In-Home Shooting Range?

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ghengis86

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Has anybody considered constructing their own indoor shooting range in their basement? Length is an issue most likely, but it would be a good, cheap option over the range.

Also, noise/sound could be an issue if you're in a residential area. Although a .22 is the same as a RamSet and not too obnoxious. Ventilation probably should be considered. Backstop is probably the most important, and shielding of the structure (ricochet).

If I ever build another house, I would probably pour an extra wall or hallway in the basement (or possible extension to the foundation), reinforce the ceiling and put in some sort of protection (metal, fabric, combo, etc.) on the walls and ceiling, add a couple over-sized fart fans, lights, and a backstop with steel plating installed at a downward angle with a sand/fabric catch basin.

I don't know, just day dreaming as its getting colder and wetter outside!

THoughts?
 
I saw one that was made out of concrete pipe buried in the ground. One end of the pipe was in the basement and the other was out in the yard. To change the targets, they had an electric motor and the targets were in a roll. They could just press the button in the basement and the target would roll up while another one was unrolling. I believe the pipe was 100 yards long and the diameter was about three foot. Might be expensive to buy the pipe, I'm not sure about that.

Edit: Just checked the price of the pipe and it's very expensive and heavy. I guess it's out of the question.
 
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Dr.3D said:
I saw one that was made out of concrete pipe buried in the ground. One end of the pipe was in the basement and the other was out in the yard. To change the targets, they had an electric motor and the targets were in a roll. They could just press the button in the basement and the target would roll up while another one was unrolling. I believe the pipe was 100 yards long and the diameter was about three foot. Might be expensive to buy the pipe, I'm not sure about that.

Edit: Just checked the price of the pipe and it's very expensive and heavy. I guess it's out of the question.
Click to expand...

~$74/lin ft for 36" from this site: http://www.ncp-inc.com/price1.html

So 100ft would be $7,400. Figure $8k with accessories. Yeah, a bit pricey and not worth it. Gotta be a cheaper way! If you're pouring walls for a foundation and it's part of a house that's costing a ton, a few grand extra for a range might make sense.

Concrete block perhaps? Corrugated metal panels? those are cheap. hmm...i'll keep thinking.
 
Stacked sheets of OSB/plywood for a backstop? Cut 4x8 sheets in half to 4x4. Maybe put a layer of some sort of fabric in between wood layers? Would probably work well for .22.

Or build an 'end of range' box with 4x8 plywood to catch ricochets and put the 4x4 backstop at the end.
 
I did it all the time in the basement as a kid , used flat nose lead .17 Cal pellets shot into a heavy corragated box and a 3/4 plywood sheet behind that.Also had darts for those rifles Had an archery target too , just used a box for the blow gun.Dart board , ping pong table, sling shot target , huge chunk of tree for the tomahawk target, fusball....
 
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Dr.3D said:
I saw one that was made out of concrete pipe buried in the ground. One end of the pipe was in the basement and the other was out in the yard. To change the targets, they had an electric motor and the targets were in a roll. They could just press the button in the basement and the target would roll up while another one was unrolling. I believe the pipe was 100 yards long and the diameter was about three foot. Might be expensive to buy the pipe, I'm not sure about that.

Edit: Just checked the price of the pipe and it's very expensive and heavy. I guess it's out of the question.
Click to expand...

I saw one just like this, except the targets were put out there via a pulley just like a normal Indore range and there was a stack of sandbags at the end. This was a retro-fit to an existing house.

I also worked in a lab were we used old steam tunnels as the firing range. This was a bit different as we were firing up to 20mm projectiles via a reconciles rifle (A Mann Gun Mount) and at velocities you would never see in real life. How we caught projectiles isn't really relative as it entailed cotton batting and other materials that are extremely expensive, but standardized going back decades. That was so, in some cases, we could measure how far what shrapnel pieces penetrated.

For a home setup, the cement pipe sounds good, or cinder blocks filled with concrete. For a 3'x3' square tunnel, I would not imagine it would cost that much. Umm, $1.37 per block (Lowes), so that's about $10 a foot for 2 walls and you would still need a ceiling, a floor and the cement filling for the blocks. Gravel is probably your best floor, for drainage. So we are talking what? About $20-25 per foot of tunnel/firing range?

