How to spruce up an indoor range?
- Thread starter MatthewVanitas
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Critter183
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Print out all of Oleg's posters and hang them up all over the place. 
Odds are that if you go talk to the environmental engineering or industrial hygiene departments at the school you can get one of the professors to turn cleaning the range into a for-credit lab and you guys won't even have to pay for it.
Once clean you can use epoxy paint to seal all the surfaces in any color you like. Talk to the psychology or interior design departments for ideas on colors that foster the psychological response you want. Talk to them about turning the range into and industrial design project.
Do not under any circumstances put carpet or foam anywhere on the range. Again, talk to the EE or IH departments about ideas for sound absorbing materials/design that won't hold lead dusts.
Oleg's posters? Oh yeaaaaah! PM Oleg and see if he can come up with any ideas unique for UT.
Contact the NRA and talk to them about your "poor student range" and your desire to "bring more college students to shooting" and see if they don't slip in their own drool thinking about the advantages a campus range represents to them.
Once clean you can use epoxy paint to seal all the surfaces in any color you like. Talk to the psychology or interior design departments for ideas on colors that foster the psychological response you want. Talk to them about turning the range into and industrial design project.
Do not under any circumstances put carpet or foam anywhere on the range. Again, talk to the EE or IH departments about ideas for sound absorbing materials/design that won't hold lead dusts.
Oleg's posters? Oh yeaaaaah! PM Oleg and see if he can come up with any ideas unique for UT.
Contact the NRA and talk to them about your "poor student range" and your desire to "bring more college students to shooting" and see if they don't slip in their own drool thinking about the advantages a campus range represents to them.
wacki
Member
Since everyone is talking about lighting....
Natural light would be a huge improvement. These are expensive right now but they will go down in price and they will save you money:
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/solar/
Natural light would be a huge improvement. These are expensive right now but they will go down in price and they will save you money:
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/solar/
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
Clean it. Clean it again. When you're done cleaning it, clean it some more.
noresttill
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- Dec 29, 2005
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- 329
+1 for the above post, all the indor ranges that I go to only are marked at the walls. Maybe flagged cable for the target motors.
Jesse
Jesse
Owen
Moderator Emeritus
I think that this range is probably fixed distance at 50 feet or 25 meters. It's not a commercial range, but an NCAA/Olympic range, so the distance markers aren't that useful.
Ixnay on the arpetcay. It creates a place for the unburned powder to collect. It's a serious fire hazard.
Lighting, fresh paint and immaculate cleanliness are going to work wonders for you.
I worked at a multiple range indoor facility that had both smooth epoxy floors, linoleum, and textured floors. The smooth epoxy flooring was very easy to clean up witha floor squeegee, but after a class or IDPA match is was really slippery from the unburned powder and other particulates on the floor. The Linoleum tile was a little better, but still slippery. The textured floor (epoxy flooring with sand in it?) was never slippery, but impossible to do a good job sweeping up without getting the dust in the air.
Ixnay on the arpetcay. It creates a place for the unburned powder to collect. It's a serious fire hazard.
Lighting, fresh paint and immaculate cleanliness are going to work wonders for you.
I worked at a multiple range indoor facility that had both smooth epoxy floors, linoleum, and textured floors. The smooth epoxy flooring was very easy to clean up witha floor squeegee, but after a class or IDPA match is was really slippery from the unburned powder and other particulates on the floor. The Linoleum tile was a little better, but still slippery. The textured floor (epoxy flooring with sand in it?) was never slippery, but impossible to do a good job sweeping up without getting the dust in the air.
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MatthewVanitas
Member
Bingo. We have some sort of acoustic tiles on the walls, which presumably absorb some sound. Might be good to get some matching paint and cover up the bullet holes that idiots have put into them though. I don't know how you hit the side wall of a range...
Our target holders are just a hand-crank. We're slowly putting new lines onto them sticky ones to make them run smooth.
I'll argue the case for our putting into storage the majority of old trophies, and keeping the coolest/highest ones on display. Our current trophy case is jam-packed, with almost all the trophies pre-dating the births of our shooters.
