[robomanusa]

Could anyone point me in the right direction for building a range, requirements needed, insurance, some of the technical side of things maybe.

A couple of years ago my father passed away and I got 30 acres of the 100 acre farm, I keep liability coverage on it, but I'm sure there would be more involved than that...

how many bays needed, layout design....would 30 acres even be enough? what else????

This post has been edited by robomanusa: 25 May 2008 - 06:42 AM

[dshooter3]

Contact the NRA they are a big help with setting up ranges. They have a book on it

[Greg Bell]

Also look into your state laws about shooting ranges and what protections they do or not have against civil actions to shut them down. I'd hate to see a brand new beautiful range get shutdown.

[mlmiller1]

We just started a new club a few months ago on an old range. I have a few suggestions & if you have more specific questions, you can email me.
I suggest, depending on the dimensions of your land, that you build at least 6 bays. If the bays can vary in size, that will give you some diversity in what you set up. I suggest nothing more narrow than 20yds up to @35yds. If you have berms @8' tall, you will need bases about 12' so if your property is square, or at least wide enough, build a 20yd (scratch the yds, let's go to feet) 12' berm, 60' bay, 12' berm, 68' bay, 12' berm, 78' bay, 12' berm, 87' bay, 12' berm, 96' bay, 12' berm, & 105' bay, 12' berm. That would give you nearly 600'. Heck, with that much land, you could build some deep bays, if you have a mind to. If you built bays 40yds deep, with tall berms at the back, maybe 12' tall, & use 12' tall ones on the outsides, you would have a pretty nice range. That is going to involve a lot of dirt work, though & of course you need to consider drainage & so forth. If you have good dirt, & access to a front end loader, I bet you could build that in a week, easy. This would make some great pistol bays for competition. Obviously you could make bigger bays & so forth, or even have a couple of those bays run 200yds or deeper, if you wanted for rifle. That would be really nice if you have any natural terrain that would works as berms without having to do dirt work. Canyon walls, dry washes, stuff like that. Also, things to think about include neighbors, road access, distance from towns, those type things. If you are too close to town, or neighbors, you have to consider them, especially as you build your berms & determine shooting directions, etc. If you are too far from civilization, then you wont' find anyone for your club.
Lots of things to think about!
Our club has liability insurance we bought through the NRA. It was very reasonable, I thought, especially for $1mil coverage for us, plus another $1mil for the landowner. I contacted some other insurance companies that advertised but only got one reply & he only answered once, then we talked & I never got any more answers. To be honest, the insurance is so cheap, it wasn't worth his time, probably.
Holler at me, if you have any questions. You can go to our website, follow the road map, then zoom in with the satellite pics, if you want. www.wtps.us. We have added 5 more bays since the sat photos were taken, plus I'm building a stats shack. We also enclosed our rifle bay at the impact end & dug out the north end so we have 225yd shots available in it. We paid a guy with a caterpillar for one day & a guy with a backhoe for one day to add all that. Cost for those two guys was @$1500, I think, more or less.
I believe the pit our range is in, is about 900' north to south just so you have an idea of the scale & all that.
Mark Miller

This post has been edited by mlmiller1: 25 May 2008 - 08:38 PM

[Flatland Shooter]

robomanusa, on May 25 2008, 08:42 AM, said:

Could anyone point me in the right direction for building a range, requirements needed, insurance, some of the technical side of things maybe.

A couple of years ago my father passed away and I got 30 acres of the 100 acre farm, I keep liability coverage on it, but I'm sure there would be more involved than that...

how many bays needed, layout design....would 30 acres even be enough? what else????

If you are looking at a pistol only range, you might want to visit with Robert Porter at Double Tap Ranch. I doubt they actually use more than 10 acres for the bays, clubhouse area and shooter parking. They have around a dozen bays laid out back to back with six shooting east and six shooting west. The median down the center has some cover from the Texas sun and is wide enough for spectators and shooters to set up folding chairs and watch.

They hold the Double Tap Championship there each March. Along with being one the most entertaining and well run matches I attend, the range setup is probably the most logical/efficient one around.

Bill

http://www.doubletapranch.com/

[Front Man]

30 acres should be plenty. it is what is beyond the 30 acres that matters.
Know your neighbors and seek legal counsel.
It is your land and you need to protect it and yourself.
FM

[robomanusa]

mlmiller1, on May 25 2008, 08:49 PM, said:

We paid a guy with a caterpillar for one day & a guy with a backhoe for one day to add all that. Cost for those two guys was @$1500, I think, more or less.

