Gun club membership??

[Ledgehammer]

Just curious how many of us here are members of a gun range/club. I joined an indoor range recently due to proximity, but I'm thinking of joining an outdoor range a bit further down the road. What do you guys prefer or like to see in a range before you join?

 

[788Ham]

#1, open membership availability ! I joined a gun club about 7 months ago, I was on the waiting list for over 3 years, have to be invited by another current member, and of course, openings. This is a private club, only open to the public for sight in during hunting seasons, and also open to LE agencies for training.

There are a few ranges in a 50 mile range, mostly indoor, but with the public having them always full, its nice to be able not have to endure the huge wait lines, sometimes having the range totally to ones self really has its benefits!

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I joined up just last week...only because a change of ownership in the property next time mine made it so I no longer have a place to shoot past 100 yards.

The range I joined only has a 200 and a 600 yard rifle range...but it beats the heck out of nothing!

Since I have never been around many ranges...I have no idea what I like in one...I joined this one because its the closest with the longest rifle range.

 

[ATLDave]

I'm a member of an indoor range that's about a 15 minute drive from my house - shorter if there's no traffic. I can't do drawing from a holster, moving with a gun, transitioning between targets, dropping magazines (without risk of them bouncing past the firing line onto the range where they are nigh-impossible to retrieve), shooting at anything longer than 75', shooting from any position other than standing, etc.

What I can do, however, is actually go and shoot. I have access to a place where I can do all of the other stuff, but it's hours away, so I don't get there more than a few times a year. In contrast, I can get to the indoor range once a week or so. I get a lot more value out of weekly constrained shooting than I do out of my quarterly shoot-however-I-want sessions.

 

[Jeff H]

Lots of outdoor ranges have waiting lists so make sure you look around and see what is available.

When I first joined an outdoor club 3 years ago I checked around and found two in the vicinity. One was closed to new members and had a waiting list. The other accepted 30 new members a month but you had to be there early enough to get a spot at orientation. I joined the second club but they now changed their policy so that those 30 spots are filled on line. Their wait time is now as they have calender posted. Last time I checked, it was full past the end of the year.

For the club I belong to, even with 2000+ members, it is very common to see only a few people at the benchrest range, a 1/2 dozen at the 3 pistol ranges and the high power range is almost never in use unless there is a match. All hte indoor ranges in the area are always packed.

 

[blahpony]

I'm a member at a local indoor range. It's about 10-15 minutes from my house. I only have pistols, so the range length isn't an issue for me. They do have a 100 yard range there.

They sell ammo and targets there, but don't require you use theirs.

 

[Ledgehammer]

ATLDave - it sounds like you and I are in the same situation. I live in the burbs so I'm just happy to be shooting at this point, but I'm really itching to join that outdoor range. More expensive of course, but a lot more training/practicing can be done there. The good thing is they will do a monthly etf out of your account so you don't feel it all at once.

 

[bamajoey]

The closest range to me is $200 membership, plus $8 per trip. I shoot at least once a week, so that would be too costly for me. I own property big enough to shoot on 35 minutes from home. Gas is expensive but I don't have to put up with jerks at a range, and can make my own rules.

 

[PT92]

In St. Louis, MO here we have August A. Busch Conservation Area Shooting Range and it's a virtual utopia so wondrous that I cannot begin to descibe so here's a link to my idea of "The Perfect" Outdoor Shooting Facility:

http://mdc.mo.gov/regions/st-louis/august-busch-conservation-area-shooting-range

If you are in MO. or a surrounding State like Illinois it's very much worth a visit !

GO CARDS (repeat in 12!)!

 

[bigfatdave]

$75/year, about 20 minutes away
there was a first-time member fee ($20, I think) and there's a deposit on the indoor range (another $20, I think)
I like the place so much that I pay for a second membership for my wife, even though I really don't need to (she can always shoot as my "guest" after all)

daylight access to outdoor range, set your own firing line from 1-100 yards, shoot whatever you want so long as it goes into the backstop. Rig your own target stand or stand up some cardboard and staple to it in front of the backstop ... or toss reactive targets up on the berm (no glass, but clays and junk pots/pans are popular)

24-hour access to indoor pistol range with a dongle on my key-ring - non-magnum handguns and .22lr/pistol-caliber rifles, set your own firing line at up to 50 yards, screw with the lighting however you want. Paper/cardboard targets on hangers about 5 yards in front of the backstop

no nannying, no restrictions on holster use, nobody trying to sell me overpriced ammo/targets ... most of the time the place is empty until I get there with whoever I felt like shooting with that day.

 

[tnelson31]

I belong to a club, for safety reasons (was swept at public range, twice.)

What I don't like about the club: the safety rules.
What I follow at the club: the safety rules.

Seems ironic but it gets me shooting and I love that.

 

[Zundfolge]

I'm a member at a private outdoor range (with two locations) because frankly there is not a single public range anywhere nearby (and I live in Colorado Springs, CO, a very gun friendly city where you'd expect to find a half a dozen indoor and outdoor ranges).

