Prone shooting pit

[jstafford]

We now have 3 new target stands complete with berm on the high power side that are being underutilized because there are no new benches. I suggest instead of building new benches, we build an open 'pit' on the far left side of the current bench area that we could use for prone or sitting position shooting.

My idea is to simply box in an area with 2x6's and then fill the box with sand or pea gravel. Folks who want to use the pit can bring their own shooting mats. The total cost should be less than a few hundred $$$ (if anyone has a trailer, you can get sand by the ton for less than $50 at the concrete supply place). Surely we have enough money in the account to cover something like this.

That way we can shoot prone without being on concrete and without having people stepping over you while you shoot. I think it would add a new dimension to the range and would make it more fun for everybody.

[Dwight Pilkilton]

What about getting an idea of size for this ?

Could you do a study using approximations of amounts of materials (2X6s) Sand and pea gravel to complete this project. If you can get this information together I can discuss it with the other Officers and Directors at Mondays meeting.

Thanks
Dwight

[jstafford]

Dwight,
I can make specific measurements once I get my new key (can't get into the range right now) but off the top of my heaed I would say the pit itself would have to be about 12'x7' to accomodate 3 shooters at one time so we would need a minimum of 5 planks (at 8' each), 2 4x4's cut down for the corner posts and 2 center supports , and I would guess 2 tons of sand/ pea gravel if we were to have about 6-8" depth.

Again, If someone with a key could go out tomorrow and measure it out or I can do it on Tuesday. I think either way it is worth discussing.

Thanks!

Jeremy

[Jon boy]

I think the best thing is to leave it as is. I see people use that area for testing prone and sitting regularly with hunting rifles and it allows good vehicle access downrange. I think the way the rimfire and .22 range (to a lesser extent) are setup we are tight enough as is. We probably need to relocate the pistol side garbage bin come to think of it. My reasoning being there needs to be enough room to drive an ambulance right up if something bad happened. It's a hopefully unlikely but neccessary concern. The .22 side is actually pretty tight but you can still clear the pistol side with ease. (though the trash bin makes it a bit tight) While I hope we never need that access I'd preffer we keep it. We have plenty of aged and plus sized (LOL like me!) members and if someone had a incident or even just a heart attack immediate vehicle access is going to be important. It's one reason I rarely lock the gate when I shoot. I want to be a cellphone call away from help.

[Danny Creasy]

Jon said:

I think the best thing is to leave it as is. I see people use that area for testing prone and sitting regularly with hunting rifles and it allows good vehicle access downrange. I think the way the rimfire and .22 range (to a lesser extent) are setup we are tight enough as is. We probably need to relocate the pistol side garbage bin come to think of it. My reasoning being there needs to be enough room to drive an ambulance right up if something bad happened. It's a hopefully unlikely but neccessary concern. The .22 side is actually pretty tight but you can still clear the pistol side with ease. (though the trash bin makes it a bit tight) While I hope we never need that access I'd preffer we keep it. We have plenty of aged and plus sized (LOL like me!) members and if someone had a incident or even just a heart attack immediate vehicle access is going to be important. It's one reason I rarely lock the gate when I shoot. I want to be a cellphone call away from help.

Excellent points Jon. I agree across the board.

[jstafford]

Can't argue with that.... I guess we need to just invest in a decent shooting mat and leave things as is!