Buying Land/Building a Range

MasterOfDisaster

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My wife and I have been looking to acquire some land within a 1-2 hour drive of Charlotte. Her motivation is to one day own horses and be able to ride them around the property. Mine is to have somewhere to hunt and play with all my toys...guns, atvs, drones etc. I have a lot of questions and I'm hoping some of the older dogs in here can embark some wisdom on this young grasshoppa.

Couple of things to take into consideration:

1. If we decide to go North or West and >1.5-2 hours out, that will land us in Alleghany (North) or Rutherford (West) county, which will be more of a hilly/mountainous terrain...which I'd actually prefer. Any land <1.5 hours (excluding the Brushy Mts and South Mountain) in those directions, as well as any land East or South is going to be primarily flat. Which ultimately I'm OK with too, but I'd miss those cooler mountain temps.

2. How many acres is enough? My mindset is I would rather go further out for more acreage. My wife is the opposite, she'd rather stay closer for less acreage. I've set the floor at 50 acres, so she knows nothing less than that will do. My preference however is to be between 100-150 and the more the better. Also to answer this question, you need to know #3....

3. Types of shooting; I want to be able to safely set up a range for pistol and rifle move-and-shoot/defensive shooting as well as have a rifle range for my long gun. In a perfect world, I'd have enough land with the right topography, line of sight and backstop to shoot 1,000 yards. I honestly don't know how realistic that is, so, I'd just like to get a general idea of roughly how many acres = x distance of a shot. I know that's going to be really tough because the plot, topography and surroundings are always going to be different.

4. Lastly, safety is my primary concern. That said, these are all the questions I have related to the shooting range itself:

-What would be a sufficient berm for shooting up to .308 and .45 auto ball ammunition? Is it worth it to create a 4 wall, completely enclosed berm so that I can shoot in all directions? What type of material is recommended for creating a berm? I've seen everything from fill dirt, railroad ties, old tires as well as others and all kinds of combinations of back stops. Height/Width/Depth?

-Types of targets? I love the ringing of steel, but how closely can you safely shoot steel? Am I better to have multiple types...paper, cardboard and steel?

-I'd like to have some interactive targets on my range. Are there any automated systems out there that can move targets? I've seen ones like these that are manually controlled by another person, and I have also seen offerings from this company https://www.actiontarget.com/ that look like they are what I would want, but I'm sure are expensive and it looks like a lot of their moving target offerings are for limited to LE/Mil only.


This should be enough info to get the conversation started.
 
Budget? That will be a HUGE factor. I been looking ~6 months now with same radius but from triangle (primarily W, NW, S, SW of Jordan lake area.)

the layout of the land can also be a significant factor. I looked at a property that was 90 acres, but it was so horribly located I would likely have police complaints against me within first 10 shots of 9mm. It wasn’t that obvious to my untrained eye on google maps, but after seeing it in person and realizing it’s 90 acres surrounded by 1 acre plots, the overall density within earshot of centerfire shooting was super high.

Another example of land “context” for lack of better term, could be the opposite...only 25 acres, but contiguous with 50,000 acres of state or federal land.

...this is such a heavy topic. I will be following. Thread as it is of great interest to me as well).
 
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Budget? That will be a HUGE factor. I been looking ~6 months now with same radius but from triangle (primarily W, NW, S, SW of Jordan lake area.)

the layout of the land can also be a significant factor. I looked at a property that was 90 acres, but it was so horribly located I would likely have police complaints against me within first 10 shots of 9mm. It wasn’t that obvious to my untrained eye on google maps, but after seeing it in person and realizing it’s 90 acres surrounded by 1 acre plots, the overall density within earshot of centerfire shooting was super high.

Another example of land “context” for lack of better term, could be the opposite...only 25 acres, but contiguous with 50,000 acres of state or federal land.

...this is such a heavy topic. I will be following. Thread as it is of great interest to me as well).

