Gun Range Project

S

sserdlihc

New member
My brother has decided to construct an indoor shooting range on his property. We've looked at many different designs and have taken into account construction, materials, lighting, sound deadening, ventilation and HVAC. The one issue we keep running into is bullet stop. I found a couple of pics of a design I like on a construction forum, but I'm having a problem with one portion of the design below.

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In the 2nd picture, you can see where the bullet trap has a piece of angled steel plate ramped on the front. I am thinking that if a round was fired at the ramp, it would ricochet to the top, and the shards would come back toward the shooter?

We would be shooting copper jacketed bullets in this range. For safety sake, is this something I should be concerned over? Or am I thinking too dark side of the moon. Would a 45acp or 9mm traveling at 850 to 1150 ft per sec, have enough energy to travel the length of a 30 foot range, after hitting 2 pieces of 3/8'' steel? Kinda reminds me of the Magic Loogie episode on Seinfeld.:):p:D

I had come up with another design for the bullet trap. The design was 5' x 10'x 3/8'' plate set at an angle with a pit dug down 2' deep and filled with sand to catch the shards of lead and copper jackets. No ricochet hazard.

Thoughts on the design of the bullet trap, safety of the pictured one, ideas on other designs I'm not thinking of?
 
Mil-Spec....

I'd suggest buying a few US military TMs(training manuals) & FMs(field manuals) for small arms ranges & marksmanship ranges.
The US Army SF(special forces) field manuals might have detailed plans too.
SF units not only conduct special operations & direct action missions.
They also train & assist foreign armed forces/troops.

The NRA also has details for starting or building new gun ranges; www.nra.org .

See; www.deltapress.com www.gunvideo.com www.paladin-press.com .

Clyde
 
Thanks for the input! That snail design looks optimum.
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I like them. They make retreval of bullets easy.

If you reload and cast or swage your own bullets, you can save boocoo $ and shoot more! :D.

Like with everything one thing at a time, but making your own bullets with your own lead is a win win. The cost of powder and primers (with the occasional brass buy depending on what your shooting/reloading) should be less than $80 per 1000. In my case I spent $67 on my last lb of powder and 1000 primers.

If your looking at soundproof materials, styrofoam works wonders and it's not expensive.

As far as filtration system, an old frunace fan with the right filter (might want to google the type, my memory fails me but I believe it is a hepa) does a great job.
 
I don't cast my own, but I do reload.

You are correct on the styrofoam. Great insulator and sound deadening properties.

Like the idea of the old furnace fan/hepa filter for air filtration.
 
A range that I used to frequent had angled steel for a back with thick rubber curtain in front to capture ricochets and splatter.
It worked very well.
 
Would a 45acp or 9mm traveling at 850 to 1150 ft per sec, have enough energy to travel the length of a 30 foot range, after hitting 2 pieces of 3/8'' steel?
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I can't answer directly, but I have personally witnessed two incidents where a lead shard from a .22 LR came back to the shooting line in a 50' indoor range with enough energy to draw [a little] blood. If I hadn't been there to see it I wouldn't have thought it possible.
 
Mythbusters did a show on bullet ricochet. I dont want to lie about any of it because I dont remember it all, so see if you can find it on discovery channels website or you tube.
 
g.willikers said:
A range that I used to frequent had angled steel for a back with thick rubber curtain in front to capture ricochets and splatter.
It worked very well.
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The range where I shoot uses an angled steel plate, set to deflect the bullets down into a 4 or 5 foot deep moat. The steel plate is a full 1-inch thick, and we are limited to handgun calibers because centerfire rifle goes right through it.
 
Thanks CWin, I will see if I can find it.

Aguila Blanco, I think that will be be the most cost effective to construct. Plus, I don't plan on reloading my already shot lead.
 
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