Odd looking primer strikes

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Well, I mean, before I shot, my dad and his friends used to shoot there using only the woods as a backstop. I'm confident that my request of adding a backstop will eliminate any possibilities of anything happening.
 
It is your land. But bullets can travel far. Freak accidents do happen when they happen. If it happens it may not be your land any more.

You folks are apparently not poor. Land owners and all that. You can't afford to pay the membership? My goodness.

So long kid. I thought you were one of the smart ones.

-TL
 
Well, what would you reccomend to make sure it's safer?

And as for the public range, I didn't feel like $265 was something id want to spend on an indoor range that stops at 25 yards.

And sorry I didn't live up to your expectations.
 
Mosin, your verbal description reveals a totally inadequate shooting range.

Your constructed bullet trap is too low, and contains rocks. 20 yards (60 feet) of woods is nothing. That 5 foot bank up to the road is only 2 feet higher than your constructed trap. It's at a 70 degree angle. You are relying on 'permission' to keep others from wandering into the impact area downrange and on some kind of providence they would not be hit, should they do so. Tell us, what is your safety plan when someone on the road stops to let their dog go down the bank, or has to change a tire? Can you even see through the brush? Brush, by the way, does not stop bullets. It does deflect them.

A few days ago you were asking what was an acceptable age for you to shoot by yourself, unsupervised. Based on your absolute certainty that your inadequate shooting range is actually safe, I would say you are definitely not old enough to be trusted with a high-powered rifle.

The fact that there is a PUBLIC ROAD immediately behind your target is your clue that you cannot shoot there. Period. No discussion.

Bottom line, you cannot 'make it safe' without serious earth moving and fencing, and even then the PUBLIC ROAD will still be there, waiting for just one errant round. Find another place to shoot.
 
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1.) A properly constructed backstop or natural VERTICAL face, at least ten feet high, immediately behind the target site. As a minimum, a ten foot cut bank free of stone or berm of the same material. If you construct a trap at the target site, you still need the backstop.
2.) A fenced perimeter to the property
3.) No public uses downrange.
4.) Full visibility of the impact area.

That's my take on it.
 
Just so were clear. I was wrong with both my measurements of the backstop as well as the woods and road, and at the risk of getting snakebit, measured the height and width of the trap to 2 yards high and 4 yards wide (It will be increased, calm down). When I say rocks, I mean the rocks you find in soil. Not boulders. The distance from the rest to the road is 633 ft. Nearly 225 yards total. Of which 125 is woods. Now, Im not stupid enough (I wasn't to smart getting the measures wrong either.) to measure the woods to the road at Midnight, so I google earth'd it. The Clearing you see is the range.


Hope that clears things up.
 
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Well, this makes it a bit better, but, note the Public Road is clearly visible, and well within the effective range of a centerfire rifle. The difference between 600 feet of bullet travel and 400 feet is not relevant.

Now, let's presume your white measuring line represents the path of one bullet. Note that the line does NOT intersect the center of a single tree canopy, where the trunk is. Also, these are relatively small diameter hardwoods, probably not much of a bullet stop even if you were to hit one dead center when the sap is thick.

Again, either construct a bullet trap that guarantees total and complete capture of all rounds sent downrange, or find another place to shoot.

You've got enough property there to bulldoze a proper berm.
 
EXACTLY. Which is what I plan to do. I'm going to be making a wooden impact board where I can put targets and I will put it in front of the berm.

Welp, see you fellas later. I'm pretty tired. Like, very tired.
 
Mosin, please post your intended design on the forum, get some input. There seems to be a disconnect between your perception of safety and your plan for dealing with it. It's changing from post to post and still no details other than 'it's going to be bigger'. That may or may not mean 'safe'.
 
P'shaw, those primer craters ain't nothin'. Just softer primer material than you see in mulsurp (that, or your firing pin hole is rounding ever so slightly, which also does not matter). You should shoot a 5.7x28 some time, and see what those craters look like!

