Indoor Shooting Range Distance

[Sir Henry]

My new garage is 50’ long and I’m wondering if I should set up an indoor airgun range. To be practical I could only shoot 45’ at the most and it would only be a spring/fall season range. No need for it in the summer and too cold in the winter.

I’ve slowly lost interest in airguns because I can shoot rimfire so easy out my back door and now up the hill. The back door range is so convenient especially in the winter.

[rickhem]

I used to shoot 10m pistol in my apartment, and that helped keep me in the game so-to-speak. Now I have that 10m trap set up in the basement and occasionally shoot there, but it's with my 753, not the pistols. It's kind of an angle to get the full 10m and still be able to see if anyone comes downstairs, but it feels safer that way, so that's how I do it.
Like you I'm a little bit spoiled with having the ability to shoot my powder burners down one of the fields. I have a 10" plate hanging at the far end that is about 409 yards, and have built two target frames that I keep mostly at 50 and 100 yards for load development. Mostly I'm shooting at 100, but the rimfires and the Henry do most of their work at 50.

[Sir Henry]

I used to shoot 10m pistol in my apartment, and that helped keep me in the game so-to-speak. Now I have that 10m trap set up in the basement and occasionally shoot there, but it's with my 753, not the pistols. It's kind of an angle to get the full 10m and still be able to see if anyone comes downstairs, but it feels safer that way, so that's how I do it.
Like you I'm a little bit spoiled with having the ability to shoot my powder burners down one of the fields. I have a 10" plate hanging at the far end that is about 409 yards, and have built two target frames that I keep mostly at 50 and 100 yards for load development. Mostly I'm shooting at 100, but the rimfires and the Henry do most of their work at 50.

Ten meters or 33 feet would be the perfect distance inside. I may put some effort into setting it up but am not going full tilt setting it up. If it turns out I actually use it during the shoulder seasons I’ll make it better.

[Vaquero]

I've never shot indoors, and like you being able to shoot anything from a 22 to a 444 right off the back deck I have little to interest in airguns.
I've got a couple of inexpensive ones that the grandsons play with occasionally, but they are graduating to the 22's and are abandoning them also.

RP

[rickhem]

Go with that 10m setup! But be warned, it's a slippery slope.
The CMP sells the 853 rifles that have the Lothar Walther barrel, and they'll shoot one hole at 10m. A good pistol could be as cheap as a Beeman P17 for <$50, to whatever your budget allows. Pellets are cheap too.
Pellet traps are inexpensive, I have a Gehmann 17x17 trap, it's the bigger one here:
https://gehmann.com/en/187-188-189-Targ ... CF8C689E39
The big one is the pistol trap, they have other sizes for rifle. I got mine off eBay from a shooting business in Canada for less than $30 shipped, and it works very well.
Get the Kruger targets as they cut nice clean holes that are easier to score (if that matters to you).

Yeah, that slippery slope is still undefeated.

[daytime dave]

Why not do it Gene? If you still enjoy them, set up something nice and have a good time.

[Sir Henry]

I've never shot indoors, and like you being able to shoot anything from a 22 to a 444 right off the back deck I have little to interest in airguns.
I've got a couple of inexpensive ones that the grandsons play with occasionally, but they are graduating to the 22's and are abandoning them also.

RP

That’s kind of what I’m thinking Randy. But….

Go with that 10m setup! But be warned, it's a slippery slope.
The CMP sells the 853 rifles that have the Lothar Walther barrel, and they'll shoot one hole at 10m. A good pistol could be as cheap as a Beeman P17 for <$50, to whatever your budget allows. Pellets are cheap too.
Pellet traps are inexpensive, I have a Gehmann 17x17 trap, it's the bigger one here:
https://gehmann.com/en/187-188-189-Targ ... CF8C689E39
The big one is the pistol trap, they have other sizes for rifle. I got mine off eBay from a shooting business in Canada for less than $30 shipped, and it works very well.
Get the Kruger targets as they cut nice clean holes that are easier to score (if that matters to you).

Yeah, that slippery slope is still undefeated.

…I already have lots of pellet spinners and traps. I wouldn’t really have to buy anything.

Why not do it Gene? If you still enjoy them, set up something nice and have a good time.

Right now I have so much going on with new buildings and then comes landscaping everything. But I’m also thinking that won’t last forever and once completed I’ll be shooting more.

[North Country Gal]

Agree totally on the 10 meter distance. It's been the standard air rifle/pistol distance for ages. 10 meters gives you a standard that you can use for comparison for both your shooting and for evaluating guns. In fact, a great number of target air rifles and pistols have been specifically designed for that distance, even some types of pellets.

From experience with my basement 10 meter range, the biggest challenge has been adequate lighting. As with so many improvised indoor ranges, the lighting was never designed for shooting.

And I'd stay air gun, too, Yeah, you could shoot rimfire with the proper bullet trap, but one shot that misses the trap gets you a hole in the wall.

Winter is doable if you have a heated garage, by the way.

Some other plusses for air guns would be cheaper to shoot, no hearing protection needed, superb accuracy and more.

[Sir Henry]

Agree totally on the 10 meter distance. It's been the standard air rifle/pistol distance for ages. 10 meters gives you a standard that you can use for comparison for both your shooting and for evaluating guns. In fact, a great number of target air rifles and pistols have been specifically designed for that distance, even some types of pellets.

From experience with my basement 10 meter range, the biggest challenge has been adequate lighting. As with so many improvised indoor ranges, the lighting was never designed for shooting.

And I'd stay air gun, too, Yeah, you could shoot rimfire with the proper bullet trap, but one shot that misses the trap gets you a hole in the wall.

Winter is doable if you have a heated garage, by the way.

Some other plusses for air guns would be cheaper to shoot, no hearing protection needed, superb accuracy and more.

With that in mind I may have special lights put in. Later this week the electrician comes to install a breaker box and one plug-in then in a few weeks when he has more time will do the lighting and additional outlets.

[Sir Henry]

I just walked up to look at where I would put the range and targets. This is about where I would be shooting. I wanted to add cabinets along this wall. If it’s a range I would be using valuable real estate.

FA4BEEF6-82B2-4651-B165-F340FB8E0D0A.jpeg (2.31 MiB) Viewed 3826 times

This would be the target area. The window gives lots of natural light.

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