Very valid point. A property backing up to state or federal land would be a dream. Our realtor sent us a listing for 90+/- acres up near Troutman (just south of Statesville, straight shot up 77 for us) that looked great on paper, until we realized their was an elementary school within 2 miles. Nope.
 
Very valid point. A property backing up to state or federal land would be a dream. Our realtor sent us a listing for 90+/- acres up near Troutman (just south of Statesville, straight shot up 77 for us) that looked great on paper, until we realized their was an elementary school within 2 miles. Nope.

If you want to go north, I-77 N/S is a handy way to get back to Charlotte, (but you won't want to go back once you leave it unless absolutely necessary). Troutman would ONLY be a consideration if you're interested in Lake Norman, which was a great place 40 years ago. Get out of Iredell. US421 is I-77 exit 73, just into Yadkin County, where land prices and property taxes drop significantly as soon as you cross the county line. US421 is a Interstate-quality road but largely without the trucks, and gets you to Winston Salem for city amenities in 35 minutes. GSO is an hour away and a much more tolerable airport than CLT, IMO.

US421 North gets you the Blue Ridge Parkway in 45 minutes. @fieldgrade is correct though, elevation at the intersection of 77 & 421 is just over 1000 ft, so "cooler" will be maybe 5 degrees less than Charlotte on average and humidity will be about the same. I hope you'll talk to realtors that specialize in land tracts, and not just house people. The good ones will size YOU up before they decide to show you the good stuff. It will be a process. They don't want just anybody. Good luck, wherever you go, and when you narrow it down, talk to some locals to make sure you're not moving downwind of a poultry farm, too close to a bunch of dirtbag dopers, or are going to have an usually large fly problem, (which seems to depend somewhat on proximity to livestock, but mostly on how well-entrenched the local bird populations are, best I can tell).
 
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A few things -

unless the majority of the land is woods then be prepared to invest in equipment to maintain it. I would assume by the horse comment you will want pasture land so be prepared.

List of things you will need:
Tractor at least 40HP
Hay Storage
Fencing
Shelter for horses
Water near by for the pasture
Truck (if you dont own one already)
Make sure vets and farriers will come out to your new place. I know its a future state problem but good to check now.
Make sure the land doesnt have any type of easements

There is a sweet spot in Rutherford county that gets you 1hr to Charlotte and 1 hr to Asheville and the price of land is great.

Also, 50 acres is more than enough its more of a preference after 30 acres. Its really about proximity of the neighbors and how your land is laid out.
 
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A few things -

unless the majority of the land is woods then be prepared to invest in equipment to maintain it. I would assume by the horse comment you will want pasture land so be prepared.

List of things you will need:
Tractor at least 40HP
Hay Storage
Fencing
Shelter for horses
Water near by for the pasture
Truck (if you dont own one already)
Make sure vets and farriers will come out to your new place. I know its a future state problem but good to check now.
Make sure the land doesnt have any type of easements

There is a sweet spot in Rutherford county that gets you 1hr to Charlotte and 1 hr to Asheville and the price of land is great.

Also, 50 acres is more than enough its more of a preference after 30 acres. Its really about proximity of the neighbors and how your land is laid out.

Where is this sweet spot in Rutherford? Sounds enticing...
 
-Types of targets? I love the ringing of steel, but how closely can you safely shoot steel? Am I better to have multiple types...paper, cardboard and steel?
From what I’ve read, as long as the steel is angled down (they say 20-25 degrees), it is MODERATELY safe to shoot handguns at 11 yards or more. I know there are people on the forum who shoot it closer and also shoot steel that isn’t AR500 but I don’t. Despite being AR500, angled way down and at 11 yards plus, we still occasionally get something back. It happened to a friend here the other day, shooting .38 Special.

I have an array of steel and hanging bowling pins but recently created another lane adjacent for paper/cardboard. There are plenty of times when I (or guests) want to get much closer than 11 yards and/or want to see exactly where the hits are (in my case, where the hits aren’t).
 
