So I have been thinking about making a small (pistol caliber) range in my basement. Has anyone build an indoor or basement range? My Basement has cinder block walls filled with concrete (8 inches thick) and its completely underground. Ok, its my man cave.

So, I already have adequate ventilation (controlled filtered air coming in and forced air out on demand) I have the perfect spot in one corner that I can setup for 7 yards. I cant quite decide on a backstop so I am looking for some ideas. What type of backstop have you guys used for your indoor range?

not sure I would want to do that. Not all the powder burns when shooting, and there are ranges that have had flareups as a result. other than that, go for it. I'd love to have one in my home as well.

I think I'd be more concerned with the lead deposited in the walls from ammo, or on the floor, walls or any stop that is used, the cleanup and maintance of the area as well as the residue and gun powder that is inevitably spread throughout the house.

The ensuing property devaluation or hazzard clean up costs should the property be up for sale and the use of the basement properly disclosed to buyers...

Other than that I'm sure there are plenty of backstop materials, just be sure the ventilation you speak of is separate from the home ventilation...

You'll still get lead all over even with what you think is adequate ventilation.
Probably not a good idea.

No way in hell I’d want a range inside my house for all the reasons already mentioned.

I learned to shoot as a young lad with a Daisy BB gun at a 'range' my Dad set up in our basement.
I know... it's not the same. But I learned a lot before I ever fired a real rifle.

Where is 45Cal? Doesn't he have a range in his basement?

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
the cleanup and maintenance of the area as well as the residue and gun powder that is inevitably spread throughout the house.

My basement is under my detached garage. Not on the same ventilation system as my house. Its completely independent.

Would a few hundred rounds a month make all the much lead? I could capture it all and melt if down and make fishing weights with it!

I mainly want to use it for load development and on the occasion I cant make it to the gun range.

Member 45Cal has a basement range, hopefully he'll chime in soon.

It will be a nice fallout shelter once you get a good layer of lead built up.

quote:

Originally posted by D4Heavy:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
the cleanup and maintenance of the area as well as the residue and gun powder that is inevitably spread throughout the house.

My basement is under my detached garage. Not on the same ventilation system as my house. Its completely independent.

Would a few hundred rounds a month make all the much lead? I could capture it all and melt if down and make fishing weights with it!

I mainly want to use it for load development and on the occasion I cant make it to the gun range.

It's the vaporized lead that's the problem. It will coat everything.

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:

quote:

Originally posted by D4Heavy:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
the cleanup and maintenance of the area as well as the residue and gun powder that is inevitably spread throughout the house.

My basement is under my detached garage. Not on the same ventilation system as my house. Its completely independent.

Would a few hundred rounds a month make all the much lead? I could capture it all and melt if down and make fishing weights with it!

I mainly want to use it for load development and on the occasion I cant make it to the gun range.

It's the vaporized lead that's the problem. It will coat everything.

Your a party pooper... squashing my dreams and such...

Maybe 45Cal will speak up

Indoor range ventilation systems are pretty significant. Obviously they assume a higher schedule of fire than you're talking about, but don't you think that having a range in your basement would be like having a reloading press (you know, shooting the same amount cheaper becomes shooting a lot more for the same money becomes shooting a lot more for more money)?

The potential downsides seem pretty significant and if it doesn't work out, how much are you willing to invest in trying to get it there before you give up? How much are you willing to spend cleaning it up if it doesn't work out? I have space on my property where I could build a range, but the cost of the earth work to build a suitable berm makes the cost of driving to the range seem acceptable. I've also considered that it would probably cost me a fortune in ammunition.

When I was a kid we shot lots of 22 shorts into a trap in the basement. Probably not the healthiest thing. lol

Around the same time my father had a customer who was a serious bullseye or free pistol shooter, he had his basement set up with a large corrugated pipe a few feet in diameter that ran through the foundation wall and out into the yard underground.

My basement is 24x32. It has a 6" ventilation pipe pulled through a charcoal filter for fresh air into the basement. Then I have another 6" exhaust pipe I evacuate the air from the basement using a 300 cfm exhaust fan. Is this enough? Possibly, I dont really know.

Why not in your living room?

I have a large detached garage that I use for a rimfire (lead only) range. I would not put it in my basement for all of the reasons noted by others above.

The backstop for anything larger is much more complicated and more important, larger. One cubic foot of rubber mulch will stop all common lead rimfire but a steel back-up plate is recommended.
Diagonally across my garage from corner to corner, firing line to target surface, is a few inches short of 10 meters. Properly constructed the backstop captures all of the lead. Many 25' and 10 meter targets are available.

Noise is minimal, vaporized lead with standard velocity .22 LR is minimal.

I did see and use a private basement range but only the firing point was in the basement and it was a separate, ventiladed, acoustly insulated room firing out under the yard in a tube similar to a storm drain. Very nice, very expensive, and not maintenance free.

Load development may be out of the question, but shooting "range safe" ammunition like Federal's Syntech, which has a polymer jacket, may work.

If you don't do anything crazy, a commercial bullet trap may be a good backstop.

I actually did this. At the time, I lived in a huge 1930s apartment that covered the entire second floor of a commercial building. My hallway was 35 feet long and made a nice single lane firing point. Homemade backstop made from many, many layers of old phone books. .38 wadcutters was the ammo used.
And the smoke and fumes? Pretty significant and the soft lead of the wadcutters had to contribute to the risk. The only way I would attempt an indoor range again would be if I had a high flow air exchange system and use only lead free (both projectile and primer) ammo.

My guess is you would have to jump through so many hoops that it wouldn’t be worth it.