I’ve been working to improve the drainage at our home pistol range. I thought I’d share a bit about the project with my friends on INGO.
But first, some background information about our range:
Five years ago, my family and I were blessed by returning to live in Brown County, Indiana. We found a house in the woods with a bit of property.
I wanted to build a pistol range. The spot below the dam seemed like a perfect place! Here’s what is looked like in July 2009 after we had been working on it a few years.
My son, daughter, and I all enjoy the shooting sports and we’ve counted ourselves fortunate to host two NFA Days at our range. We love to share it with friends, both old and new. I’ve had a chance to meet many great people through INGO. Here’s a picture of the range at the start of the 2009 NFA Weekend.
Most of the people who have been at our range have never seen what it looked like before we lived here. Here are two pictures of the brush on the face of the dam and in the flat area below the dam that would someday be the range. This was in March 2005.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2009. We had been using the range for four years. However, something changed about the soils and drainage at the range. I had added a few tons of clay along the far side of the range to fill a low spot. After a fairly wet September (and wet NFA Weekend), parts of the range never dried out. As the Michigan Defensive Firearms Institute class approached in early December, I was putting down several bales of straw to try to keep our feet out of the mud. We held the class at the north side of the range because most of the main part of the range was too slippery. Something had to be done!
I sketched out some plans to put in about 300 feet of 4” perforated pipe surrounded by pea gravel. I have a small Kubota tractor with a backhoe so I could do the work myself. Those of you who know me personally will recognize my OCD tendencies in the sketch….
With help from my adult son, we gathered up the materials we needed and began digging in mid-December 2009, just before the ground froze.
This included 15 tons of pea gravel that had to be carted down by the ATV.
The following two pictures provide photographic proof that I do indeed know how to get dirty!
As I dug, I noticed a very hard clay layer about 2’ below the surface. This clay was much harder and had a blue tint. I imagine that this material created a fairly impermeable layer that trapped any water coming off the dam or surrounding hillsides. The drainage tile sits just on top of that clay layer.
As the weather turned warmer, I was able to grade the area with the tractor and a 4’ box blade. I noticed that the soil at the range dried out nicely this Spring. I believe the tiles are doing their job!!
Next, I tilled the top few inches to create a seed bed. After that, I applied about 130 pounds of grass seed. Within two hours, it was raining (and hailing). Fortunately, everything stayed in place.
As you can imagine, I saw quite a number of casings rolling around as I tilled the area. If only I could figure out a way to grow an ammo bush!
The last step happened today. My wife and I strawed the range with 6 bales of straw. We’re ready to grow some grass!
And this is how the range should look in a couple of months! I hope many of my INGO friends have a chance to visit on NFA Weekend or at the MDFI classes in late June. VUPDblue said he’s ready to plant some more brass!! (The picture is from 2009 NFA Weekend!)
But first, some background information about our range:
Five years ago, my family and I were blessed by returning to live in Brown County, Indiana. We found a house in the woods with a bit of property.
I wanted to build a pistol range. The spot below the dam seemed like a perfect place! Here’s what is looked like in July 2009 after we had been working on it a few years.
My son, daughter, and I all enjoy the shooting sports and we’ve counted ourselves fortunate to host two NFA Days at our range. We love to share it with friends, both old and new. I’ve had a chance to meet many great people through INGO. Here’s a picture of the range at the start of the 2009 NFA Weekend.
Most of the people who have been at our range have never seen what it looked like before we lived here. Here are two pictures of the brush on the face of the dam and in the flat area below the dam that would someday be the range. This was in March 2005.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2009. We had been using the range for four years. However, something changed about the soils and drainage at the range. I had added a few tons of clay along the far side of the range to fill a low spot. After a fairly wet September (and wet NFA Weekend), parts of the range never dried out. As the Michigan Defensive Firearms Institute class approached in early December, I was putting down several bales of straw to try to keep our feet out of the mud. We held the class at the north side of the range because most of the main part of the range was too slippery. Something had to be done!
I sketched out some plans to put in about 300 feet of 4” perforated pipe surrounded by pea gravel. I have a small Kubota tractor with a backhoe so I could do the work myself. Those of you who know me personally will recognize my OCD tendencies in the sketch….
With help from my adult son, we gathered up the materials we needed and began digging in mid-December 2009, just before the ground froze.
This included 15 tons of pea gravel that had to be carted down by the ATV.
The following two pictures provide photographic proof that I do indeed know how to get dirty!
As I dug, I noticed a very hard clay layer about 2’ below the surface. This clay was much harder and had a blue tint. I imagine that this material created a fairly impermeable layer that trapped any water coming off the dam or surrounding hillsides. The drainage tile sits just on top of that clay layer.
As the weather turned warmer, I was able to grade the area with the tractor and a 4’ box blade. I noticed that the soil at the range dried out nicely this Spring. I believe the tiles are doing their job!!
Next, I tilled the top few inches to create a seed bed. After that, I applied about 130 pounds of grass seed. Within two hours, it was raining (and hailing). Fortunately, everything stayed in place.
As you can imagine, I saw quite a number of casings rolling around as I tilled the area. If only I could figure out a way to grow an ammo bush!
The last step happened today. My wife and I strawed the range with 6 bales of straw. We’re ready to grow some grass!
And this is how the range should look in a couple of months! I hope many of my INGO friends have a chance to visit on NFA Weekend or at the MDFI classes in late June. VUPDblue said he’s ready to plant some more brass!! (The picture is from 2009 NFA Weekend!)
Last edited:
