Rifle range baffles ?

Asa,

I have shot at Tri-County for many years as it is my home club. As for your assessment of "whiners", there is no question that the large vertical columns have a serious effect on the wind, as they encourage it to swirl around. If you are so lucky as to draw a bench that is next to the column, you will have one hell of a time trying to figure the wind out. You can watch your flags and the flags adjacent, and you will see a big difference in what they show. While the baffles are a necessary additive in today's shooting world, they provide another variable to shooting good groups. The "whiners" truly have something to whine about.........the playing field is no longer even as a result of the baffles. I believe the competitor that draws a bench away from the columns has a big advantage.

Anyone care to add their opinion on this issue? I'd be interested to hear others experiences.
 
RangeBafflescopy-1.jpg

The overhead baffles work well with a fixed firing line but the ground baffles cause a lot of ricochets at our range... the posts pose a problem too...

Pistol shooters are the biggest problem at out range... we have spent $100,000 dollars trying to keep their bullets in the range.... the rifle shooters are not a problem at all... the bullets carry directly into the berm... the pistol shooters seldom shoot so the bullets would carry to the berm...
 
Any suggestions on whether it would be feasible to use baffles on a 600yd range like this?

10-08-06match022.jpg


Wide open flat ground between the firing line (where the picture is taken from to the first berm 100yds away. Beyond that, the ground drops away too much to even consider putting in anything unless it's on 50' stilts - that and there's a race track there (the blue buildings).

The field above the pits belongs to someone else. For various reasons (they didn't want to sell) the club never acquired that particular chunk o' land. Now, it just sold for approx. $1 million (way more than we could afford) being 'view' property and may have housing put in some time in the future. Still sorting out the politics on that part.

Any suggestions welcome. Starting to think our best option may be to close up shop and move.
 
Perhaps I should clarify the construction of the baffles at Tri-County Gun Club...........................
Picture a horizontal "beam" that is 60"" high by 48" thick and 80' long. This monolith is supported by four columns that measure 48" thick by 48" wide. This forms a "tunnel" that is impossible to allow a projectile to go out of bounds whether shooting from the bench or from a prone position........the overhead roof of the range house prevents shooting over the top of the baffle. Granted, if one wanted to intentionally let a round go out of bounds, one could. The baffles are so overbuilt that they are ridiculous. Being in the construction business myself, I can only imagine the cost to provide them. I only wish I had been the successful bidder!
Anyway, due to the proximity to local neighborhood development, it was a necessary evil. The results are the same though..............the wind effect is totally changed from what it was, and it is not as predictable.

Not meaning to complain, just telling of the results of what are necessary to allow continued shooting at a great facility. Here's hoping that the club will continue to exist despite all the money that has been spent in attorneys fees to defend ourselves and our existence in the face of development!
 
Monte...............................

I'll have to run over to Midland to get a few pictures for you (if the snow isn't too deep at the range). Last time I shot over there the posts were in place but the baffles weren't set. Our 600 yard firing line is raised up and stepped so that the scorer is lower (and directly behind) than the shooter. From what Ray Gross told me you can only shoot from the prone position otherwise the baffle will cover the target.
 
I worked at the Coyote Point Rifle and Pistol Range in San Mateo CA for many years. It was the first NRA designed Baffled range, across an inlet from the landing approach to SF International Airport. The range had five timber overhead baffles, a timber covered impact bank, and five ground baffles with railroad ties behind sand banks and steel deflectors into water troughs. In 1973 -74 the entire system was rebuilt with four overhead baffles consisting of 16" steel I beams supporting steel walls. All steel surfaces were covered by bolted on railroad ties and 3" x 12" DF lumber. The impact canopy was likewise 3" x 12" DF lumber. The major problem was ricochets from the ground baffles that ostensibly escaped from the range. Sheets of plywood were installed at the top of the impact berm to indicate where bullets were escaping. The test showed pistol lead wadcutters to be the most likely to ricochet. However, they hit the plywood too low to have escaped. We believed that the bullets found on the public beach behind the range were picked up on the range and salted on the beach by activists seeking to close the range. It is my opinion that if a range has to be baffled, it is living on borrowed time due to improper siting. Usually the reason for baffling is due to surrounding development pressure, where noise, safety and lead contamination complaints will result in an abatement action. My current range is sited in a canyon where the impact area is at the foot of a several hundred foot hill, where bullets cannot escape. Of course, even those creosote treated railroad ties are now considered hazardous material and cannot be used or disposed of without special (expensive) handling.
 
