.22 Shorts and Home Firing Ranges

[Halo]

I'm not going to do this because I have an above ground basement in the suburbs,  but I'm curious about the safety and practicality of setting up a very limited home indoor shooting range in a below ground basement.  

It seems some people do it successfully (apparently more with airguns), particularly if they live in a rural area, so I'm wondering about the details.  For example, I'm thinking nothing larger than .22 shorts in either Short or CB (like shooting gallery) would be manageable in nothing more potent than a little single shot bolt action rifle like the Chipmunk.  

Thinking about carnival shooting gallerys, I don't recall anybody ever wearing hearing protection for the .22 Short CBs.  Is that an accurate recollection?  Just little pops and snaps with low velocity subsonic ammo  (sometimes only primer, no powder), not big bangs.  

Obviously hearing protection is always a good idea, but I remember as kids we didn't use it for .22 rifles although we did for .22 handguns.  

Seems a big box crammed with about two feet of phone books and/or magazines would provide sufficient stopping power for .22 Shorts.  Also easy to discard and replace.  

Of course ventilation would be a serious concern.  I'm thinking a home central air conditioning augmented by a floor fan at the back of the shooter might be adequate.  Or maybe not.  Lead poisoning is not to be underestimated.

Naturally would need  all safety practices required at any firing range, maybe even to the point of not shooting if anyone else was in the house.  Probably never more than a box of 50 shots max at any one time.  

Any of you ever set up an indoor shooting range in your house?  Any lessons to share?

[eskimo2]

As a kid I shot pellet guns into a crawl space daily.  As an adult I made a pellet?22 CB bullet trap once, much better than phone books.  I tried to punch a drainage hole in a CMU wall with a .308 once.  It took many rounds in the same spot just to make a little hole.  CMU wall are plenty tough.  I would think a scrap 24” drainage pipe with a steel/sand trap at the end would work very well.  Don’t dismiss the idea entirely.

[storch]

Originally posted by eskimo2
As a kid I shot pellet guns into a crawl space daily.  As an adult I made a pellet?22 CB bullet trap once, much better than phone books.  I tried to punch a drainage hole in a CMU wall with a .308 once.  It took many rounds in the same spot just to make a little hole.  CMU wall are plenty tough.  I would think a scrap 24” drainage pipe with a steel/sand trap at the end would work very well.  Don’t dismiss the idea entirely.

or you can use the the old mother in law with a catcher's mitt bullet trap.

[lazs2]

Ok...   coincedentaly...

I just set up such a range.   My first thought was to get a pellet gun pistol and a pellet trap...

These guns are clunky and have crappy triggers and the power varies as the co2 (yes global warming wierdos... co2) lessens.

Now... in the sportsmans guide I happened on to a bullet trap for 22 and 17's that is very good..   The "do all bullet box"   the bullets hit the slanted back and are bounced into a curved area...  extremely well made and only about $50

To top it off...  .22 super colibri   Get em while you can.   In bricks of 500 for about $20

They are a 20 grain pointed lead .22 in what looks like a .22 long rifle case but.. there is no powder.  The slug is driven by the primer charge only.

They come out at 500 fps..  with a 20 grain slug this is more powerful than a pellet gun but less than half that of even a 22 short.

The best part is that I have a Smith and Wesson K22 masterpiece of 1952 vintage..  a very sweet gun on a k frame... practice is worthwhile.

The expense is about that of a pellet gun and the co2 but with a real gun that I use.

I have about 30' in my living room.  No ear plugs are needed.  If I sweat blood... I can put 5 rounds into less than an inch... best is 1/2" group

I use paper targets with a 1" orange dot and use a flimsy mailing catalog for backing and to catch any "splash"

worst case.. I get a tiny bit of paper and the rare tiny chunk of lead out on the carpet.

lots of fun and.. last visit to the range I noticed that I had gotten a little better than my normal slovenly performance born of not shooting as much in the last few years.

lazs

[eagl]

Originally posted by lazs2
Ok...   coincedentaly...

I just set up such a range.   My first thought was to get a pellet gun pistol and a pellet trap...

These guns are clunky and have crappy triggers and the power varies as the co2 (yes global warming wierdos... co2) lessens.

lazs

Um...  Lazs, that just means you don't know anything 'bout airguns  I shot competition airguns in college and there was nothing clunky or variant about them.  Yea if you insist on buying the $25 daisy from wal-mart you'll never be happy with an airgun, but for just a couple hundred bucks you can approach 1000fps in .177 with enough accuracy to put any number of pellets through the same hole at 25 yards if you're talented enough.

The pistols I used in competition were single shot single pump, and even a mediocre shooter on our team could cut the same hole shot after shot all day at 15 yards.  And those were our beginner pistols.  The really good ones used custom regulated CO2 bottles, were balanced and weighted, custom fit to the shooters hand, etc.  Yea they cost about $2,500 each but holy hell were they accurate.  The rifle team had guns that were even more accurate, but they focused on .22s due to that being a much more popular sporting event than air rifle.  

Regarding 30' accuracy, in my house using a cheapo $60 pump air pellet pistol, cheap daisy .177 pellets and using the one-handed competition stance, I'd cut the same hole half the time and could put 50 pellets in a hole the size of a nickel at 30'.  Yea I got my 'leet airgun skillz shooting collegiate competition, but remember that's with a cheap $60 air pistol shooting regular non-match pellets, standing on soft carpet.

