This year, I’m going to learn how to build a shooting range at home. If you’ve never had the opportunity or desire to visit a local rifle and pistol club, here’s my step-by-step guide on planning your own safe practice space!

Create an area where you may practice firing your weapons to greatly improve your tactical and aim preparedness. This is when your shooting range comes into play. You will have a better understanding of the operations of your pistol by doing so. At the same time, you understand how they are seen, repaired, and so on.

Building your own shooting range is an intriguing prospect. To begin, you must choose a location that will assure you get the optimal range for your requirements. You may be learning how to operate a sniper rifle, for example. With this in mind, you may not be able to find a sniper shooting range in your area. Getting a customized shooting range for your requirements is the finest answer. So, what’s the best way to go about it?

We’ve taken care of all the grunt work for you. The following is a detailed investigation on how to construct a multipurpose shooting range. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to spend a lot of money on supplies. All you need is a little do-it-yourself knowledge.

Let’s get this party started!

Contents Table of Contents

Contents

Legalities of Shooting Ranges

There are a few things to think about if you don’t want to get in problems with the law.

Before you spend a dollar on your future gun range, make sure you properly study any local regulations to see what limits may apply. By looking through these regulations, you’ll be able to determine whether or not constructing a shooting range is legal. This way, you won’t complete your shooting range just to discover that it’s not legal in your area.

A minimum of 10 acres of property is needed to create a shooting range, and inspections of the range may be necessary before it may be used. In certain areas, a land requirement of at least two and a half acres may exist if you wish to shoot rimfire rifles on a DIY gun range.

To cut a long tale short, plenty of room is a must – no ifs, ands, or buts.

Building a Shooting Range

So you’ve discovered that having a shooting range on your property is legal. Congratulations! Let’s get down to business.

Backstop Materials and Location

The selection of a place for the home shooting range is the most significant component of the whole project. The target area must have a safe natural or man-made backstop capable of stopping any bullet fired at the target.

If you need to create a backstop, you’ll almost certainly need heavy equipment since the land’s natural features aren’t suitable for this function. You’ll need a lot of earth to make a backstop that’s tall and deep enough to securely function as a backstop for ammunition bullets to be shot into it. Make sure there’s no vacant space behind the targets in the direction you’ll be firing.

We don’t want any shots flying near the home next door.

If you don’t have a choice but to build your shooting range on an open field and a large pile of earth isn’t your cup of tea, some people create a dirt backstop that isn’t nearly as thick as is required and then construct a wall out of railroad ties in front. This creates an extremely thick wall for the bullet to breach, slowing it down quickly… Even if you’re unlikely to see a bullet pass through the ties, it’s still a good idea to maintain some soil behind the railroad wall.

For a more permanent alternative, you may use stone or construct a concrete wall… However, this may be costly.

Setting up the Targets

Let’s install the items you’ll be shooting at – targets — now that we have a backstop to keep bullets from flying about aimlessly.

Posts to Aim For

Posts to Aim For should be pretty thick (you wouldn’t want bullets eating through them after a couple of shots, would you?) and buried at a minimum of 3 feet beneath the ground. Fill the hole around the poles with concrete and allow it to cure completely before attaching your targets.

Keep your target’s weight and proportions in mind as well. To prevent haywire bullets, your target should fit properly on the pole and not exceed the width or length of the pole.

Support Boards with a Specific Goal

Each target may be built as a separate component of your DIY shooting range, or a series of target holders can be connected together (fence style) for extra consistency and stability.

Plywood or sheet metal are the materials used to fasten the support boards to the posts. If you’re using plywood, it’s best to choose pressure-treated boards that are at least a half-inch thick for greater lifespan.

PVC Target Stands on Wheels

Making a more portable PVC alternative for low caliber bullets and bow practice might be beneficial. The following are some advantages:

  • It may be set up in a variety of locations around the gun range to enable for short-range practice.
  • When necessary, it puts up a young shooter training area.
  • Frugality – They won’t last forever, but they’re inexpensive and simple to create, and they’ll get you on the new range immediately.

Targets

The most fascinating element of constructing a backyard shooting range is creating targets. If you want to go the simple approach, just attach some store-bought paper targets to your wooden supports and start shooting.

You may also make DIY targets that are more challenging and fascinating. These are the ones that react to being struck by moving and even exploding.

A Shooting Range’s Top 6 Homemade Target Options

You may select from a variety of handmade target alternatives. Knowing them will assist you in determining which option is best for you. The following are the top six we discovered:

Bottles or jugs made of plastic

To imitate a moving target, they are filled with colored water that is either connected to the target supports or left to hang freely.

Tannerite

Our preferred sort of target is tannerite. Learn how to properly combine the low-level explosive and pour it into a jug, animal decoy, aluminum can, or just about anything else you might shoot a round into if it’s permissible in your region.

Balloons

They may be used as fixed or moving targets when filled with sand, water, or colored water.

Branches of trees

On a DIY shooting range, a tree branch attached to a rope from two robust posts connected by a support board across the top produces a great moving target.

Pumpkins

Place pumpkins (or similar, but smaller produce if you are skilled enough) at the top of Posts to Aim For. Pumpkin shooting is a great way to teach children gun safety. It can mimic the devastating effect that a bullet could have on a person if a bullet goes awry.

Metal Scrap

Metal Scrap can also be turned into extremely durable targets. Make sure the depth of the material is not so thin that it is destroyed quickly and there is little chance of a round ricocheting.

Bench for the Shooting Range

You can invest a few hundred dollars into a Bench for the Shooting Range, or make one yourself for a fraction of the price. Picnic tables make a decent starter multi-purpose range bench.

You can also make a shooting range stand by using cinder blocks as supports for a piece of plywood cut to fit as a tabletop and just pulling up an outdoor chair to sit on.

Conclusion

To establish your own shooting range, you’ll need to do some preliminary study into your local laws and regulations. You’ll need the correct land, as well as some basic construction skills and a natural or man-made backstop. With a little elbow work and a little money, you’ll never have to pay another range fee again.

Please note that this shooting range guide is intended for most rifles that are used on two acres or more of land. We urge that you extensively research the laws of creating a shooting range in your backyard for your own and others’ safety.

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