shooting berm backstop

[brew]

so my new house build out in the Yelm area is almost done and i've talked with the guy that has done my excavation work and he is doing our final grade work (topsoil, gravel for the driveway, etc.)  asked him what it would take to build a shooting berm 100 yards off my back porch and he will be doing that.  he's a local guy and said this is the 4th shooting berm his clients have asked him to build this spring.  his plan is to scrape off the top level of soil behind the house and build a berm about 15 feet tall and about 20 feet wide with wings that flare off the edges of it.  my question is what do you guys use for a backstop ? was thinking railroad ties but i think there was someone on here that was able to get pieces of leather and put behind their targets to act as a backstop ?   looking for ideas...thanks

[Ghost Hunter]

I have railroad ties.  If you shoot a lot, you'll blow them out quick.  Steep berm probably the best.  Building an archery backstop out of carpet.  Hard to pull the misses out of the ties.

[Windwalker]

I was scrounging around for ideas a while back and found this.

https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/05/f1/Range_Design_Criteria.pdf

It is a little over the top but has some good info in it and may give you some ideas.
Or google Range Design Criteria and see what pops up.

[BigGoonTuna]

jealous of you guys that can shoot in your back yards around here.  wish i could afford a place out of town.  i can hear the guys up the road from me blasting away on the weekends, i have to drive to capital forest

[birdshooter1189]

I have built and used a couple shooting berms.  Mine were about 6 feet tall piles of dirt/rock/stumps/brush, anywhere from 6 - 20 feet wide.  I make sure that the front 2 feet or so of material that I am shooting into is primarily solid dirt to prevent ricochets.  A time or two I dumped a few tractor bucket loads of woodships on the front of the pile also to add soft material to prevent ricochets and aid in viewing impacts.  When shooting I make sure to keep all shots in the bottom 2/3 of the berm.  Shoot anything from air rifles to 300 weatherby.  Have never had an issue with ricochets or bullets going through the berm.

Not sure what you mean by a backstop.  How would you be using the railroad ties and/or leather?

I generally use a sharpie to make circles and X's on a cardboard box, put some dirt in it to weigh it down and hold it in place, and just set the box on the front of the berm, I use my boot to make a little "shelf" in the dirt for the box to sit on.  Other times I set out clay pigeons or tin cans on the face of the berm and make them dance.

[Jpmiller]

If doing an earthen berm I would advise against using rocks larger than you can move yourself or any organic material like stumps or logs in your fill. These very commonly create voids under the surface when dirt doesn't completely fill around them. If you're using a licensed excavator he should know this but it's a good thing to keep an eye on.

I am constantly surprised at how many times I see things that have no business being in fill dirt showing up there.

[brew]

so this is only about 2/3 rds of the way done...they are keeping the top level of dirt to put in the front and going to horseshoe in the sides.  i think i may still need to put some trees or something similar in the front as there are some pretty big rocks in this mound and i don't want riccochets.  I am 6'2" and its probably 20 feet deep.  they dump 5 or 6 dump truck loads then use the excavator to move the material around.  really looking forward to some weekend morning when i can stroll out on my back patio in my PJ's and start sending lead down range....from where i'm gonna put the shooting bench under my covered patio its 98 yards to the front of the berm.  considering them putting a smaller berm closer that we can shoot pistols into as who really wants to walk 80 yards off their back patio to shoot a handgun ?

[BLR 243]

I went to Les Schaube and got used tires started my berms then added tires dirt tires dirt etc. 4oo yards range 1,2,3 from a shoot house back up across the creek to get in 400 yds. Gonna put in a 50 as soon as the hay gets cut.

[Special T]

The sidewalls out of passenger and light truck tires can be cut with a utility knife. The steel belt ends and the edge of the tread, just cut one sidewall out and fill full of dirt. Stack by off seting and angle back. Or you can pack the tires full and tamp/pack with a sledge hammer without cutting the sidewalls out.

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[brew]

went out today and that dam thing is twice the size of the pics...they inverted "U" shaped it and am going to have them dump a load of sand at the front

[Special T]

went out today and that dam thing is twice the size of the pics...they inverted "U" shaped it and am going to have them dump a load of sand at the front

I don't think you have much to worry about. Just make some metal target swingers and paper target holders for sighting in!

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