Collin County Gun Range closed, but...

[Racegun]

Yes, the City of McKinney, Texas in Collin County won and Collin County Gun Range is dead, closed, kaput and one might wonder how soon the trucks will be rolling to break ground for new access roads for the Airport.

That aside, we are still in business as FFL, machine shop/gunsmith in Princeton, Texas, a little nowhere town just 5 miles east from the formerly best gunrange in Collin County on Hwy 380.

DFW shooters please contact us 214.673.5510 shop or 972.734.6699 home for your shooting needs. We work by appointment only as the shop is our home.

The closing of the range is like a death in the family and we will grieve for a long time. Dammit!!

 

[PaulTX]

I was shocked to read CCGR is closed! I was somewhat involved when the city (and some "fine" citizens) were complaining about the noise, but had thought everything had settled down after they forced you to change the hours. I have shot many IDPA matches at CCGR, but haven't been involved the last few years due to time and energy.

What happened? How did they force you to close?

I really hate to see anything gun related close, especially a nice range like CCGR.

Paul

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

It is a shame that the city finally managed to close down CCGR after years of trying. One good thing you can say though is that CCGR made them fight for every inch.

I'm also glad to hear that you'll still be doing gunsmithing in Princeton. I've been taking my guns to your shop for almost three years now and have always been very pleased with the work. Not only can they fix things faster than I can break them, they stay fixed. This is one of the few gunsmiths I trust enough that I have asked them to work on guns given to me by my father and grandfathers,

 

[entropy]

Another good place to shoot swallowed by bureaucracy. I hope more alternatives still exsist around there. I only lived there for 2 years,( one in McKinney, one in Frisco) but liked it. I shot at a gun shop in Plano, too, last place I saw my beloved 2 1/2" Python before I had to sell it.

 

[Rosstradamus]

What? No! This is really bad news!

Anyone in the Dallas area know of a good outdoor range? And don't tell me Garland. The people who run that place lost my business a long time ago.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Here is a good link to DFW-area ranges:
http://falarak.com/ranges.aspx

 

[dave5339]

Does anyone have any experience with http://www.apgtraining.com/.

They look like a possible replacement now the the (#&#%&* *#$*!@^ communists in the McKinney City Council and Mayors office ran CCGR out of business. Did I mention I really despise the *$$& COMMUNISTS on the McKinney City Council?

Semper Fi

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Plano and McKinney both are getting a little thick with antis for my tastes.

 

[rbernie]

Does anyone have any experience with http://www.apgtraining.com/.

I met a trio of guys a couple of weeks ago at GPSR that had taken their GAP bolties to Range 1 at APG, and seemed quite pleased with the experience.

Plano and McKinney both are getting a little thick with antis for my tastes.

Yeah. <sigh> I blame it on the telecomm boom - it brought in a BUNCH of folk who come from areas where there simply is no tradition or history of hunting or firearms-related activities and where personal firearms ownership simply does not happen, and put them in a relatively well-to-do area that gives them the impression of relative safety and insulation from predation. All part of the suburban expansion cycle.... Give it twenty years, and the shiny! new! Plano/McKinney/Frisco will look like north Dallas and the urban flight will have pushed further north into Celina and beyond. Useta be that 121 was the outer boundary of the northward expansion, and now that's been breached up thru 380 and it's wall-to-wall new construction between McKinney and Denton.

I find it interesting that GPSR has so far managed to avoid any significant issues, despite the fact that he's got middle-class neighboorhoods less than a quarter mile off to the side. Last I heard, he was trying to donate part of his plot to the GPD as a training center, so that he could move the public range to the other side of the plot and be relatively immune from further neighboorhood pressure.

 

[dracphelan]

When talking with the people at the Garland Range, I got the impression that they felt pretty secure. The range is built in flood plain. It is very difficult to get a home loan for a house built in a flood plain. So, the developers aren't interested in the land.

 

[rbernie]

The range is built in flood plain. It is very difficult to get a home loan for a house built in a flood plain. So, the developers aren't interested in the land.

That's a true statement; the land itself isn't worth a lot. But the bigger concern is noise abatement issues that can cause the range to be zoned out of existence even though the land isn't forced to change hands. In other words, the surrounding neighboorhoods can work to get the range hours restricted and/or get the range itself shut down using noise as the lever. That approach seems to be a fairly common tactic these days.... The GPSR response to that threat is to try and get the GPD to take possession of the existing range as a training facility, while the public range moves to the old location on the other side of the creek. The thinkin' is that if the GPD has a permanent training range there, it then becomes a lot harder to get the public side of the range shut down completely.

Another issue for GPSR is that the landfill behind them is on the block to be shut down, and the land potentially reclaimed for parks & recreational use. If that happens, GPSR will have a real problem convincing folks that stray rounds over the berm won't pose a hazard to the park users. In that case, they'll have to place an obstruction/facade along the front of the benches to prevent the muzzles from being able to elevate above the level of the backstop/berm. This is what the GPSR rifle benches currently look like:

​

This is what they had to do at Eagle Peak to preclude stray rounds over the berm:

​

 

[massad ayoob]

Damn shame. It was an outstanding facility.

 

[SeanMTX]

Hey Racegun....I hunt out at DJ Farms off of 380....is your shop built right on the left side of your house on 380?? I think I've passed you guys before.

 

[DarinC]

Dallas Action Pistol Shooters (DAPS) holds IDPA and USPSA matches at Elm Fork Shooting Park in Dallas. For information and our match schedule visit our web site, www.dallaspistol.com

Elm Fork also has a rifle range and public pistol bays. The other side of the park caters to shotgun sports. It's a shame about CCGR, but we'd love to have y'all come shoot with us.
Darin Cooley
DAPS President

 

[DougW]

DarinC, have the bunch at the Elm Fork rifle range loosened up a bit on all the restrictions they had in place concerning long guns? I quit shooting anything but pistol and shotgun (at about the nicest facility for skeet etc. that I have ever seen) many years ago because you had to jump through hoops and "qualify" to shoot a rifle there. They restricted and denied ANYTHING that looked like a military long gun, even my K98 Mausers and #4mk1 Enfields. So the only things I have seen in recent years (say the past 15 or so) on the rifle range were bolt action deer rifles that looked like a deer rifle.

 

[Big Calhoun]

I'm sorry to hear about the closing of your range. I came across your listing while I was looking for outdoor ranges. One less place to check out.

The folks over at the Bullet Trap in Plano seem to echo the sentiment about the local gun stance. As they understand it, the mayor and city council simply don't believe that ordinary citizens should be allowed firearms. Now, learning of this noise abatement issue, I wonder if the clock would be ticking for them as well. For the most part, it seems they're in a business area, but there are a set of apartments in the back. If their range ceased and all I was left with was DFW Gun... :banghead:

 

[TC-TX]

...all I was left with was DFW Gun...

Hey Big - is there something wrong out at DFW now?

 

[orionengnr]

Only time I was at Elm Fork (weekday, about a year ago) there was a Marine (active duty, home on leave) with an AR15 on the rifle range. He and the RO were the only ones there that day.

Think I have to go back one day.

 

[DarinC]

Doug,
The range is now run by the late owners wife, Denise. I think they have relaxed those rules to some extent, but you may want to check with her before you waste a trip down there.
Darin

 

[Big Calhoun]

is there something wrong out at DFW now?

AFAIK, no. I believe they just finished the remodeling recently and should be back in full swing. But I'm just an 'average joe' and DFW Gun doesn't offer the friendliest experiences. If you're active or former military or LEO, then it seems to be the place to be.