 

[M2 Carbine]

I've been a Member of a very nice range for a number of years now.
$70/year.
http://www.parkersportsman.com/range.htm

I keep up my membership but it's a 40 minute drive and I haven't been to the range in at least four years.
This isn't a bad drive for such a nice range but I can be shooting on my home range in five minutes, so being a lazy type I just shoot at home.

 

[bigfatdave]

Whenever I feel good about my club's range, m2 carbine takes me down a notch.
I can go blasting on a rainy/snowy day, otherwise you win, m2 carbine

 

[tt5]

i joined http://www.washtenawsportsmansclub.org/ about a year ago when i got back into shooting. Nice outdoor range on the south side of Ypsilanti, MI (west of Detroit). I like the relative quiet and peace of the out-door range. If I time it right, I have the pistol/rimfire range to myself.
The only downside is when the target stand bases are buried in the snow. But then the crowding is further reduced.

 

[Jeff H]

Whenever I feel good about my club's range, m2 carbine takes me down a notch.
I can go blasting on a rainy/snowy day, otherwise you win, m2 carbine

Given the location in your profile, I'd say you win. I took a tour of the grounds earlier this year when I picked up my M1. That is a beautiful place.

 

[labhound]

Membership in clubs in my area are closed and always full. The closest gun shop indoor range is 40 miles away which I occasionally shoot at if I'm going to be in the area. I normally just shoot at my own range I built on my property. Its a one minute ride in the golf cart from the house to the range.
638950[/ATTACH]"]http://

 

[RBid]

I'm a member at a local gun club. They give key cards to members, so you come and go (between 7am and 8pm) as you please. I like being able to shoot on my schedule. It's also indoors. Sadly, it's handgun and .22LR, only.

 

[bldsmith]

I joined the local private range a few years ago. It has an indoor .22 only range, then outdoor 10-25yd handgun and rimfire rifle only then 50yd -200yd rifle. You can shoot handgun at the 50yd short range or 100yd at the long. It does have a lot of "safety" rules I do not really care for like only 10 rounds in a handgun and only 5 in a rifle. No holster work and so forth. The best thing is it is close 10 minutes away, and I can shoot pretty much any daylight hours I wish. If I want to do some of the things I cannot at the range I can go to the state forest lands, just a 45 min drive and I can bring out the AR's and have some serious fun.

 

[Hardtarget]

I live in Nashville. The Davidson Co. Sportsmans Club is 15 min ride. We have 200 yds max. with target stands at 50 and 100 yds as well. It is $100/yr. We have a nice club house and five shooting positions...all covered. We shoot rifle and pistol but don't have a shotgun range. I have never been to shoot when I had to wait because of a crowd.

There are several indoor local but I never shoot indoors.

Most of my shooting is on our "farm" in Lebanon, Tn. It has 82 feet so its pistol shooting mostly. Its perfect for the Appleseed test... 1 inch square @82 feet. I do that several times a year just to aggravate my sons. They hate it.

Mark

 

[longknife12]

I'm a member over at Clear Creek County. That's about a 20 minute drive for me. Waiting list is about 2-3 years.Rifle/shotgun/pistol and aw areas.organized places in the Denver metro are getting harder to find.
Dan

 

[UKWildcats]

I use to shoot at the State of Ohio range -- They have RSO's however the idiot factor with other shooters was more than I could take -- yearly cost was about $25


I joined a Private club about the same distance away but cost about $100 a year. The RSO's watch the shooters far closer so I do not fear for my life.


Private Club is better run -- but both have weird rules though -- but happy with my current situation.


Just wish I could find a place of my own -- one of the issues is that setting up a chronograph at either club is dam near impossible, fortunetly I have a friend with a 100 yard range in his backyard which is great for chronograph work.

 

[dstryr]

I joined a local IWL for $140/yr. Nice thing is I have access any time and 4 new pistol ranges were added this year so I rarely have much company and never have to wait. It cost $8/hr to shoot at a county range plus a 50 mile round trip, so easy 3 gal of gas on top of the range time.

Now with a 16 mile round trip I'll have saved $15/trip. Didn't take long to make break-even on that deal. Plus, if I go on my way home from work its only a couple miles out of the way and I can fit in some shooting while most everyone else is hauling kids around or eating dinner.

 

[timhernandez]

I was a member of both an indoor and and outdoor range for about a year but recently transitioned to outdoor only. More variety in what I can shoot and distances.

It is less than 30 minutes from home and the cost is far less than the indoor range which has become over crowded over the last 2 years.

www.wwcca.com, just outside Detroit.

 

[2bfree]

I belong to an outdoor range and gun club. The pistol range has 7,15,25,50 yard targets. The rifle range is out to 200 yards ( except on competition shoots at 400, 600 yards ) It is 2 miles from my house and in the last 6 mo. I have seen a RO only once, open from 8:00 am till dark. I shoot mornings mostly and most days I am the only one there. It is worth the 150.00 a year to me rather then drive an hour to find open land.http://www.tacomarifle.org/facilities.htm