With the team up and running, it'd be good to put any award we get (even "Participant") w/ a 2006 date on it, into the trophy case instead of a 1979 award.
Resealing the floor with a good coating, maybe in a neat color, seems the easiest solution right now. That's aside from the very obvious step of cleaning up all the clutter, which is a slow process. Also hard to clean clutter w/o somebody getting upset about losing "important stuff". I argue that we have tons of important stuff that we can't find because it's buried in all the junk.
-MV
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Manedwolf
member
Some Bass Pro shops have ranges that look more like a nice hotel than a basement.
There's no reason not to go "comfortable and high-tech" while still being all business. Examples:
1. Lighting. You can do better than bare lightbulbs in the booths. Recessed lighting and halogen tasklighting spots shining down on each station's bench would be nice. A control for the lights in your booth would be good, too. Can change yours from "work on gun" to "see night sights".
2. Walls. Covering the walls with squares of gray or neutral-colored sound absorbent material would look nice and serve a purpose. They could be easy to remove to replace in case of ND damage.
3. Air quality. Put a duct line above the firing line with an intake vent above every station. Put a fan and charcoal filter at the end, terminating out of the shooting area or outdoors. Placement should be optimized to capture as much of the immediate gases from shooting as possible, and take them away.
4. Safety. Cover the dividing walls between booths with a thick material, such as extremely heavy recycled-tire asphalt mats, (sold as playground surfacing) that can stop an ND from going sideways to the next booth. If you'd want to make the expenditure for kevlar, add a caveat to the range's contract that anyone who damages one with a negligent discharge is responsible for the cost of replacement.
5. Target controls. You can do better than a toggle switch on a junction box. A backlit monochrome flatpanel touchscreen that lets you select the target distance by touching a preset or entering numbers would be very welcome, IMO. Functions like a countdown timer, stopwatch, and lane time counter would also be highly useful. The target distance selection could be easily accomplished by using stepper motors.
There's no reason not to go "comfortable and high-tech" while still being all business. Examples:
1. Lighting. You can do better than bare lightbulbs in the booths. Recessed lighting and halogen tasklighting spots shining down on each station's bench would be nice. A control for the lights in your booth would be good, too. Can change yours from "work on gun" to "see night sights".
2. Walls. Covering the walls with squares of gray or neutral-colored sound absorbent material would look nice and serve a purpose. They could be easy to remove to replace in case of ND damage.
3. Air quality. Put a duct line above the firing line with an intake vent above every station. Put a fan and charcoal filter at the end, terminating out of the shooting area or outdoors. Placement should be optimized to capture as much of the immediate gases from shooting as possible, and take them away.
4. Safety. Cover the dividing walls between booths with a thick material, such as extremely heavy recycled-tire asphalt mats, (sold as playground surfacing) that can stop an ND from going sideways to the next booth. If you'd want to make the expenditure for kevlar, add a caveat to the range's contract that anyone who damages one with a negligent discharge is responsible for the cost of replacement.
5. Target controls. You can do better than a toggle switch on a junction box. A backlit monochrome flatpanel touchscreen that lets you select the target distance by touching a preset or entering numbers would be very welcome, IMO. Functions like a countdown timer, stopwatch, and lane time counter would also be highly useful. The target distance selection could be easily accomplished by using stepper motors.
LeonCarr
Member
Some neat colors for the floor of the range could be Burnt Orange, or maybe Maroon .
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
.Just my .02,
LeonCarr
OP
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MatthewVanitas
Member
Just FYI:
Our range has no dividers/partitions (just roll-down linen brass screens)
Our range has hand-crank clothesline target hangers, not electric ones
But the style/color ideas are interesting. During the last Home Depot run, I picked up the brochures on Garage/Workshop floor sealants.
So now we can go over color samples together at the range.
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.
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That last sentence does sound a little odd.
I also have a new thread going about our potential vending machine. This might actually be doable. I can't see selling the staff on the idea though, so might need to buy out of pocket to try out the idea, and maybe get reimbursed next year.
-MV
Our range has no dividers/partitions (just roll-down linen brass screens)
Our range has hand-crank clothesline target hangers, not electric ones
But the style/color ideas are interesting. During the last Home Depot run, I picked up the brochures on Garage/Workshop floor sealants.