All of the above, especially access to drinkable water. Preferably your own well, depth depends on location. Springs, creeks, rivers, etc can help.
If you're thinking of building, it'll need a septic system, too. Make sure it perks.
Many rural areas might not have high speed internet or cable tv or cell signal.
Some areas have more/less problems with coyotes and ticks, ask the locals.
 
All of the above, especially access to drinkable water. Preferably your own well, depth depends on location. Springs, creeks, rivers, etc can help.
If you're thinking of building, it'll need a septic system, too. Make sure it perks.
Many rural areas might not have high speed internet or cable tv or cell signal.
Some areas have more/less problems with coyotes and ticks, ask the locals.
tell me about it! We just had a 605 foot well dug and hyrdrojetted...
 
There are too many variables to even begin to try and provide solid information.
Two questons come up, one of which has already been asked. First, why is it so importat to be within a certain distance of Charlotte? Work? Family? Can't imagine much other reason and driving 2 hrs to work one way doesn't sound like fun to anyone.
Secondly, what is your budget. A milion dollars will get you a lot more a lot further away from any major urban area and can get a surprising amount in areas which aren't conducive to dense poulation. Guess it willl come down to priorities.
 
I'm currently in the process of doing exactly what you describe. Although I'm only 35 minutes east of Charlotte at the edge of Stanly and Cabarrus counties. The range is already there :D now the wife gets her turn: house/pasture/etc.
Mostly 2A friendly neighbors, unincorporated area that still has some niceties like trash pickup, and within a 10 minute drive to retail and highways. I made sure I found land that already laid the way I wanted it to for a short range ie: ditches.
It has a creek and an area that can easily be turned into a pond. I'll post some pics shortly.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...hare_fid=1849797&share_type=t&link_source=app

Pic of the range currently
30492c336c0902df5433c85ac682e518.jpg
 
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More detail to original post...

This would be a second "home" for us. We would maintain our primary residence in Charlotte as we both work here. I say "home" because it's really more of a 5-10 year plan to actually put a house on it. We've talked about a few options in the interim. One being to stable the horses somewhere locally, then carried over to the property to ride. Another option that was presented to us was building a barn with a living area above it. I guess young equestrians work out deals where they live in the loft and stable their horse there, all while providing care for your horses as well? That part is beyond me, my wife is really the one handling those details.

In terms of budget, I think I could get her to go for $600-$750k. We've already been approved for that amount by Carolina Farm Credit, though I don't know if we really want to spend that much.
 
More detail to original post...

This would be a second "home" for us. We would maintain our primary residence in Charlotte as we both work here. I say "home" because it's really more of a 5-10 year plan to actually put a house on it. We've talked about a few options in the interim. One being to stable the horses somewhere locally, then carried over to the property to ride. Another option that was presented to us was building a barn with a living area above it. I guess young equestrians work out deals where they live in the loft and stable their horse there, all while providing care for your horses as well? That part is beyond me, my wife is really the one handling those details.

In terms of budget, I think I could get her to go for $600-$750k. We've already been approved for that amount by Carolina Farm Credit, though I don't know if we really want to spend that much.
Just know that if you're doing a land purchase through Carolina Farm Credit the requirement for down payment is 20%. If there is a house it is a loan is a lot less but it being your "2nd home" the amount of your down payment is more and the more you'd need to have in reserve.
 
@Hashknife

This!!! Did you do this work yourself? How far of a shot is that straight away you cut through the trees?

My engineering company did the CAD modeling and a Dozer company we deal with was able to take the CAD file and convert them into geometry for their dozer GPS software. That range was built to Dept. of Energy Standards. They are much more "robust" than NRA minimums....

That lane is about 125 yards total...
 
Make sure you check any county ordinances, sometimes they’re hard to find. In Catawba county for example you can’t shoot within 500’ of an occupied dwelling. Your minimum of 50 acres should be easy to get 500’ away as long as you want your range not near any of the perimeter, but I don’t know if any other counties might be more than 500’.
Depending on property shape and terrain sometimes big acreage doesn’t get you as many feet as you need.

