Homemade 10m Range

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 7:30 pm

Does anyone have any good links to building a home range for 10m pistol?

I don't have much room to maneuver, but enough for 10m. I'm shooting through 2 rooms with bad lighting. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:10 pm

Orion wrote:I don't have much room to maneuver, but enough for 10m. I'm shooting through 2 rooms with bad lighting. Any advice would be appreciated.

When you say, "I'm shooting ..." do you mean that you "would be" shooting or that you already have some sort of set-up that you are using that you don't find satisfactory?

In my apartment, I shoot with my back foot nearly up against the front door with a line of fire down the hall and through a door to the second bedroom I use as an office. The target/trap is against the back wall and sits on top of a 4-drawer filing cabinet which puts it somewhat above regulation height. The range is just a tich shy of 10 M. The target is illuminated by the ceiling lights and the "shooting line" by a desk lamp turned up like a torchiere to provide indirect lighting for the sights. I have a cheap scope (WalMart) on an old camera tripod so I can see the target, and below the scope there is a fold up stool (WalMart again) that holds the pellet box at a convenient height. When the range is in use, I have to ask my dog to get up on the couch so that she's out of the line of fire.

And your problem is?

If you search the forum, you will come up with a number of other setups more elegant than mine but they all have two things in common (aside from a shooter at one end and a target at the other). They are adapted to the specific circumstances of the space available and are more or less elaborate according to the requirements of the shooter.

Roger

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 10:48 pm

I've got three ranges at home, with distances (and scaled targets to match) of 7, 8, and 10metres. The 10 is for use when no neighbours aren't sitting on the porch below the trap, which sits in a plastic tube about a metre past the edge of my porch roof. There's a cut-out in the top of that tube, onto which I've hot glued a patch of clear plastic for sunlight to illuminate the target. I've dulled the noise of impacts in that trap such that it's barely noticeable to anyone even fairly close by. Since the pistol's report is the loudest component, and because I don't want to put a hole in a window of the condo across the alley, I hang a 3/4" plywood piece in the bathroom window between myself and the target with a 17 x 17cm square hole cut in that, matching the outside dimensions of a standard target projected back towards me. Before that there are the bathroom doorway and my workshop doorway. Obviously I shoot when my family aren't at home, as the pellets fly through the common hallway and I'd be too nervous about not hearing them coming and going.

The other, shorter ranges are similarly fussy, going through the same hallway for the 7, and the 8 going from a corner of the bedroom upstairs diagonally through another hall and the target in a corner of my daughter's room. Each of those has a dedicated lamp. I use a wireless webcam for the shorter ranges, with a receiver plugged into my tablet, and a monocular on a tripod for the 10m range.

The 8m range gets the most use, as it's easiest upstairs to isolate the sound, enabling me to shoot even late in the evening without bugging the downstairs neighbours. But 10m is obviously preferable. I've been fairly exact in scaling the trap heights for all, but it just feels closest to what I shoot at the club when using the full 10m at home. It was tricky at first, figuring out even the 7m, but once I became a consistent enough shooter (hadn't missed the paper in a few months and mostly didn't miss the black) my options opened up.

Measure everything around your place, trying to find the longest comfortable line of fire, then get exactly scaled PDFs of the targets you need and print them in 'draft mode' to save ink. Stick these less than ideal targets to electrician's putty in the trap to get good clean holes punched, and pluck out the pellets between targets with an ice pick, smoothing the putty with a putty knife. It's a bit cumbersome, but gives you time to rest between rounds and makes for silent impacts. That can be important if you're in an apartment. If you need a specific, correctly scaled target, email or PM me and I'd be happy to send files your way.

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 11:16 pm

Thanks for the information. Right now I'm stapling targets to cardboard backers on a box. I just started shooting so, I'll go through a number of ways to keep the rooms clean and obviously safe..

Using cardboard as backers makes quite a mess and I replace them frequently. If I don't use a backing device and hang the targets, they create oblong holes, so that's no good.

I bought the Gamo pellet trap, but the dimensions aren't suitable for official 10m targets.. I have 9.3 usable meters atm and didn't want to go with an extended pellet trap..

The ideal home range would dampen hits, provide perfectly round holes on targets, and enable me to see my shots from my 9.3 meters w/o a scope. I'm also going to pick up a wall lamp that hovers over and illuminates the target from the front.

john_almighty · Post by **john_almighty** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 4:36 am

I just use a good size cardboard box, currently using a box my toaster came un. I fill the inside with as many yellow pages books i have, an old tshirt in the spac still left to also reduce the noise. Tape the target in front of box and shoot.

Brian M · Post by **Brian M** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:25 am

Here's the most recent thread on it for another couple pages of replys:

viewtopic.php?t=30487

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:20 am

A box of rags works better than ANYTHING. It is dead quiet and the more you use it the better it works.

Clip your target to the face of the box. Put the entire box in a larger box and cut away a piece of the face. This will catch all the target litter and lint.

When the whole mess becomes unwieldy (in a couple of years), throw it away and start over.

Brian M · Post by **Brian M** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:36 am

I can say, DON'T use carpet, it just falls apart within 100 rounds, doesn't matter how packed/deep you make it. DON'T use shredded paper, you're having to stuff more in to fill holes every other time and the trash that flys all over the place is astounding.

