Anyone "built" their own berm/range?

[maroonandwhite]

I am hoping to build myself a small range with a earth berm within the next year and am hoping to get some opinions on it and hopefully an idea of cost. I have no idea how much dirt will be needed or what dirt costs for that matter. I am thinking 8-10 ft high would be about right. I'll be the only one shooting most of the time and if someone else does it will be controlled. No IDPA or anything. Mainly just sighting and plinking. Too high or not high enough?

[2.ooohhh]

We made our own when I was younger, 10-12 foot high in a rough "U" shape. All it cost us back then was some time and diesel for the bobcat and the tractor, the dirt was previously arranged as motocross whoops and jumps in the same field.

[Guest StorminMormon]

I've always thought about digging down on a slope to about 3 or 4 feet down at the berm, that way you would have the first 3-4 feet done, and you could just use the dirt to build it up another 6 or so feet.... If that makes sense :)

[gregintenn]

When we dug our basement, I had the loader guy dump one load of dirt where I wanted a backstop. It has worked well for almost 12 years now. I don't have a good picture of it handy, but I set two poles in concrete in front of it, and framed my target backing to the poles. Probably 8' wide x 8' long x 5' high.

[peejman]

If you can't dig a hole or flatten a hill to get the dirt, you'll probably need at least 2 dump truck loads.  The size of the hill is depended on the distance you'll be shooting.  Longer range = bigger berm. 

[maroonandwhite]

Yea I'd love to have a professional range quality berm but that may not be in the cards depending on cost. Unfortunately I don't have anywhere I can or want to pull dirt from on the property. Thankfully its flat. I should be able to get a dirt truck back to it though.

 

Edit. Probably 100-130 yards max shooting distance. I'd say 100 though. The problem if you want to call it that is that Hwy 840 is directly behind my 3 acre lot. Albeit up a small hill.

Edited November 11, 2014 by maroonandwhite

[maroonandwhite]

I wouldn't have an issue getting a dozer out there and pushing a grade down into a dirt mound but there are flat rocks the size of my car in the ground back there and I just don't see them moving easily.  :pleased:

[none]

If you dig down don't forget to put in drain tiles or some means for the water to run off. I forgot to do that and ended up with a small lake. I have since put in drain tiles.

[Dennis1209]

We need to raise our berms from about 10 feet to 12 feet to meet Tennessee requirements for HCP qualifications for shooting ranges. For FOUR small shooting bay berms our estimates were in the thousands to raise them just a couple of feet?

 

If it were me, I'd rent a back hoe and do it yourself and call it good if you can get your dirt by landscaping your own property. Again if it were me, I'd be awful nervous having "anyone" over shooting if an errant bullet missed the berm / back stop and there was people / property with in a couple of miles. We all know we're responsible for what occurs on our property.

 

I thought about doing the exact same thing on my property and weighed the pro's and cons. Based on my perceived liability and the cowboys I shoot with, the con's won out.

 

Choose carefully?

[Mike.357]

i got a litle range out front in the woods.   I built it from logs and dirt I scavenged out of the woods nearby.  Some dirt came from a big hole I dug.  I add to it always.  When I end up with a wheel barrow load of crud I throw it on top.   I built it on the bottom of a decent quick rise of a hill.  It is about 10 feet across by four feet high.  from where I shoot it is at least six feet high.  

 

Now if I was going to start from scratch on flat ground I'd be prepared to spend some money.  I dunno about dirt, but but I recently had a tri axle load of driveway gravel delivered.  It was 400 beans for 22 tons.  It was a helluva huge pile.  You could make a good range backstop out of it.   You can shovel that much gravel if you are not scared of work.  

 

Gravel makes a great backstop for bewlitts.  And add yard waste to it as you go.

 

And i may be wrong but dirt ain't dirt cheap, bet it costs more than gravel and is more dense. so less of a pile per dollar

[Patton]

If you want to buy soil and have it delivered a good price is about $15-$30 per cubic yard. A good sifted soil is $30 a yard or about $450 for a full tandem load. However it will be fluffy and lose volume once settled. An unsifted soil straight from the field is harder to move but will not settle near as much. You can move sifted soil with a broom but it takes a shuffle to move the unsifted? Field dirt will cost you pretty much the price for delivery. I used to deliver 4.5 cubic yards of fill on a 1 ton Chevrolet dump for $50 within 10 miles of home base.

To have sand delivered will cost about $40-50 a yard and they can only legally put about 15cu yards on a tandem. You could get mulch and do it for a lot less, but it may not work as well or last forever. Have you thought about crossties or logs for a flat wall with soil behind it? Many years from now you could burn the logs and reclaim some lead? Edited November 12, 2014 by Patton

[Patton]

.
 
And i may be wrong but dirt ain't dirt cheap, bet it costs more than gravel and is more dense. so less of a pile per dollar

Did Cheaper Than Dirt give you that Idea?

A cubic yard of soil straight from the ground weighs about a ton. Depending on the size of the rocks or gravel you are looking at about 2700-3200 lbs per cubic yard. Sand will weigh about the same. Gravel and good soil was pretty close to the same price when I was in the buisness. Fill dirt, which should work for building a berm, should be a quarter of the cost. I recommend calling a trucking company rather than a nursery.

[Mike.357]

I dunno about cubic yards..  I bought a tri axle dump truck load of driveway gravel from a local supplier. You ever heard of Claiborne?   their driver spread a load over 100 yards long on my driveway and then dumped the balance.  it was 400 bucks for 22 tons.   I had a huge pile of gravel that he dumped.  It is more than enough to make a decent backstop for shooting. 

Hardly buying from nursery.

[runco]

May not be the prettiest, but what about sand, or sand bags?  Just googled it, and saw this:

 

Here is some good info:

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-611279.html

 

[url=http://s963.photobucket.com/user/runco0318/media/backstop_zps8f358a10.jpg.html][/URL]

Edited November 12, 2014 by Runco

[Erik88]

I wanted to share something that is slightly off topic but still relevant. This past weekend I visited an outdoor range in Lakeland FL. When I got there the rifle range was closed. I started a conversation with the RO and he told me that they were having to tear down and rebuild the berms. Apparently so much lead has been shot into these berms over the years that there was essentially no dirt left. Because of this, they had a few very close calls as ricochets came back at the shooters. 

 

They are having to send all the dirt through these big machines to sort out the lead. Once they are done they will rebuild them with new dirt/sand. Think about the environmental impact too. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to assume the lead is getting into the ground water.

 

Anyways, the moral of the story is that if you are planning on shooting a LOT in a small area of dirt you may want to consider adding more dirt every few years just to be safe. You don't want to get to the point that rounds are coming back at your face.

[tnguy]

Actually there have been studies and the lead from bullets shot at ranges is not leaching into the ground water and has very low migration at all. I don't have the links but it should be easily googleable (the government was hoping to have a reason to shut things down, of course. Which they would do in a second was it happening).

Edited November 12, 2014 by tnguy

[runco]

I once asked a similar question about where does the lead go:

 

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/46512-where-does-all-that-lead-go/?hl=%2Bsporting+%2Bclays+%2Bcourse

[penguincomp]

I used railroad ties for a backstop on my pistol range.

[peejman]

I used railroad ties for a backstop on my pistol range.

 

I hope they're covered with a couple feet of dirt.  Bullets bounce off wood.