How to build a berm?

[Asha'man]

So I know I haven't been around here much lately. Bought a house in May after months of bullshit and have been moving stuff in, moving the inlaws out of their house, working a lot, and just generally getting situated. Just got internet a couple weeks ago so I'm slowly reconnecting with all my old forums. :D

Anyway, as I'm now sitting on 12 acres in the country, I feel the need to build a berm at which to discharge firearms. :D Coincidentally, my buddy is redoing his backyard and has a big pile of dirt that he'd like to get rid of. Short of piling it into a big heap in the corner of my land, are there any guidelines to follow when building something like this? I don't need it to be big, just wide enough for two or three people to shoot at and tall enough for basic safety, but I don't need it disintegrating in the first rainstorm either. Has anyone here undertaken such an activity? Any tips?

[Hitman 6]

http://www.israeli-occupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/idf-d9-bulldozer_480.jpg
[Tooth]

[mx'r]

build it in 1 foot lifts and compact between lifts. The compaction will resist initial erosion until grass takes hold.

[yosemite]

I really lucked out when I moved to Eastern Co 11 years ago, mother nature bermed the backside of my 36 acres, there is an old barbed wire fence a several decades of tumbleweeds and blow sand at its core, anyway, I would build it like a retaining wall, old railroad ties , some stuck in the ground , some stacked behind, some deadman anchors with the dirt piled behind, another choice is stacked tires filled with sand and dirt, you can spike and lag them together, or tire shred bales, spiked down and together with rebar, just remembet , if you use ties , logs, tires NO TRAcers!, had a buddy back east that caught ties on fire that way, burned a nd smoldered for days, mostly you need a loader , or strong backs , willing ones, to do it, lots of luck!

[Hayes]

So I know I haven't been around here much lately. Bought a house in May after months of bullshit and have been moving stuff in, moving the inlaws out of their house, working a lot, and just generally getting situated. Just got internet a couple weeks ago so I'm slowly reconnecting with all my old forums. :D

Anyway, as I'm now sitting on 12 acres in the country, I feel the need to build a berm at which to discharge firearms. :D Coincidentally, my buddy is redoing his backyard and has a big pile of dirt that he'd like to get rid of. Short of piling it into a big heap in the corner of my land, are there any guidelines to follow when building something like this? I don't need it to be big, just wide enough for two or three people to shoot at and tall enough for basic safety, but I don't need it disintegrating in the first rainstorm either. Has anyone here undertaken such an activity? Any tips?


If you let me shoot out there, I'll volunteer some hard labor [Tooth]

[Irving]

I've been told not to use tires because of the higher possibility of rounds bouncing back at you.

[Byte Stryke]

Here ya go (http://tinyurl.com/3xtns52)

I also found this .PDF from the Air Force (http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/AF/AFETL/etl_08_11.pdf)



I don't even want to know why they are building Small arms ranges. :D

More damned information that you'd ever want to know in some of those links.
Baffled, Semi Baffled, Blue-sky.

Now I'm Baffled


I've been told not to use tires because of the higher possibility of rounds bouncing back at you.
They go on the backside. If you are hitting them, you need more dirt.

[Asha'man]

I know I'll get more info from googling, but I was about to go to bed and figured I'd throw it out here. :) Not sure what we're gonna do to get the dirt out here, but I may try to use a couple sections of old slat fence (also from my buddy) as a retaining wall to shape the heap at the back. Plant a few cups of native grass seed on the top for erosion protection and get to shootin'.

[kwando]

House warming/shooting party??

still have the truck?

[Byte Stryke]

So if you scrape an area 200 Yards long by 20 Yards wide and only 8 inches deep you will have 888.89 Cubic Yards of Soil

to give you adequate estimate the Bucket on an average Bucket Loader is 8-10 Yards.


This would be enough soil for a respectable berm with Flanks.

Trick is, to take it in a manner that that will not interfere with water runoff.
ie. Upward slope, near the top of a natural hill. While in the lane it appears you are looking downhill, but in actuality you are looking "less uphill."

[Asha'man]

I think I have 20 or 30 yards available to me from my buddy. Should be plenty for a 1- or 2-lane berm at a decent height and with some moderate side coverage. My land is completely flat so no appreciable slopes to deal with.

Housewarming party for sure (need to start planning that soon, actually), and if the dirt is in place by then there will definitely be shooting. :) Truck has a factory electric locker in the rear diff now, as well as 4:88's and 33's, plus tube front bumper and (as soon as I build new brackets) a tube rear bumper with tire carrier. :D

[kwando]

nice to see you still have it... i have a 94 4Runner now