I haven't tried rags, but I went with the common suggestion of duct-seal:

Home Depot ~ Lowes ~ Amazon

I'm using B4/40 targets and it took 7 (I think) 1lb bars to cover the area for 2 bulls from edge to edge. The 7th is split in 2 and directly under the bull, the rest never gets touched unless I hand a pistol/rifle to someone else who has no clue what a light trigger feels like. You could make a 1-bull box with this stuff and probably only use 3 1lb bars.

The beauty of it? Thousands upon thousands of rounds and all you ever need to do is pick out the big clumps of lead occasionally and push the duct seal back into place with your thumbs. Less than 10 minutes of effort. The only trash is from the target, it's totally silent and I can't imagine the one time investment/effort of building will EVER need to be repeated. Maybe you'd need to buy another 1lb bar sometime down the line to put under the center of the bull as some is lost when you pick out the old lead.

Bowman26 · Post by **Bowman26** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 10:34 am

+1 for the Duct Seal. I made a trap out of thick wood and used carpet for a bit and then went with duct seal in the back. Silent and can withstand even 10m shots from my high power Walther with heavy pellets. The lead stacks on top of itself well also making big clump easy to remove as mentioned above.

You could make a simple box frame a few inches deep with a back and fill it with the duct seal, screw a clip on the top and your ready for the Olympics :) I will probably remake mine as it was first designed a bit over spec so to say and for portability. Now I want sleekness and to mount it on the wall, kind of turn it into a smaller version of a dart board cabinet. You could even attach a framed picture using hinges and flip it out of the way when you want to shoot then flip it back to cover the box. This then gives you a place to clamp the light on also right by the target face.

I use a portable shop reflector that you can mount anywhere with a CFL bulb to light it up well at the end of my hall. Inside I have close to 15m straight line on the range outside I have a full 100m ;)

Bo

toddinjax · Post by **toddinjax** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 2:39 pm

I have less than 10m, I forget the exact distance, but it's around 29 feet or so. I went through the math to scale my target size to the reduced distance, down to the millimeter. I was going to have a rubber ink stamp made of a bull with rings, and shopped for coated card stock, then cut the stock to the correct size. I tested several pieces of stock and got lousy, ragged holes. Ultimately I realized that the Gamo precision targets were the exactly correct scale size for my range, cost less than 5 buck(discount coupon) for 100, and you get a PERFECT round hole to score.
Ive read several threads here about targets and tearing paper that's hard to score. Why can't someone print an ISSF target on the same coated stock Gamo uses? The holes are absolutely pristine.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 2:44 pm

Any sort of paper will show perfectly round holes if pressed against smooth duct seal. It's a slight hassle, maybe 30 seconds or more work to pick out 10 pellets with a pointed tool and smooth the putty for the next target, but it's ideal for using home-printed targets.

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:38 pm

I don't know about the Gamo coated stock, but the Kruger targets are a short fiber card stock that is downright brittle - if it's folded it cracks - and it give sharp, clean holes. I've tried a couple of the "fixes" recommended on the forums here, like brushing dilute white glue on the back of the target and letting them dry, or drying cheap targets in an oven (slowly and very carefully). If you want to print your own targets but your trap only holds the targets along the edges, then you can pick up a light card stock at any office supply store. The holes still won't be perfect, tho' and you'll have to trim the paper to fit. I've done that and the holes are cleaner, but not enough to justify the trouble IMHO.

As far as duct seal is concerned, I will admit that I've never used it. It may be the best solution if noise is an issue, but it seems to me that dressing it off every ten shots just to get neat holes would be a distraction. I don't even check each shot with the scope just to avoid breaking concentration.

Remember - for practice, nice neat round holes are not important anyway. Whether a hit is a 9 or a 10 only matters if you are scoring a match. Crummy holes will still let you know what kind of pattern you are shooting and whether your groups are tightening up over time. When you are practicing, what matters most is what you did before the pellet hit the target. The time spent putzing around trying to make a target setup that gives nice, clean, round holes might be more profitably spent just shooting at whatever target you already have.

Roger

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 10:03 pm

I was impressed with Kruger targets this year at Perry. $5.90 + s/h for a 100 pack online. The problem with the setup I'm using now is I'm shooting groups in the 9-10 ring and sometimes in the 8-9 ring, so it can be difficult determining what few shots count where.

Brian M · Post by **Brian M** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:44 am

RandomShotz wrote:...but it seems to me that dressing it off every ten shots just to get neat holes would be a distraction. I don't even check each shot with the scope just to avoid breaking concentration.

Remember - for practice, nice neat round holes are not important anyway.

Roger

Err, I "dress" mine every 3~4 tins. Not much of a distraction, more like something I do when I'm procrastinating on more shooting drills. :)

And you're spot on with shooting at home as far as I'm concerned. One should either be Training (developing the individual aspects of the shot process) or Practicing putting those together. The paper is just there as a rough reference of the outcome of those efforts. Shoot groups, Placement of those groups is a non-issue. If you can shoot 13/18/22 shots that fit under a US quarter, you're shooting all 10's (for Air Pistol) ~ not sure what you would/could use for rifle ~ something 4mm in diameter though (maybe a button?)

Yes, I shoot odd numbers so there's no chance I could possibly try to score my Training/practice. It doesn't matter if that group is centered over the edge of the 9-ring at 4-oclock, that's a sight alignment thing, not an in-ability to consistently repeat the shot process.