That would sound about right, for awhile I was working with a friend of mine in excavation, putting in septic systems, basements and such and the minimum we had on the excavator was 100.00hr at 10hr minimum, so 1000.00 a day basically.

The good thing about that is I am efficient on every piece of equipment CAT and BOBCAT make

On a good day I could probably rough in 3-4 bays the size your talking about and at todays fuel prices you dont want to waste time, you want to make every bucket count.....LOL

I have access to a D5,D7 dozer and a 315 excavator anytime I need them, just have to pay for fuel


oh yeah, I didnt figure insurance was gonna be too off the wall, but haven't talked to anyone about it, I currently have 1 million liability coverage and it's like 250.00 year or so........you never know when some dumbass nut is gonna say.....oh look theres a groundhog hole, then step in it and break his f*#kin leg......LMAO

This post has been edited by robomanusa: 26 May 2008 - 05:38 AM

[mlmiller1]

Having that equipment available is an awesome assett! Keep us posted, I think you've had several people post some great suggestions. With the heavy equipment experience you have, you ought to have a really nice range in a short time. The suggestion about the Double Tap range layout is a great one. I've shot at that place several times & you can get from bay 1 to bay 14 quickly, unlike ranges that are in a long straight line. It is a very nice range & serves the purpose quite well. All of Robert's bays are roughly the same size. It makes a very neat layout & so forth but for me, some bay size--or shape variation is nice. All of the variety in stages is achieved with the imagination of the stage designer, none of it is "natural" terrain design. Robert is very good at designing stages so it is no handicap for him. I am not very original, so having different shape bays makes it easier for me to dream things up.
Our range layout is somewhat similar to Robert's with a couple of exceptions. One, we have a variety of sizes & shapes. Two, down the middle of ours, we have a huge pile of dirt. This leaves us with a great safety from one side of the range to the other but the disadvantage is you can't walk straight across from the east side to the west side. You have to go around the ends.

[mlmiller1]

About insurance, we have very specific "shooting range insurance". Not just a general liability. I believe this insurance takes into account that shooting will be occuring at this place. Ultimately Lloyd's of London is the insurance company, but we bought it through the NRA.

[robomanusa]

One thing I wanted to do with mine was put drainage into the bays, Ive been to several ranges where the bays hold water and were not built with anykind of grade at all to them for runoff.... in this case a small curtain drain around the edges would help to rid laying water quickly. Wouldnt take much an inch or 2 of grade over the length of the bay in the wrong direction means alot!....could mean the diference between a mosquito farm or a dry shooting range

[DougCarden]

Nick, this will be unpopular advice......but here goes. I am involved with a Gun club and have attempted to solict help from the NRA. It seemed that there was a price tag associated with every instance. I am an NRA member, not trying to stir up the hornets nest here, just providing information.... The information we received was outdated and was really of no use to us trying to get the range up to speed for the pistol events we want to shoot.
My advice is to make the bays big and wide. You can also divide up the bays with vision barriers, but make the wingwalls at least 12ft tall, and the end berms as high as you dare to go with the Cats......
Another thought is to make sure you get someone in that knows how to do drainage, and make sure you do a lot in front of the main rear berms. The Berms are sponges for all the rain you get, and the front area will be a swamp if the drainage isnt done well. After that it is really up to you and what you want to do with the range....Me....I would have 8 bays set up just for Steel Challenge....... but that is just me.......
Good luck!
DougC

[Flexmoney]

Nick,

Glad you are back around and getting back into it all.


I'll PM you my new phone number. (we moved last yr)

If you can make it around C-ville or Rayner's (as I recall, your land was more like Rayner's) I can walk it all with you and show you the right, wrong and questionable.

30a ought to be plenty. I have a 10a layout I drew up for some land we almost bought (instead of this house). It was enough space for Major matches +.

[davidwiz]

At the very least, you are going to want to incorporate the club - either as a non or for-profit entity. Otherwise, you can be held personally liable for any debts of the club and and any liabilities that may be entered against the club. A decent attorney should be able to do this for you for $1k or less. Also, make sure that you have plenty of liability insurance.

[chbrow10]

+1 one the drainage. Just looking at the pictures of the big matches at Tulsa brings that point home sharply.