Sand Type for Range Backstop

[UpNorthMI]

I know I'm not the first guy to be building my range backstop so I'm reaching out to try and get some input. I'm building a railroad tie 3 wall type backstop and plan to fill it full of sand and have the sand angled from the base at the front to the top of the back wall. My question is does anyone have any experience over what type of sand works well in terms of holding it's angle or shape for a backstop. Trying to avoid sand with any large gravel or stones. I can buy clean fill sand, type 2 sand, motor sand, 2NS and other types.

Am I overthinking and sand is sand?

 

[Ridge Runner]

Have you considered using soil instead of sand?
By using soil you could grow grass to eliminate erosion due to rain.

 

[Hunter4752001]

Have you thought about using Hesco Barriers instead?

 

[AjFourie]

I'm with ridge runner on this one, use soil, put it through a grid to get rid of bigger stones and try to establish grass on it, sand will wash away and you might end up having to fill it up again regularly. Even when using a type of sand bag you will find that the material of the bag disintegrates with time leading to some kind of maintenance again... Anyway, send us some pictures to see what you have built?

 

[VertigoBE]

I'm with ridge runner on this one, use soil, put it through a grid to get rid of bigger stones and try to establish grass on it, sand will wash away and you might end up having to fill it up again regularly. Even when using a type of sand bag you will find that the material of the bag disintegrates with time leading to some kind of maintenance again... Anyway, send us some pictures to see what you have built?

And on top of that, a wall of grass should look better than a wall of sand or gravel

 

[Red Leg]

I used soil as well.

 

[Hunt anything]

I run a sod farm and on occasion we will have someone order a pallet of grass and not pick it up, I will take it home and add to my backstop they are roughly 4’ x 4’ and very compacted. I stack one on top of two and line them up making an 8 x 8 back stop. Fortunately I live next to the farm and can use a forklift to move the in and out as needed when I eventually bore holes through the sod.

 

[WAB]

I used soil. I’ve put backstops at 25, 100, 200 and 300 yards.

 

[lockingblock]

There is no magic type of sand. Sand is a great backstop because it’s relatively self healing. Unfortunately, you can’t stack it very high without some kind of form to hold it. Most sand berms use a high wall on back and a low wall on the front.

The comment about HESCO barriers being a good choice is correct. You will also want sandbags running along the top edges of any solid walls as bullets run up walls. The sandbags are very useful for erosion control as well.

Remember, it takes 4 feet of earth or sand to consistently and reliably stop bullets. Hot spots are real…add material frequently and more targets to new spots. Bullets will run up a berm…put a lip on it.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Topsoil

The first photo is from a few years ago. My berm has grown since then with more sandbags on top and with additional topsoil wings and sandbags. It also is covered with so much vegetation that I have to chop down around the target for safety. The roots of the weeds reinforce the soil.

The second photo is of my 100 yard setup using a standing bench and Labradar.
When shooting I keep the muzzle pointed at the berm.
When practicing rapid fire I am at 25 yards so that to shoot over the berm would require a steep angle for the rifle.

 

[Nomadx2]

Mine is also soil, about 10' high and 25' wide and 15' deep. The grass and weeds keep it intact.

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Have had just about everything mentioned above (vegetated soil) for ~40 yrs on an old fam farm. The state public ranges are made of sand, so that they may periodically do a cleanup of heavy metals in the soils from 1,000s of shooters over the year. The sand berms are huge, requiring much more material than a personal range made of more densely compacted soil . The angle of repose for most gravels and sand is 45 degrees. After that, it's going to wash and slough away. Soil can be compacted and vegetated (at a much steeper angle too, once shot into.) All that said, I like the idea of the heavy, 1" thick rubber mats hanging vertically in succession. There's a 100 yd indoor range and several other public outdoor ranges featuring that. The bullets can be pulled out of the mats or collected in a trough beneath it! One indoor range has a several feet thick, recycled tire blocks that stops everything excepting the big bore solids. Although I haven't made one yet (out of hanging rubber mats,) I eventually will (it's a fine backstop that additionally holds targets!) I've seen people hang the 1" inside of poly 55-gal drums (which additionally serve to slow bullets down and holes "heal" upon being shot.) Depending upon the size of the rubber used (full-size truck bed or livestock mats hung in succession will stop bullets,) but I'd simply keep the soil backstop in-place as an added measure of security. 'Also have a red (repurposed ATV/UTV) flag that gets put up at the 300 yd backstop along the property boundary, when shooting. Actually recently looked at aerial photos with a logger to create a 650-850 yd range that both hunters and wildlife will profit from! (essentially cutting down one area of tertiary-now forested, previously pasture land surrounded by big woods, but leaving the high grass, brush, berry bushes up-it's in a low spot and the 650-850 target backers would be at higher elevation-same as the shooting position.) There are many basic range designs available online...Good luck! These days, I think the soil is (exceedingly compacted/vegetated) only 6' wide at the bottom and about 4' thick at the top and about 6' high. Plenty for only 300 yds. People should be dialed in appropriately at 100 prior to taking longer shots! I give the neighbors a test at 100 prior to proceeding farther out...

