[hillbilly68]

You looking at personal use? Also the SDZs (primary and ricochet) could put you at risk depending on where the houses are in relation to your down range. What kind of back stop are you building? What are the ordnances in your county? I would try to co-opt the neighbors first, get them on board and you should be good to go.
good luck

[notdku]

It would be personal use. This is no restriction land deep soil farm land.

It's all in planning stages though. The land is actually 40 acres not 20. I wanted to build the range in the middle of the property then use the rest to plant an orchard. If I did construct it the back drop and sides would be dirt.

[matt g]

A 4 foot tall berm, 4 feet across at the bottom should stop anything you'd be firing out there. If I still had my Combat Engineer FMs, I could look it up for you, but I've long since dropped that info from my memory.

[GDS]

You didn't mention your location or amount of land you have to work with. I think those 2 things are very important in determining your methods of construction which will affect the cost. My range has 1 tandem load of dirt dumped in a pile for a backstop.
You could do a 800 sq ft ( thats a little small, but you could still get in all the rooms and closets to make it real) kill house for about $3000 if you did most of the labor. I'm sure the kill houses I played in cost the tax payers way more then that, but I'm guessing your not going to have 15-20 shooters a day dumping 100-500 rounds each from handguns and rifles.

[Samhain]

http://www.snailtraps.com/

[RL357Mag]

ScottG had some very good ideas for backstops. Old tires can be acquired for free, the bench can be made from 2x 6's for about $50, and you can use concrete for a pad under the bench or even for a bench top for added stability, if desired. I have two 100 yd. ranges and one 50 yd. range for handguns. on my property in NY. The only law governing a private range is the distance of 500' to a house, farm, or other inhabited dwelling (unless you have the permission of a closer neighbor) The bullet cannot pass over a road (obvious). Than being said, I have 17 acres of woodland and feel this is about the minimum without a commercial-type backstop, since the longest leg of my property is only 1100'. My backstop is a natural burm and my lot is heavily wooded. My targets are close to the ground also. My target holders are made from scrap wood and replaced often. There is still a liability involved however, because even posting your land will not relieve you of the liability you will incur by accidentally shooting a trespasser!

[dragunovsks]

I was watching Dallas SWAT one day and the guys were training in a kill house in which the walls were made of really dense square rubber blocks. Not sure what some of those things cost but tires might work too.