Sprinklers in indoor gun ranges

[CaptainWorley]

Seems like common sense not to put sprinklers where someone could shoot them out, but is there an exception that allows for non-sprinklered down-ranges? The shooters area is sprinklered, as is the rest of the building. Concrete slab and steel constructed building.

Thanks.

 

[DPAJR]

Hi Captain,

I belong to a gun club just north of Seattle. Partly because of the many anti-gun politicians in the area they have extremely strict club rules. Their relationship with the surrounding community is so good that the whole neighborhood rallied in their behalf when the county wanted to take over the property. You can lose your membership in a heartbeat for something like purposely shooting out a sprinkler. You can also lose it for not reporting someone else who breaks the rules. An accidental discharge will get you kicked of the range if not out of the club and remedial training would then be required before you could come back. Hopefully the range you are working with has some strict policies also.

You could try hanging blocks of heavy timber just uprange of the sprinklers to absorb any stray shots but don't use metal shielding. It sounds to me like the whole place is pretty fire proof. Is some agency telling you they have to add sprinklers? It doesn't seem reasonable to me.

I am curious though. Is there a possiblilty that gunpowder residue could set off the sprinkler system?

I realize this anwer is not overly helpful since you really had a code question which I can't really answer.

DPAJR

 

[CaptainWorley]

Unfortunately, the range is in a gun shop, not a club.

 

[TravisMack]

Does this range have a ceiling or is it exposed construction. If there is a ceiling, why not use concealed sprinklers so you only have a flat cover plate below the ceiling. You may also consider institutional sprinklers if that would help.

Try

http://www.tyco-fire.com

for examples of the sprinklers.

 

[stookeyfpe]

I have more fundamental questions:

A) What is the building construction type and area? Also, what is the building distance to the closest property lines?
B) Are their other uses inside the building such as selling weapons, hosting meetings or the like?
C) Since it is a gun shop, how much smokeless powder is stored?
D) What area of the US is this facility located in?

With this information I can check the 2003 International Building Code and see if sprinklers are required.

Another question: What is the width of the shooting range? This may be able to be protectedn using sidewall sprinklers.

 

[cdafd]

How about a two hour rated wall between the range and the rest of the building and sprinkle all except the range.

 

[CaptainWorley]

They actually have three hour walls, floor, and ceilings, and the rest of the facility is sprinklered. So as long as the local AHJ is OK with it per 4.2.2, I think they are OK...

 

[stookeyfpe]

Per 4.2.2 of what standard? Are you speaking of NFPA 13?

You may have building code implications because of the lack of total sprinklers in the building.