Every Saturday afternoon since January me and my friends have been shooting targets in the field behind our house.  We have set up a very nice range . We have a 15yd spinner for pistols,  25yd  paper target , 50 yard paper , 100 yard 12x24 3/8"ar500 steel  , 100 yard paper grid target (for scope , a 215 yard  3/8" ar500 8" and  6" round "gongs" mounted on one inch steel natural gas pipes with a 90 degree fitting on each side to make a box shape 6ft wide . If anyone is thinking about buying the ar500 targets , I will say buy them . They are very fun to shoot . Get some fire hose or nylon tow straps and the biggest removable chain link you can find to connect the straps to the target. About the only way to hit the 215 yard 6 inch steel is to have at least a 9x scope . I have a 1x6 vortex scope on my AR that I can hit the 215yd  8" but rarely the 6" one . My Howa 223 has a 4x16 nikon and I can hit it almost every time . Everybody loves the 100yd 12x24 ar500 . It's easy to hit open sites or for large caliber pistols .  I can hit it with my delta elite some . We moved it to 200 yds and I hit it one time out of 8 shots . The key is to walk it in by watching the bullet hit the ground then move it closer and closer till you hit it. We put a big piece of cardboard behind it to see how close our pistols were getting.  A friends 6 inch ruger 357 and my 10mm were the only pistols that could hit the 12x24 ar500 at 200yds.
   So far no neighborhood complaints.  My closest neighbor  is about a half mile behind where we are shooting . I dont think 2hrs of shooting on a Saturday afternoon is a big deal . We are shooting down slope into a thick woods in a swamp . So the bullets are going into the ground or water a short distance behind the targets . My next agenda is to put a mound of dirt behind the 215 yard set of gongs just to be safe.  I may give some garden vegetables to the neighbors to help sooth sore ears ,lol .

I wish I had a range, that must be cool stuff. Just be careful if you have well water, don't contaminate the water.

I have often thought about purchasing a 40' CONEX and turn it into an indoor range, that way the neighbors wouldn't hear the noise factor.  I have the stuff to build a great bullet trap and interior backstop just incase...the bullet trap would allow me to recycle the bullet materials.   

Quote from: Wolfie on May 01 2016 04:43:08 PM MDT
I wish I had a range, that must be cool stuff. Just be careful if you have well water, don't contaminate the water.

Of course, lead in your diet is probably a bad thing. High velocity injection is really bad for your health.
All lead is not equal, and aquifer contamination from bullet lead has never happened. Ever. Wow. What an uninformed statement.

For heavens sake, pipes were made from lead for centuries.

Now we understand there can be health issues, and there are better and cheaper options for making the pipes.

Detroit is having issues.  The better question in my mind isn't the lead pipes they have in their system, but whether people should be ingesting water that is so caustic as to leach that much lead outta the pipe joints.

Backyard range shooting is not a threat to your well water unless you dispose of your spent brass in the well.

  This summer ,as the corn grows, it should muffle the noise pretty good . We mainly shoot 223/5.56 so it's not to loud . The 10mm is louder than the AR 15 in my opinion. The ar has the flash hider that helps a little with noise . According to a veteran friend ,one design flash suppressor is supposed to keep the enemy from hearing which direction the shots are coming from as easily. About the well water thing , we don't shoot enough to make a big foot print in the ecosystem. It's my understanding that clay pigeon ranges are the one that have to deal with the EPA . Any new clay pigeon/skeet range has to have a landfill approved liner to catch any lead contamination. I farm so I know all about water contamination . I've even taken state required classes that teach not to spray certain chemicals ( atrazine ) in certain area and water ways .

Yeah.  Shotgun is a whole new level.  Assuming a 12 gauge 2-3/4" shot shell loaded with #7 shot and a 180 grain 10mm lead bullet:

1.  Area -Shot surface area of 10.23 sq. inch, compared to about 1.03 sq. inch of surface area for the bullet.

2.  Size - 495 grains of total lead vs 180 grains of total lead.

3.  Abrasion - Due to the higher surface area, the shot will abrade into lead dust far, far more quickly.

And this assumes you are shooting naked lead bullets.  Exposed area is 0 and size goes down if you are shooting the cheap plated bullets.  Exposed area is hugely reduced if you are shooting FMJ (exposed lead base) or JHP (exposed load nose).

Amazing

We had to shut down our police range as it was found to contaminate the groundwater.

About a hour north of me, another agency was forced to do a remial plan for lead cleanup as lead was leeching into that aquifer.

The new range now catches the lead and it gets recycled.  But hey you guys know better.

Full disclosure, NY and the rest of the NE has some of the most clean and valuable water in the world.