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axlenut,


Out here they sell railroad ties at Home Depot for use in people's yards, I had them around the flower beds on my last house. I had no idea that some jurisdictions are controlling them. The only problem of late is that the price is way up, I tried to get 35-40 of them for the parking lot of a little private cemetery and they wanted 20+ each for 'em.


I just figured that this was due to the shortage of railroads :)


al
 
Al

A little O.T.

The floor of a plant I worked at was concrete covered with creosote treated wooden blocks. If the roof leaked the blocks would expand and form large bubbles on the floor. Carpenters would have to rebuild the floor tossing the old blocks in the trash. The blocks fell under the catagory of hazardous material disposal.

They tried some type of synthetic block that had a strong smell of fiberglass resin. The smell didn't dissipate, after a week we b!tched enough that they removed the blocks and replaced them with wooden ones.
 
alinwa

Al

Looks like our 1000 yd range is a goner and the 600 will have to be rebuilt due to encroaching developement.

Would like to take you up on your kind offer on a NRA range book, but I'm not sure how to contact you.

Thanks, Dick
 
Fairfax Baffles

I shot at Fairfax Rod and Gun Club, VA this last season with my first experience shooting under over-head baffles. Here is a picture of them. I didn't notice anything strange with the wind the 2 days I shot there, though I'm sure it'd be tricky under some conditions.

I called a shooting buddy this winter who shoots down at the Boal Shoals Arkansas Range. They are busy building over-head baffles at the their range, with costs outa site. I asked the match director we had at Fairfax how much theirs cost and he was ashamed to say, except it costa lot!..............Wingnut
 

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Monte

MCSC 600 yard range with baffles.

Midland1.jpg


The area circled in red is the backstop.

Midland2.jpg

This is looking from the scorers position. There's a berm 100 yards (500 yard firing point) that will prevent any low shot from ricocheting off the ground and flying over the backstop. The baffles will catch an inadverdent high shot. One of our range rules is that your on target before closing the bolt on a live round, it's strictly enforced. The backstop is also circled in red.
 
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Here's some rifle and handgun baffles....made of treated lumber with pea gravel sandwiched between the inner and outer layers. Note lower baffles on the rifle range for richochets.

backstop2.jpg


baffle1.jpg


baffle2.jpg
 
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AJ,

Thanks for the pics. Are those plywood boxes filled w/ gravel on the posts?

Somewhere around here I have an NRA Range Source Book; I recall one of the suggested baffle construction methods involved three thicknesses of 3/4 ply sandwiched with two thicknesses of 10 gauge sheet steel. The plywood/gravel boxes would probably be cheaper, but I wonder if the ply/steel sandwich would be lighter/easier to support.

The ground baffles look good, but unfortunately we have a 'private' range... i.e. no range officers. They'd get used for target holders pretty quickly, I'm guessing.

How many ranges actually test (and document) the effectiveness of their baffles before hand? The ply/steel sandwich sounds good, but I have doubts as to whether it would reliably stop a (very) high power rifle round...

Thanks,

Monte
 
Yes the baffles are filled with pearock.

The guys who worked on the project did a heck of a job. The wood was purchased at Lowes at just over their cost. A couple of contractors had the post hole digger and lift to place the boxes on the posts. The labor cost involved a lifetime membership in the club for the contractors.
 
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