Hopefully you have good neighbors, but being on the right side of any ordinance means the cops can tell them to get lost rather than asking you to stop due to complaints.
 
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I'm currently in the process of doing exactly what you describe. Although I'm only 35 minutes east of Charlotte at the edge of Stanly and Cabarrus counties. The range is already there :D now the wife gets her turn: house/pasture/etc.
Mostly 2A friendly neighbors, unincorporated area that still has some niceties like trash pickup, and within a 10 minute drive to retail and highways. I made sure I found land that already laid the way I wanted it to for a short range ie: ditches.
It has a creek and an area that can easily be turned into a pond. I'll post some pics shortly.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...hare_fid=1849797&share_type=t&link_source=app

Pic of the range currently
30492c336c0902df5433c85ac682e518.jpg
This looks really good also. How many acres did you end up purchasing? No complaints from nearby neighbors?
 
Make sure you check any county ordinances, sometimes they’re hard to find. In Catawba county for example you can’t shoot within 500’ of an occupied dwelling. Your minimum of 50 acres should be easy to get 500’ away as long as you want your range not near any of the perimeter, but I don’t know if any other counties might be more than 500’.
Depending on property shape and terrain sometimes big acreage doesn’t get you as many feet as you need.

Hopefully you have good neighbors, but being on the right side of any ordinance means the cops can tell them to get lost rather than asking you to stop due to complaints.
Good info, thanks for sharing that.
 
Make sure you check any county ordinances, sometimes they’re hard to find. In Catawba county for example you can’t shoot within 500’ of an occupied dwelling. Your minimum of 50 acres should be easy to get 500’ away as long as you want your range not near any of the perimeter, but I don’t know if any other counties might be more than 500’.

Hopefully you have good neighbors, but being on the right side of any ordinance means the cops can tell them to get lost rather than asking you to stop due to complaints.
Cops / Sheriffs will come anyhow regardless. It's happened twice to me already. Last time they looked at the range and said "nice setup, carry on" then proceeded to talk guns with us for a half hour. It's just part and parcel that someone somewhere will complain
 
Cops / Sheriffs will come anyhow regardless. It's happened twice to me already. Last time they looked at the range and said "nice setup, carry on" then proceeded to talk guns with us for a half hour. It's just part and parcel that someone somewhere will complain
Funny, I was just considering whether to post the exact same thing. Happened to me a few months ago...the first time in 3 years of shooting here.
 
This looks really good also. How many acres did you end up purchasing? No complaints from nearby neighbors?
Its only 11 acres but 1100ft of road frontage since it's laid out in an L shape. Neighbor across the street is an FFL used to own a gun shop and has his own range.
 
Cops / Sheriffs will come anyhow regardless. It's happened twice to me already. Last time they looked at the range and said "nice setup, carry on" then proceeded to talk guns with us for a half hour. It's just part and parcel that someone somewhere will complain
Yep, that’s why you want to be on the right side of any ordinance, they’ll tell you to carry on. In Catawba County they’ll ask you nicely to stop so they don’t have to come out again and give a formal warning.
The cops are generally nice about it if you’re being safe, but if neighbors keep calling eventually they have to enforce the ordinance.
 
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Yep, that’s why you want to be on the right side of any ordinance, they’ll tell you to carry on. In Catawba County they’ll ask you nicely to stop so they don’t have to come out again and give a formal warning.
The cops are generally nice about it if you’re being safe, but if neighbors keep calling eventually they have to enforce the ordinance.
I've been thru this at my current home and came out on top. You call their supervisor on duty, ask if they have a method to accurately measure, etc. I'd love to get a 'formal warning' and hand it to my my prepaid legal attorney
 
I'm currently in the process of doing exactly what you describe. Although I'm only 35 minutes east of Charlotte at the edge of Stanly and Cabarrus counties. The range is already there :D now the wife gets her turn: house/pasture/etc.
Mostly 2A friendly neighbors, unincorporated area that still has some niceties like trash pickup, and within a 10 minute drive to retail and highways. I made sure I found land that already laid the way I wanted it to for a short range ie: ditches.
It has a creek and an area that can easily be turned into a pond. I'll post some pics shortly.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...hare_fid=1849797&share_type=t&link_source=app

Pic of the range currently
30492c336c0902df5433c85ac682e518.jpg
Beautiful, never seen nicer. Screams personal safety The size is right also. The shaded surfaces look especially nice. All this about The Battery Oaks shirt you have on.







