small bore/Air range

[Moe Draznin]

I am in the process of building an air conditioned indoor range.
We will be be shooting mainly 10 meters Air as well as 50ft small bore for up to 4 shooters together. The frame is up over a concrete floor.

I am looking for info about the size of the exhaust vent/s and its location (above the shooters or down range...) as well as the min thickness of the back stop (the backstop will be steel plates in an angle over a water pond - target will be hung off wires with metal clips)


Any referals to info or personal experience will be appriciated

Moe.

[Albert]

Moe,
I am on vacation for three weeks but after that I can perhaps give you some info/specs for indoor ranges in the Netherlands. They are aproved by the ministery of defence and air refreshment is in accordance with spaces that are used for hazardous substances like laboratories.
I will try to send more in about three or four weeks on the subject.

Albert
(The Netherlands)

[Jay V]

I am in the process of building an air conditioned indoor range.
We will be be shooting mainly 10 meters Air as well as 50ft small bore for up to 4 shooters together. The frame is up over a concrete floor.

I am looking for info about the size of the exhaust vent/s and its location (above the shooters or down range...) as well as the min thickness of the back stop (the backstop will be steel plates in an angle over a water pond - target will be hung off wires with metal clips)


Any referals to info or personal experience will be appriciated

Moe.

I would contact the NRA Range Development staff for advice. They have material that will give you a good idea of what you will need.

Basically you want the clean air to come from behind you and carry the smoke downrange to an exhaust outlet. Depending on the climate (not a concern for you), you need a heating system to warm the air, and some type of filtering system in the exhaust/return.

I'm not sure exactly how the water pond system will work for a backstop. Our club has angled steel that diverts the bullets into a (messy) sand trap that we enclosed by framing with 2x2s and covering the entire front with lightweight 4x8 sheets of pressboard, keeping the dust and splashback inside. It is occassionally replaced and painted a medium gray. Check into using a backstop of shredded rubber. It is mounded-up behind the targets to catch the bullets. You do need extra depth for the system, but I believe it works well.

Target retrievers of some kind are also very nice to have. That way you don't have to make the line safe every time someone needs to change targets. A simple hand-crank type is a lot better than nothing. I wouldn't build a range without them.


Jay V
IL