Where do you shoot?

Might be worth a weekend trip to the UP to find some open country.
Here in Sunny Southern Arizona we are blessed with miles of public land.

l3uster said:

I'm on the verge of beginning reloading, but my biggest roadblock (besides the wife ) is where to shoot, to continue the "cost effectiveness" of reloading.

I live in Detroit. Not much in the way of ranges, especially cheap outdoor ones. The closest range to me is indoor and costs about $10 a half hour for handgun or $16 or something for an hour. PLUS an additional $8 per person.

This puts a real damper on going to work up loads, etc.

Does any one else have a problem similar to mine, and how did you overcome it?

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I had the same problem which was solved by buying and building on 5 rural acres in a county with no zoning laws. Now I shoot in the back yard. Or at least, in theory I would, if I had time to.

all i can say, its time for a road trip.

l3uster,
Rifle or pistol?
I joined an indoor range which is 50 yrd and I can shoot a rifle in there. 50 is not ideal for load development for a rifle. I have tested rifle loads there once or twice out of desparation. I can function test a rifle and get a zero, so I am grateful I have it as a "Plan C" for load development.
Most outdoor ranges are an hour+ away for me also. Some have crappy benches or some other issue. I have gone to prone for all load testing on rifles. I had a borrow pit available which was nice for wind reduction. The trade off was the noise and little wind on a hot day.

Loading at the range may cut some of the cycles between range and home.

Weather some times doesn't cooperate. Target backers at some move.

It can be a struggle. Hang in there. As you progress it gets easier.

Find a local gun forum if you can - a possible wealth of local info. Bayoushooter is good for LA info.

Sand pit down the road. Can shoot in my yard and in the woods anywhere around. I belong to a shooting range and pay a once yearly fee and can shoot all I want during daylight hours for no more money.

Do a google search for shootings near Detroit. Theres 4 in the neighborhood of Brighton, which isn't to far away.

Wait a minute, that didn't come out right.

How bout a search for==shooting ranges near Detroit.

NO ranges within the City limits here, I drive about 40 miles out to the burbs and it is $25 a day to use the indoor range.

Heres a good place to ask
http://www.migunowners.org/forum/index.php?

I work for a small town, and know alot of the Police Officers, who let me shoot at a private FOP range. 99% of the time, I'm the only one there

Look on the internet for private clubs in your area. That's what I had to do. The great thing about that is there are no restrictions about picking up brass. It's also a lot cheaper, $65 per year and they have a lot of fun matches to shoot if you want to.

I mainly shoot down my driveway or at a buddies house, I love country living!

J.B.

I though most everyone had moved out of Detroit - should be lots of places to shoot. Seriously, you're kinda stuck down there in the city. I grew up in Tawas City - lots of room up there.

Nice range nearby, free, clean, city maintained. Just like Blackrock says, Southern AZ.






275/300 yard range...haven't found out exactly how far back it goes on that "step" above the 200 yard line.


Firing line for the 275/300 yard line. 80 yard bay to the left of it, 100 yard bay to the immediate right, the two 25 yard pistols bays are behind and to the right.


BTW, all four of these pics were taken during different range trips. It's 13 miles away, most freeway, so it's a short trip there and back.

I thought it was an everyday occurence to shoot in downtown Detroit.

I'm originally from Trenton---just a few miles south. I used to go to Tennessee to shoot--really.

Click: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...anges&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Private ranges really are your best bet if DNR ranges are too far away. Besides you'll meet other members selling reloading equipment, supplies and guns at the meetings. You'll probably save enough buying from your new "shooting pals" to pay for your membership.

cottonmouth said:

I mainly shoot down my driveway or at a buddies house, I love country living!

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Do you warn your buddy to take cover before you start?

I shoot at a private range that's about 30 miles from the house. I try to go on weekdays and am often the only one on the line.

I joined a club that's exactly 12.7 miles from my house. Costs $35 a year. Ranges are open probably 300 days a year.

They only close for events like deer hunting season, kids safety lessons etc.

On steep, high riverbanks on the edge of the city, with very thick underbrush for hundreds of yards on the south side. Most other older adults are reluctant (or refuse) to plink there, unless from the area and familiar with the long "tradition" and gun culture-just like in the olden days.

The outside club is about half a mile away, but pricey to join. For rifles and handguns, only paper targets are allowed.

The younger kids somehow don't see the value in keeping a lower profile, as a few buddies closer to my age have gone with me about 200-300 yards from the really busy car bridge.
The entire area is mostly very thick with trees and solid underbrush, except for the wide bottom land "trail" between power lines.

Do people down in Jackson, MS still walk over the Pearl River train tracks (by I-55) northeast of the Fairgrounds and shoot .22s there? Not sure people can do it these days, as in '81-'82.

I shoot in the driveway or off the front porch.

When we finally stopped touring the country and decided to settle down in a house again the first question we asked the real estate agents was, "Is there a rifle range in town?". It confused a lot of them, and we looked at a lot of towns. But in the end we found a nice home in a nice town with 2 rifle clubs. I joined the closest one. Being retired has it's advantages.

As far as indoor ranges, call around first to ask about pricing. Most indoor ranges local to me charge by the hour, but I found several that charge by the session. For the average shooter that comes in, shoots 100 rounds with a rented gun, it makes no difference. But when I walk in with 3 guns and 800 rounds and spend the entire morning, then believe me I get my money's worth. When you pay by the hour, that basically means you're having to pay to pick up your own brass.

+1 - I target shoot to relax, knowing I'm on a time clock does not exactly make for a relaxing way to spend my time. hankfully I have the option of a range or two that charge a "reasonable" fee by the session.

I appreciate that just the EPA restrictions and insurance costs make running an indoor range an expensive proposition, but by the hour fees just annoy me for some reason.

Not sure where you are in the Detroit area, but there's a pretty nice range at Island Lake Recreation Area (across I-96 from Kensington Metro Park, near Brighton) where you can shoot at the rifle and pistol range for $7 all day long. They have 25, 50 and 100 yard ranges and it's well run and safe. It's on DNR land, but run by a private company. They have a similar setup at Bald Mountain Recreation Area, up near Lake Orion.
I go to the Island Lake range just about every weekend, but it's only a 10 mile trip for me.