I have a basement 25yd range - concrete ceiling, floor and walls.

Have been using a sandbag backstop in front of a concrete wall. Sandbags don't last long until shot out and need to rebag/restack.

I'm looking for an "additive" I can mix with the sand that will make it stick together. Then I can eliminate the bags while making a more vertical backstop "pile". Dry loose sand is less than ideal as the pile naturally slumps into something more like 45 degree (or less) front slope. I want a moldable pile that can pack/repack with more vertical front. Something like a 60 degree slope. But obviously not hard (as concrete).

Any ideas? Perhaps a molding sand additive. Mix with engine oil might work by would be a mess. Water will just dry out quickly.

Try kinetic sand. Might cost you a fortune depending on how much you need.

Consider buying a bullet trap. I've had one for over 40 years that stops .38 Special/9mm, but I haven't used it for anything but airguns in a long time. I hope you have a good ventilation system.

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Any chance to obtain shredded tire material? That's what was used at my club when our ranges were refurbished. I have no idea as to cost - FWIW.

There are companies that make rubber blocks that are stack able that I have seen in some shooting ranges . I think they might have been made from recycled tires

Would be great to have a basement range for at least 22 lr, wouldn’t want the lead contamination. Have a higher than normal lead count from shooting at the indoor gun club.

Currently have a 10 meter pellet gun range down there, a cardboard box with canvas folded and draped over a dowl rod. Don’t use it much but sure there is no lead being spread through the basement. Good luck finding something, chopped tire was used at the club with conveyor belt holding it in place. Now there are steel plates at a downward angle and some tires at the bottom to slow the ricochet. Larry

Long ago I had a friend with a 50' basement range. His backstop was made of old RR cross ties he got free. I think he had two layers. He fired only .22. The main issue for such a range is in providing good ventilation to keep lead contamination low.

I used to shoot .38 Special paraffin loads (primer only) in my basement using bales of newspaper as a backstop. I did that only when it was too cold to shoot in my back yard.

Methinks that there isn't a town or city in this country where firing a weapon is not illegal. Jus' sayin'......indoor ranges are cool, of course.....

I am pretty sure this is the City of Dallas Ordinance:
Random search - Carson City, NV:

Billings, MT:

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My club upgraded our indoor range at a cost of $250,000.00. Most of that was for ventilation to meet the regulations.

A local public range used by 3 police departments was closed by the state because the owner let the ventilation systems' maintenance get out of hand.

I personally would not shoot in my house with anything other than air guns because the cost to make it safe would be out of my range.

How about making the sandbags out of Kevlar?

The sand would still absorb the energy but you would have a lot less holes poked in them.

Assuming you are shooting handguns.

Or get some sheet steel and hang it at a 45 degree angle with a sand box at the base. When the bullets hit the steel they are deflected down into the sand. My club does that except with a water trough instead of sand.

Good point and good info, but since the OP's screen name is neiowa (NE Iowa?) my guess would be that posting the ordinance for the city of Des Moines would be more on point.

But I could be wrong - wouldn't be the first time...

Anyway, if I were setting up an indoor backstop, I think it would be a plate of 3/8" steel, mounted at a 45 degree angle with a 4" - 6" deep tray of sand under it to catch/stop the ricochets.

I'd also install a VERY high CFM exhaust fan - for two reasons.
1) To avoid getting lead poisoning yourself, and
2) Having your home test positive for lead contamination would be really bad for your resale value.

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Just build a wood and plywood box and fill it with sand/dirt. Only the front sheet will be shot. When needed, nail another sheet on top of it. Simple and fairly cheap.

As stated above, the fumes and lead contamination are a concern.

"Methinks that there isn't a town or city in this country where firing a weapon is not illegal."

In village and city limits for sure.

I think it's legal in 99% of the "towns" in the USA.


I stand inside my garage with an industrial fan at my back and shoot out the back door.

For indoors I'd consider the aforementioned simple plywood box full of sand.

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Rubber mulch in a box with double plywood at the rear.

As there are actual legal definitions for towns and villages and they differ from state to state I wouldn't be real sure about the above statement but I admit when I wrote the first sentence I was being very generic and not specific concerning the difference between a town and a village.

I certainly did not focus on the OP's probable location but, since it was mentioned, here is the pertinent part of the Des Moine ordinance:

Pella, Iowa, pop. 10,464:

Earlville is a village in New York state bisected by two counties: Madison County and Chenango County, United States. The population was 774 as per the 2020 Decennial census,[2] a decrease from the 872 reported in the 2010 census.

(c) Wikipedia

Need I go on?

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It’s not only the air quality, it’s the lead contamination on the floor and everything down there. I feel our club is a lead pit. Some of the Tuesday morning old guys have a higher lead count and very seldom shoot. They sit at the bar and BS from 9am to noon, Larry

DING DING...........This man has the correct answer!
Hook it to a shop vac with a hepa filter.

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Designing, building, and maintaining a safe indoor range is difficult and expensive.

Ventilation and air filtration is for both airborne particles from the bullet impact as well as the discharge from the firearm. The backstop won't help with the latter.
A fully enclosed, all-concrete space also poses risks from both contaminants and extremely high sound pressure levels. Regarding the latter, you should, at the least, download the free NIOSH sound pressure level software for use in smart phones and tablets and run some tests. Even air pistols can have a peak SPL level exceeding 120 dB. There are range-specific acoustic treatments, but these need to be professionally installed and are quite expensive. Improvised efforts at sound abatement tend to exasperate the airborne particulate problems.

Attached are some pictures from a small local club range taken less than a year after the range was rebuilt. The range is lightly used, primarily one or two evenings a week plus some off-hour use, yet the cumulative mess and destruction is plainly evident. I got some lead testing supplies from OSHA. Literally every flat surface anywhere in the range vicinity was covered in fine lead dust.

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Geez, I need to check out what Iowa allows for discharge of cannon while hunting!

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You make some good points.
One thing to consider though.
This is a commercial range that, even if only used 2 or 3 days a week will still see a lot more use than a home range used almost exclusively by the owner and occasional guests.
Over a long enough period of time I'm sure the lead contamination would build up at the home range too, just not as fast or as much as even a lightly used commercial range.

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I've been shooting for 60 years. Now I shoot indoors every week in the Winter. I had my blood tested 2 years ago and the lead concentration was barely detectable. Maybe my club range has done it right.

There is a minimum caliber for howitzers donchano!!!

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Idiot that I can be, I usually don’t shoot more than 5 pumps in my Crossman. Those BBs really bounce off the concrete. Goggles are usually involved.

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The club scrambled for the answers for air flow, they were all very expensive. Can’t actually afford what we need. Tried to get someone to design something for us and no one wanted the liability.

We have a big wall fan by the targets 50’ and a back wall air intake blowing air toward us. Not enough, Larry

One answer is to use lead free ammunition.The military has been going that way for years. However LFA is more expensive and is available in only a small number of calibers.

I wrote the book on small arms range design and using lead free training ammunition for the USAF.

What goes on in your home is your business and unless the authorities have probable cause from something like a post on the internet the have not legal reason to enter and verify that you are bending their rules.

If I were to fire a gun in my shop I would use a bullet trap and some acoustical tiles