Is this true at your local ranges.????

[jeeptim]

Not sure if this is the right place for this ????
Today at the range I was picking up all the brass I could.
And out of 50 shooters I counted 42 ARs all in .223 now I have noticed a big up tic in ARs
But WOW. For the longest time I fighted the AR craze, the last time I shot one well an M-16 was in the 70s while in the service, maybe that's why I dident think much of them. Did brake down and build one, as much as I hate to say ... love shooting it.
I live in kaliforinastan and as of the past few years all the cool old surplus rifles have gone by the wayside. I bring out the mausers, enfields, sks, colt .45 it turns in to a history lesson.
Though where I shoot is the most expensive zip code in the U.S. The few non ARs are mostly a few guys in $500.000 Lambergines and the like shooting crazy priced guns and scopes.
Love scrounging their lapua brass.
Just wondering if the AR is as popular in other states as in calli?

 

[Comrade Mike]

My range is always a healthy mix of everything. Can't say I could give one style of rifle a nod over others

 

[Welding Rod]

It seems almost everyone that shoots at my club range has an AR, though they have others guns too.

 

[MErl]

They are not uncommon at the range I frequent but it is probably 50% bolt guns. The semi-autos are usually an AR variant though.

What I like is seeing more suppressors.

 

[NWcityguy2]

At the Fort Bliss Rod and Gun Club, ARs out number all other rifle combined. El Paso isn't exactly a small army town either. I'd say it is half military folks and half civilians that frequent the range.

 

[Revoliver]

To average all the ranges I shoot at, I'd say

5% shoot lever actions
5% shoot revolvers
10% shoot pistols
15% shoot semi autos other than ARs (AKs, M1As, 10/22s for example)
30% shoot ARs
35% shoot bolt actions


Now, this should not be confused with what people actually own, I have no idea what they own for guns. It is just a guesstimated average of what I see on any given day across the ranges I shoot at.

 

[Tony k]

Most avid shooters I know have at least one. Around here, I think most people go to the rifle range to practice for hunting season or just casual fun. I don't know anyone who uses an AR platform for hunting around here (legal in Oregon, but you have to use a 5 round mag for hunting)

I shot in a sillouette competition today. I think there were 22 competitors.

Here's what I recall:
Iron sight category:
1 old school type AR with the handle, heavy barreled
1 M1 Garand
1 K31 Swiss
1 M1903 Springfield

Scoped Category
2 M4 style carbines
1 AR10
The rest were high end bolt action rifles with heavy barrels and fancy scopes. Those guys always win.

Jeeptim, you say you live in the wealthiest zip code in the nation? I live in a county of less than 7000 people and it's more than an hour's drive to the nearest stoplight. Lamborghinis? I'm pretty sure every vehicle at our range today was a pickup. Before the match started, I was talking to the owner of a small logging company about whether or not he was going to invest in a new feller-buncher. After the match I was listening to a couple ranchers talk about baling hay. I digress, but I guess our great country has it all...

Anyway. Right now, not many people are shooting AR's all that often. However, I bet once we finish our 3-gun competition bays, the AR's are gonna come out of the woodwork.

 

[LAGS]

I haven't seen an Upserge in AR's but almost every weekend at the range, there is a Fair Share of the " Tommy Tactical " Guys all decked out in their camo, and shooting AR's as fast as they can at a target less than 25 yards away.
We even have the Full Auto guys that dont place their targets out at 25 Yds either.

 

[elkhunterCO]

My favorite range is driving out in the hills on some BLM ground and setting up a bipod on the back of my flatbed. Occasionally I do drive to a public range set up by the DOW, I feel pretty inadequate when I do. The guys there have fancy little benchrest contraptions and Swarovski spotting scopes to see a bullet hole at 400 yards. Or the guy on the next bench over has a 338 Lapua with a muzzle brake that causes a minor earthquake when I am just about to touch one off.

 

[R.W.Dale]

It's on its way up here too and not just on the range but in the deer woods too.

Look at it like this. The AR platform is well on its way to becoming the "universal" rifle platform of this century much in the same ways the Mauser and it's derivatives were in the last century.

 

[sappyg]

Last visit to the outdoor range saw nearly every bench with an AR.

The AR is THE go to gun in these parts. Seems like everyone has one. This was not the case 10 years ago.