VADA, CO (PRWEB) NOVEMBER 14, 2014
According to the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA) and the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, local police departments had about 461,000 sworn officers. (2008 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Local Police http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=71) Each of these officers train at shooting ranges, which places those officers at risk for lead poisoning, according to the October 2014 Seattle Times Investigative Report "Loaded with Lead: How Gun Ranges Poison Workers and Shooters." (Read the full report at http://projects.seattletimes.com/2014/loaded-with-lead/1)
Fortunately, a Colorado-based company, MT2, LLC, is leading the fight to protect police officers and other shooters from the hazards of lead poisoning at gun ranges. In the past year alone, MT2 has completed firing range clean-ups for law enforcement agencies such as NYPD, Denver, Seattle, and North Las Vegas; combined over 90,000 police officers train at these ranges annually. Over the past decade, MT2 has removed over 11,000,000 lbs of lead from the environment while working closely with range owners to implement firing range Best Management Practices (BMPs) to protect shooters and the environment. "We are proud to serve and protect those in law enforcement and the military that serve and protect us," stated James Barthel, MT2 CEO.
"Dirty gun ranges are a source of toxic lead poisoning throughout Washington State and the rest of the country. Employees at gun ranges, as well as their families, are typically the most at risk for lead poisoning, which can cause a range of health problems," the Times reported. "Lead exposure can cause an array of health problems from nausea and fatigue to organ damage, mental impairment and even death."
"Everyone knows that high velocity lead can be deadly, but the hidden danger of lead at firing ranges comes from the dust and fines generated by shooting activities. There are Best Management Practices for managing lead at firing ranges that both indoor and outdoor ranges can implement in order to protect shooters, workers, the environmental and the local community from lead hazards" stated James Barthel; "We are passionate about Gun Range lead cleanup and restoring our environment and protecting people from the hazards of lead. That is why MT2 has developed a free guide for range owners titled 10 Keys to Range Management and Control of Lead Hazards."
The free guide offered by MT2 includes important safety and management practices to contain, control, and eliminate lead hazards at firing ranges. Range owners can download a copy online at:
http://www.firingrangecleanupreport.com
MT2 is the leading provider of environmental firing range services in the US and has served over 1,000 public and private firing ranges nationwide since 2000. MT2's firing range services include complete range maintenance, improvements and lead remediation services.
MT2's extensive list of clients includes over 200 law enforcement agencies such as NYPD, State Departments of Corrections, and the US Military. Since 2006, MT2 has been implementing a BMP Program for lead management and maintenance that successfully reduces lead hazards at the NYPD training range where over 40,000 officers and recruits train annually. The NYPD BMP Program includes removal and recycling of lead bullets and bullet fragments; sampling, analysis and monitoring of soil and groundwater conditions; and chemically converting potential leachable lead fines remaining in range soils utilizing MT2's patented ECOBOND® lead treatment technologies so that treated soils are considered non-hazardous and can be replaced back onto range berms.
The summary findings below are based on the 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA) and the 2007 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey. In 2008, local police departments had about 593,000 full-time employees, including 461,000 sworn officers.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Local Police
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=71
###

For locations abundant with wildlife, leaving lead undisturbed isn't always an option. In Stratford, Connecticut, the Remington Gun Club operated for almost seventy years on a peninsula jutting into the Long Island until the mid-1980s, when a group of fisherman asked what all that shot was doing to local shellfish. One study found that the club had deposited 5 million pounds of lead and 11 million pounds of toxic target fragments on its grounds and nearby waters. Half the ducks in the area had acute lead poisoning, caused by ingesting the shot while diving for food. Mussels, clams, and oysters were found to contain 10 times the normal level of lead. As a result, the town banned shellfish harvesting on the site.

The fishermen filed a lawsuit, alleging the club was responsible for cleaning up the debris under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which regulates disposal of hazardous waste. The ensuing fight split local gun owners. The club and its members argued that laws on disposal of hazardous waste didn't apply to materials leftover as a result of recreation. But local hunters backed the suit, according to Terry Backer, one of the plaintiffs. "They wanted to be hunting ducks, not having them die from poisoning," he told The Trace last year.

Wolfie, there is a huge difference between a police range that gets used 3-5 days a week for up to 8 hours at a time buy a line of 10-20 guys, and target shooting in a field.

Clearly we are envisioning different situations in our minds eye when the OP says he and a few friends target shoot in a field.  I see 3-4 guys for a 10 hours a month in a 75 acre field.  Those guys could do that for 100 years and not affect anything.

Further, I had already stipulated in my previous post that the quantity of lead was the determining factor, influenced heavily by the surface area of the deposited lead.

I wish I had land to have my own range. And if I did, I would keep it as clean as possible, thats all I am saying.

You and me both.  Big berm, mined regularly for all that sweet galina ore.

   I never thought this thread would take such a left turn  . 

Quote from: hikfromstik on May 04 2016 07:25:21 PM MDT
   I never thought this thread would take such a left turn  .

Here is the thing I really like around here.

The thread took a left turn.  And we had some great discussion.  And, after some good debate, Wolfie and I found our common ground.

Nothing wrong, IMHO, with threads that organically go off topic a bit.  And nothing wrong with disagreeing.  The trick is to be OK with the fact that there really are lots of ways to "skin a cat", to explain and substantiate your way of thinking, and be ok with what someone else thinks.

Wolfie and I were speaking to vastly different scales of range use.  In the end we both agree that the responsible thing to do is to keep your shooting area clean.