Shooting Shelter

[GregM]

One of my favorite daydreams is a small piece of land in the country, a modest cabin, and my own personal rifle range.

Of course, I would build a shelter from which to shoot. It would be roomy enough for myself and a few friends, and it would include a grill for cooking and handwarming in cold weather.

What about sound attenuation? Let's assume the nearest dwelling is 500 yards away. As a good neighbor, I would want to reduce the noise level as much as possible. How would I design the shooting shack to achieve this?

[cobb]

I have seen a barrel that was positioned so that the muzzle of the firearm was just inside of it. The barrel was lined with a foam material to absorb the sound of the muzzle blast.

[Pezhead]

You could probably try some foam inside. Maybe try to locate the egg crate varity.

[princewally]

I have seen a barrel that was positioned so that the muzzle of the firearm was just inside of it. The barrel was lined with a foam material to absorb the sound of the muzzle blast.

Do you think that qualifies as a silencer by ATF regs?

[1911fan]

nope, it has to attach to the firearm to be a silencer/suppressor, we used 7 tires screwed together in a row. put the muzzle in the middle and shoot, knocks 50 % of the sound down.

[Seismic Sam]

Go to Oakdale, and check out the clear vinyl flaps they have on their shelters. That, along with the egg-crate foam in the overhead areas and the silencer barrel should do the job quite nicely.

[JFettig]

You could actually make a non portable legal silencer. The problem is that you probably couldn't see what you are shooting at, even if you did have holes for that you'd probably get a large blast back at ya.

I found that when shooting my AR15 with a compensator, my neighbors can hear it a mile away.

Trees do a good job dampening the sound, I think it would be difficult to make it completely silent for anyone that close. my neighbor can hear me shooting handguns at 1/2 mile.

Jon

[1911fan]

making a simple rack to hold small economy car tires is easy and legal.

Start by making a V shaped platform to hold the tires, Use dry wall screws to hold the side walls together, and then stuff the insides with fiberglass batt insulation.

the 13 inch hole is enough to see the target thru, yet really deadens the sound pulse.

The shoot house in the picture would work, but the foam needs to be fire proof. There are better foams to use but just an example,

[GregM]

50% reduction would be great. I would expect some noise to reach my neighbors, but 50% might be the difference between annoying and distracting. Like a pneumatic nailer being used on a house down the street. I would also expect the tunnel device to reduce reverberation.

[Dick Unger]

You need to be able to see your whole field in case somebody comes accross the field of fire. If you shoot out of a window but don't stick the barrel out, that will cut the noise but the muzzle blast will get you.

You also need some wind protection for rifles, or you won't be able to get reasonable results. Build your shelter in a ravine or box canyon with lots of trees.

The answer, is to legalize silencers. If the health industry was not so opposed to any guns, they'd probably make silencers mandatory, because of hearing loss, and the effect on others. Then there'd be noise standards all guns would have to meet.