My Experimental Home Range

[Daedalus 19]

If you have a basement you can use your real handguns with wax bullets and only primers, If I still had a basement that would be how I would practice.

 

Are rounds like that commercially available? That would be great for basement practice, but I don't reload.

[SW9racer 262]

Did you get the co2 or green-gas version? I have read reviews that the co2 gets about 60 rounds per 80cent air cartirdge, where the green gas also gets about the same round count, but you can recharge off the grill's propane tank.

[TheWombat 67]

Did you get the co2 or green-gas version? I have read reviews that the co2 gets about 60 rounds per 80cent air cartirdge, where the green gas also gets about the same round count, but you can recharge off the grill's propane tank.

 

I've gone for the Green Gas versions of the pistols and we're switching to using Propane + Silicon Oil. As I wanted Sig P226/228/229/1911 replicas with proper blowback, magazines etc then Green Gas versions seem to be the better option (based on my very limited research).

 

TheWombat

[Krdshrk 3,878]

I stay with green gas personally, because I can't stand the smell of propane..... especially indoors......

[TheWombat 67]

Now with Christmas over and the decorations away MrsWombat asked me to consider how I can reduce the clutter of the home range. Now while many Wombats would have taken to burrowing in holes and drinking too much Fosters and XXXX I took this as a challenge to my Wombat ingenuity!

 

MrsWombat's requirements were:

• Less clutter in the living room, so when not in use the target holders need to be out of the way
  
• When in use, she still wanted the living room to not be cluttered
  
• No BBs bouncing around
  
• Needs to be able to be set up or taken down in less than 3 minutes.
  

I realised from the original home range that the majority of the time I am shooting 1/3rd side IPSC targets and I am not missing the paper unless I am trying to do something very unusual such as draw from holster and fire with my eyes closed - to mimic pepper spray or some other bizarre situation.

 

Therefore the revised range uses much smaller containers that hang from a line/cord. The containers are small enough to put under the sofa/living room suite when not in use and MrsWombat has given this latest version a much higher wife approval.

 

Comparison of old (left) and new (right). Note that the cord is now tighter than shows on this photo, however this was my initial trial to see if the concept would work. If you have a sliding glass door etc with a curtain in front then that would make a very good backstop in case you were to miss, albeit you'd have to be trying very hard to miss!

 

 

In reality the new version can just be a plastic container or a cardboard box with some bubblewrap on the inside, some paper pulled over the front and then the target taped on. Retention of BBs is 100%.

 

 

From the side you can see I am using bulldog clips (or whatever the equivalent US name is) to clip the paper on. This makes it easy to change and removes any need for tape. Since taking this photo I have put some bubblewrap on the inside to stop the BBs cracking the plastic. The plastic containers could just as easily be cardboard boxes - just depends on what you have available.

 

 

Overall much less hassle, much easier to set up and take down, all you need is something to attach them to, I am currently hanging some clothesline cord (at close to ceiling height) across the room. The cord is attached to bookcases but other options could be used depending on your room layout. The cord can either just be left or quickly removed depending on the wife's wishes.

 

note: If setting up a home range then please ensure you use some common sense on where you are setting it up and what materials you are using. BBs can inflict pain and damage as they travel at ~300 fps.

 

big thumbs up from MrsWombat in terms of improvement over the original.

 

:-)

 

TheWombat

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Repeated hits on that plastic will break it.

 

Also - not a good idea to put up a target in front of a window.....

[TheWombat 67]

Repeated hits on that plastic will break it.

 

Also - not a good idea to put up a target in front of a window.....

 

Hence the bubble wrap on the inside of the plastic will stop the BBs from breaking the plastic, or you could as easily use a cardboard box - once again with something on the inside to slow down the BBs. Or, what I have done is place some cardboard inside the plastic container as these stop the BBs with no damage to the plastic container.

 

Agreed, I wouldn't recommend putting a target in front of a window unless you have a heavy curtain or something which is drawn in front of the window.

 

TheWombat

[Malice4you 627]

Not trying to say anything of your aim, as I am sure it is spot on, but some sort of incident could result in a broken window. Also, as he said, a number of repeated hits to plastic or cardboard will eventually puncture or fracture it. Bubble wrap will help, but cannot always stop a BB from passing through. Multiple layers of cardboard is not always enough to stop BBs from more powerful airsoft guns. I've trimmed small tree branches with an airsoft gun before...

 

I've seen stray BBs that have broken windows and taken out LCD monitors, thankfully not any of mine....but it can happen...so do be careful.

 

Now, that said, love this idea, and I am going to have to expand on my shooting area in the basement using may of these ideas.

