air gun ranges - Georgia 4-H

AIR GUN RANGES
ShootingRangeSyrnpasium
to the National
Summaryof a Presentation
by LeoR. Lujan,USSTDirectorJuniorDevelopment
DesignConsiderationsfor lndoorAir Gun Ranges
primarily
as a
Multipurpose
rangesareseldomdesigned
must
aseriesoftradeoffs
rangesowhenthespaceisselected,
to come up with a safe range. The major
be considered
are:
considerations
shouldbe,
Containment.Oneof thefirstconsiderations
"Willa strayBBor pelletbecontained
within
lf the
the
area."
Theattraction
to airgunrangesis thattheycanbe setup
pellet
possible
for
it
may
a
to
rock,
be
made
sheet
walls
are
of
nearlyanywhereat home,in schools
andchurchfellowship
you
penetrated,
must
penetrate
lf
wall
can
be
wall.
a
the
weshouldgivesome
halls!Before
discussing
airgunranges,
whatis ontheothersideof thewall.Youmaywant
consider
thoughtto theairgunitself.
fortestingto determine
to obtaina sampleof thewallmaterial
Historically.Invented
inthe1500's,
airgunshavebeen penetration
Masonrywalls
characteristics.
andbounce-back
werethefirst arethe mosteffectivein termsof containment.
aroundjustas longas firearms.TheAustrians
andlastto usethemona largescaleasa weaponofwar.They
Access. Doorwaysand passagesintothe rangearea
Bonaparte
decreedthatany fonrvard
wereso effective
thatNapoleon
of thefiringlinemustbe blocked.Lockeddoorways
withan airriflewasto be hungon thespot. shouldhavea warningpostedonthemif theycanbe opened
Austriancaptured
Becauseor theirquietoperation,
theyhavebeena favoriteof
by a keyfromoutsidethe range.
poachers
forcenturies.
LewisandClarktook
European
anair
pelletshooters,
I
withbeginning
PelletTraps. Working
entriesin prefera metaltrapwitha largesurfacearea(24"widex 18"
rifleon theirexpedition
of 1804andmadefrequent
Inthelate1860's,simpleand
onitseffectiveness.
theirdiaries
shooter
should
a beginning
high).Withgoodinitialinstruction,
intheU.S.Thepublic
inexpensive
airgunswerefirstproduced
nevermissthistrapanditsfaceis largeenoughfora 10bull
andtheyhave
beganbuyingairgunsforrecreationalshooting
targetfor the more advancedshooters. For
competition
beenpopular
eversince.
onpapertargets,I coverthefaceofthetrap
shooting
bullseye
providesbackingfor the targetsand
This
with
cardboard.
Uses. Nearlythreemillionairgunsaresoldin the U.S.
pellets
prevents
from being kickedout of the trap
spent
guns
powerful
largecaliberair
arenot,to my
._.nnually. The
(harmless
NOTE:
BBsshouldneverbefiredinto
messy).
but
pieces.
The
knowledge,
madetodayandaremainlymuseum
pellet
for BBs.
is
not
specifically
designed
metal
trap
that
a
guns
pellet
popular
rifles
inexpensive
.177
caliber
most
air
are
purposes.
guns
purchased
With
the
energyof
BB
for
recreational
the
Traps.
BB
traps
are
designed
to
absorb
BB
and
BBtraps
Championships theBBandkeepitfromleaving
thetrap.Commercial
introduction
ofairgunsattheWorldShooting
popularwith usuallyhaveoneor moredrapeswhichstopthe BBandlet it
in 1966,air guns havebecomeincreasingly
boxescanbeusedto
competitive
shooters.Air riflebecamean Olympiceventin fallto thebottomofthetrap.Cardboard
shooting makea simplebuteffective
BBtrap.At thebottomof thebox
1984andairpistolin1988.Currently
therearefifteen
intheOlympicsforwhich
and (thiswill be the backof the trap)lay six or sevenlayersof
GoldMedals
areawarded
events
madeby
Thenfilltheboxwithballsof newspaper
fiveof themareairguncompetition.
