Sounds like you need a 4WD compact tractor or ATV.
Sounds like you need a 4WD compact tractor or ATV.
I’d rather shoot into a pile of chopped down trees( ideally sawn to facilitate interlocking stacks) than dirt filled rubber
I had a similar rock filled land in the past. This worked for my uses but I’m uncertain if it would completely eliminate ricochets
A top soil sifter to sterilize your back drop would be very decent if not genie in a bottle stuff
So stupid question, but maybe I am not the only one to never have seen a tire backstop.
Are the tires exposed? Or are they encapsulated as well as dirt filled, as they are in Earthship construction?
Usually exposed.Originally Posted by beenalongtime
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Lead bullets do not usually produce sparks. Copper jackets on steel can, but usually does not. Polymer coated lead ias basically as non-sparking as it gets. If you reload - switch to polymer coated bullets - if you don't reload switch to Federal Syntech.
Buy a large fire extinguisher and get a multi-gallon sprayer and fill it with water. Dampen the area around your backstop before, during, and after shooting. You don't need to soak it all, you just want it damp to help stamp out any errant sparks.
Followup: I built the backstop. The tires used were whatever size fits a 2007 Honda Civic (I started with our 4 old ones, and got more from a friend that runs a tire store. Of note, these are pretty flexy tires, not at all like a beefy truck tire. Dunno if that makes a difference.
For the center stack, that gets most of the hits, I filled the front 3 or 4 inches with (backpacked in :-( ) sand, with the rest filled with the local clay/rocky soil, rammed as tight as I could get it. A T post runs up the back of the tire holes to keep the stack aligned.
I've shot them with 22LR (rifle and pistol), 223 (77SMK and 55FMJ), 308 175SMK, and a little 9mm 147 hardcast; a few hundred rounds in all. There were no ricochets observed, and no bouncebacks (I'd know because the target backer - that plastic 'corrugated cardboard' - is only a few inches in front of the tires). You have to look close to see the holes; they are just tiny pinpricks. At least with these bullets it seems like the rubber expands as the bullet goes through, and then closes back up again. Wide flat nose bullets might work differently.
Bottom line: it's working great.
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