Here's my dilemma. I had my FFL pulled by the BATF because of a zoning violation. I didn't have a special use permit for the development I live in. The covenants say "residential only" and the BATF decided they should enforce the subdivison covenants. Never a complaint from neighbors. Anyway, my wife sees this as an opportunity to build the house she always wanted and for me to have the shop I need. We found 7 acres that looks pretty good, zoned residential and agricultural so I went to see the zoning board about a special use permit for that property yesterday. I was asked about any shooting and I didn't lie, I said that I would be doing some (may as well be "up front"). The fella told me straight up that there would be a lot of questions at the hearing about containment and noise from the committee members as well as potential neighbors. Now I know how to build a berm to stop the bullets, but what do I do about noise? Can I build a building and put in sound insulation, concussion would be a killer? Build some kind of tunnel to shoot through? Get a silencer for every gun I own? Anybody done this? Anybody with any good ideas?
Blair

Ditto what TC1 said. But if want to research it further, the NRA has range designs and recommendations. Sound is directional and berms/walls on four sides will direct the noise up, not laterally to the neighbors. Not the same as sound suppression but it makes a big difference. And having a proffesional design can be assuring to non-gun politicos who have to make a decision like that.

The second idea would be to have established times and/or days in the permit document for shooting so locals know what the gunfire is about, instead of random shots they can't be sure aren't a problem of some sort.

Last, you should canvas your neighbors ahead of time (as in before you buy the land) to let them know what you want to do and get their input and feelings about the whole affair.

Whatever you do,your chances of success go up proportionally with the degree of organization and research you can display at application time.

Rick Jamison wrote about his setup, which was a shooting tube constructed of (truck?) tires with pink fiberglass insulation stuffed into them.

They were set on a frame, about six deep as I recall, and the muzzle of the rifle was inside the first tire. The baffles reduced report significantly, according to him.

It would be cheap enough to try.

George

I would first ask will you be shooting inside or out side ?. Or from inside too an out side target ?.
I made a quiet range so as not to upset my neighbors animals , when I bang bigger stuff .

Let us know and we'll see if what I've done is applicable .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

I have seen internet photos of several 55 gallon barrels with both ends removed welded together end to end that were then stuffed with insulation. The guy had about a 20 foot tube coming from his garage that he shot through to his target out back.

I always thought this would work well if the terminal opening was reduced in size to about 6 inches - enough for line of sight to the target but small enough to baffle the sound. But me thinks you would really want to wear hearing protection with that set up.

Would probably want to do this outside, although inside to outside berm shooting is not out of the question. The tube idea from inside sounds great except that I wouldn't be able to see anyone walking onto the range. I think it would work from outside the building though. Drums/tires with insulation sounds like it would work pretty well even though the sonic crack will still be heard. But even reducing it to a sonic crack would be a large improvement over nothing at all. Some good ideas for a clean sheet of paper approach. Keep'em coming!

Nothing will silence the supersonic crack (except going subsonic).

For true, silent shooting (to your neighbbors, anyway), dig a 100yd. trench, lay in concrete pipe, add ventilators, lights, and a target return system, then cover the pipe with dirt.

George

Correct sonic crack is still going to be heard but can be redirected as well as muffled !.

I put up a 8X16X8 foot shed . I then covered the inside walls with HAY bales as well as 20Ft. out side on each side 4 high . Inside the shed on the roof I have a series of sound baffles hanging .

I went to a Super good friend who happens to be a Sound engineer for a Major Audio manufacturer . He drew up the placement of the Baffle Cones and depression acoustic foam . What it does is muffle the Crack to a Puff by absorbing most of the High pitch .

It wasn't real cheap for the Acoustic Foam , but the hay bales were a bargain and did A LOT .

After I figured out if inside the shed was good what about out side the shed wall ?. So I did them also . So far have never got one complaint from any of my neighbors .

I placed Plastic sheeting on top of the hay bales out side to keep rain from soaking them and sprayed them with a Water repellent sealer . All they really do is keep the sound directed down range .

