My range in progress

S

skeetlee

Active member
My range in progress. UPDATE 8/20/11

Fellas i just wanted to share with you some of the work we have been doing on my very own 200 yard range. My folks have built a new home up on out north 33rd farm and are allowing me, or actually building me my very own indoor/outdoor range. Many of you may have heard me speak of this so i thought i would share a little with you. Its almost to good to be true and i am a very lucky man in many many ways. The ground up here on this farm is pretty flat and open so the wind will be a real challenge, but i think that will be a good thing. The pictures you will soon see are of the addition to the existing pole barn. This is were i will have a two bench indoor shooting/reloading area. I scored a couple pretty big windows so all i will have to do is open them up and shoot. I will also have one bench out doors for the nice days. I will continue to post some pics here for you all to enjoy. thanks and let me know what you think. Lee

phonepics155.jpg

Put the roofing material on today. just in time to as the rain came again! Hopefully the walls tomorrow.


The ugly guy running the trowel machine isnt me lol!!:D

phonepics152.jpg


A nice shinny floor!!
phonepics153.jpg


its hard to see but just in front of the tree line in the distance is the start of mt berm at 200 yards. I used some 3 year old mulch the city i work for is giving away. I still need about 4 more truck loads this fall once the corn comes out. Just think though. Next year if we do corn again what a natural tunnel i will have. We will leave a 10 foot wide lane down to the berm for a shooting lane.
phonepics150.jpg


phonepics065.jpg

I have about three different bench tops poured and i am still not sure what one to duplicate. I may do something completely different. This is a right hand only and i am afraid this might bite me in the end. I plan to have some of my close friends over and you just never know who might be left handed. I built these back in january while i was waiting on the weather to change. LOL!!
 
Last edited:
You'll learn to hate that tunnel thru the corn!

UNshootable for the tall corn month I'll guess, unless you figure out a way to roof it. :)

But ohh what fun you'll have with your own range. Here's the trick for that loong cold winter, the funnest shooting time of all. Get a small space heater and tuck it under your bench to keep your underside warm. You can now shoot in total comfort, not have to heat the whole room and not have to fight with the mirage generated by the heat flowing out the window.

al
 
I am with Al on this one, you will not care for the tunnel through the corn. I am speaking from experience, it does weird things with the wind . It does not simulate any range I know of. I now have a wider clearing.
 
I am sure the corn tunnel doesn't simulate any comp style wind conditions but i bet it still is a load of fun. I wonder why it does those weird things though. How can that be? There will be beans there probably 30% of the time, so hopefully i can shoot over the top of them, although this dirt has produced 4' soy beans. Thanks for the comments. Off to work on the building, no shooting for me this morning!! Lee
 
It's actually perty easy to explain Skeet........... the wind is a flat sheet going over the top of the corn until it goes over the 'tunnel' which scours off a curling swirling churning tube of unpredictable air like wood chips curling off a plane.

My current 350yd shot has the last 120yds thru a slot in the trees. I don't bother even shooting it with a south wind, the swirl currents are too unpredictable.
 
Al
I do understand. I thought about a bit after reading the post and i can see were it would. The good news is that in the dead of the summer here in illinois you cant hardly buy a breeze so i am sure it will be ok. The main thing is the winter time as you said above. When its to cold to play out side, i will have a nice hang out for me and my friends to gather and tell lies. I also hope to have my lathe by the first snow, so i will have plenty to do. Lee
 
Winter is the time to shoot and stay in tune. You can have scrub matches with your friends.
The crops will be down and the winds will be true. Have fun"
 
The windows are in!! I found a fella that deals in windows and he has a hole warehouse full of left over or returned windows still new in the rapping. We only paid 20 bucks apiece for these two big windows and i am going tomorrow after work to pick up another small window for the north side or just right or the farthest right window in the pic. That way i can have a little more viability. Just a couple more pics to share. Lee
rangepics2002.jpg


rangepics2005.jpg

We set the windows for a height of 35" that should put the tops just under the lip to open the window. I can also take the hole bottom out of the window if needed. I think it will work out real well. Couldnt ask for much more for a 20$ bill. Lee
 
Last edited:
Looks good to me!

If you have a lathe in there, you are going to want to keep it heated, probably to 50F or so, to keep condensation down. Ipd suggest at least 6" of insulation in the walls (R19 minimum), and a foot or more in the ceiling (R38 minimum - more is better).