So now we can go over color samples together at the range.
.
.
.
That last sentence does sound a little odd.
I also have a new thread going about our potential vending machine. This might actually be doable. I can't see selling the staff on the idea though, so might need to buy out of pocket to try out the idea, and maybe get reimbursed next year.
-MV
Manedwolf
member
As to motorizing precision-distance target stands as I'd mentioned above, there's got to be some people into guns who are also experienced in industrial controls! A simple stepper motor pulley system with a digital controller box and a bunch of presets could be assembled out of surplus junk from a lot of manufacturing facilities these days, especially steppers pulled from high-duty-cycle equipment just because they've exceeded their service life. They'd likely last many years more if used for such light duty.
A simple stepper motor pulley system with a digital controller box and a bunch of presets could be assembled out of surplus junk from a lot of manufacturing facilities these days, especially steppers pulled from high-duty-cycle equipment just because they've exceeded their service life. They'd likely last many years more if used for such light duty.Nicolai
Member
A couple of things that I liked from some ranges visited over the years:
1. Divide range into bays with 4-6 lanes per bay, with soundproofing between, so those who want to shoot their megablasters can be isolated from those shooting smaller stuff.
2. Good lighting is an absolute must--one previous thread suggested a rheostat so you could have different levels of light--that's a real good idea. I visited a range once where the lights came on as the target reached a certain distance, then went off as the target went further downrange. It was pretty cool having direct lighting on the targets at known distances like 7, 10, and 25 yards. Were the distances accurate? Don't know but the coolness factor was way up there.
1. Divide range into bays with 4-6 lanes per bay, with soundproofing between, so those who want to shoot their megablasters can be isolated from those shooting smaller stuff.
2. Good lighting is an absolute must--one previous thread suggested a rheostat so you could have different levels of light--that's a real good idea. I visited a range once where the lights came on as the target reached a certain distance, then went off as the target went further downrange. It was pretty cool having direct lighting on the targets at known distances like 7, 10, and 25 yards. Were the distances accurate? Don't know but the coolness factor was way up there.
Bwana John
Member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2004
- Messages
- 2,960
All range rules should be prominatly posted so that everybody can see them and knows what the are.
Posters on the wall discribing different positions while shooting are nice.
Posted match results are a way of congratulating winners and motavating others.
The poster that describes what the probable fault the shooter is doing according to where the group is on the target is always a good one to have around.
Other posters that describe and explain sight picture, how to zero the weapon, and saftey are good also.
A fridge for cold drinks.
Paint the floor to delineate a zone that no one is allowed in when the line is called. (bolt open, magazines out, chamber flags in, and EVERYBODY OUT of the yellow zone!)
A place to clean guns might be nice if it can be done safely.
Leave the bean bags, beaded curtins, and black lights in the dorm room.
Posters on the wall discribing different positions while shooting are nice.
Posted match results are a way of congratulating winners and motavating others.
The poster that describes what the probable fault the shooter is doing according to where the group is on the target is always a good one to have around.
Other posters that describe and explain sight picture, how to zero the weapon, and saftey are good also.
A fridge for cold drinks.
Paint the floor to delineate a zone that no one is allowed in when the line is called. (bolt open, magazines out, chamber flags in, and EVERYBODY OUT of the yellow zone!)
A place to clean guns might be nice if it can be done safely.
Leave the bean bags, beaded curtins, and black lights in the dorm room.
http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/downloads/ih/tm6290.99-10Rev1.pdf
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/success/stories/0-50/0031.pdf
http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/ih/tm6290.99-10.doc
http://www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/technicalteam.asp
http://www.rangeinfo.org/resource_library/NSRS/09TechnicalTrackIndoor/Retro-fitting.pdf
http://www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/technicalteam.asp
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ranges/
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/success/stories/0-50/0031.pdf
http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/ih/tm6290.99-10.doc
http://www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/technicalteam.asp
http://www.rangeinfo.org/resource_library/NSRS/09TechnicalTrackIndoor/Retro-fitting.pdf
http://www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/technicalteam.asp
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ranges/
ezypikns
Member
If they'd only clean them up and put in some lighting.
