Does anyone have a link to "How to Built a Pistol/Rifle Range on my Land?"

I live out in East Texas on 10ac. Adjoining property has a couple horses on it. There is a road about 400 yds beyond.

Neighbor has a pistol/rifle bay constructed with railroad ties. The backstop is three layers of RR ties. I know that will stop pistol rounds but I am hesitant w rifle rounds. I think he's crazy for not building it a bit stronger.


I want mine to be pistol and occasional .223 rounds on steel targets at close range/standing/moving.


Any suggestions or links to threads on specifications how tall/wide/thick for the walls?

I have seen tires stacked up and filled with dirt and t posts to hold in place. This allows less area needed for 8' type berm do to soil spreading.

CanyonAg77 said:

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I can't imagine a rifle round penetrating even one railroad tie. They are at least 8x8. The only reason I would even bother with a 2nd layer is to offset it to cover gaps

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Yep, a quick glance at the googler machine says they are 8' x 7" x 9" so depending on how you lay them you'd have from 21"-27" of dense wood to stop bullets.

I guess if you had enough of them and you were laying 3 of them end to end you could have 24'. That is a MF Barnes level backstop right there!

Not sure...I can barely do routine repairs around my house. But can we have a Texags pow-pow when it's all finished???

Times like this when you wish you knew a guy with a dozer!

thank you for the suggestions.

The problem with plain dirt berms can be the angle of the face and ricochets. Try shooting suppressed and you will be amazed at the number of rounds that fly off into space from a regular berm. Normally you have no idea this is happening because muzzle blast covers it up. I think the best backstop is a combination of RR ties and a dirt berm. Build the berm up about 2/3 to 3/4 the height you want then place the RR ties lying on the top in a row with ends facing the shooter and sticking out about 4' over the berm face. Lay two or three ties at right angle to the first ones and across the back so they act as counter weight to the unsupported overhang. Add more dirt to the berm to cover the back end of the ties being careful not to get any weight on the unsupported part. I add two feet or so. Place your targets as close to the face of the berm as you can, preferably even with the end of the overhanging RR ties. This is a pretty safe setup, especially for 10 acres which a round can cross fast. I can assure you after shooting for a while you will find some bullets in the underside of those RR ties.

txrancher69 said:

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The problem with plain dirt berms can be the angle of the face and ricochets. Try shooting suppressed and you will be amazed at the number of rounds that fly off into space from a regular berm. Normally you have no idea this is happening because muzzle blast covers it up. I think the best backstop is a combination of RR ties and a dirt berm. Build the berm up about 2/3 to 3/4 the height you want then place the RR ties lying on the top in a row with ends facing the shooter and sticking out about 4' over the berm face. Lay two or three ties at right angle to the first ones and across the back so they act as counter weight to the unsupported overhang. Add more dirt to the berm to cover the back end of the ties being careful not to get any weight on the unsupported part. I add two feet or so. Place your targets as close to the face of the berm as you can, preferably even with the end of the overhanging RR ties. This is a pretty safe setup, especially for 10 acres which a round can cross fast. I can assure you after shooting for a while you will find some bullets in the underside of those RR ties.

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You can get ricochets off piles of packed dirt? Not doubting you at all, that just amazes me.

Hey realtors, do land owners have to disclose this environmental hazard when selling the property?

I'm not kidding either, I know when we do Phase I ESA stuff for commercial this comes up. Not sure if private sales would require clean up or discourse.

OnlyForNow said:

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Hey realtors, do land owners have to disclose this environmental hazard when selling the property?

I'm not kidding either, I know when we do Phase I ESA stuff for commercial this comes up. Not sure if private sales would require clean up or discourse.

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Unless you eat a spoonful of lead before shooting, an outdoor range will never be toxic enough to hurt you.

I'm sure the EPA will have some regulation telling you differently, but that's just typical govt

This was a topic on the board recently, only it was from the viewpoint a buyer(?). IIRC the thread was majority stop signs about disclosures, remediation and Phase 1's

Someone can correct me but it gave me pause over building a range in our place anymore sophisticated than a paper target lol

I'm sure others will chime in and maybe link that thread.


That said, I've hunted a buddies place many times and their "range" is RR and a dirt dam and those ties haven't been replaced in over 20 years. It's not a high volume range but it's seen plenty of use. I'd do the same myself

Lead leaches into the soil and into ground water.
That's been proven a bunch of times.

I'm trying to help a guy out, so he doesn't cause himself an issue down the line if he ever wants to sell and his 'range' comes up.

Yes and yes. We have cleaned up a few.

Thank you sir.

OnlyForNow said:

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Hey realtors, do land owners have to disclose this environmental hazard when selling the property?

I'm not kidding either, I know when we do Phase I ESA stuff for commercial this comes up. Not sure if private sales would require clean up or discourse.

