside the tires, and the blast is somewhat deadened by it. But I guess you have to be careful of what type of insulation material you use, as people reported unburnt power building up on it from so much shooting, and then one day the muzzle flash ignites it and you have a fire.

 

I wish I could be more descriptive, or provide pics, but I couldn't find any when I just looked. But there was a video in Patriot's "Why No One Invades Switzerland" thread that shows kind of what I'm talking about. They aren't using tires, but it's the same concept.

 

Fast forward to 1:55 : http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/754.html

 

Assuming you're going to have a set backstop like you have picture in the OP, the immobility of it (well you could always put it on wheels of some sort) shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[mgconnor13 206]

I really like that old swiss guy in that video. He's right you can't have freedom if you can't protect yourself.

 

I liked those tubes with sound dampening material they had on the firing line. I could build one of those out of an old plastic barrel lined with insulation. Maybe stack a few on top of each other in some sort of frame to support so I can shoot in the prone and standing. The tire idea is also a cool idea. I'll draw up a couple ideas tomorrow.

 

the county I live in has a very friendly CLEO so a suppressor is always an option if I can convince my wife to let me buy one

 

What about if I dug a 25m trench? How deep would be good? 6-8 feet deep with a berm piled up at the end? soil here is really sandy so I would need to support the walls with some type of retaining walls and maybe some type of sound dampening material.

 

Here is a quick sketch of my trench idea and the barrels with insulation lining to shoot through at the firing line to help dampen muzzle blast..

Edited April 16, 2010 by Rusty truck