100 yards of fun!

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Jul 15, 2011

I think my new happy place will be the 100 yard tunnel being carved out of the hill in my backyard. My own private shooting range. Better than the field just sitting there and growing grass.

Pics to follow - the operator is about 1/3 done! :clap:

It would have been more fun to do the excavation work myself but I got an awesome deal on the machine and time!

Cowboy · Jul 15, 2011

PBinWA said:
I think my new happy place will be the 100 yard tunnel being carved out of the hill in my backyard. My own private shooting range. Better than the field just sitting there and growing grass.

Pics to follow - the operator is about 1/3 done!

It would have been more fun to do the excavation work myself but I got an awesome deal on the machine and time!

Cool, looking forward to the pics . Progress pics would be cool too as I'm trying to figure out a better range here then what we have . :wink:

Erik · Jul 15, 2011

digging an actual tunnel, or a trench?

muleman · Jul 15, 2011

It has been over 2 hours! Where are the pics? Don't be a tease like others on here! :whistling:

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Jul 15, 2011

Erik said:
digging an actual tunnel, or a trench?

You are correct - trench would be the right term. :doh:

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Jul 15, 2011

Pics:

In progress:

100 yards:

50 yards:

25 yards:

The nice thing is that the dirt berm on the top acts as an additional berm for when I'm picking off crows and starlings from the house.

fogtender · Jul 15, 2011

PBinWA said:
You are correct - trench would be the right term.

Darn, a tunnel would have been so cool!

One time out in the Prince William Sound (EXXON Valdez Fame), I was running the Coast Guard Patrol Boat along a rock cliff face by the water, found this old mine tunnel at the high tide mark. Had one of the deck hands go into the cave and set two red flares off, we pulled back about 100 feet and took photos of the entrance. Looked really cool, this big black hole with a set of red eyes looking out. One of these days when I find it, I will post it!

But it would make for a great Holloween gig in your back yard, put red eyes at the end of your range and dare the brave kids go to the back and seen what it was!

Sorry, got mired up in my past! :brows:

muleman · Jul 16, 2011

Cool! Now just build a nice bench to shoot from and you are ready for action.

Cowboy · Jul 16, 2011

Great idea. Looking forward to the progress pics PB . :clap:

I know you said you got an awesome deal ,but I'm curious as to how much that size of machine with operator is running these days . I cant get anyone to give me a price unless they bid the job, and I got no idea how extensive the job is unless I have an idea of how much it cost. :doh:

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Jul 16, 2011

It cost me $100, two tuna fish sandwiches, a beer, and 5 gallons of diesel. Can't beat that.

I need to scrounge up some old tires for a shooting tube. I don't want to be too annoying to my neighbors so I'm going to do my best to make a little portable hut with a pseudo silenced tube to shoot through. I've got some silencers working their way through the ATF approval process so they will allow me to have a little more fun. I should have a 300 Blackout AR put together by the time my .30 cal can gets approved.

Unfortunately, I live on the top of a hillside so I still have to be pretty careful about shot placement. I was just getting tired of hauling the chrony to the range and getting the "hurry up" look from other shooters while setting it up. This will mostly be used for testing reloads and sighting in guns.

Now when I go to the range I can spend more time shooting and less time tuning.

Cowboy · Jul 16, 2011

PBinWA said:
It cost me $100, two tuna fish sandwiches, a beer, and 5 gallons of diesel. Can't beat that.

I need to scrounge up some old tires for a shooting tube. I don't want to be too annoying to my neighbors so I'm going to do my best to make a little portable hut with a pseudo silenced tube to shoot through. I've got some silencers working their way through the ATF approval process so they will allow me to have a little more fun. I should have a 300 Blackout AR put together by the time my .30 cal can gets approved.

Unfortunately, I live on the top of a hillside so I still have to be pretty careful about shot placement. I was just getting tired of hauling the chrony to the range and getting the "hurry up" look from other shooters while setting it up. This will mostly be used for testing reloads and sighting in guns.

Now when I go to the range I can spend more time shooting and less time tuning.

Yup thats a heck of a deal PB thanks. They want 120 bucks just for showup fee around here for an escavator that size, but I cant pin them down on an hourly or daily charge, they only want to bid it by the job . :hammer:

You sure have a nice view though , the only hills I have around here are the ones I build . I'll be curious as to how the hut/tube deal works for you , I never would have thought of that . :cool2:

I CAN tell Ya that using an empty 55 gallon drum for a bench rest is probablly one of THE dumbest ideas I ever had before . The other one would be admitting to it . :pat:

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Jul 16, 2011

I'm surfing CL right now. I'd like to get an old camper with a rear door that would be the portable shooting hut. I'm trying to be respectful of my neighbors view.

A camper would be ideal because I could stand up in it and it would already be insulated for one layer of sound proofing. Then when I'm done I can drive it up and put it out of view.

I just need to find one that is cheap enough.

AAUTOFAB1 · Jul 16, 2011

Well done,wishing i could do that at my place(no room)for the bench try posting 4 - 2 1/2''dia x 3' pipe in the ground that you can slip a smaller dia pipe into,leave the 2 1/2'' dia pipe 1'' above ground level so the mower blade won't hit them,make a light weight table that can be slid into the exposed pipe , it will be stable and removable for the winter and for grass cutting and the wind won't blow it away.just a thought...

Erik · Jul 16, 2011

that guy must have been bored!
killer deal.
around here it's $100 - $125/hour for dirt work.
Cowboy - I have a high school buddy in Wichita with an excavating business, try calling RM Trucking (Economical Hauling) 992-8641

Cowboy · Jul 16, 2011

Erik said:
that guy must have been bored!
killer deal.
around here it's $100 - $125/hour for dirt work.
Cowboy - I have a high school buddy in Wichita with an excavating business, try calling RM Trucking (Economical Hauling) 992-8641

Thanks Erik I'll give him a holler . :wink:

muleman · Jul 16, 2011

You might consider moving a little of the dirt from the start of the trench down to the backstop area. I like high walls around them to contain any ricochets. Course I used to shoot at armor steel plates hanging in real estate sign frames just to hear the ding! I had dirt piled almost 20 ft. with a 953 Cat for a backstop.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Jul 16, 2011

Good idea Muleman, I'll probably do that over time. I can futz around with it with the tractor after the dirt settles a bit. I put out a bunch of grass seed because it was going to rain for a few days. I'd like to get some erosion control going and get it blended into the surroundings a bit.

I don't think I will shoot steel but I might bury my .22 bullet box in one of the berms for fun from the house angle.

Looks like any shooting hut plans may be on hold for a while. I think I just found a Colt Delta Elite that will be eating up my fun money.

Big Dog · Jul 17, 2011

Nice PB, you've given me an idea. I just built a backstop mound and it is on some elevation. I think I'll do the same to get the backstop under grade. I don't think it would take more than 40 or 50 foot of trench.

100 yards of fun!

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