Range Maintenance

[BIGGAME]

Whenever I talk about range maintenance everybody either disappears or looks at their feet. Ever since I have been shooting it has been something that has to be done but nobody wants to do it. We here at Kynamco have a weekly clean up and replacement of lights, target frames, shovel the sand back into the back stop and most importantly vacuum the whole range with a hepa filtered vacuum cleaner. This exercise takes about 4 hours.
Once every quarter we have Back Stop Brian whose job is to dig out the back stop, sift the sand to remove any chunks and generally keep the back stop in good condition. This usually takes 1 to 1 ½ days.
I learnt the importance of keeping your back stop in good condition many years ago when an ex-military range I shot at was closed down for a time due to the back stop not being kept in good condition. The sand had turned into rocks because of the continual vibration and impact of the bullets and we were getting quite serious ricochets from those hard lumps. Also a build-up of lead and bullet debris created balls of hard material which again caused ricochet problems. Previously the only maintenance done on the back stop was by a family of rabbits who seemed to be quite happy to live at the bottom of the back stop and graze completely unconcerned on the grass in front of the back stop. To my knowledge they were never shot as it meant that somebody would have to mow the grass if the rabbits were removed.
However, going back to range maintenance. An indoor range has special requirements to meet the health and safety aspects. All shooting areas and floor, walls etc must be kept clean and free from any contamination caused by lead from the primers or bullets. Also the firing residue leaves a sticky surface if not regularly cleaned.
We pride ourselves in keeping the range in good condition and clean but I am still amazed after 50 years of shooting to see where bullets get to on the range. However, the real mystery is that nobody ever admits a wild shot. I think that some nights the shooting spirits have a bit of fun on their own!

[gashtyke]

I shoot on a 50m outdoor "No Danger Area" range. The design of this range precludes the use of jacketed ammunition and only lead alloy bullets may be used. Perhaps because of this, we find that no agglomeration of lead in the sand of the bullet catcher can occur as the shooters regularly reclaim their own. "Pop-overs" beyond the back stop rarely happen, despite regular searches.

[Daryll]

My club has Bi-annual range days where everyone is asked to turn up with tools instead of guns.. general tidy up, tree lopping, grass strimming, painting type days to keep the range looking good. The backstop also gets re-profiled.

Once or twice a year a couple of the keen bullet casters get down and riddle the majority of the sand... they get to keep what they find...

[Gh0st]

We have a “Tuesday” gang who do general duties around our two indoor ranges.

On the issue of wild shots, our ranges are signed on by the key holder who opens the range. They walk the ranges and report any new marks, they are snickered and dated and reported to committee if they haven’t been done so by the shooter already.

[U27 Shooting Range]

An indoor range has special requirements to meet the health and safety aspects.

Two important aspects from our experience (indoor range Warsaw, Poland): very good ventilation system and soft surfaces to avoid ricochets