As far as shooting range, it makes a lot more sense to shoot down a hill than up it. Anything to raise your shooting position relative to that backstop will only help (a 5ft platform would make your fail-safe backstop several times more effective than if you piled another foot or two of dirt on it. A real solution may be to build a real bullet trap, using a deflection plate, to ensure rounds go down into the berm, instead of into it, off a rock, back out, and up the road at a 30deg angle sideways that misses the tree cover. FMJ rounds truly are like tennis balls; they love to bounce at shallow angles.

TCB
 
Mosin, here is a photo of a properly constructed range. The target boards to the left are at 100 yards. Note the nearly-vertical constructed berm behind the boards. It's twelve feet in height, and about 20 feet through, which is necessary to get stable slopes at that height.

Also note the beaten zone above the target boards. No matter what, no one can guarantee bullet impact in a small area.

The Jersey barriers were to reduce noise on adjacent properties, as well as keep stray rounds inside the range. Not recommending you install any, but do take a look at the berm and take heed.
 

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As much as I like that range, and I'm merely waiting for directions and an invite :p, my concern on the earlier posted range would be the SAME as my objections here if there is a road with vehicle traffic behind that backstop, on any plane where a bullet, if a bullet is aimed (unintentionally, of course) one foot -OVER- the top of that well-constructed back stop.

If a bullet aimed one foot over that back stop has a chance to take a path that might hit a vehicle (or building or people or livestock), then it's not a good or safe range.

We're looking to prevent the shooter who has an unintended discharge with his rifle "not quite yet" set in position while also trying to keep the ricochet potential down.

Consider the distance that any modern bottle-neck rifle round can/will send a bullet if it just misses the top of that backstop. Depending on trees & woods, you're looking at miles.[/b] So if there is a road just 380 feet beyond the backstop (as shown in the aerial photograph), that's where my concern lies.
 
My concern, too. Although it appears the desire to shoot is more important than the public road, to this young man. Maybe he'll get the idea a safe place to shoot is a serious project.

The range is in Custer, Washington, a few miles inland from Birch Bay, just below the Canadian line. You're welcome to drop by, just let me know so I can sponsor you for the day, it's a private range. I drive 20 miles past a public range to get there.

Pretty easy to find, just head north in Ohio to connect to US Hwy 20, follow that west about 2,000 miles to the ocean, then a bit north to the range.

You will regret taking any route other than Highway 20, through the American Alps.
 
:p Tell you what, come pick me up and I'll bring guns, ammo and gear for us to share! However, I'm much more a handgun guy, so I hope we have a good place for that, too. ;)

Hmmm. Lunch in Casper, WY?
Oh, also, let's just get this much straight: I'm not driving through Chicago. Refuse. Won't do it.
 
Several handgun bays, and a practical course. The cops leave it ankle deep in brass, should find enough to pay for your trip....

Best way to avoid Chicago, head from Ohio down to San Antonio, check out the Alamo, then cut up through Amarillo, you can get one of those big steaks for free if you eat it all, then up the plains to Little Big Horn, then cut across over a couple of little foothills called the Rockies and North Cascades, until you get your feet wet in Birch Bay.

It's a little more driving, but does avoid Chicago.
 
all i can say is that if a bullet can blast through a backer board, continue through, say, a 2 foot thick berm, and then pass 100 yards through heavy timber and still have enough energy to ricochet off a gravel bed and into oncoming traffic then that is a serious round that shouldn't be fired in a backyard shooting range anyway. seriously 12 foot tall and 20ft thick? concrete baffles? this isn't a public shooting range fellows, this is a back yard range. OP said he'll be working on expanding the berm to make it safer, I suggest we stop riding and harrassing him over it.

safety is nothing to scoff at but not all of us have a bull dozer and and 3000 pounds of concrete mix to work with here.
 
Backer boards are not a barrier. Two feet of loose dirt doesn't cut it. Bullets don't pass through 100 yards of heavy woods, they pass through the air between randomly spaced trees. There is no guarantee a bullet will hit even one tree, which was a part of his 'safety plan'. The road is nearly at the same height as a rifle muzzle.

No one said pour 3000 yards of concrete, just gave an example of a safe backstop. It's not a public range, but a private one concerned with liability.

If unable or unwilling to build a safe trap, he needs to find another place to shoot.

There's a reason why ranges don't face public roads.
 
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