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I'm not sure they have to disclose it or not. I haven't come across this issue. The only line in the seller's disclosure notice that may be pertinent is the one that states is the seller aware of "Any condition on the Property which materially affects the physical health or safety of an individual."

CanyonAg77 said:

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I can't imagine a rifle round penetrating even one railroad tie. They are at least 8x8. The only reason I would even bother with a 2nd layer is to offset it to cover gaps

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Just for the record, a standard 7.62x39 will zip through a full size creosote telephone pole at 100 yards like its not there. A garand round will do the same to the largest pine tree you can find.

Dirt or wood backed by dirt are your best bets.

An established range should be disclosed. RCRA is no joke. The disclosure is primarily CYA. The casual use is not likely to raise levels above regulatory limits but heavy use or use over a number of years has. The ties don't help your case either.

Your standard tie is made from hardwood. Primary oak. Very different than pine but you should still back the berm with dirt. You do not want under any circumstances a projectile leaving your property.

CS78 said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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I can't imagine a rifle round penetrating even one railroad tie. They are at least 8x8. The only reason I would even bother with a 2nd layer is to offset it to cover gaps

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Just for the record, a standard 7.62x39 will zip through a full size creosote telephone pole at 100 yards like its not there. A garand round will do the same to the largest pine tree you can find.

Dirt or wood backed by dirt are your best bets.

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The Demolition Ranch guys have a good video of the 7.62x39 vs telephone pole.

Lo siento... double post.

CS78 said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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I can't imagine a rifle round penetrating even one railroad tie. They are at least 8x8. The only reason I would even bother with a 2nd layer is to offset it to cover gaps

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Just for the record, a standard 7.62x39 will zip through a full size creosote telephone pole at 100 yards like its not there. A garand round will do the same to the largest pine tree you can find.

Dirt or wood backed by dirt are your best bets.

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I am anything but a wood expert. But aren't telephone poles made of soft wood like pine. While railroad ties are made out of hardwoods like oak?

So Hickok45 must really be doing damage to the water supply of Kentucky right?

OnlyForNow said:

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Lead leaches into the soil and into ground water.
That's been proven a bunch of times.

I'm trying to help a guy out, so he doesn't cause himself an issue down the line if he ever wants to sell and his 'range' comes up.

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I write Phase I reports for a living. I'm not worried about the environmental issues.

Commercial range is a whole other problem.

Wood in general won't stop anything for very long. Using railroad ties is a waste of time.

Second, don't use tires in a berm. I shot myself in the chest once with a 255 grn 45 Colt shooting into a berm I didn't know was dirt piled on tires. The bullet hit the tire and rebounded right back at me from 10 yards. Left a mark and landed at my feet. Could have been worse, but this is common with pistol rounds.

Third, there is a concept known as the Armored Berm. Basicly bullets and fragments build up in a dirt berm over time with use. A high speed bullet enters and ejects one of these bullets or fragments out at high speed. The bullets can come out too. DPS in Austin had to rebuild their berms when someone walking down the street was hit by a frag ejected from their firing range.

If you have never seen live fire at night with tracers, look up some video online. It's very educational.

How would berm construction change if you wanted to make one for 22LR?

This thread has been educational but I have some questions.

First of all, it sounds like any type of home range is going to require some maintenance over time. That makes sense.

My first question is regarding handguns vs rifles. Handgun bullet energy is much less in general so it would seem that a simple earth berm with enough area around it would suffice to keep those on your property. Would this be correct?

My second question is about rifles. Specifically, 5.56/.223 vs larger grain bullets that have 2 or more times the mass. 5.56/.223 rounds are high velocity but low mass and their energy dissipates much more quickly than larger bullets like a .308 or 30-06 for example. For that type of round it would seem that some type of temporary wood structure to hold your target would help that energy dissipate within the berm area. Something you could replace easily and often. Wouldn't that work?

I keep hearing people talking about seeing tracer rounds flying around but what calibers are you talking about?

ntxVOL said:

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For that type of round it would seem that some type of temporary wood structure to hold your target would help that energy dissipate within the berm area. Something you could replace easily and often. Wouldn't that work?

I keep hearing people talking about seeing tracer rounds flying around but what calibers are you talking about?

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Yes, it would also destabilize the bullet, making anything it hits likely penetrate less.

On the tracers its the usual military calibers 5.56 and 7.62x51. If you want to see for yourself, get some Federal XM856. Its relatively cheap and a blast to shoot right at dark at longer ranges. It flys off at crazy angles when it touches anything. But part of that is because tracers are hollow, less dense, and usually a MUCH longer projectile. They destabilize much easier than a standard round.

A training class I went to had railroad ties stacked horizontally into two walls, spaced about 2' apart with sand in between. These were the walls of their live fire house.