I wanna build a berm....

[The Plainsman]

or some type of shooting backstop. I'm hoping that there are enough engineers on this forum that someone can give me a little guidance.

I live in an unincorporated area of my county, on 3 1/2 acres - roughly 400' x 400'. I shoot both handguns and rifles, being able to get a little over 100 yards out.

I currently have a shooting backstop that is a combination of railroad ties (3 layers thick and about 4 1/2' high) with a 4' x 5' piece of 5/8" T1 armored steel behind part of the ties, leaning at about a 30 degree angle to deflect bullets downward. The ties are laid out about 10' long, so there are 3 layers of ties 10 ' long by 4 1/2' high with the steel plate behind about 4' of it. Ties are replaced as they get "shot up".

There are 1 1/2 miles of open pasture (belonging to a neighbor) behind my backstop, with about 40 head of cattle grazing in it. When the cattle are anywhere close to the line of fire in the pasture, there is no shooting. When there are any people in the pasture ANYWHERE, there is no shooting. There have been NO incidents with this set-up.

I've been using this arrangment for about 15 years, but for my neighbor's and my own peace of mind, I'd like to build a "real" backstop. I envision an earthen berm about 15' or 20' long by 8' to 10' high, but I've also considered a railroad tie "box" filled with gravel, of similar size.

My question to you, my friends, is this - what would be your recommendations for some type of backstop of approximately the dimensions described above?

I'd like to build this in an hour for a total cost of $5. Knowing that's unlikely, I'm open for suggestions. Whaddaya think?

P.S. This range is strictly for my own use and my occasional guests. And my neighbor does come over and shoot from time to time.

 

[gifted]

Sounds good. If you want to save money, you can use your railroad ties to build a retaining wall, and pile the dirt against that. I think that would use less dirt, and therefore be a bit cheaper.

 

[VaughnT]

The depth of the berm at the level of bullet impact is most important. At our club, the berms are approximately twelve feet thick at the base and nine feet tall. There isn't any intentionaly-placed solid material in the middle of the berm, but I would think that old tires coved with dirt would make for a quick-to-build berm. A lot of shoot-houses are nothing more than tires stacked into walls.

 

[steveno]

make sure that you invite your neighbor over once in awhile to shoot also. you definitely need to keep on his good side otherwise a complaint to the county commissioners will get you shut down for sure. you might also think about putting some baffles down range to make sure that all bullets are going into the berm.