Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Range pics for prm

A while back in another thread, prm asked if I had pictures of my club's range set-up. I needed to take some photos and then figure out how to post them here. We'll see if I've succeeded. Our club is in the urban fringe on the outskirts of Minneapolis/St. Paul. We have taken pains to be as safe as possible and to reduce noise. The shooting tubes are three sections of 8' culvert. I believe these were "seconds" that were donated. The line of fire was excavated and the dirt used to construct a substantial berm. These photos are of the 100 yard range. We also have a 25, a 50, and a 2/3/400 yard range. Inside the shooting tubes near the bench, some wood frames hold discarded carpet, and the remainder of the shooting tubes have been sprayed with a foam insulation to help reduce noise.









Hope this helps,

Al

Well, damn! Looks like the picture thing worked!

Al

nice!!!!!! im going to do something similar to that at my place, except i want to do it underground. wishful thinking unless i win the lottery.

That is absolutely awesome. I would only imagine having a setup like that. Maybe one day

Very cool, thanks! Spray on foam, didn't think of that. Sometimes it's the most obvious things you miss. Definitely gives me more ideas of what to do now. Does it do a good job of keeping the noise down? I would think it does a very good job.

Is the muzzle in the tube when your set up, or still outside a bit? Just wondering if that alters the blast. Would have to get some extra long wires for the chrono.

I don't think anyone has ever measured the decibel differences. I believe there is a good reduction. When you are at the gate, maybe 60-70 yards from the 100-yard firing line, what you hear is more of a loud thump rather than a harsh crack. But there is still noise of course. At more distance, I think the noise is more muted. At least no one can say we aren't trying.



Yes, the muzzle is well inside the tube. Even so, you don't want to pull the trigger after forgetting to put your hearing protection on. (Don't ask me how I know.)

This set-up does necessitate long wires for the chronograph. I am currently using a PACT and was able to buy 12' extensions at Radio Shack that just plugged in. The chronograph is about 25' from the muzzle. This extra distance seems to complicate exact placement which is why in my "original" post I was wondering about a boresighter to speed things up. If the distance was only about 10', placement would be more forgiving. I assume my actual muzzle velocity is about 25 fps greater than my readings.

I wonder how things would work if the "tunnel" was somewhat shorter. I suspect, but do not know, that most chronographs would work with two sections of 8' culvert.

Al

I can see where you would definitely want to use a bore guide for that. Would make it very easy. Just set the rifle so that it is on the target, turn on the bore guide and have the laser hitting you and then adjust the chrono as necessary. You can check the velocity loss using JBM ballistics http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi.

Just enter your chrono reading in the muzzle velocity box and the distance to the chrono. When you hit 'calculate', look at the '0' velocity. It will be higher than what you entered.

I"d love to be able to afford at least 300 feet of 3 foot pipe and then cover it for testing..... would be pretty quiet too I'd bet..

nice

Thanks for the tip. I've bookmarked that site.
Al

You must not have many rattlesnakes in Minnesota. They love those culverts.

You're right. There are rattlesnakes in the southern part of the state, but none in our area.

Sorry for the delay posting here but I have been looking for the pics below. These appeared on a British shooting forum and show a new 100m range that a guy has built on his farm and this is open to the public for use, although I am not sure exactly what he charges.










The last view shows the entrance to the fireing point and the target building in the distance.



I've not visted the range myself, but I believe it is just the 2x 100m lanes...I would certainly love to have such a facility myself, but I can't see that I would pay something like $14* a hour to rent a lane, plus a three hour journey unless I could shoot considerably further than 100m...

*Edited to add I've just found out they are charging �10 per hour per lane which equates to about $14...fairly expensive but not as bad as I first thought esecially as you have no expensive club fee's, so perhaps its not too bad...I'm guessing your buggered if you want to chrono a load!

I've never seen an outdoor range set-up like this with the shooting tubes. Interesting.

Now that's the ticket!

Talk about potential for the ultimate 'man cave'! Just need to add a room with a fireplace, big screen, table suitable for hanging out or playing poker and of course a reloading bench. I might never leave.

I'd build the chrono right in with the powered IR screens. I'd also set it up so you could do prone, offhand and kneeling in addition to moving a solid bench into place if necessary.