First, if this is wrong forum, I apologize. Couldn't decide which category to post this in.

I just bought two S&W revolvers. The 649 and 686. I have five acres in semi-rural area and want to put up a shooting range for my wife and I. I have done some research and here are my ideas. I would like input from anyone with experience with their own shooting range.

First idea. Stacked tires filled with sand. Five or six tires arcross, stacked about six feet high. Another row behind them, staggered to fill in the gaps. Also maybe having the stacks curved a little to give it a wrap around look. The cons to this as I have read are that tires can cause ricocheting. But what about either bales of straw in front of the tires to catch any ricochets, or attaching carpet to the fronts for the same purpose?

Second idea. Using railroad ties. Two across and stacking them around six feet high. Another tier behind the first, off-center to fill in the crack where the first tiers come together. These could also have a tier on each side, flared out to form something of a semi circle. Again, I have read railroad ties can cause ricochets, but what about the staw bales in front of them, or carpet attached to the front of the ties, top to bottom?

Third idea. This is probably the best but also the most difficult. Just having a couple loads of dirt or sand dumped in the area of shooting. This would be the most difficult because the range would be down in the woods and very difficult to get a dump truck down there without cutting down some trees.

I would also build a shed, closed in on three sides with roof, and sound proofing it to muffle the gunshots. There are other houses in the area, although none are closer than 500 feet from where I would be shooting. The range would be facing a direction where there are no homes, and about 200-300 yards straight down the range is a giant embankment, perhaps 20 feet high, at the top is a plateau which has chicken houses on it. The embankment is not on my property so I could not use it for a backstop.

The other factor here is I don't have a lot of money to be spending on this. I want it to be safe but made as cheaply as possible.

NRA Shooting Range Services - The NRA Range Source Book
Ranges are categorized by the type of construction, shooting activity, target, firearms and ammunition to be used on the facility.
A lot depends on whether anyone else will have access to the range besides the owners.

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Science plus Art

I have a very similar home range situation. I am currently shooting into a large dirt berm at the back of my septic drain field. It is safe enough if I am careful with my shot placement but I do want to make it better. I have the skid steer loader to get the dirt/sand to the pile to enlarge it but the only way to get there is to take it over the drain field. The manufacturers specs on the plastic drain lines under the ground say that they can take a vehicle weight of about 6000 lbs. I can do it only if there isn't any sand in the bucket. So I have to figure out a way to distribute the weight with plywood or something or get tracks for the loader.

Anyway, to your problem. Maybe you could rent a Bobcat to get the dirt/sand to the location. They are only 5 feet or so wide and can turn around in their own length. They are easy to use particularly if you are only going to move dirt from one pile to another.

Believe it or not, that is exactly the conclusion I came to. A bobcat would do the trick. With a bobcat, I could put up the one tier barrier of railroad ties, shaped kind of like a horseshoe, and then fill in the area with dirt/sand. I think that would be the safest way possible. One other problem I couldn't figure out, which the bobcat solves, is how to get railroad ties stacked 6 feet high. No way can two or three people pick up a railroad tie and lift it up that far.

Thanks for the response.