Prone Pit Update

[jstafford]

I have measured out a space that is 8'X18' that would be great to build a prone pit. The spot is far enough away from the existing benches to allow traffic to and from downrange, and close enough in so that whoever would be in the far left position will not roll down the little hill.

While I was there this weekend, I spoke with several members about the project to get their feedback. To my surprise many of them said they would like to simply mark out the space as is and not fill it with sand or any other fill material- ie just leave it bare ground.

Since those who will be using the prone area will most likely be shooting off of padded mats anyway, I thought that having some fill material would be 6 one way & a half dozen the other.

So, if anyone has any definite leanings one way or the other please reply. My feeling is if nothing else, having some sort of fill material would make it look a lot better and would fall in line much better with the recent range upgrades than a patch of bare ground.

[TONY Q.C.I.S.]

Hi J. , I was asking some of the leaders of our club about it this Saturday when I signed up about the prone pit , and the idea of sand was an uneasy subject. When I was @ military school we had a sand prone pit built , and malfunction city dead ahead . it was comfortable but some of the “lesser” trained guys had major problems with jams and scuffing up the rifles . the admin. In our military dept. found a UN likely suitable alternative, recycled tennis shoes. They shread tennis shoes soles for gym floors, supermarket floors (food land) in big lot’s shopping center in Florence has one and kids outdoor play areas. The material comes in strips, bb sized pellets, and a dust to go in floor finishes. The stuff worked great, the malfunction and scuffing problems were solved and it is more than comfortable and drained rain water very well. The indoor range on church hill @ FT. BENNING has pits packed with it, heck of a lot better than the concrete was and warmer too. Just an idea, I know that sand will be a problem especially when people are standing up and getting down they kick it everywhere, when you lay your weapon on your mat to show safe chamber and to interrupt a string of fire you now have an Iraq type problem. Well just an idea I can find out where to get the material and it was cheep last I heard, let me know if I can be of service ……be safe, see yall on the range. Tony

[Jim Watson]

Not sand, it is sure to get in the works.
Coarse gravel is lumpy and uncomfortable under the usual thin range mat.
Small gravel is fair.
Concrete is hard and expensive, but is flat, level, and uniform.
Level ground with grass is the most comfortable surface I have shot prone from, when dry.

[jstafford]

Both qcis & Jom raise good points, and are worth considering for the final design. I agree that if we could get some sort of shredded rubber product it would be ideal. Remember, this prone area would be used by us, our kids, our wives etc so I think comfort will be a major issue. However, if we went the bare ground route that Jim proposes it would not be too much for people to bring their own shooting mat (which I would assume would be rated for their own level of comfort anyway).

With that said, the only objection I have to bare ground is FIRE ANTS! I have been out in the yard before and not known they had crawled up into my clothes and they wound up in my house. Plus who wants them crawling all over you when you are trying to concentrate on shooting? That's not fun for me and probably won't be for a lot of folks.

Anyway... based on both suggestions, it would seem that the two basic requirements for this area would be 1) some sort of overhead cover like on the new .22 range and 2) some way to designate the shooting area (simple 2x6's could handle that.

I would not have a problem with keeping the ground bare and then folks bring their own mats. We could even keep some pieces of rolled up carpet in the shed for people to use in a pinch.

Anybody else???

[James Day]

I agree with Jim on this. Rocks are lumpy, bare ground will just get muddy after a rain. Maybe bring in a load of good top soil and plant some good grass. The raised area by the high power shed was built for that very purpose. It was used in the military high power matches and worked great.
A shed would be nice, but would hamper the grass growing, and make it hard to keep what grass did grow trimmed or mowed.
Just my opinion!