 

[Skylerbone]

Not here, and the county I live in has its fair share of wealthy residents though I've counted precisely 1 Lotus cruising the local streets, yeah, it stood out. No, guys round these parts play with antique greenery, as in Deere, alongside their Lambo priced combines. There are a fair number of AR owners but I've yet to count more than 3 on the line at a time in 20+ years of range trips. Plenty of diversity here.

 

[TIMC]

Around here AR's have jumped into the majority category at the range. Everyone seems to be shooting one at the range when I go.

 

[ZGunner]

No Lambos at the range I go to! I can't even take the Mustang after a rain. Just some good-ole-boys in their pickups.

Usually when I go on the weekend their might be one or two other people there. During the week I'll have it to myself. So I judge what kind of firearms are there by the brass my wife picks up. I swear sometimes she'd rather sort through brass than shoot! We see a lot of .223. Then a pretty even mix of .308, .270, 30-06, and 30-30. This leads me to believe the reason I never see many folks out there is they zero in their hunting rifle and leave. A few are their to shoot their .223s, probably ARs by the amount of brass.

It makes sense. They're more affordable now than ever (and ammo), the aftermarket for them is second to none, and they're very nice for all types of shooters.

 

[benEzra]

Just wondering if the AR is as popular in other states as in calli?

Yes. I'm in eastern NC, and on any given day probably half of the centerfire rifles on the line are AR's.

It is by far the most popular centerfire rifle in the United States.

 

[taliv]

which is awesome because the SCROTUS said that "in common use" is a key part of their precedent from MILLER. Meaning, if we can show a gun is in common use, it will be difficult for them to ban it. and when the gun they want to ban most is the most popular gun, it's really got to chap their cheeks. which makes me happy

 

[MErl]

I wonder about their intent on the scope of that common use designation.
Which is it:
The model colt 6920 (and each other variant by name) is not in common use and not protected.
The style AR-15 is entering common use and may be protected.
The semi-automatic, magazine fed method is in common use and should be protected.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

I would say the majority of rifle shooting on my local range is AR15, Mosin Nagant, and AK/SKS. Lots of other stuff, too, but I bet those first 3 make up 75% or more.

 

[The_Next_Generation]

Yep, lots of ARs at my range! Boy, is it a beautiful sight

I'd say ARs fill half of the 24 or so benches on a Saturday, then a quarter of them have Savage/R700/etc with "tacical" scopes (even a suppressor sometimes). The rest are AK/SKS type rifles and 22s.

 

[zerobarrier]

No one is ever at the range when I go there. It only a 500yd range way out in the country. When I go I usually take my AR so in my case 100% of the people at the range have an AR

 

[gotigers]

My range near Memphis is a mix. ARs are in the minority generally, except for 3 gun events. Then it is 99.9% ARs. Being a big skeet/trap (15 or so) range, shotgun rules at my home range.

 

[bannockburn]

Maybe ten years ago it was probably a fairly even mix of 50% hunting rifles (bolt and lever action), and military surplus rifles (mainly Mosin Nagants, Mausers, Lee Enfields, and SKS carbines); and 50% AR-15 rifles in various configurations. Nowadays I would say it's more like 15% to 20% with the bolt and lever actions and 80%+ with the AR platforms. It just seems like practically everybody these days has at least one AR that they take to the range.

 

[Reloadron]

I do my outside range shooting here at Kebly's in N. Lawrence, Ohio. Kebly's range host the annual Super Shoot in bench rest competition so not too many AR type rifles show up there. Mostly a bench rest crowd and while I am not quite a bench rest type they are a real nice group of people. I do shoot AR there as in AR15 and AR10 as well as a host of other rifles. Nice range, well groomed. Works for me anyways.

Ron

 

[Walkalong]

We have everything from milsurps to ARs, but there are a lot of ARs these days.

Clinton made the somewhat unknown (definitely not mainstream) SKS and AK popular when he tried to ban them. (Drove prices up as well) Now Obama, Pelosi, and their kind seem to have helped do the same for the AR, but the AR had a head start since it was already very popular.

The silver lining so to speak.

 

[fotheringill]

At my range on Long Island in New York, I would say it is about 40% AR and AK and the rest a wide mix of WWII military rifles in original or rechambered calibers, BR rifles and then .22's and such, bolt, lever and semi.