How to make a berm (backstop)?

[deafdave3]

I finally got a house deep in the pineywoods of east Texas. I can shoot in my back yard, but I need to make a backstop, or a berm. Does anyone have any ideas? I thought about using sandbags, but this seems time-consuming and expensive.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

 

[BRitchieLCK]

Rent a dozer and push a big pile of dirt up and pack it. Make it several feet thick, high and wide. There ya go!

 

[deafdave3]

Uh... any other ideas?

 

[radney]

Hescos

 

[thatguy]

Mexicans? I hear Texas has extras.

 

[Jack]

Rent a dozer and push a big pile of dirt up and pack it. Make it several feet thick, high and wide. There ya go!

This is probably the easiest and cheapest way to do it. Except, depending on the size of the berm, a bobcat rather than a full on dozer.

 

[richiespng]

rather than renting a dozer, filling it with fuel, going through a learning curve, i would recommend paying a smaller operation the 3 hour minimum, which most charge, and have them bring a load or two of dirt and make your berm. They can walk it in, pack it, and smooth it in alot less time than you could.

 

[troy_mclure]

rather than renting a dozer, filling it with fuel, going through a learning curve, i would recommend paying a smaller operation the 3 hour minimum, which most charge, and have them bring a load or two of dirt and make your berm. They can walk it in, pack it, and smooth it in alot less time than you could.

this ^ , shouldnt bee that much.

if youve got plenty of time and pine trees you can stack dry pine logs 3+ feet thick, but theyve got to be replaced every 3 years or so.

 

[Guate_shooter]

Put a sign in your front yard "DUMP SITE" wont take long before you ALL kind of stuff stacked UP

 

[edman87k5]

Sounds like a good excuse to buy some heavy equipment for yourself to me!
A dozer would be nice but a simple tractor with a loader will get you by.

 

[leVieux]

Aren't you in St. Martin Parish ?

 

[deafdave3]

Aren't you in St. Martin Parish ?

I moved in with my fiancee in Texas. I still go stay at my parents in St. Martinville every couple weeks or so.

 

[JNieman]

Growing up shooting, my dad stacked railroad ties and lumber about 6' deep and 5' tall. I forget where he got the railroad ties. We always had them as long as I could remember. We used them to line the gravel driveway outside the trailer, and then after they built the house and removed the trailer, we threw them on the backstop. There is an occasional steel dowel holding all the ties in place, together, as well as a few driven into the ground behind them, since it's slightly downhill.

I've been shooting that thing with all manner of lead and copper and steel since I was old enough to hold a gun, and my dad has been shooting it longer. I still shoot it when I go visit, and other than occasionally nailing some new 2x4s to the face, to give a good surface to hang targets on, it's been great. The few ties on the face are all ate to ****, though, lol. It'll take forever to really eat that thing up, I think. A lot of pistol rounds won't even penetrate much at all, if any. I've found lots and lots and lots of FMJ 9mm and 45ACP just laying there atop one of the ties, slightly dented or dinged, sometimes not at all, and you wouldn't know it'd been fired if not for a little scuff, and the rifling. Additionally, railroad ties are treated to withstand the elements real well, as you can imagine. That's a bonus.

If you have access to something comparable, I would say that'd be a good bet.

The sand idea would be good, if you have access to good sand, and keep a lot of extra bags on hand as the bags get ate up and shot up, and sand leaks and pours all around. I imagine that would not be a bad idea either. I just don't know how fast it would deteriorate.

Edit: Timbers beats sand and dirt, imo... easier to work with, and gets built faster. But the biggest factor, I guess, is price and availability.

 

[bozakz]

Growing up shooting, my dad stacked railroad ties and lumber about 6' deep and 5' tall. I forget where he got the railroad ties. We always had them as long as I could remember. We used them to line the gravel driveway outside the trailer, and then after they built the house and removed the trailer, we threw them on the backstop. There is an occasional steel dowel holding all the ties in place, together, as well as a few driven into the ground behind them, since it's slightly downhill.

I've been shooting that thing with all manner of lead and copper and steel since I was old enough to hold a gun, and my dad has been shooting it longer. I still shoot it when I go visit, and other than occasionally nailing some new 2x4s to the face, to give a good surface to hang targets on, it's been great. The few ties on the face are all ate to ****, though, lol. It'll take forever to really eat that thing up, I think. A lot of pistol rounds won't even penetrate much at all, if any. I've found lots and lots and lots of FMJ 9mm and 45ACP just laying there atop one of the ties, slightly dented or dinged, sometimes not at all, and you wouldn't know it'd been fired if not for a little scuff, and the rifling. Additionally, railroad ties are treated to withstand the elements real well, as you can imagine. That's a bonus.

If you have access to something comparable, I would say that'd be a good bet.

The sand idea would be good, if you have access to good sand, and keep a lot of extra bags on hand as the bags get ate up and shot up, and sand leaks and pours all around. I imagine that would not be a bad idea either. I just don't know how fast it would deteriorate.

THe RR is always replacing ties. You'll see the piled up at intersections all the time. Most of the time youi can take all you want.

 

[dantheman]

Sandbags sound like a pain in the ass . Crappy clay-dirt would be a better option .

 

[dustyk70]

+1 on the RR timbers, That's what I use.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

The only problem I would have with the timber piles, are the freaking snakes that enjoy hiding in them.

 

[deafdave3]

The only problem I would have with the timber piles, are the freaking snakes that enjoy hiding in them.

All the more reason to be shootin' at dem timber piles!


Boy, Beanie's gonna be raisin' hell here soon.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

While this is true, I'd still make sure that it is far away from the house or any outside buildings.

 

[buttanic]

Reminds me of when I was a kid. I made a backstop by making a 3' x3' box from 2 x 6's filled with dirt and leaned it against the concrete block shed in the back yard. I would shoot my Remington model 41 22 single shot at it. One day I got the idea to try my dad's M1 carbine. After two shots I noticed dust floating up from behind the box. Two holes through one side if a block. My dad never did find out.