15 Steps to Building Your Own DIY Shooting Range

DIY Shooting Range

Tired of shooting at the local range where it seems like more people are taking selfies than taking their shooting seriously?

We know the feeling. Shooting ranges have changed since the invention of social media. And there’s not much you can do about that, except for build your own DIY shooting range.

It’s not a possibility for everyone, but if you have a good amount of land, read below to see if you can pull it off.

1. Make Sure it Makes Sense for You

If you’re building an outdoor shooting range, you’re going to piss off some neighbors. Even if you live way out in the country, the sound of a gunshot travels far.

The first step in building an outdoor gun range is asking yourself what your motivations are. Do you need the extra distance? The extra hours that your local range isn’t open?

Have you ever looked into your local range? They may have memberships options with cheaper prices or be open late on some nights.

We’re not discouraging you from building your own range, we’re just saying that it’s not the right choice for everyone.

If you have the land though and your wife’s okay with it, here’s how you can have a rootin tootin shootin good time in your own backyard.

Check Local Laws

You need to make sure it’s legal for you to create a shooting range on your property. The best way to do that is to google laws in your county, or even call the non-emergency police line.

They’ll connect you to someone that knows where you can find the laws if they’re not able to quote you the laws themselves.

If that fails, you can ask at the local shooting range or gun store, they’ll probably have some idea.

Talk to Neighbors

Even if you live out in the country and you feel like it won’t matter to them, you need to tell your neighbors what you’re planning out of courtesy.

You don’t have to ask their permission, it’s your property. But if you build it and start shooting without letting them know, they’re going to have a panic attack.

If you want to go the extra mile and they have young children, ask what time naptime is on the weekends.

You can write that down on your shooting bench, on a little note.

If you have kids yourself you know how delicate the putting-them-to-sleep process is. Don’t be the one that wakes a sleeping baby!

2. Find Enough Space

Your shooting range needs to be 150% on your property. It needs to be in the middle of your land if you can swing it. The reason being, you need to make sure your bullet doesn’t go haywire and shoot into the neighbor’s yard.

Most of the time nothing would happen, but that’s how tragic accidents begin.

The best way to set up a shooting range is parallel to your property edge. Leave a good ten to twenty feet between the range and your fence, before you create your shooting alley.

3. Clear Your Trees

Hopefully, there’s somewhere on your property that works for a shooting range and has a clearing. But not all of us are so lucky. You may have to cut down some trees.

Obviously the more trees there are, the more work you’re in for. You could always call someone to come fell them for you, or just get to work with a chainsaw.

If you choose to DIY, make sure you understand tree-cutting safety. You don’t want to lose your life or a limb because you were so excited about your shooting range that you didn’t make safety a priority.

4. Post a Sign at the End of the Range

When you’re shooting at targets, most of the time the bullet will go on the target board somewhere, but not always. If you’re shooting at decoys or something else, there’s a chance that bullet could just keep going for as long as physics allows.

To make sure that doesn’t lead to any accidents, post a sign at the end of your range, or at the end of your property, whichever is closer. 

That is if you don’t have a backstop. 

5. Create Your Shooting Bench

When you’re shooting out in the woods, chances are you’re down on the ground in the mud. That’s not always the most comfortable position, though it sure is effective.

To make practicing easier and more pleasant, build yourself a little shooting bench where you can prop your gun up on.

It doesn’t take the mind of a carpenter to create this, you just need a four steady legs and a plywood top to rest things on.

This will also function as your little stand where you can keep safety items like earmuffs and safety goggles.

If you want other accessories, like rifle stands, it’s worth building a little roof over your bench to keep things from getting ruined in the weather.

You can find plans for stands pretty much anywhere online, and it’ll take a day, maybe two to make one. If you have buddies you like to shoot with then ask them for a helping hand when you’re building it.

Even kids can help – especially those begging to learn how to shoot or wanting a new gun. You gotta prep if you want to play!

Shooting Bench Materials

The best benches are made from sturdy, heavy materials like concrete or steel. But that’s expensive, hard to move, and just a big hassle. You can easily make a shooting bench out of pressure treated wood, but there’s a secret to making it sturdy.

Ready? Don’t just leave your bench resting on top of the ground. Dig holes for the posts and secure it down a few inches deep.

Then you can concrete the posts down, literally, with concrete, and your shelter won’t move.

We suggest using corrugated metal for the roof of the shelter since it already has rivets in it to help the rain runoff.

Screen Mount Optional

If you’re going to be really environmentally responsible with your shooting range, you’ll want to install a screen mount. That’s an old window or door screen, that sits to the right of where you’re shooting.

A sheet of plexiglass will also work.

It’s there to catch ejected brass and to keep your shells all on the table so you can scoop them into your bucket easily for cleanup.

6. Decide Your Target Type

Targets come in all shapes and sizes. You could set up a target that’s as simple as a board of plywood on posts, or go for fancy, frame paper targets.

You can order target sheets on Amazon, for a remarkably low price. Make sure that the frames and the sheets you order are the right sizes, or you’re going to have to do some creative designing when you try to put them up at the range.

The type of target frames you have will determine what you need to attach the sheet to the frame. Freestanding ones usually want clips, like binder clips or strong clothespins.

If you’re going the sheet of plywood route, you want to use a staple gun to get the target paper onto the wood.

Make sure you order a lot more target sheets than you think you need. If you have kids practicing shooting, it’s nice to have a sheet with their name on it. You can keep them and watch their aim get progressively better over time.

7. Choose Your Accessories

Finally, you’re almost ready to shoot. Before you do, you want to make sure you have some sort of locker or water-tight storage box at your shooting range.

What you put in it is up to you. Obviously, we encourage ear muffs, as protecting your hearing will save you lots of money in the long run.

You’ll also want a spot for safety glasses and extra clips/staples and target sheets.

Then think through where you’ll put your shells and scraps when you’re done with them. One of those home-depot orange buckets with a lid (you buy them separately) are a great option. You can even lug them in if you collect brass or let your friend trade you some rounds for your scraps.

You’re not going to keep your guns at your range, obviously. Not only will they get damaged by the weather, but it’s unsafe to leave guns out in the open.

If you need information on storing guns safely, read up on your options.

You don’t want anything to happen to your Volquartsen firearms!

Building Your DIY Shooting Range

To sum up, you need two main things when you build a shooting range on your property. You need land and you need isolation.

All the other things, like a shooting bench, are secondary. Make sure you have the space to shoot safely, and that you have a backstop for any flying bullets.

Please store your guns safely so that your children never get ahold of them without your supervision. We don’t want any more parents to lose a child to gun accidents.

What did you think? Are you going to build your own DIY shooting range or will you stick to your local range?

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