Several ranges in the Dallas area are just dumps. Dingy, dirty, poorly lit. Needless to say I don't go there any more.
Several ranges in the Dallas area are just dumps. Dingy, dirty, poorly lit. Needless to say I don't go there any more.
AmbulanceDriver
Member
Public Safety Training Center
Here in Clackamas, OR we have one of the nicest indoor ranges in three counties. It started as a public range run by Clackamas Community College. It has since been purchased by the Clackamas County Sherrif's Office. They now do all their training in-house. Half a dozen classrooms, shoot/no shoot simulator room, four linked driving simulators. Large open area with chairs and tables where people can sit around and BS... Fairly large armory with assortment of rental firearms, etc. Parts cleaner where you can clean your firearms for a small fee after blasting all day.
Now, the ranges themselves:
The public deck is 10 lanes, motorized target carriers, 25 yards. Excellent lighting, excellent ventilation. Sound absorbing materials on the walls. Ballistic glass separating each lane. The floor is sealed concrete, but not slippery. RSO booth observing both the decks.
The "green" deck, or primary LE deck, is accessible off the main public deck. 8 lanes, computerized target carriers to do shoot/no shoot scenarios, programmable for distances. Same set up as far as ballistic glass, floor, walls. This deck has removable "benches" at each lane so you can move forward of the designated firing line if you're shooting alone or for different scenarios during classes.
This range was a substantial investment by the college and then by the SO to purchase it from the college. However, it is saving the SO money by letting them do all their training and qualifications in house instead of at a separate facility. Obviously some of the training (SERT, etc) can't be done there, but the majority of it is done there. All the classroom stuff is done there at PSTC.
For the most part, the range has either broken even or made money, and goes to show what a quality facility is capable of.
Here in Clackamas, OR we have one of the nicest indoor ranges in three counties. It started as a public range run by Clackamas Community College. It has since been purchased by the Clackamas County Sherrif's Office. They now do all their training in-house. Half a dozen classrooms, shoot/no shoot simulator room, four linked driving simulators. Large open area with chairs and tables where people can sit around and BS...
Fairly large armory with assortment of rental firearms, etc. Parts cleaner where you can clean your firearms for a small fee after blasting all day.Now, the ranges themselves:
The public deck is 10 lanes, motorized target carriers, 25 yards. Excellent lighting, excellent ventilation. Sound absorbing materials on the walls. Ballistic glass separating each lane. The floor is sealed concrete, but not slippery. RSO booth observing both the decks.
The "green" deck, or primary LE deck, is accessible off the main public deck. 8 lanes, computerized target carriers to do shoot/no shoot scenarios, programmable for distances. Same set up as far as ballistic glass, floor, walls. This deck has removable "benches" at each lane so you can move forward of the designated firing line if you're shooting alone or for different scenarios during classes.
This range was a substantial investment by the college and then by the SO to purchase it from the college. However, it is saving the SO money by letting them do all their training and qualifications in house instead of at a separate facility. Obviously some of the training (SERT, etc) can't be done there, but the majority of it is done there. All the classroom stuff is done there at PSTC.
For the most part, the range has either broken even or made money, and goes to show what a quality facility is capable of.
That what killed an indoor range no to far from my home. Two indoor pistol ranges in my area. One was always dirty, beat up looking, with employees who did not give a crud. The other was always clean, kept in good shape and while all the employees their were not saints, at least you were not waiting round for service. Anyway the dirty range started drawing let's just say no the best examples of the shooting sports. The other range drew all the cops and high end customers. Eventually the dirty range closed down, part because not a lot of people used the range, and the other was that they were drawing people who were not willing to spend money it their gun shop.
Obviously, color, lighting, and cleanliness are the major recurring themes. I'd keep away from dark colors to avoid the bunker effect. Painting the walls, floors, and/or ceilings in the school colors would be good. Another choice for floors in addition to epoxy would be commercial vinyl tile (the stuff you see in gov't offices). It's cheap, tough, and can be found in different colors. As for shooting benches, it might be nice if you offered one or two that were a little lower to accomodate shorter shooters such as women. It can be awkward reaching up to handle anything, especially a firearm.
