Several members spent their Monday afternoon at the range repairing the damage at the 100-yard range. Three uprights and three sections of target horizontal frames were replaced at 100-yards, the shot up upright was replaced at the 50 yard target and target horizontal rails were replaced at 25-yards.
Much of the damage at the 100-yard line was due to inattention of shooters firing at targets placed on the target holders at 25-yards. Shooters at 25-yards are not paying attention to where their shots are impacting downrange. One upright at 100-yards was shot off at ground level and it getting it out of the ground was a lot like a dentist pulling a tooth that had broken off at the gum line – yuuck!
Another issue is ricochets from the shots fired at the 25-yard line that bounce off the ground in front of the 100-yard target frames and riddle the cross pieces. Shots fired at the 50-yard targets also hit those same cross pieces.
After the uprights were replaced, we put sacrificial pieces of 2 x 4 lumber on the front of all of the uprights. We hope that these pieces of lumber will absorb stray bullets and preserve the uprights. They can be easily replaced with just a couple of screws when the need arises.
Additionally, to reduce the damage from stray rounds hitting the cross pieces, we left the three new center section pieces (6 pieces of 2 x 6 x 14’ lumber) laying on the ground where they are less likely to be hit by ricochets. That leaves three sections of frames on the low end and two sections of frames on the high end for folks who want to shoot at 100-yards. For matches when we use the entire 100-yard firing line, we can just put the boards in their holders.
Shooters – we ask that you pay attention and help us reduce damage to target frames:
A. NEVER mount targets to vertical posts. NEVER mount targets directly to the horizontal rails. Suspend them between the two rails.
B. In the near future, there will be red paint on the vertical posts as well as red painted areas ON THE HORIZONTAL Rails about 1-foot in from the vertical supports. Please do not mount targets in red painted areas.
C. WHEN FIRING AT TARGETS MOUNTED ON THE 25-YARD FRAMES – WATCH WHERE YOUR DOWN-RANGE IMPACT WILL BE. ADJUST YOUR SHOOTING POSITION AND TARGET PLACEMENT SO THAT YOU DO NOT SHOOT THE VERTICAL SUPPORTS AT 100-YARDS!
If your 25-yard target hides the 100-yard vertical post – move your target or your shooting position!
For a quick review of Range Rules, click here: