Backstop

[bluelake]

I'm just wondering what different people use for a backstop.  Many years ago (~28 or so), on my folks' 30 acre land, we had a large mound of dirt that worked well as a backstop.  I used to place targets in front of it and shoot my 8mm Mauser (traded that many years ago).  Back then, neighbors were few and far between, which isn't necessarily the case anymore.  That mound is long-since gone and more people live in the vicinity, although still not really close.  

This summer, when I'm visiting my folks again, I want to set up a small range for myself to shoot my bp firearms (matchlock smoothbore longarm, c&b revolver, flintlock Kentucky pistol).  Here is what the layout is:

An open field with about 200 yards length on the diagonal (from one corner of the diagonal to the other--the marked shooting line is about 150 yards); trees more than 50 yards on either side.

The closest road/house past the diagonal length is about 700 yards distant.

I will attach a GoogleEarth sat photo showing my intended trajectory path (NW --> SE).


As I won't have a lot of time and money to invest, what is the minimum you would recommend?

[Roaddog]

A good pile of logs 3 deep works good for me. I' have not had any shots go through .

[Three Hawks]

Contact the NRA, they have all manner of free range and backstop plans.  I'd think an earth berm would be ideal.  I'd also imagine "The County" might have some input if you asked them.

Getting the county land use dept. involved sooner rather than later might save you some attorney's fees.

Just sayin' is all.

Three Hawks

[Gordon H.Kemp]

I use old car tires with the beads cut out and filled with sand/dirt . You can recover your lead very easaly as the projectiles will only penetrate the tread and 4 to 6 inches of sand.
        There has never been a problem with the projectiles skipping off into the distance as will happen once in awhile with a dirt berm alone.

[Gambia]

Gordon;Maybe cutting the beads made the difference but I have seen big time ricochets from tires.They were stacked flat,filled with dirt and placed on a slight inward arc.we ended up covering them with sand.Incidently around here you need several permits to use tires.I strongly second the advice to check with the governing body before doing anything.A personal private range may be no big deal.

[Gordon H.Kemp]

One of the benifits of living in far West Texas is the low population denisity. Another is outside of the few larger towns there is little or no regulations on this type of activity. I would certainly agree that before building any kind of range it is best to check out the local regulations.
   The way I set up the tire stacks is to have a double row so that there is no chance of a projectile squeezing between the stacks. It may be that we have been lucky, but have never had a skipper in over 8 years of using this type of back stop. This includes firing into the stacks with cartridge guns  such as the 06 and other larger calibers.

[Loyalist Dave]

I know that belted tires will cause riccochets, even with high powered bullets striking them.  I know a fellow officer who got hit in the hand inside a "tire house" used for live fire training.  The house was constructed of "new" tires, so I don't know what used tires would do.  Maybe they are different??

Around here the civilian ranges make berms of tires, and then cover them with about 2' of earth, then grow groundcover on the dirt to help secure it in place.  Works quite well.  New tires alone..., nope.  

LD

[Sir Michael]

One of the ranges I shoot at is in the process of removing tires it used as a backstop.

[BrownBear]

I use a 5-gallon bucket of sand with a piece of truck innertube inside to "self-heal" the holes.  Just tape your target to the front.  I'm shooting up to 58 caliber and as close as 25 yards and never had a ball go close to halfway through.  Best part is I screen the sand afterward and recover all my lead.

[Gordon H.Kemp]

Been doing a little thinking about the riccochett problems you folks have had with tire backstops! One reason may be the dirt was not packed out tightly against the tread of the tire. Thatts why cutting the beads and leaving only about 4" of the sidewall makes it much easier to raam the earth/sand against the tread area. If this isn't done then there will be voids between the the sand and the tire tread. This allows the tread to flex and absorb the impack of the projectile and could cause the lack of penetration of the steel belt causeing a rebound of the projectile mpostly in a line from the direction from the fireing point. Probably not with deadly force but with enough velocity to caause minor injurys. So to sum it up if the earth/sand is not packed solidly against the steel belt it creates this potential. This potential woul be increased by using new tires.

[Loyalist Dave]

What if they filled the new tires with concrete    ??

NO just kidding.  Makes sense.  I think they just stacked the tires over phone poles placed into the ground, I'm not sure.  The tires at the civilian range were just used to build up an area of support so as to use less dirt.   Then covered with 2' of earth.   The normal dirt where I am is full of small bits of quartz and sand stone..., not what you want on a backstop, ..., so they had to "import" soil and sand.  

LD

[riverrat]

I would not be too concerned about riccochett problems shooting lead roundballs.  Unless you just skim your shot off of the backstop, but then, no matter what the backstop is you would have that problem.  I have 15" hemlock logs stacked 4 deep and that has stopped everything including my 1.25 bore cannon.  As the storms knock down some more hemlocks, I stack those logs on top.

[Fletcher]

My old gun club built 25 ft high soft dirt berms.  The Paul Buyan Club musta had ol' Paul choppin' like crazy cause they had about 20 ft berms of shredded wood and bark.  Me, I got lucky and bought a good place with a natural hill and 160 acres of unaccessable property behind.  No worries there so far.

[vermontfreedom]

I didn't read through all the responses here, so if I've repeated, I apologize....

I cast my own balls, so I try to recapture my lead.

A cardboard box stuffed with magazines (all oriented in the same directions, then shoot perpendicularly to the sheets - that is shoot through the covers) is perfectly capable of stopping at least 20 rounds of 0.535 roundballs moving at 1850 fps from 25 to 60 yards.

Of course, you'll want a real backstop as others here suggest to stop fliers, but the box of magazines is great. Also good if you don't want to keep dumping pounds and pounds of lead into the environment in one small location.

The cleanup is kind of messy with the magazines, but I just sort through the chaff, pulling out mushroomed RBs and fragments. I estimate I recover >90% of the lead in the magazine (some fragments get through) and >80% of rounds (because I do sometimes miss the box or a flier goes through a corner and doesn't get stopped).

I th ink some others here have mentioned welding a steel box to actually trap balls. If your range is permanent, this is o.k., but if your range is public or you would need to move the trap, not such a good idea because of the weight.

[bluelake]

I sent an e-mail to a building supply company near my folks' place and asked about the price for fill sand.  I figured 7 yards would be enough for a basic berm; maybe I should order more?  The price for it would be $35 for the sand and $75 for delivery to my folks' place (less than two miles away...).  If I go this route, I would build a little curb made out of 1x6s staked around it to keep it from completely washing away after a storm.  The reason for sand and not sifted fill dirt is the sand will be easier to sift through later for spent lead.  I'm still in the thinking stage, but when I get to my folks' place in two weeks, I want to hit the ground running (and not fall flat on my face).