Home on (or, over) the Range
Mar 31, 2009 23:45:20 GMT -5
Post by Harley on Mar 31, 2009 23:45:20 GMT -5
Note to moderators: I know this is off topic for the Savage thread, but would appreciate your leaving it here for a couple of days for the widest exposure. Thanks for your consideration.
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Some time ago, in answer to something I don’t remember, Edge mentioned that he “rarely shoots above ground”, or words to that effect. Since that time it’s been percolating in my head what a neat solution to wind, rain and travel time that must be.
About four months ago I decided to do something about it. I have a private lake in my back yard; so, of course no one lives there. That gives me about 200 yards distance to the far shore. I have a friend who is a hydraulics engineer, and I asked her for her opinion on sinking a shaft in my yard, then tunneling beneath the lake for a 100 yard range.
The lake is really just a watershed, at most 10 feet deep. I don’t know the technical aspects, but my engineer took core samples along the proposed tunnel and told me that I was structurally good to go. I hired a crew of four Latino laborers (I mention ethnic origin because their work ethic was so great compared to anyone else I’ve hired in the past) who immediately understood the project and were pleased that it would take a long while to complete. I think they are used to one day of work at a time, and this promised steady employment.
We decided to sink the shaft just outside a backyard fence used to contain my dogs. This is a wooded area and can’t be seen from adjacent homes or from the lake, itself. We first had to determine the depth of the shaft we would need before running the tunnel that would become the firing range. The engineer shot a laser plumb line for that determination and we began the actual digging in December. I had the men load all removed dirt and debris on my open trailer, covered it with a tarp, and dumped it at various construction sites.
My laborers indicated digging the shaft was no different from what they were used to doing back home when digging wells. To that end they rigged a bucket and pulley to haul up dirt for removal. When the shaft was completed we built a ladder from the surface to the bottom. The tunnel excavation was much slower and was really filthy work, but eventually was completed. It is roughly five feet high and four-plus feet wide. We had to make constant corrections to ensure that it was straight enough to shoot through for its entire length.
My only significant expense aside from labor was for timbers and lumber to shore up the tunnel at intervals my engineer said were vulnerable. For that, I bought used railroad ties and cut them with my chain saw.
I then rigged a pulley and wire system attached to a small reversing motor to run my target to the far end and back. At first I tried clipping a battery operated light to the target frame, but that didn’t work. I had to install low-voltage lighting similar to a system used in landscaping.
Finally, we had to widen the base of the shaft to accommodate my shooting bench and accessories.
I have an old Boy Scout floorless tent pegged around the shaft to keep out rain; I’ll replace it with some sort of “igloo” when I can find one that’s camouflaged. LOL.
My only real worry now is that there is considerable seepage from the roof of my tunnel. I think eventually it will collapse, but don’t know when. The engineer says a lot depends on the ongoing drought and the amount of water in the lake.
So, I shot on the range for the first time yesterday. It was perfect. I have only to adjust to the noise compression from the small “chamber” I’m in. Ear plugs and earmuffs take care of that. The target retrieval system works, but is very slow in trundling back and forth. My wife tells me she can hear the sound of the shooting from the yard, but not from within the house. Even in the yard she says it sounds muffled and the direction can’t be pinpointed.
I’m including a few pictures of the yard and the raw tunnel.
Harley
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some time ago, in answer to something I don’t remember, Edge mentioned that he “rarely shoots above ground”, or words to that effect. Since that time it’s been percolating in my head what a neat solution to wind, rain and travel time that must be.
About four months ago I decided to do something about it. I have a private lake in my back yard; so, of course no one lives there. That gives me about 200 yards distance to the far shore. I have a friend who is a hydraulics engineer, and I asked her for her opinion on sinking a shaft in my yard, then tunneling beneath the lake for a 100 yard range.
The lake is really just a watershed, at most 10 feet deep. I don’t know the technical aspects, but my engineer took core samples along the proposed tunnel and told me that I was structurally good to go. I hired a crew of four Latino laborers (I mention ethnic origin because their work ethic was so great compared to anyone else I’ve hired in the past) who immediately understood the project and were pleased that it would take a long while to complete. I think they are used to one day of work at a time, and this promised steady employment.
We decided to sink the shaft just outside a backyard fence used to contain my dogs. This is a wooded area and can’t be seen from adjacent homes or from the lake, itself. We first had to determine the depth of the shaft we would need before running the tunnel that would become the firing range. The engineer shot a laser plumb line for that determination and we began the actual digging in December. I had the men load all removed dirt and debris on my open trailer, covered it with a tarp, and dumped it at various construction sites.
My laborers indicated digging the shaft was no different from what they were used to doing back home when digging wells. To that end they rigged a bucket and pulley to haul up dirt for removal. When the shaft was completed we built a ladder from the surface to the bottom. The tunnel excavation was much slower and was really filthy work, but eventually was completed. It is roughly five feet high and four-plus feet wide. We had to make constant corrections to ensure that it was straight enough to shoot through for its entire length.
My only significant expense aside from labor was for timbers and lumber to shore up the tunnel at intervals my engineer said were vulnerable. For that, I bought used railroad ties and cut them with my chain saw.
I then rigged a pulley and wire system attached to a small reversing motor to run my target to the far end and back. At first I tried clipping a battery operated light to the target frame, but that didn’t work. I had to install low-voltage lighting similar to a system used in landscaping.
Finally, we had to widen the base of the shaft to accommodate my shooting bench and accessories.
I have an old Boy Scout floorless tent pegged around the shaft to keep out rain; I’ll replace it with some sort of “igloo” when I can find one that’s camouflaged. LOL.
My only real worry now is that there is considerable seepage from the roof of my tunnel. I think eventually it will collapse, but don’t know when. The engineer says a lot depends on the ongoing drought and the amount of water in the lake.
So, I shot on the range for the first time yesterday. It was perfect. I have only to adjust to the noise compression from the small “chamber” I’m in. Ear plugs and earmuffs take care of that. The target retrieval system works, but is very slow in trundling back and forth. My wife tells me she can hear the sound of the shooting from the yard, but not from within the house. Even in the yard she says it sounds muffled and the direction can’t be pinpointed.
I’m including a few pictures of the yard and the raw tunnel.
Harley