Any of you ever hunt around hay lots ?. I was pheasant hunting down in the valley one year and remembered what shotgun reports sounded like from the other side of those stacks .
Yea you could hear the report but it was muffled big time .
I thought of using insulation but found out it doesn't work very well . It's made for thermal rather than acoustic values !.

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

Rick Jamisons set up was right adjacent to his shop and his bench was inside. He had a door that slid up or was removed and the barrel went into the silencer. I heard (pun not intended) it was very effective.

quote:

Rick Jamison wrote about his setup, which was a shooting tube constructed of (truck?) tires with pink fiberglass insulation stuffed into them.

They were set on a frame, about six deep as I recall, and the muzzle of the rifle was inside the first tire. The baffles reduced report significantly, according to him.

remember to bore a hole in the bottom of each tire so they will drain; also, sand will absorb a great deal of sound.

quote:

I thought of using insulation but found out it doesn't work very well . It's made for thermal rather than acoustic values

there is fiberglass insulation that is rated for sound, as well.

baffles covered with sheet lead will absorb sound, too.

elect a democrate, that will silence gunfire

Kleingunthers (sp) in Seguin Texas had a “underground†range behind the shop. I never saw it up close, just from the highway, but it appeared to be concrete or metal culvert laid out about ground level and covered with dirt. Perhaps some of the older members from that neck of the woods can shed a little more light on the details. It would appear to solve the noise, safety and impact problems. Might be a little pricy up front, but it would create an all weather environment and shouldn’t draw any complaints from the neighbors.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
Nothing will silence the supersonic crack (except going subsonic).

For true, silent shooting (to your neighbbors, anyway), dig a 100yd. trench, lay in concrete pipe, add ventilators, lights, and a target return system, then cover the pipe with dirt.

George

A well known gun rag editor did this exact same thing in his back yard here in East Tennessee. He is a multi-millionaire, but if you have the equipment, the biggest expense will be the concret tile. I would love to do this one day. Go for it!

Pink panther insulation is thermal not acoustic !. That's what 99% of Home Center outlets sell too the General Public !.

Stay above ground !!!. Floods mean anything to any of you ?. Maybe like Ill. right now or Texas if I remember correctly has it's fair share of of standing water which is measured in Ft. !.

Build a wooden frame slat style high enough to put your bench rest into it least wise 2 Ft of it any way . Strong enough to support hay bales .As wide as a bale of hay or two ? . Now make the run say 16 Ft or more ?.

If you like put sound board on the " inside " of the frame sides and top then put hay bales on the out sides and top cover with a Tarp ( I recommend one from Reef Industries , Griffolyn Tarps Houston Texas !. Good Folks down there .

Now cover the whole thing with a PE tarp , they last for Years and years direct exposure 365 24 7. I've been using them for 18 years only replaced twice in that time !.

Your above ground your dry and you've just made a noise dampening chamber inexpensively .

Another tip if you make it high enough but not to high the noise stays along the ground instead of up in the Air . Place an acoustic foam panel or sound board from the top inside of frame , angled about 45 degrees out ward near the end .

This keeps the sound shock wave focused down toward the ground Throw lose hay there and inside on the ground for more sound absorbing .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

savage sells a trap.

I read the same article in the gun rags a few years ago. It seemed like with the tire rig he had a piece of plywood on each end that had a hole just big enough to get the rifle barrel and a line of sight and bullet travel through. This limited the amount of noise coming out the ends of the "silencer". Good hunting.

There is a Middle School across the street from me. I use a Savage Snail Trap. It doesn't do much to quiet the sound, the kids still flinch. Especially when I go into full auto mode. Just kidding! I wait until they are in the building.

How quiet do they want it? What limits do they place on the noise nail guns and hammers make during remodeling and house costruction projects? I would imagine with the right indoor location, accoustic tiles and a Snail Trap you could bring the noise level down to less than what these produce.

All of these are good ideas but the real issue is convincing a board of sceptics. If you go up with a plan and they ask you to prove its' validity, "my buddies on the internet told me about it" probably won't fly. Not trying to be a prick but I used to have to deal with permitting agancies and drainage boards all the time and they are CYA outfits, especially elected ones.