For indoor range stuff, I personally used to use a 24" cube cardboard box filled with crumpled paper and a single book thick phonebook barrier mid-way through the box.  I'd shoot on it for a few months and then toss it to limit the potential for lead dust coming back out of the holes.  I wouldn't do anything like this if my wife was pregnant or if we had very small children or infants in the house though...  It's just not worth the potential risk of serious nervous system damage.  You just can't recover from that sort of injury so the convenience of an indoor range just isn't worth the small risk it would present even if it was set up safely.  Lots of people probably figure I'm too conservative about that, but lots of people are stupid and have kids with serious birth defects or learning disabilities so I'm not gonna change my opinion on this one  Broken bones can heal, but CNS damage is for life.

[lazs2]

uhhh...eagle... I have shot a few good airguns.   They in no way resemble shooting real firearms.   what I am saying tho is that shooting a favorite 22 revolver will be a lot better for you than some gun that does not even resemble a real firearm (in handguns at least)

If you read what I wrote you will see that the bullet of these rounds weighs 20 grains and it travels at 500 fps.   contrast that with the 5 or 8 grains of a .177 pellet at even 1000 fps  (much less in pellet handguns) and you will see that the pellet guns are less than half as powerful.

I probly should not have even written the post since now more people will be doing it and... as soon as it is discovered that we are having fun... there will be a law passed against it.

lazs

[eagl]

I read ya Lazs.  You're absolutely right about the relative energy of low-velocity .22s vs. even high velocity .177 pellets, and double-correct about the availability of "real" guns in .22.  

My point was that you seemed to be dismissing the whole idea of indoor target practice using airguns primarily on the basis that they were inaccurate.  I've found a decent air pistol to be a great way to keep in practice, and they're great for teaching/practicing sight alignment, trigger control, etc.  That's only a tiny piece of the puzzle for "real world" shooting, but the original question wasn't about setting up a combat skills course in the basement

[Maverick]

Just be aware that using a firearm in a confined area can cause an elevated lead level in your body through inhaling lead particles and other firearm residue. Make sure yoiu are venting the room away from the shooter.

[lazs2]

eagl.. nope... wasn't talking about accuracy except in the pellet handguns that actually resemble real firearms.. the co2 ones.  the repeaters and then... they are damn accurate too for the first few shots.  as the co2 level goes down they get less accurate.

If I had children around or was young I would worry more about airborne lead.   I really don't think it is much of a problem at the levels of a little shooting indoors.    I probly shoot about 15 or 20 rounds a day indoors.  I also use solvents.. ride without a helmet whenever I feel like risking my license.. weld in the garage and rarely use a seatbelt in modern cars...  I use power tools and remodel my home from time to time without wearing a moonsuit.   I worked on asbestos pipe for years and lead paint.

I am sick maybe once every ten years for a day or so.

I wish that I had worn earplugs for shooting more when I was young tho.  I was one of the first I knew to do it tho.

I think that maybe we are a little too cautious in our lives...certainly we are much too much of nanny busybodies in everyone elses lives..

That rant being over.....  mav is correct.   there will be airborne lead...It is probly not good for you.  He gives good advice.  

last night I got a half inch 5 shot group with the K22 and a 3/4" one with a cz75 .45 that I have a 22 conversion for... the gallery rounds will not cycle the  action of semi auto pistols tho.

lazs

[FX1]

To top it off... .22 super colibri Get em while you can. In bricks of 500 for about $20

Cheaper Than Dirt ran a special on the colibri about five years ago at $5 a brick. I have over 20,000 in my stock pile (: Thinking about it i shot two boxes this weekend..

[lazs2]

If I had seen em for $5 a brick I would have bought 20,000 of em too.

They are still a good deal at $20 in my opinion.. about the same price as shooting a co2 pellet handgun but much much much much more satisfying.

lazs

[TPIguy]

There are some very nice CO2 and precharged repeater airpistols out there. They resemble firearms closly in form, weight, feel etc... Just don't have the recoil. For killing paper at short range you don't need the power of a firearm either.

The only real downside is the price. For a GOOD semi-auto air repeater you'll likley spend far more than you would on a .22 firearm.

I have a Drulov du-10. At the time it was the cheapest true semi-auto pistol on the market. Still, at $360 it wasn't cheap. IIRC the next gun up in price was the Aeron b-96 at around $800.

Today I think there are some much cheaper guns available, however I don't know how good they are.

Heres some pics of mine.



About the same size and weight as my 6" king cobra. Much better trigger and far more accurate (at short range) than the Colt.



Quiet and low enough power to target shoot in my apartment. Not much good on pests though. If you need to questly dispach vermin, a .22 firearm w/ colbris is much better.

[john9001]

you people realize shooting CO2 guns will cause global warming.

[TPIguy]

you people realize shooting CO2 guns will cause global warming.

Good I always wanted to live in Montana but its too fluff'n cold there.

[Halo]

Good insight and advice, guys, thank you.  I think with CBs an indoor range could be safe enough but the possibility of lead poisoning, however remote, probably will keep me outdoors.