Home Shooting Range

Bob K · May 10, 2012

Thanks for the comments. Sounds like having a good amount of land in the boons of a "friendly" county would work. I obviously would put together a decent berm after talking to the (hopefully far away) neighbors.

Now what to do if I get a 50 cal....

Bob K

BradMacc82 · May 10, 2012

Bob K said:
Thanks for the comments. Sounds like having a good amount of land in the boons of a "friendly" county would work. I obviously would put together a decent berm after talking to the (hopefully far away) neighbors.

Now what to do if I get a 50 cal....

Bob K

Get more land, and a sizeable piece of heavy equipment to REALLY build a backstop.

Wojo · May 10, 2012

Having the burm/backstop with the proper space between you and your neighbor are the keys. I shoot at a home range and we have an 8ft thick SOFT burm in front of a 40+ ft tall embankment. A Soft burm is also necessary. I have seen people shoot into really hard pack dirt with some rocks and seen tracer shoot way into the air. Need these burms to consume the round.

MJD438 · May 10, 2012

Not posting in regards to the legality of the issue. I was interested, since the discussion has swung to the discussion of Backstop/Berm, so I did a few minutes of research. I did a quick search based on "constructing firearm berm" and this document looked like it contained some useful information - http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/destinations/shooting_ranges/outdoor_shooting_best_practices.pdf.

I think there would still be the due diligence effort required to ensure compliance with state/local laws in MD, but do not see anything in a quick search that provides ready guidance from MD about the issue.

Bolts Rock · May 10, 2012

Fishguy said:
Actually, in Montgomery County, as I understand it, you can target practice in your basement as log as it is below ground and you don't violate any noise ordnances. I got this info from of the old timers at Atlantic guns in Rockville when we discussing a suppressor and threaded barrel for a Buckmark. It seems that a suppressed 22 pistol would be fun, convenient, and legal in your basement in MoCo.

Back in the 1970's my parents' house had a 60' long basement so we set up a stand with bullet trap and shot subsonic .22 rifles on the 50' NRA target. That was in zipcode 20852 over by Seizure World.

lawrencewendall · May 10, 2012

Damn do I miss Pennsylvania and the 5 miles of woods out my Dad's back yard! :sad20:

Slowhand · Jun 28, 2016

TapRackBang said:
Different counties have different regulations.

For example in Harford county you can shoot on your own property so long as you are 150 yards from the nearest house, or have written permission from all houses within 150 yards.

In Baltimore county you can't discharge a firearm in a densely populated area (forget the exact term they use), but can elsewhere. Basically restricts it to northern parts of the county.

Prince Georges or Montgomery? Forget it. Not even an air pistol. Anywhere. Ever.

My recollection may be flawed, so google for the particular county you are considering buying in. (And then seriously consider buying in Virginia, West Virginia, or Pennsylvania instead...)

Balt City they only allow handgun calibers on E-W streets. Rifle calibers run N-S.

Merlin · Jun 29, 2016

or or you can consider the very conservative County of Carroll County Maryland. Some weekends it sound like I'm in a war zone because there is so much gunfire on my property as well as the properties around me. I do not know how the gun laws may be written in Carroll County, but I can tell you Carroll County is a very gun friendly County.

Jmorrismetal · Jun 29, 2016

I built a bullet trap for behind the house shooting, easier to maintain that a dirt berm and a lot easier to get my lead back for making more bullets.

hubbarddanny · Aug 15, 2016

Outdoor Pistol range on personal property in AA County.

I currently live in Severn, across from county dump and I live on 3 acres. Where can I find local laws and ordinances on noise and gun laws on whether or not I can build a small 25-50m range for pistol shooting? I am a firearms instructor and would like to prsctice without paying for range membership as well as teach from my house.

montoya32 · Aug 15, 2016

Bob K said:
Hi All,

I'm from Florida, but started working here in Maryland. I'm considering purchasing a house, and was wondering what the law says about having a private gun range. I've looked through the Maryland statues and codes, and can't find anything that prohibits such a thing. Am I not looking in the right places ?

Thanks,

Bob K

Let me know where you're considering and I can get you the info.

BigToe · Aug 15, 2016

TapRackBang said:
Prince Georges or Montgomery? Forget it. Not even an air pistol. Anywhere. Ever.

In Montgomery, you can shoot up to .25 caliber (no FMJ) outdoors if you are outside the "urban area". They recognize this as north of Brink Road (Laytonsville area) and west of 118 (Seneca/Poolsville area"). You must be 50 yards from a public road and 150 yards from any building designed for human occupancy.

Biggfoot44 · Aug 16, 2016

Good hustle Tim , but you're four years behind the curve. The OP was asking in April 2012.

Greisnir · Aug 18, 2016

Now I got ideas for my basement. My wife will not enjoy this.

lazarus · Aug 19, 2016

hubbarddanny said:
I currently live in Severn, across from county dump and I live on 3 acres. Where can I find local laws and ordinances on noise and gun laws on whether or not I can build a small 25-50m range for pistol shooting? I am a firearms instructor and would like to prsctice without paying for range membership as well as teach from my house.

100% of Maryland is a minimum of 150yds from occupied dwellings, structures or campgrounds unless you have written permission of the occupants.

That is the baseline. Above and beyond that, contact your county. Odds are good being Severn/Anne Arundle the answer is no, not on something as small as 3 acres.

Howard county the property basically had to be >320 acres IIRC, for target shooting. Howard is a little more asinine than most counties, but in general...figure 150yds which generally means 10-15 acre properties or backing to public lands or a farm even for a little 10-15yd pistol range.

esrepairman · Oct 22, 2016

I would go ask the local sheriff dept. or local police department, or give them a call. I live in Fredneck county and have a small range out back. When I moved here over a dozen years ago, I could hear gunfire most weekends. Local farmer just down the road had his shooting benches about 25' from our rural road and has targets at about 100 and 200 yards out. Now he does have 200+ acres. I only have 3 acres, but the lot behind my house is part of a tree farm parcel, and has a stream. My lot slopes downhill towards the small stream and steep banks on the other side which is over 100' higher than my shooting bench and over 200 yards away. From looking at Google Maps, it is over 2 miles in direct line to any homes, with plenty of hills in the way. With the topography it would be over 5 miles to a home in reality, so make sure of your backstop. I have targets at 25', 50' and 75' which takes me to the end of my property. I have never see anyone in those woods, the only tracks I have ever seen are those made by me and my grandsons going down to play in the creek. I see plenty of deer and turkey "down in the holler". Plus I can drive to Wegman's in 15 minutes, so really not that far out in the county. Even though I am not that far from downtown Fredneck, I can only see 2 houses from my house in the summer and in the winter can only see lights from 4 houses at night. We shoot all calibers, and have never had a neighbor complain about noise. Now we do only shoot in the afternoons and on weekends.

GunnerGunz · Oct 23, 2016

Biggfoot44 said:
Good hustle Tim , but you're four years behind the curve. The OP was asking in April 2012.

LOL yes but I must admit on occasion I do this also... :lol2:

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