Range layout

[Gaz]

Why is it that we have gallery ranges with fixed butts and firing points at various distances in front of them? Would it not make more sense to have a single firing point and butts set out at the appropriate distances from the points?

[Andy632]

Why is it that we have gallery ranges with fixed butts and firing points at various distances in front of them? Would it not make more sense to have a single firing point and butts set out at the appropriate distances from the points?

Economics and use of the land maybe; firing points are much easier to construct than Butts.

Some ranges do have more than one butts, Cawdor in Inverness-shire is one, from the 200 yard firing point you can use the pistol/gallery rifle butts (100 yards) or the two hundred yards main butts.

[Chapuis]

Echelon ranges are not unknown but it is essential that the design of the range should ensure that all rounds fired should impact in bullet catchers.

[IainWR]

Echelon ranges are not unknown but it is essential that the design of the range should ensure that all rounds fired should impact in bullet catchers.

The above is not strictly necessary. However, if you don't have a stop butt, the danger area must be dimensioned as a Field Firing Area, which for 7.62 NATO requires a length of 2900 metres and an extreme width of about 900 metres plus the width of the target array itself. If you have a mantlet gallery and stop butt of the correct dimensions, a Limited Danger Area of 1830 metres length and with considerably less width than a FFA may be used.

So, as Andy said, it's mostly about land use and economics of construction and maintenance - how much range can be crammed into how little space.

Iain