cardboard.
waddingup singlesheetsof newspaper.Whenthe box is
Mosteliterifleand pistolshootingathletesaroundthe packed(snugbutnottootight)withthenewspaper
balls,tape
worldtrainwithairgunsevenif it is nottheirprimarydiscipline the lid shutandyou havea BB trapthatwill lastfor several
of findinga placeto shoot.As a
becauseof theconvenience
a largesurfacefor
thousandshots. Again,I recommend
rangessincethe beginning
resultof theshrinking
numberof smallbore
shooters.
programs
have
1970's,moreand moreentrylevelshooting
Backstops.lf thereis a concernthatyourshootersmay
fundamentals
and
turnedto airgunsto teachmarksmanship
miss
thetrapsandthewalltowardwhichyouarefiringmustbe
juniorshooters
Withtheswitchof
to introduce
to competition.
protected,
youneedto considera portablebackstop.Halfor
the JROTCshootingprogramsto air gun overthe pastfew
plywood
willstoppellets;
theyflattenoutandfalltothe
inch
3/4
years,thenumber
withairgunshas
ofjuniorathletes
training
however,
willbounceBBsbacktoward
floor.
Plywood
alone,
thoseshootingsmallbore.
surpassed
the shooter.For a BB backstop,I use the plywoodleaning
gun
gun
need
for
thewallata 10- 15degreeangleandplacea 2"sheet
All of thisinterestin air
createsa
air
against
in frontof the plywood.A strayBB
littlepublished
information
rangesandthereis surprising
on of Styrofoaminsulation
4" of Styrofoam
to comebacktoward
wouldhaveto penetrate
thesubject.
onlyforairgun
theshooter.I haveusedthissortof backstop
features rangesin convention
MultipurposeSpace.Oneofthemostattractive
centersandhotelswherewallsneeded
isthatthereareso manyindoorspacesthat
airgunshooting
fromstrayshotsandI didnotknowtheskillof
'-6an beturnedintoa safeairgunrangefora periodoftimeand to be protected
theshooters.
to theirprimarypurpose.Thespacefortheair
thenreturned
Target Runners. lf all shootingis to be done in the
gun rangemay be small (a hallwayat home)or large(a
position(pelletrifleor pistol),severalfirmsmakean
standing
gymnasium)
remainthesame.
butthebasicrequirements
systemthatallowsyouto quickly
targetrunner/trap
excellent
Allofusintheshooting
sportshavebeentakinga newlook
at airgunrangesduringthelastdecade.Thatis becausewe
rangeforevery
havebeenbuilding
onlyoneindoorsmallbore
evena smallnewindoor
tenthathavebeenclosed.Building
and safetyrequirerangethat meetsall the environmental
mentsforfirearms
caneasilycostin excessof $100,000.
transport
singlebulltargetsto andfromthe targetline.Both
handcrankandmotordrivensystemsareavailable.
Theface
of the trap is about5" squareso this is not for entrylevel
shootersunlessa backstopis used.
Lighting.Proper
lighting
isanimportant
feature
onairgun
manypeopleneglect
in their
ranges.Thisis alsosomething
forkeeping
light
enthusiasm
theirairgunrangesimple.Overall
intheroomwheretherangeisconstructed
shouldhavenormal
fora classroom
illumination
orotheractiveindoor
area.Airgun
rangesshouldneverbe darkened.Unlessa large
shooting
illumination
systemis usedto brighten
theentiretargetarea,
speciallightingshouldbe placedon eachof thetargets.This
50to75wattbulbwitha reflector
canbedoneusinganordinary
shield.