Cheapest solution:

Rent a track hoe.

Dig a pit that you can build a cement block shooting room in...doesn't need to be large, maybe 12X14 feet.

Dig a trench for 50 to 100 yards off the pit for the shooting room. Purchase suplus highway culvert pipe (3 to 5 foot diameter).

Lay in pipe for shooting lane, finish shooting room. Cover with dirt.
No one will hear unless standing within a few feet.
Plus, you can shoot day or night, in rain or shine.

Garrett

Be sure any indoor shooting arrangement is WELL ventilated. Standard primers put a good bit of lead in the air in a finely suspended, very absorbable form.

As an aside to Jim R, I used to have an old gentleman on my paper route who would shoot in his unfinished basement in the 700 block of Pine Street in Johnson City. One morning his wife had several little old ladies over for a tea. He forgot about it and cut loose with a .30-06 right under the floor of the living room. Wife wasn't a bit happy, probably had furniture cleanup to do.

well when i got my zoning board approval for my gunshop the locals come to say they did not want a gun range but the town superviser told them they could only stop me from a commercial range meaning people using range as customers but they can't stop me from a personal range which me and any persons of my chosing could shoot anytime i wanted and i can test any gun that i worked on as a gunsmith so all be said even without him it would of been same result but i got a good guy as a town super that looks out for everyone

Cheapest Solution Trenching 5Ft. Dia. concrete Pipe back filling , cement bunker room ?.

What planet are you living on ?. Some 2X4's Hay bales and a tarp are far more sound absorbent than concrete and a whole lot cheaper .My entire set up cost me under $700.00 including the Shed I built , the Hay was $150.00 of it sound baffle was $165.00

Sounds to me like the Man already has a bank or Berm for projectile capture . With a short 16-20 Ft. say 4'X4' wood framed above ground tunnel so to speak covered in hay bales ,solves seeing down range and trapping noise inexpensively . All without some Excavation nonsense .

What would a length of concrete pipe 5 Ft. in Dia. cost and how are you going to haul them ?. Hiring a Semi with an appropriate flat bed set up X how many trips and pipe sections ???.

I can't speak for where he lives , but out this way the permit for moving that many Yd of dirt would require a Whopper of a Fee just in a grading permit , now add cement pipe and the Track hoe plus drainage issues !!.

Do what ever you have to do is all I can say .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

Congratulations on your success.

Besides sound suppression, one of the additional advantages of an enclosed range, whether under or above ground, is the lack of wind. I'm always amazed, when I am lucky enough to catch a windless day, at how much difference it makes to the apparent accuracy of your rifles. This is especially true with light/slow rounds like .22 Hornet, but even .270s and such are notably affected by even a little wind.

Congratulations. Best of luck with your business.

I built and use a tire type system mentioned by others. It helps but did not reduce noise as much as I hoped. Filling the tire cavities with insulation results in the muzzle blasts blowing fiber all around which I suppose could be prevented by rigging up some kind of liner. Smoke from firing builds up so you have to let it air out after 3 to 4 shots. Still, it makes me feel my shooting is less annoying to my neighbors

That's why I tried sound board because I used hanging sheets of insulation and it did the same thing Pink sky in the Eye !.

My wind protected range is only protected 20 Ft. then it's out in the open too the target trap . Which are Hay bales wet with Avocado Tree stumps cut and back lined before my Rock out crop catches any projectiles . It's 40 Ft. high at the shooting impact area 100 yd long and maybe 60 Yd thick !. Target stand sets in front of wet hay bales about 4 Ft. .

A friend of mine tried the tire muffler.His problem was the muzzle blast came out between the tires and we couldn't come up with a decent way to Glue the tires together . Plus it did little to curb the noise .

Another landscaping solution is hedges lining the range say 4 -8 Ft.thick and 6-8 Ft tall ?.

He did that along with copying my wood frame hay bale system . His Neighbors quit complaining !

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...