Indoor range help

V

versuspaint

Inactive
Hi all
Just wondering if anyone has any good practical(fairly inexpensive) ideas about putting in a indoor range. I have a 60 x 120 ft. building to work with. There is plenty of ventilation so that aspect is covered. It will be for personal use only, and mostly be firing .22, 9, and other handguns.

My biggest question is for catching the bullets, or redirecting them into traps or something.

Any info or pics would be great.
Thanks
Andy
 
I don't have any personal experience, but the range I use has what appears to be "shredded tire mulch" stacked against the back wall. The building is in a downtown area and the range has both pistol and rifle sections, so whatever they're using works well. You might try calling them- Bullseye Indoor Range in Lawrenceville, GA. It's also a gun shop, so it may be difficult to find whoever takes care of the range. If you don't have any luck, PM me and I'll ask next time I go there.
 
http://www.actiontarget.com/com_cat_bullet_traps.html has agood overview of the different types of traps in use. Obviously they point to their model as the best, and it may be. An on-line search should turn up lots of information on purchasable traps and how-to-build you own. The less powerful the round the easier things are, stopping a 22 round safely is pretty easy, a 44 magnum lots tougher.

I found this on one of their pages on building a range, seems like a good resource.

Where can I go for more information?
If you are serious about building an indoor range, your next step should be to order the NRA Indoor Range Manual. For an extremely reasonable price, this fantastic resource covers virtually every aspect of planning, designing, and maintaining a safe and successful range. Simply call 1-800-336-7402 and tell them Action Target said you have to get this book! If you then decide to enlist Action Target as your partner in your indoor range project, we will gladly refund the cost of the manual back to you.
Click to expand...
 
Just know that an indoor range is a lot of work. Trust me, I work at one. We use ballistic rubber for a backstop. It works great, and will stop anything you can shoot at it. The biggest problem with it as a backstop is having to clean it. Lots of shoveling. There is also a lot of unburned powder and such on the range so you will probably want to sweep it every day. As far as ventilation goes, it's up to you, but we use a very powerful system, it swaps out the air every 10 seconds. You may also have to worry about getting the permits for it. I have not dealt with that but I can't imagine it's easy. It's also a good idea to meet with any residents or HOAs in the neighborhood and let them know what you are doing and work up some rules about the noise. Just a little heads up.
 
There are lots of options .
#1 : Building construction??
#2: Calibers to be fired.
#3: open to public or controled group.
#4: ceiling & roof material.
#5: bullet retension behind the firing line.
After you have gathered this info you can then look at different bullet retension materials. I have all of them save in files if you need them.
I have been to many ranges , worked with 3 , and attended the NRA gun range building and mantinence seminar.

Depending on caliber depends on material used to stop bullets.
Any bullet to leave the building is your resopnsability as the building owner and the responsibility of the shooter as well.
After that EPA is your enemy.
 
So, how much you want to spend?

What's your budget for this range?

You'll need to consider also noise abatement (reduction) too but of course if you shoot silencers that's not such a big detail (only for those that have it and are allowed by Federal Law).

Here is a portable "cube" bullet stop. You basically build up like bricks to create your backstop. There are a few like these you might want to consider.

http://www.atsusa.biz/bulletstop.shtml

Good luck, have fun and check out your local zoning laws!
 
Thanks for the help, those bullet stop blocks look really nice. I was just going to do it low key, a small group of friends. So no permits or anything like that. I obviously would like to keep it cheap as possible, however still keeping it safe. I was thinking about using metal and sand but not sure yet.
 
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