I use a couple of electric infared heaters on the ceiling in my shop with the thermostat set at 50F. When I go out there in the winter (shop season), I just turn the thermostat up to 60F, take off my jacket, and go to work. The infared heaters heat objects, not air, so they keep you warm even if the room is pretty chilly. I'd think if you set up the benches so the muzzle is outside you should be good for some excellent ammo and rifle testing in the winter. Gun at 50F, air relatively still and no mirage. And the bulk of the noise outside instead of pounding your ears in the small room.

Plan to put a lot of light over your lathe. Like a 4' four bulb flourescent supplemented by a couple of bright incandescent lights (stockpile a lifetime supply of bulbs while you can).

When I built my shop I insulated it, then put 3/4" tongue and groove plywood on end as the interior side of the wall. I can screw anything to anyplace on that wall and not worry. Shelves in a shop/reloading room end up holding a lot of heavy stuff (literally heavy as lead). It's good to know the shelves won't fall down!

Fitch
 
Thanks fitch
Thats one concern i have been pondering. I need the muzzles to be out the windows but on a pole building there will be 5.5 inches of window ledge before the bench starts. thats not real good. I thought about using 2x4 construction for the interior walls to help with this. Also the shoot room is only going to be 8'x8'. the lathe will be in a different area. I dont want this shoot area to warm as it will cause mirage issues i am afraid. Basically i will have two benches in this room and a couple work benches for reloading, and a tv of course. Im not real sure what i will use for heat. I also plan to have a bench outside for when the weather is nice. Any ideas on the bench/ window/ muzzle getting out the window? Thanks Lee
 
skeetlee said:
Thanks fitch
Thats one concern i have been pondering. I need the muzzles to be out the windows but on a pole building there will be 5.5 inches of window ledge before the bench starts. thats not real good. I thought about using 2x4 construction for the interior walls to help with this. Also the shoot room is only going to be 8'x8'. the lathe will be in a different area. I dont want this shoot area to warm as it will cause mirage issues i am afraid. Basically i will have two benches in this room and a couple work benches for reloading, and a tv of course. Im not real sure what i will use for heat. I also plan to have a bench outside for when the weather is nice. Any ideas on the bench/ window/ muzzle getting out the window? Thanks Lee
Click to expand...

You will definitely want the muzzle outside the window (room) if the room is 8' x 8'. It will be beyond loud in there if they aren't. Muzzles typically extend at least a foot beyond the rifle rest, sometimes more. That said, you might want to build the shooting bench into the wall so the window closes down on to the top. Then you won't have the wall thickness issue. I'd build the bench right up to the wall if building it into the wall wasn't an option.

Fitch
 
Wow Nice setup! I hope you will enjoy your place for shooting.
 
By building right hand only benches you pretty much guarantee you will become friends with a left handed shooter (like myself) sometime in the near future.

Dick
 
I know dick, this is probably a mistake. This range is on my folks ground so there will only be a select few that will come and shoot. I personally know of no left handed shooters that would be coming out to play. Im sure there will be one though. My space for the shoot room is limited and i think i will have the most room staying with right handed benches. I also think i will have the most field of view with right handed benches and that will be important as well. I have a dual sided bench at work already made so all i would have to do is switch one top out if needed. Im not going to bind the tops right away anyway because i am not even sure i will like the tops i have made. I may end up doing a top like the tops at st louis. Nothing is permanent as of yet. Lee
 
Skeet, my brother has a shooting/reloading/gun shop on the second floor of his shop in what used to be a studio apartment (also an indoor 25 yard pistol range). He built a U-shaped bench in front of a double hung window using a chunk of 5-1/2 inch gluelam beam laid on it's side (very solid). Unfortunately for me (right handed) he set up his berms for himself (left handed) and I am off the bench with my rear bag at 100 yards (OK at 200 and 300 though). Wind is tricky as the first 30 yards of the site line runs along side the roof of the one story shop. We would need 15 foot poles for wind flags to start and even taller poles for 200 and 300 yards. Fun, though.
 
Lee:
Think about putting a recess on the bottom side of your bench tops. That way you can move them right up to the window. That will help to make sure the muzzle is past the window. If you want to see an example of this get a hold of me. I have access to a shootin room. That is on the same order as the one you are building.
Tony
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top