I've been asked to look at developing a site to incorporate an indoor range for the relocation of a local rifle club.
I was wondering if there was a standard range size or does it depend on what you are shooting either full bore or rim fire.
What would you want/need in a world class range if you wanted to train for the Olympics?

50m, six lanes (minimum!), electronic targetry is what you want for a decent Olympic spec practice range.

Ideally, you'd want 50m. If that's not possible, then 25m will do. A firing point width of 1.5m is the "Olympic" standard; plenty of ranges shrink that slightly, so that they can pack in more firing points. 1m between firers is too small IMHO.

Our range has a two-level firing point; the bulk of UK indoor 0.22 target stuff is done in the prone position, so that lets you double the number of firing points. The downside is that any standing/kneeling firing has to be done from a different firing point (we do prone at 25yds, and I have to do my standing/kneeling from the floor of the range at 20yds).

If you've got pony club / pentathlon types, they fire air pistols at 10m. Some ranges solve this by having the 10m target box swing down from the ceiling when in use, so that you can have prone, standing 0.22, and standing airgun on the firing point at the same time.

There's a range in Wigan that's excellent; their old range was a hostage strip for an Asda car park, so they did a trade - Asda built them a truly outstanding facility. 50m on the top floor, clubroom + 10m airgun range + armoury + 25m range downstairs.

When you're doing the measuring, remember to allow plenty of room at the back for movement. From the back wall to the front of the firing point should be a minimum of 3m (2m of it being occupied by your prone firer), and more is better. It's not just movement, the range officer needs to be able to see what's going on.

Lights are a good idea. As is a telephone. And heating; don't forget heating.

What about a gallery for spectators? And a rest/tea room (running water, power). Storage, for targetry etc.

First aid. Fire extinguishers. Emergency exits.

Parking; people need to park their cars.

Furniture; chairs for waiting.

White boards and notice boards; for posting scores and notices, respectively.

Have a word with the NRA/NSRA at Bisley. They have a wealth of knowledge and could provide a grant from NRA funds.They also give information as to applying to the "Lottery Fund" for a grant, dont laugh its been done before with success.Dont forget disabled access and use.

I don't have a great deal of time for the National Bodies but they will help you with this. Alternatively, if you want an independent consultant then pm me. I've got a number of designs drawn up that have been done for various people.

Really cool trick: Go to any bowling alley. The background makes it look as if they're all different (background, lighting, etc.). Make a shooting range that does the same thing! Almost like real life - except for the maniacs in black body everything., of course.

We have a 100 m 6-Lane indoor full bore rifle range (8 m wide, I think) next to a 25 m fullbore pistol range (also 8 m wide).

If you can build even 50 m fullbore rifle, local shooters will come in their droves. Compare it to a couple of weekends a year at Bisley/on a military range and you'll know why.

The ranges here are basically built as a rectangular concrete box with a big pile of sand at the business end. Zero danger area, zero problem. Some have a sand floor in front of the firing points, others are concrete all the way.

Originally Posted by EX_STAB

I don't have a great deal of time for the National Bodies but they will help you with this.

Yes, opinions of NGBs is irrelevant in this case as they now certify civvie ranges and issue RSCs since the MoD decided they didn't have time to do it for civvies.
You will have to deal with them whether you like it or not. And as inept as they may be at PR and politics, that's because they really know what they're doing with the actual sports side of it.
There is a joint NRA/NSRA range design booklet which is quite a lot of cut and paste from the MoD range design manual (don't fix it if it ain't broke!).

Is it for .22 and/or centre-fire? If CF, then then rifle CF, or pistol CF (i.e. Gallery rifle and LBP/LBR)? Either way, for indoor, ideally talk to NSRA rather than NRA, as the NSRA oversee a lot more indoor ranges than the NRA. They work together pretty closely on range certification anyway.

The man to talk to is Director of Shooting Ali Aitken - a lovely ex Army chap who knows everything you will ever need about range design (or will once he's finished handing over from retiring DoS Geoff Doe).

National .22 rifle disciplines are shot at 20 & 25yds indoors, and 50m and 100yds outdoors, Olympic rifle disciplines are shot at 50m outdoor.
Air is at 10m.
A 50m indoor range with brackets to hang targets at 25yds, 20yds & 10m would be ideal, allowing positional and technique training for the outdoor 50m events in a windless environment, as well as accommodating all the national disciplines.
Most .22 indoor ranges are 25yd, but increasing numbers are pushing to 50m where space allows and they have an opportunity to do a rebuild.
As one poster mentioned, Wigan got a superb facility out of Asda, although the running costs are astronomical, as it's a big building, fully equipped with a lift for disabled shooters to get to the 50m range upstairs, etc. They seem to be managing, partly because the GB squad does indoor 50m indoor training over winter. Ensuring the running costs are sustainable is obviously one of the most important aspects.

Depending on the size of the club you'll want at least 6 firing points. Usual firing point allowance is 1m-1.5m, but for a club it's worth being generous so coaches have space to slot in next to their student and set up a scope, etc without having to sit on top of the shooter next door!
They can always pack people in tight for competitions.
If the firing point is totally open, you can give people whatever spacing you like. If you have baffles, you're locked into set firing points.
A compromise is to have baffles every 2.5m. That means you can give a coach and student oddles of space for training (one pair per "bay"), but still pack in 2 shooters per bay for comps, and give them 1.25m each.

Allow plenty of space at the back for coaches, ROs, etc. 3m will do, 4-5m is preferable. Much easier to train and coach when you've got ample space and aren't falling over each other.

As I say, there is obviously an important distinction is whether fullbore means fullbore pistol calibres (i.e. for Gallery Rifle), or everything upto and including 7.62mm so people can set up rifles with their wind zeros and experiment with new gadgets and toys in a windless environment. For pistol calibres, you don't need more than 50m, as all the GR events are at distances less than that. If it's for FB rifle, then you really want 100yds, although set up properly, you can safely manage with 25yds (e.g. the Zero range at Bisley)

Electronics for the Olympic disciplines are nice if the budget stretches, but otherwise they'll maybe want to specify electric winding boxes (e.g. Gehrmann boxes). Much cheaper to buy, and easy to maintain in house as they are electrical rather than electronic - just a motor and a forward/reverse switch! Ongoing running costs and ease of maintenance must be considered as much as initial cost, especially in a club environment.

Backstop depends again on desired disciplines, so a bit more information would help. For .22 you can use a vertical steel plate with Linatex curtains to catch splashback, and for .22 and some pistol calibres you can go up a stage and use an angled steel plate to deflect rounds down into a sand bed.
For most CF however you need to go to a full sand backstop, so if that's the case, be sure to allow eneough space at the business end of the range for a couple of metres of sand, otherwise the shooter-target distance will come up a bit short!
If space is an issue and they only want .22, the linatex curtain is a very compact solution. You can pack steel plates, an air space, linatex and then the targets into a package extending less than 30cm from the wall.

You might also find this helpful:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Mi...ations/JSP403/