The safety rules and range policies are the most important things to post. Gun education would be great to see posted too, maybe poster-size parts diagrams showing the most commonly used weapons at your range (Glock 19? Ruger 10/22? Beretta 92? 1911? Mossberg 500?).
Although it's not a gun range, an indoor paintball range I went to had a great setup. They had three distinct areas: retail/lounge, staging, and action. Friends and family could chow down in the lounge area while the kids played, and the staging area was used for changing barrels, tanks, reloading pods, etc. In the staging area, barrel plugs or sleeves were mandatory. Masks were required in the action area. My only concern with a gun range would be the staging area: there's no way to know if a gun is loaded and since the weapons will be very close to ammo, it may not be a good mix. A retail/lounge area is very applicable; the outdoor range I frequent has one.
I'd definitely try to solicit the help of other campus departments. This will build rapport with other parts of the school and may draw some new shooters to the sport. You'll also save some $$$.
Matt, feel free to PM me to discuss this a little more. I finished my BS 3 years ago and I'm working on my Masters so I still have a bit of a college mind. I'm also a new shooter so I can shed some light on that aspect as well.
The safety rules and range policies are the most important things to post. Gun education would be great to see posted too, maybe poster-size parts diagrams showing the most commonly used weapons at your range (Glock 19? Ruger 10/22? Beretta 92? 1911? Mossberg 500?).
Although it's not a gun range, an indoor paintball range I went to had a great setup. They had three distinct areas: retail/lounge, staging, and action. Friends and family could chow down in the lounge area while the kids played, and the staging area was used for changing barrels, tanks, reloading pods, etc. In the staging area, barrel plugs or sleeves were mandatory. Masks were required in the action area. My only concern with a gun range would be the staging area: there's no way to know if a gun is loaded and since the weapons will be very close to ammo, it may not be a good mix. A retail/lounge area is very applicable; the outdoor range I frequent has one.
I'd definitely try to solicit the help of other campus departments. This will build rapport with other parts of the school and may draw some new shooters to the sport. You'll also save some $$$.
Matt, feel free to PM me to discuss this a little more. I finished my BS 3 years ago and I'm working on my Masters so I still have a bit of a college mind. I'm also a new shooter so I can shed some light on that aspect as well.
Cowboybootnut
Member
More lighting, it doesn't need to be as bright as the great outdoors, but something brighter than the basement of an abandoned building.
More fans during the summer, at my indoor range with the ventilation system it has, it brings outside air (100+ degrees in Texas during the summer) in the shooting area, which is then pulled out down-range. There is just a couple fans at the shooting bays for the shooters. It gets very hot and distracting.
Gun related posters, mostly about safety, and/or aiming for the targert. Most of the shooters are knowledgable, but sometimes I bring friends in who are not. Posters of specific brands of guns are free advertising, which should not be used.
More fans during the summer, at my indoor range with the ventilation system it has, it brings outside air (100+ degrees in Texas during the summer) in the shooting area, which is then pulled out down-range. There is just a couple fans at the shooting bays for the shooters. It gets very hot and distracting.
Gun related posters, mostly about safety, and/or aiming for the targert. Most of the shooters are knowledgable, but sometimes I bring friends in who are not. Posters of specific brands of guns are free advertising, which should not be used.
OP
OP
MatthewVanitas
Member
Main ideas so far:
1) Clean, clean, and clean some more. Aside from actually cleaning the dirt, we really need to weed out the clutter, make everything look professional and tidy. Priority: get the cleaning bench cleared off and tools and manuals set up there, so folks can clean safely and w/o hassle.
2) Will contact UT Industrial Health to make sure we're up to par on filters and HVAC system. No point in poisoning young shooters whilst training them.
3) Will go through our awards and display just the best ones. Honestly, I'm tempted to just pry the actual engraved "Competition and Date" plate off of the silly 2' tall trophies, and mount them all on to one big plaque. Kind of forming a "trophy digest" onto one plaque to replace a dozen big/ugly trophies. Might get some flack on that one from other staff though.