-t
 
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Save whatever money you're thinking about spending to put a range in a suburban setting and apply it to moving.
 
tod evans said:
Save whatever money you're thinking about spending to put a range in a suburban setting and apply it to moving.
Click to expand...

Good advice but probably not practical for sone. I like being in the boonies where full auto can be heard in the evenings. My town is a small, farming community with a lot of hunters and sportsman. Nobody bats an eye if you open carry and nobody calls the cops for simply hearing a quick succession of .30-06 rounds.

But even out here, it still gets cold, wet and snowy this time of year and shooting outdoors is not ideal.

Just got an idea driving by a house/range (had forgotten since it was outside). Railroad ties! He's got them stacked into a wall with a large earth berm behind it. Thick heavy wood with a piece of folded metal running through the center. That would stop higher caliber rounds with ease. Cutting into manageable sections might prove a little difficult, but they could probably be had for cheap.
 
What about corrugated metal as used in some storm drains and to build quansut(sp?) huts? It's also used to build bunkers and bomb shelters and connecting tunnels in missile silos. The downside of springing a leak if a round penetrated the metal could be mitigated by burying it in concrete.

er - scratch that. It's more expensive than concrete, but also possible to find used.

Piping, storm drain, 36" dia, 20'L, 12ga, CMP, bitum ctd Detail $ 95.31 / LF

http://www.allcostdata.info/browse.html/027642000/Corrugated-metal-pipe,-galvanized-and-coated

-t
 
The corrugated flat panels for the ceiling are probably the way to go, like in the vid above (and he had tall ceilings with steel I-beams. Must be a huge house or structure!)

Wonder if something like FR welding curtains would make for good shielding? Probably pretty prcey though. i
 
ghengis86 said:
But even out here, it still gets cold, wet and snowy this time of year and shooting outdoors is not ideal.
Click to expand...

100 yard,, or even 25 yard basements are pretty impractical too.
But what about a whole nother idea. Build a small shootin' shack.. (Like an Ice Fishing shack)

A small shelter with a bench and heat,,and a window on the range...
You would only have to go out in the weather to change targets.
 
pcosmar said:
100 yard,, or even 25 yard basements are pretty impractical too.
But what about a whole nother idea. Build a small shootin' shack.. (Like an Ice Fishing shack)

A small shelter with a bench and heat,,and a window on the range...
You would only have to go out in the weather to change targets.
Click to expand...

Good idea! Those pop up blinds and fishing shantys have come a long way. Throw in a little propane heater and you'd be set. Keeps you warm, protects the firearm from rain/snow, etc. I built a 6x6 storage shed for ~$350 with 2x4 framing, OSB sheathing and a couple bundles of shingles. Cut out a window and build a rest and you'd be set.
 
ghengis86 said:
I've never used air soft guns. Would they be a good training tool for marksmanship?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Motor movements are the same, you just deal with less recoil. There's a reason the cops are training with them. Airsoft guns are available as full-size replicas of the real thing too, nearly every model is available in various configurations.
 
pacelli said:
Absolutely. Motor movements are the same, you just deal with less recoil. There's a reason the cops are training with them. Airsoft guns are available as full-size replicas of the real thing too, nearly every model is available in various configurations.
Click to expand...

I recently got one of these for dry fire practice.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NKY23E

It serves a similar purpose, and it allows me to use the very same gun I fire live rounds out of. Again, it doesn't take the place of them because of the lack of recoil. But it does let you practice the motion and see results with a dot on the wall without spending money on ammo.
 
pacelli said:
Absolutely. Motor movements are the same, you just deal with less recoil. There's a reason the cops are training with them. Airsoft guns are available as full-size replicas of the real thing too, nearly every model is available in various configurations.
Click to expand...

Cops (as a rule) don't shoot worth a shit.. they just blast away at a general area.

Are Airsoft barrels rifled? I did not think they were.

They are also useless for varying bullet weights and powder charges..
They would be fun just for "trigger time" and recreation,, but not for accurate shooting.
 
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