Safety. Commonsenseand cautionare probablythe
factorsto applyin the designanduseof any
mostimportant
rangebutevenmoreso on an airgunrange.Many
shooting
peoplefalselyassumethe becauseair guns are not as
quiet,thatthereis
powerful
as mostfirearms
andarerelatively
nodangerintheiruse.Airgunscancauseseriousinjuryand
By
air gun rangedesignmusttakethisintoconsideration.
we
thatfactandtakingtheproperprecautions,
acknowledging
can keepshootingthe safestsportin the U.S. Thesesare
someof thesafetyfactorsthatmustbe considered:
. EyeProtection.WhenfiringBBguns,allshooters
shouldbe
onthefiringline(andothersintherangeif possible)
requiredto wearshootingglassesor hardenedlenses.The
partof the body.
eyeis the mostvulnerable
. AdequateTraining.Thorough
training(explani
hiso,r_beforea shootertakes
tion,demonstration,
anddry-fire)
herfirstlivefireshotwithan air riflewill helpassurethatit is
safelyon thetargetandin thecenterof thetrap.
. Lead. Thereis no problemwith air bornelead
pollution
from air gun shootingand no specialventilation
however,
shouldbe cautioned
systemis required.Shooters,
pellets,
not
notto putpellets
intheirmouthand,afterhandling
theirhands.
to eator smokewithoutwashing
. SafeRangeOperation.Procedures
forsaferange
andfollowed.Allof theNRA
ooeration
shouldbeestablished
RuleBooksprovidea listof the standardrangecommands;
theyshouldbe usedin thecontrolof therange.
TechnicalAssistance.TheUSSTJuniorDevelopment
will be pleasedto answer$eneral
Office(615/831-0485)
questions
on air gun ranges.lf you needhelpwithspecific
youmaycontact:
rangeproblems,
Whiting
Mr.Richard
NRARangeDepartment
1600RhodelslandAvenue,NW
Washington,
DC20036
if a locationhassufficient
spaceforan airgunrangeandhowmanyfiringlanescanbe used,the
SpaceRequirements.ln calculating
maybe used:
following
dimensions
if used).Determine
requirement
by measuring
actualsituation.
A. Depthof trap (andbackstop
B. Firingdistance:Forpelletguncompetition,
fromthefiringlineto thefaceof thetrapshouldbe 33 feet. For BB gun
thedistance
16feet, 4 3/4inches.
competition,
if onlytl
youshouldallowat least8 feetof depthforthefiringposition.Fourfeetis sufficient
C. Firingpositions. In mostsituations
standingpositionis to be used. Position
shootingrequires6 to 8 feet.
\NALL
D. Assemblyarealobservation
area.
Thisisnotneededona privaterangeathome
have10feet
rangeshould
buta schoolorclub
A{
LII\IE
TARGET
areaor observation
or moreforan assembly
areabehindthefiringpositions.
E. Widthof firinglane.Thefiringlane
shouldbe 4 feetwide.
F. Heightof Targets.Inposition
shoof
ing,beingableto adjustthe heightof the
targetand the trap it is mountedon is an
imoortant
consideration.
Sometraosare
mountedon adjustable
standswhichfacilia targetheightchange.lf using
tatemaking
a box trap or an angledsheetmetaltrap,
settingthe trap on milk cratesmakesfor
The
simpleadjustment
andeasyportability.
NRARulesproscribe
thefollowing:
. BBGunRule9.15: Targetholder
shall
be placedso the centerof the targetis not
lessthan1 footnormorethan1 l l2feettrom
the groundfor prone,sittingand kneeling
positions.
Thetargetheightmustnotbeless
than 3 feet nor morethan 5 feet fromthe
position.
groundforthestanding
LINE
FIRING
. PositionAir RifleRule6.2.1(a):The
heightof thetargetforthestandingposition
47 inchesand63 inches
shallbe between
abovethe ground.Whenusingmulti-bull
LINE
READY
thecenterof theupperbullshallnot
targets,
exceed63inchesandthecenterofthelower
47inches.NOTE:
bullshallnoibelowerthan
\NALL
heights
for
Therulesaresilenton required
thetheotherpositions.