How broad should I make my backstop?

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DIYEngineer235

DIYEngineer235

Member
Jul 21, 2021
115
30
Indiana, United States
New guy here. I bought a house on an acre of property some months back and the wife and I are wanting to build a pellet rifle/archery range in the back yard.

I've done my research here, and through google, but I haven't found a good answer to this question. 

Basically, how big should I build the back stop? 

The Property: The range will be diagonal across my property towards one corner. Any other direction will either point to the road, or towards a neighbor, something I want to avoid, obviously. Diagonally, it points towards a wooded section rather than another house. There is a moderate downward slope that drops about 2 or 3 feet over 100 yards. I should also note this leads to a slight "valley" between the neighbor's house to the rear of the property and my property line. So if I miss, the round would just go into the ground. Now, behind where I plan to have the backstop is a long gravel driveway that leads back to several houses behind my property. The driveway is actually on my property, but when the various properties were divided up, it was agreed that the drive would cut through each property so as to avoid making an actual road. Not sure if that makes any difference or not, but thought it might be worth noting.

The gun: I just purchased a Crosman 760. Nothing special, but I figured it would be a good place to start. I plan on purchasing something of higher quality eventually. I don't plan on getting anything bigger than .177 caliber though. 

My Usage: I'm not a hunter. I only plan on doing some light plinking. Paper targets, cans, bottles, etc... But I do plan on shooting 30-50 yards. 

The Plan: I plan on using a wooden shipping crate I picked up from a former employer as the main target backstop, with a secondary backstop behind it to pick up any wild shots.

So, my real concern is how broad should I make my rear backstop? I'm a decent marksman (Air Force Vet), but I also want to keep the neighbors happy and safe. 

I've also looked over the local laws in my state, Indiana if you wanted to know, and couldn't really find anything really helpful.

property.1626912028.JPG

 
Hello If you have the room the bigger the better. My current backstop is a 4x4 3/8 steel plate angled and supported by fence poles then screened in and filled with rubber mulch surrounded by 8' by 6' log pile 2 1/2' thick. I want more logs. Although iI fell this is a very solid backstop for my 45 yd range I feel as though I would like to add another 2 feet in height and another 4 feet in length. You can never be to safe and in the end of the day I would rather say that was overkill instead of if I only did a little more. (just a side note I use pine logs tree services will usually give them away, cheaper than dumping them) Hope this helps Eric
 
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As big as you feel comfortable using arrows on & not loosing them. I shoot as far as 100 with my traditional bows & compound. Made a 4'x4' styrofoam backstop from refrigerator packaging held together with some extra caulk. Works nice for arrows.

A pellet or slug backstop needs to suit other needs. Styrofoam isn't dependable enough on stoppage plus I want to cast my own slugs. So an angled clean metal trap comes into play. I don't need anything more than the size of my targets. But I'm sighting in down in the basement.
 
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Do all you can to make it as safe as possible, if your in a neighborhood with kids you never know where they are or when. Even though your range isn't pointed at a house I know when I was a kid I would be in those woods out back of your range every chance I had.
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As far as I can tell, there are no kids in my "neighborhood" except for my 1 year old son. My wife and I are the youngest of our neighbors and I'm 36. 

It doesn't show on the picture I posted, but the there is quite a bit of downslope from my planned firing position to the target. About 3 ft elevation change and it flattens out at the target. That spot is actually the lowest point of my property, so any misses would tend to hit dirt directly I would think. Still, I plan on making the back stop big. I was thinking of using 6ft by 8 ft privacy fence panels?
 
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Why not build a heavy duty privacy fence, it will serve multiple purposes, a backstop and a privacy fence! I would go 8 ft tall and at least 12-16 ft in length or from a corner at least 8 ft in each direction. Pile up some rubver mulch at the base to collect lead. If you build it out of something like 2x6 or 2x8 treated lumber it will last for years. The last thing you want is to have one go high, over your backstop and hit someone. My property is 1300 ft deep so my pellets wont travel that far but my handgun range has a dirt pile well over 8 ft tall and 25 ft wide, we only shoot at the base..just to be safe.
 
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As for the pellet gun, how bad a shot are you? I have a tub of rubber mulch just a little bigger than a target I stick on it. If you're shooting 1" groups how big does it need to be?

As for archery, that's where a bigger backstop would be better. You never know when a string could break or a release could let go prematurely during draw.
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if one is perfect safety practices all the time and don’t mess with your guns at all then what you said might be ok but no one is perfect and there is always chances something can go wrong, just like insurance we don’t get insurance to use. I have had moderator clipping, trigger adjustment that was ok light or simple accidental misfire off target a bit. Accidents do happen! 


I second a very large privacy fence so no one can see the target. How do you feel about walking in your back yard if someone else is shooting towards you. 
 
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the expression "couldn't hit the broad side of a barn" comes to mind.... think of your worse miss and or sighting in a new scope etc..
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OR....what if you have a friend or guest come over to shoot and he or she get a little carried away??? It is your property so you are responsible!!!! An accident or lawsuit is not worth the trouble, our sport does not need any bad press, so fix it right the first time so you have no issues.....
 
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I would say at lease 10 - 12 ft wide 5 feet tall with at least 4 ft sides. You want plenty of room for two people to use it at one time. I suggest you use sand bags filled with dirt (not sand) and if you build a wooden frame with fence posts and say one bottom board you could but the bags inside the frame to create a wall once they are stacked. Once the bags get shot up and can move the off to the side so if you keep rotating the bags one area of the backstop doesn't get all shot up this is what I do.

You also want to create a U shaped bay to capture any projectiles or shrapnel from escaping the side. On the base you can use pavers like I have to create smooth even base as for placing targets on. This is my 25 yd backyard range all I have room for but it works well. Good luck!
Backstop.1626972120.jpg

 
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The one berm we have put up at my friends place, for the 20 - 60 M range is not that big or wide ( about 4 foot tall and 12 - 15 foot wide ), but behind is just fields and rows of trees surrounding the little fields, so you are good with just about any airgun or at least the .177 and .22 we shoot.

There are fields back there that are also farmed, but pretty easy to hear when the farmers are out there, and they are behind one or more dense rows of trees.

If you are a lot off target on the 20 - 60 M range there is a farm out there 250 M or a good 1/8 mile away, in the other directions we are good for at least 3/4 mile in regard to houses or public roads.

But you will have to be a lot off even if you are shooting a .22 slug to get into trouble way out there

In other directions we are shooting at a downward slope for longer shots, so even with the targets pretty close to the end of my friends property there are not much problem, the pellet / slug will be in the ground before it leave the property.



We are of course also going to put some form of back stop up at the longer ranges,,,, we are not savages,,,,, at least not any more.
 
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I guess it's impossible to be "too safe", but some of the backstops discussed are quite impressive structures. I suppose it all depends on the specific situation. I shoot at 25 yards in my back yard, and I use an 8X12" cardboard box stuffed with junk catalogs, and covered with duct tape. I've never had a pellet go through it, and I've never missed the box. But, I don't mount and zero scopes here, and no one else shoots. I guess my situation is very controlled. A large permanent structure would attract too much attention. I bring in the box after shooting, so there is no sign of my activity. I'm not discouraging anyone from using a more substantial backstop, but if you're situation is similar to mine, you might not need to go quite that far.
 
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