 

[C.W. Richter]

Sand delivered will prob run you $25/ton delivered (poss even more considering the current diesel prices!) We just use the native soils (No frame required). Cut a gently sloping/safe pit behind and place the backstop fill in front. I can't shoot early or late in the day as deer are nearly always watering in the little troughs created by doing so! Sun and typ prevailing wind to our backs.

 

[lockingblock]

Think drainage. Don’t create a pond.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Wow, lots of great input here. The reason I was planning to use railroad ties is to create a fairly small rifle only back stop. I don't have the open space to build a large tall backstop. My plan was to end up with a 8' 9" cube with an open front after the bottom three 7" levels of ties. I plan on putting ties across the roof of the structure to catch bullets that may bounce off metal targets, the roof will also keep the sand / dirt dry. I have over 300 acres of heavy woodland but its mainly flat. It's in a very rural area and the maximum distance I can shoot will be 345 yards. This is the longest clear distance I have and is up a wide track in the center of the property.

Hoping to get a few friends involved and build it this coming weekend,

I do like the comment on dirt but we have so much sand around us, I should be able to get it trucked in from less than 5 miles away. I think I'm going to start with 2NS sand and see how that holds up. I've shot on military and public ranges that were exposed sand and they were reasonably easy to maintain.

Maybe some dirt will be added to create some growth later. This rifle range will not see too much use as this is a hunting property and winter also plays it's part in keeping us away! So typical use is March - August. Have other plans for a 24' wide pistol range, in another location where I have about 80 yards in a more open space. I will see how well the rail road ties work out first for this project but my larger pistol range could be a truck or two of sand / dirt, I have the equipment to build and handle truckloads of material. I will post a few photos of the project.

 

[lockingblock]

RR ties are good, just make sure to never shoot into the end grain of them. It’s much harder and can ricochet bullets.

Old tires filled with sand are solid as well.

Sounds like it will be a nice range.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Soil=the uppermost, unconsolidated deposit of the Earth's surface, typically composed of weathered material (sand, silt, clay particles, sometimes with gravel or cobbles) from the underlying bedrock, or that deposited from another region via advancing or melting glacier (or both; one atop the other). Dirt is what the MSM writes (and their bedmate Dems talk) about guns and hunting and/or what's vacuumed up in the house. "Sand" has typically been sieved (of larger gravel and smaller silt and clay particles) from a local quarry, for a fee. Coastal deposits consist nearly entirely of sands, with some alternating layers of clay, as the lighter particles were long ago washed away by water. Even the foyer at the farm, the "mudroom" is occasionally covered by soil. Soil makes food. Dirt does not. Sand IS soil (Silty, Clayey Sands, etc.) LOL they grow good fruits as they are well drained and very acidic (tomato, blueberry, cranberry.) 'Came to me in a dream.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I asked the Range Master at my shooting range what they did for all the berms and backstops. He said to mix a little manure in with the soil for the backstop. Seemed logical I thought, probably to promote growth of grass or something like that. When I asked him what the manure was for, he stated "so you can shoot the crap out of it."

 

[Denvir Tire]

I use log length tree wood stacked into a neat pile crosswise to range. The wood is ok for a few years and then cut and split into firewood. A replacement pile is ordered, stacked and shooting continues. This method allows me to remove the lead from the property with the wood and supplies me with seasoned firewood.

 

[VertigoBE]

I asked the Range Master at my shooting range what they did for all the berms and backstops. He said to mix a little manure in with the soil for the backstop. Seemed logical I thought, probably to promote growth of grass or something like that. When I asked him what the manure was for, he stated "so you can shoot the crap out of it."

That last phrase had me chuckling