Personal Underground Shooting Range

[Top Cat]

This can be done...and it doesn't really need to be underground. Most, if not all, firearms manufacturers, ammunition manufacturers, etc, have some type of indoor test range, underground or otherwise.

The real issue here that you need to be aware of, is the very real hazard to your health from lead contamination. If you use the range much you will be at a severe risk for lead poisoning.

[shopkeep]

As cool as the idea of an underground 25 yard range is, it will always be cheaper to aquire property in the country for this use. Not to mention cleaning up all the shell casings and continually leaving 1000+ casings in your garbage can each week or so just looks damn shady heh!

[accordingtoome]

As cool as the idea of an underground 25 yard range is, it will always be cheaper to aquire property in the country for this use. Not to mention cleaning up all the shell casings and continually leaving 1000+ casings in your garbage can each week or so just looks damn shady heh!

hahaha.. ya what would the trashguy think man

[colossians323]

Does anyone have any useful information, I am interested in what kind of expense, and difficulty it is to do this. I think it would be cool to have an underground range. I can walk into my backyard, and shoot my guns, but if I had and underground range, I could shoot anytime of day or night.
I could put at least a hundred yard underground range in depending on expense.

[socalguns]

Visit http://rangeinfo.org/ , all seems very usefull.

As for expense/difficulty,
building an underground range is nothing more than
building some kind of cellar/basement.
You get a permit from city/county if you need one
and build yourself a basement.
You add adequate ventilation (vent at both ends),
maybe some soundproofing,
bullet trap/backstop and you've got yourself your own range.

As for cost of construction, try

http://www.construction-cost.com/

it all depends on your design needs,
choice of material ...

[booknut]

I would say that if you have land enough, in the right place where you could just go into the backyard and shoot, you could build a semi-underground range.

You would wind up with a long 'bump' in your yard, but the excavation costs should be less, as well as the engineering being less complicated.

From personal experience, if you have a building long enough for your range requirements, and large enough to accommodate a small inside structure, you can build a soundproof shooting chamber.

Think of a paintbooth... just longer... with similar ventilation requirements... and soundproofing. ETA - penetration-proof walls/ceiling/backstop.

Since you're likely to ventilate to the outdoors, you need to figure out how to diffuse the report while the vents are running, or shoot without the vents and turn them on after... say, like when you're checking your target.

I, for one, cannot even begin to address the lead issue.
I suppose you could find info on contaminate rates from shooting and figure out what your acceptable exposure time would be before needing the vents on?

The NRA has two large binders on range building.
One is for outdoor ranges, the other is for indoor ranges.
When I purchased the outdoor binder for our pistol club, I think it cost me around $45.

[Sydwaiz]

I've heard rumor there are a couple homes in RPV that have them. Rumor says 100yds too! They've got the land and the money up there so I wouldn't doubt it.

[DSA_FAL]

I wish I had the range-in-a-trailer that the Navy Seals have. I wonder what the cost of one of those trailers is.

[odysseus]

I have shot numerous times at private residences in Cali, all outdoors in areas where you are far away from the nearest neighbor, using the earth as backstop. That would be optimal in my opinion to trying to build an underground range at your residence.

On that topic I have heard a few pointers on other threads. One is concussion. If you are shooting in a tight space that concussion is going to be felt on you. Of course the other issues of importance are ventilation and lead contamination. The ventilation and what it seems like from the request, concealability to near neighbors will be a challenge.

I much have had the idea of a having a spread and building a "barn" of sorts that actually is an indoor range. That way you can better contain lead and ventilation away from the residence. I have heard this will cost a bit of money to construct properly.

[grammaton76]

Could you perhaps recoup the expenses later on, by selling your backstop earth to a lead refinery?

[ohsmily]

I wish I had the range-in-a-trailer that the Navy Seals have. I wonder what the cost of one of those trailers is.

I have been in the trailer range they have down at the Coronado base. It is cool that it is mobile, but it isn't that great. Really cramped (duh) and the guy who was showing me around said the ventilation isn't so great in there.

[sierra_one]

Design for underground rifle range

Should you be interested I have designs for an underground range that would be cost effective, safe, and no trouble to your surrounding area. I designed it for a tactical training facility so they could save space. If you are interested, send me your email and I will send you the details on receiving the design package.

[JDay]

As cool as the idea of an underground 25 yard range is, it will always be cheaper to aquire property in the country for this use. Not to mention cleaning up all the shell casings and continually leaving 1000+ casings in your garbage can each week or so just looks damn shady heh!

Ever hear of reloading?

[AndrewMendez]

I asked the same question a couple months back...

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=148769

I went on a 911 call at a house in Bradberry, So Cal, and the guy was telling us all about it! Made me feel like a little kid at Disneyland when I saw his collection!

Check Out...http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/applications/gun.asp

Good Luck!

[ilbob]

Most states have laws against discharging a firearm inside a municipality except at a range, so you would almost certainly need to get your home zoned as a range.

Its really just a long skinny basement with maybe a concrete roof. As others have suggested you could potentially just bury a concrete pipe and shoot through that.

I would be a little concerned about ventilation as lead dust is not a trivial problem. A proper ventilation system with HEPA filters and all to catch the lead dust might cost more than the rest of the setup.