Ive got a space that I want to shoot the crap out of.

No long range stuff. Just CQB. Maybe a 200' x 200' clearing, but its RIGHT UP NEXT to the road.

Whats a cheap and easy way of building some berm backstops aside from just a stupid pile of dirt.

Was thinking about using auger to punch a few holes for two wood posts and hammering a couple pieces of plywood on either side to make a cavity wall and then in-filling it with dirt. Serves as a place to hang targets. Then a big pile of dirt behind it. Probably tear the crap out of the plywood in short order however...

Any better thoughts?

How many tires can you get?

Ive read that .22 will bounce off a tire from time to time.

Sandbags?

My son is working on a design for a small, indoor range.

It's going to have some form of bullet trap.

Tag

Sand in a box will stop bullets. I got my idea for my small backyard backstop from the box'o'truth, I used a sheet of 3/4" pressure treated plywood, ripped it in half to make two 4'x4' squares, used 2"x 2x10"x8's cut to 4' lengths, built the box with plywood screwed into the 2x10s, giving me a box 4'x4'x11.5" with a 9"ish wide hollow middle. I carried the box to its home, put it up on leveled cinder blocks to get the height where I wanted it (raised it 12" above grade), and started dumping sand into it. It took a lot of sand, and the plywood does flex a hair, but it has held for two years. As you shoot it, it will develop holes and leak. I just add another sheet of 1/4" plywood every once in a while, and make sure I'm not hanging all my targets in the same exact spot. It isn't the best in the world, but for my own personal at home use, I like it.

I will add, that beyond my shooting position is ABOVE the target, and the ground continues to slope downwards in a valley, and I can see anything coming or going, should I somehow punch through the box, I still know where my rounds are going.

I've debated building a bigger version like you mention, with 6x6 posts and adding 2x4's to them to get the 10"ish inches of thickness for the filler (sand), but there are some flaws, mostly they involve people shooting the posts and not the sand, the sand being a pain to refill on a larger scale, and a pretty ugly shooting position.

I'm also interested in folks thoughts on a larger scale setup, but will advise that you don't put your range in a position that a road falls behind it. Its asking for problems.

Be extremely careful... bullets do weird shit... they WILL leave your area regardless of what you use. Sounds like you simply do not have the space available to shoot safely.

Your plywood wall won't last at all. Tires stacked properly then filled with dirt might work good for a while but low velocity bullets can ricochet... ask me how I know. Bullets will ride up and out of a dirt berm.

What kind of budget do you have?

(<--- Just found out I can use these for links)

Build your wall/berm in a horse shoe fashion for a 270 degree if you can on the outside perimeter.   Then build an inner wall at least 4' thick full of dirt.  Replace dirt/wood as need as you will shoot it up.


CD

Oh I would probably spend $2,000 to get it right.

Rgr that

Interesting topic!

Have nothing to add on the construction side, but have you thought about maybe some kinda road detectors? They detect a passing car or person and maybe light a red light or something? Just spitballing...

I wouldn't waste my time making a box out of old railroad ties filled with dirt.  A friend of mine did, worked ok for a while but in cold weather 22 rimfire would bounce back and after a while the area on the front that got shot a lot, had a blow-out.  The whole thing had to be torn down and rebuilt.(thank goodness for a skid steer,