Do you love pistol or rifle shooting? Want to improve your aim, self-defense skills, and tactical readiness? Don’t have the time to visit the shooting range? Does the frequent visit to the shooting range hurt your pocket? If these questions are rolling in the back of your mind, then building a shooting range in your backyard is an ideal option. If you are skeptical about this, read on our in-depth research that can help you construct a shooting range within budget.
Steps To Build A Shooting Range In Your Backyard
Here are the ways to build a shooting range in your backyard.
Safety First
Of course, we require a safe area where you can shoot without endangering anyone or anything. Do not forget to keep the four basic rules for gun safety while constructing the gun range in the backyard. Remember to have enough space and adequate backstops to keep everyone safe, including our neighbors. It is crucial if you are a rifle shooter.
You can even build backstops out of loosely packed dirt, railroad ties, or a purpose-built ballistic backstop. You can also choose action targets, which are great for indoor ranges. However, they come with portable bullet stops. Now we need to have a shooting lane. Ensure that the lane is snot pointed towards any structure or equipment that you might damage while shooting. Finally, ensure to keep the first aid box and other such emergency supplies, such as tourniquet and chest seals, handy in the event of an accident.
Installing the Shooting Bench
After choosing an appropriate area to shoot with sufficient backstops, it is time to look for the location from where you will shoot. Most of the shooters prefer opting for a shooting bench. If you do not have a shooting bench, you can make DIY equipment by placing a few chairs and a table. The setup prevents you from leaving the gun cases on the ground and a place to reload your magazines, clan your guns, or just sit down for a short break.
However, if you are a PRS or three-gun shooter, it is better to opt for some barricades for practicing. Ensure to keep some plastic water barrels, screens, and other such stuff lying around so that you can set up stimulated competition stages that would make the training more effective.
Finally, you require something for catching brass, which makes your life a lot easier. Having a brass catcher saves your time, especially when you need to clean up at the end of your long shooting practice. A simple tarp spread on the ground is the simplest way to catching brass. Ensure to put some gravel down to ensure that the tarp is steady. 
Installation of the Targets
Now that we have our shooting area ready with all the backstops to prevent bullets from flying, let us now focus on installing things that you would require for aiming. Yes, we are speaking of the targets.
Firstly, we will deal with the target posts. The posts must be thick enough and buried at least three feet below the ground. Ensure to fill the holes around the poles with concrete and allow them to set completely before attaching the targets. Ensure to keep in mind the weight and dimensions of your target. Ensure that the target should fit perfectly on the pole without exceeding the length and width of the pole.
You can build each target as a single component or connect a series of target holders in fence style. The fence style offers better uniformity and stability. The material that connects the board securely to the posts is either plywood or sheet metal. Experts highly recommend using pressure-treated boards that are at least half an inch thicker, ensuring better longevity if you use plywood.
Creating targets is the most exciting part of building your backyard shooting range. You can easily avail some paper targets from your nearby store and staple them to your plywood target supports. Alternatively, you can create DIY targets, which are challenging yet enjoyable.
Conclusion
Shooting is a perishable skill, and hence you need to hit the shooting range regularly. Building your backyard shooting range is easy and affordable, but it requires some upfront research about your local laws and regulations. You will have many reasons to love your range and property, and building your shooting range will never take too much of your effort. If you have the suitable space and follow the instructions mentioned in the article, you will surely build an excellent setup for training and practicing.
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