Planning a Range... Ideas?

So I’m going to have some heavy equipment work done on my home site and have a road cut in. I figured I may as well push up a short pistol range berm. The brother in law can get RR ties as a backer. So the question is…

If you have a range at home what do you wish you did differently? Do you have something unique that just works? I like seeing other set ups and getting ideas. Thanks for the help guys!

The virgin site…

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Looks flat . I used a hill side to cut down on dirt work and have a half mile of timber behind that .

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It’s the only flat spot really, everything else runs downhill into a ‘holler’, so good for shooting rifles. A short pistol range is all I need so I don’t have to tromp through ticks. I can use plenty of hills like you did.
I’m looking for other other’s experiences like what do you wish you had done while you had the equipment out? Straight berm or U-shaped? I need ideas!

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I have a friend that put a double wall of rail road ties on the back wall off his shop so he can use it all year and when it rains. If you have people close I would go with the u shape with 20 foot high berm.

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You can also set some 4x4 posts, hang tires over them and fill the tires with dirt…will last for many years and easy to rebuild…

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That’s a good idea to run past the father in law. We are going in together on this.

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Also an excellent idea. I have access to unlimited railroad ties for free so that will probably be my choice to push the fill up against. There are folks around but not within the legal distance so I’m pretty free to place it where we want. I don’t think I’ll do 20ft high though as the land rolls downhill and then uphill for a few hundred feet- all woods. I’ll let nature work to my advantage!

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A U shaped range will also allow shooting in more than one direction.
Very helpful for pistol and carbine practice.
If you want something really cool, add an internal berm to the U.
Breaking up the range into separate rooms allows for some fancy practice, like house clearing and such.

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^ Pretty much exactly what I had planned to do when we move to the country.

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Spread chat on the area you will be using to shoot so it will be easier to pick-up brass and you can spray it one time a year for weeds it will cut down on mowing.

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I would say a U shaped berm would be a good idea. That way you can train in more ways than just straight forward.

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Don’t mean to derail this thread but how’d you manage to swing unlimited free rr ties? I need a bunch and they’re not that cheap out here?

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@ThisOldGun, that’s a real nice looking piece of property good luck with your project!

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It’s the acquisition of the ties that causes the derailment.

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Now THAT is funny. Finally a good pun around here.

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That, I think, is actually Roberts point. I just took it from the way his mind puts it together and translated it into English.

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Unfortunately the lawn will have to be sullied. I’ll bring it back though.

Thanks everyone! It seems like U-shaped is the consensus. I’m kind of sold on it, plus I just talked to the builder today and I can come in under budget so I’m not concerned about a muddy mess, I can buy gravel of some sort I’m thinking.

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I have a range also and I think a good gravel base is the way to go. I suggest the top layer where the brass falls be a finer gravel and maybe even roll it. Millings work great but the object is to easily pick up the brass- I like to use a brass retriever by Caldwell. Your back will thank you!

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I’ve done several shoot houses and other scenarios in the military. My time doing that is over. Lots of fun but I don’t have the space for it. Maybe one day!

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