4) The posters idea is a great one. We really need a very simple Safety Rules poster up. Only problem: range staff disagrees on 4 Rules vs. NRA 3 Rules. I just might need to suck it up and let them do it the NRA way, since we have nice posters for that already (back in the office). I dislike the NRA rules, but I don't want to disrupt operations by being stubborn about the Military/Cooper 4 Rules.
5) The sight picture poster is a must. Anyone got a source for posters, or a Hi-Res image file that we can print at Kinkos?
6) Any good source for college shooting sports posters that don't look square? I.e. don't feature teenagers with bowl haircuts in vinyl jogging suits.
7) I'll ask our more tasteful students what they think on color. Walls are off white, cement is gray now. Maybe we can do the firing zone in a creamy off-white, and do the pedestrian area in Burnt Orange, and then mark the lines and numbers w/ a contrasting color. I'm just leery of using too much white and creating the "box" effect.
That's what I'm getting so far. Additing partitions or mechanical pulleys would be an order of magnitude more complicated. Neat ideas though.
Thanks for any tips on the above, and I'll keep weeding through them. I'll post some pics of our current settup later, and will hopefully post some "new/improved" pics a few months down the road.
-MV
1) Clean, clean, and clean some more. Aside from actually cleaning the dirt, we really need to weed out the clutter, make everything look professional and tidy. Priority: get the cleaning bench cleared off and tools and manuals set up there, so folks can clean safely and w/o hassle.
2) Will contact UT Industrial Health to make sure we're up to par on filters and HVAC system. No point in poisoning young shooters whilst training them.
3) Will go through our awards and display just the best ones. Honestly, I'm tempted to just pry the actual engraved "Competition and Date" plate off of the silly 2' tall trophies, and mount them all on to one big plaque. Kind of forming a "trophy digest" onto one plaque to replace a dozen big/ugly trophies. Might get some flack on that one from other staff though.
4) The posters idea is a great one. We really need a very simple Safety Rules poster up. Only problem: range staff disagrees on 4 Rules vs. NRA 3 Rules. I just might need to suck it up and let them do it the NRA way, since we have nice posters for that already (back in the office). I dislike the NRA rules, but I don't want to disrupt operations by being stubborn about the Military/Cooper 4 Rules.
5) The sight picture poster is a must. Anyone got a source for posters, or a Hi-Res image file that we can print at Kinkos?
6) Any good source for college shooting sports posters that don't look square? I.e. don't feature teenagers with bowl haircuts in vinyl jogging suits.
7) I'll ask our more tasteful students what they think on color. Walls are off white, cement is gray now. Maybe we can do the firing zone in a creamy off-white, and do the pedestrian area in Burnt Orange, and then mark the lines and numbers w/ a contrasting color. I'm just leery of using too much white and creating the "box" effect.
That's what I'm getting so far. Additing partitions or mechanical pulleys would be an order of magnitude more complicated. Neat ideas though.
Thanks for any tips on the above, and I'll keep weeding through them. I'll post some pics of our current settup later, and will hopefully post some "new/improved" pics a few months down the road.
-MV
Owen
Moderator Emeritus
Hey Matt,
Look up the USA Shooting/UIT/NCAA requirements for lighting. IIRC they are clearly specified for indoor ranges.
It would be a bummer to spend a pile of money on your range to find out that you don't meet the requirements to hold PTOs or tournaments
Look up the USA Shooting/UIT/NCAA requirements for lighting. IIRC they are clearly specified for indoor ranges.
It would be a bummer to spend a pile of money on your range to find out that you don't meet the requirements to hold PTOs or tournaments
OP
OP
MatthewVanitas
Member
We actually run quite a few PTOs and tournaments under USA Shooting.
Our lighting is quite good, our range is considered to be one of the better Olympic-type ranges in the region.
I feel we're pretty strong on the technical side (assuming IH has kept up the air system maintenance). Just need to tweak a few target hangers, and that make sure we're using clean filters.
I'm more concerned with the aesthetics at this point, creating a welcoming environment for the many new shooters we have coming in.
-MV
crebralfix
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Check out the NRA Range in Fairfax, VA. It's very nice.
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