Ideas for range set up

[deckhandmike]

[Whiterabbit]

T fence posts with hangers and steels. Nothing to do about fire safety other than shoot when the grass is green or its been raining.

[deckhandmike]

I’m thinking the t post idea with a tire around the target to help contain bullet fragments and dig a bare spot out around behind it. Or will I need the target hanging from a chain so it swings and I can spot a hit better at say 1000 yards?

[elk hunter]

Bare mineral soil is fire safe.

[Preston-CLB]

Bare mineral soil is fire safe.

This is best. Take a weed whacker and cut the grass as close as you can. Take a McCleod tool and scrape down to bare soil.

Ideally, you would have a hillside to use as a backstop. Weed whack and area of that, too.

Make cleared area big enough to contain bullets and bullet fragments.
-P

[deckhandmike]

Alright, bare dirt it is. Sounds easiest and cheapest. Now what kind of steel targets? Those that mount right on a t post or hanging? Ideally 1000 yards and I don’t think being mounted firmly on t post will give me any reaction.

[50BMGBOB]

Electronic acoustic targets are priced down to the $800-900 range (not cheap, but not crazy either). That allows a wood frame and paper target. It would give you instant feed back, group size and even chrono the load at target. It even can tell you some times which way of target you are, high or low, right or left. They work as long as the bullet is still supersonic at target. I have the ShotMarker system and it works great but there are several others as well.

[deckhandmike]

I’d like to keep this around 500$ for maybe two larger targets so I’m thinking steel. I should be able to stretch out a mile or so. Will a 36”x36” be large enough for an average shooter or would 24”x24” be better? I’ve never shot that far. Will be using 6.5 Creedmoor and .300 win mag. Figure I can always move closer when I realize how bad of a shot I am.

[audiophil2]

I use a round 18 plate setup from hangfast calguns vendor. It rings like a bell and can be heard out to 1200 yards with electronic ear pro. I have heard it at one mile but it requires wind coming at you.

If you stay over 700 yards you can use a thin plate. My 1/2 inch barely moves at 1 mile.

Clear a 15x15 splash zone around each plate.

My Caldwell target cam works to one mile.

[FeuerFrei]

Alright, bare dirt it is. Sounds easiest and cheapest. Now what kind of steel targets? Those that mount right on a t post or hanging? Ideally 1000 yards and I don’t think being mounted firmly on t post will give me any reaction.

I use 8" to 18" swinging 3/8" AR500 stuff on my range. Only 400yds tho. I also dug out some old used disc blades of the 10" and 16" variety for hand gun practice. I put those in old tires to check the spawl and makes them easy to move around.

*I also use bags of salt to sterilize the ground to avoid over growth/weeding/mowing etc..
Looks like a redneck airstrip now.

[deckhandmike]

By thin you mean like 3/8 AR550? Thanks Audiophil, this is the kinda info I’m looking for.

Good tip on the salt FeuerFrei. The rancher doesn’t use herbicides or pesticides so I like the salt idea.

[audiophil2]

That should be fine depending on what you shoot. The 300 will be nasty. 6.5 at @ mile is like a 38spl.

I chose an 18 inch plate because I want to hit a torso at any distance. Round because those are cheap. A bigger plate will just make you shoot bigger or at a distance you are not ready for. My opinion and others are free to think otherwise.

Dirt or baby powder helps see splash. Avoid grass and rocks.

[sigstroker]

LaRue makes knock-down steel targets that reset themselves with a motor. Being LaRue, you know they're not cheap.

If you have just a plain old flat piece of steel, a Magnetospeed hit light is a hundred fitty bucks.

https://magnetospeed.com/collections/target-hit-indicator

[5.56]

Don't forget about hot lead that splatters after hitting the plates. I find lead in my front yard that's 100 feet away from my range and 50 feet higher elevation. I ran a water line down to my range and give it a good hose down when I'm done to make sure there's no surprises festering waiting to start a fire after I'm done.

[DDRH]

My neighbor has a range out to 1200yards, he mentioned he uses 1/4" plates out that far.