[tony357 386]

good job with all the stuff, i used rags in my boxes behind my targets when i had set mine up 3 years ago the bbs dropped straight down when they hit the rag,.. kept me entertained while stuck home recovering..

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Really some nice ideas and comments, but you need to remove the picture of the tiger, someone is going to shoot it..

[TheWombat 67]

Agreed on all the feedback re: when setting up a home range then consider safety.

 

Ideally for me I'd have heavy curtains across the large window behind the targets that can be closed when the range is in use and hence create a safe backstop just in case a BB misses the target. Also if undertaking actions that may increase the chance of a miss then I would revert back to the larger target boxes or move down to the garage. Albeit so far we've had no misses, statistically it is likely to happen at some point.

 

I've replaced the bubble-wrap inside the plastic containers with some black rubber matting that I had left over (originally bought from Lowes) that was purchased for covering the shelves in the safes. It looks like this can withstand the BBs albeit it will be checked weekly when the targets are emptied of BBs. This was actually MrsWombat's idea and was one of those DUH moments for me!

 

Just in case I was unclear, if you have just a cardboard box, or just a plastic container then the BBs with eventually destroy them (and could occur within 1 day depending on how many shots you fire). The BBs travel at ~300 fps and as you can see from the earlier pictures are more than capable of severely denting metal. Therefore it is important to have something to slow down the BBs once they have struck the target. Options include:

• Bubblewrap - would need replacing every so often
  
• cardboard - a BB will typically penetrate two (maybe three) layers of cardboard from Amazon boxes, so just cut some up and put inside the target box. It will need replacing at intervals and also has a habit of 'catching' the BBs, so if you want to reuse the BBs you have to dig them out.
  
• Air bags - like Amazon uses when they ship things - albeit they puncture and need replacing fairly often
  
• Material - e.g. shower curtain, mesh curtain, towel, pillow slip - will last a (much) longer time
  
• Rubber matting - works well
  

Plenty of other options as well, try things out and see what works. Where possible I have tried to use materials I already have in the house rather than go shopping. Since I Internet shop fairly regularly I usually have bubble wrap, airbags, cardboard etc in the house.

 

If you are in a basement, outside or somewhere where controlling the BB ricochet is not required then just using some light metal plates is also an option, albeit the BBs will be flying all over the place.

 

We now have airsoft pistols that replicate real pistols i.e. 5" 1911 (replicates Kimber), Commander 1911 (replicates Ed Brown), 226 and 229 that fit in our proper holsters etc. We'll leave it at that now and just see how the next couple of months unfolds. I continue to feel that this home range is beneficial, and more importantly fun... for little outlay.

 

TheWombat

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Wombat, I really like this, gave me a few idea for my basement, just wish I did this before I finished the basement.

 

If I had to do it over again, I would have installed wall standards flush with the walls, this would allow me to hang boxes at different heights and locations so I could change things around.

 

The boxes, I would make out of wood, deep enough to have a towel on the back panel and second towel hanging just an inch or 2 from the rear as the first catch for the plastic BB's. I would also make the bottom of the box slanted to a hole, I could then attach a container to collect the BB's in one location for re-use.

 

Boxes would be removable and easily storage, might even consider making them in a few different sizes so when I put them away, I could fit maybe 2 or 3 inside each other to save space.

 

Thanks for starting this, I think I'll draw up some ideas to do something in my basement.

[Malice4you 627]

Sometimes, products come with a semi-soft foam, similar to the cutout foam included with my P226 and Sig 1911 cases to hold the pistol and mags in place. This foam is quite dense, and usually very thick. Unfortunately, most of the time, you do not get large pieces of it, but it can be stacked side by side or something. I've used that for a while and it takes drilling the same hole with an automatic gun or very precise shooting with a semi-auto or bolt action before the BBs penetrate through. If you can find sheets of that, that would be the most useful way to line the back of your boxes. Any BBs not caught in that sheet would still be trapped in your setup, and once you've used the foam all up, you can cut up the still useful parts to use in smaller targets or whatever. It takes a lot of force to penetrate 1 1/2 - 2" of that stuff, that's for sure.

[Old Glock guy 1,127]

Wombat, awesome post! Wish I had seen it before I grilled you about this at GFH a few days ago.

[TheWombat 67]

no worries, any questions drop me a PM or post here. I think quite a bit of what we undertook at the weekend on the course can be applied to the home range with airsoft for practice.

 

BTW the GFH targets are a perfect fit for those larger size boxes you see in the earlier photos.

 

:-)

 

TheWombat