Range is very well thought out also.
 
Beautiful, never seen nicer. Screams personal safety The size is right also. The shaded surfaces look especially nice. All this about The Battery Oaks shirt you have on.
Range is very well thought out also.

Next time I'll wear my short sleeve I beat the Wizard shirt....once I get one ;)

I keep working on it every time I get a chance
 
You mention cooler mountain temps. You just about need to be on the other side of the continental divide to see an appreciable difference in summer.

It is usually about 5-10 degrees cooler in West Jefferson than Apex. But there is far less humidity up there so it feels even cooler. Plus the skeeters are much more scarce. That’s a big win in itself.
 
It is usually about 5-10 degrees cooler in West Jefferson than Apex. But there is far less humidity up there so it feels even cooler. Plus the skeeters are much more scarce. That’s a big win in itself.
I was just referring to how the weather changes once you get to the top of 421 at the Parkway, and likewise when you cross the divide between Old Fort and Black Mountain on 40.
 
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There is a sweet spot in Rutherford county that gets you 1hr to Charlotte and 1 hr to Asheville and the price of land is great.

Also, 50 acres is more than enough its more of a preference after 30 acres. Its really about proximity of the neighbors and how your land is laid out.

Where is this sweet spot in Rutherford? Sounds enticing...

I live in the sweet spot of Rutherford County that @amnesia is referring to. I can be at the Charlotte Airport in just over an hour. I can be drinking a beer at Sierra Nevada in 50 minutes. I am also 1 hour from the BMW performance center and the Greenville Spartanburg Airport. For your particular needs we I am also 20 minutes from the Tryon International Equestrian Center "TIEC" so there are a ton of horse vets and services in the area as a result. This area of the foothills has nice weather. Some people refer to it as a "thermal belt" We are much warmer than Asheville in the Winter and cooler than the Upstate SC and Charlottle in the summer. Generally for example it is going to be 85 in Charlotte today. We will be 80. Ashville will be 78. The only issue with the area is that it is the foothills. A lot of the cheaper land has elevation changes which will make it hard to build on. You have to pick your spots carefully or the cost of developing the property will kill you. This happened a lot up in the Lake Lure area. Lots of lots were sold in the boom times that were basically undevelopable.

Land is relatively cheap compared to the Charlotte or Asheville area. TIEC has effected some of that pricing. Lots of stuff gets listed as "potential horse farm" because of the areas proximity to TIEC. There are small towns like Bostic, Ellenboro, Forest City, Ruth, Lake Lure, Rutherfordton, Spindale etc... The county has limited regulation on shooting ranges and shooting on your "property". The county IIRC has no noise ordnance. You cannot have an outdoor shooting range in the city of Rutherfordton. This may also be true in other localities. There are not a lot of ranges permitted in the county but there are a few "private clubs" which are mainly geared toward shotgun and long range rifle. TIEC owns a very nice Sporting Clays course the Cleghorn Gun Club. They are in the county just outside of the city and they have people complain about the noise all the time and we are talking shotgun not pistol or rifle. So if you are looking to setup somewhere that is used for shooting high round counts on a regular you need to choose carefully in order to avoid people complaining. Even with the law and ordinances on your side a complaining neighbor will be an issue.

That said lots of people shoot on their own property. As long as it is not a commercial venture there should be lots of places that would meet your needs. If you would like a recommendation on a local real estate agent let me know and I can get you a few names. You can also look in Polk county which will give you similar accessibility.
 
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