I made a great discovery...

[Tomekeuro85]

Im sitting here at work kindof bored. I was about to join Darnall's Rifle range in Bloomington Illinois. The yearly membership there is $65. I once considered the Illinois State Rifle Association, but their yearly membership is $170. I initially picked Darnall's because who wants to pay $170 when you can pay $65?

However, I looked further into this. Darnall's is 2.5 hours away from my house, or 140 miles. ISRA is 52 miles/1 hour away from my house. I used a base of 9 trips per year to each range. Fuel costs to Darnall's would be $263.70 per year as opposed to $121.50 for ISRA. Thats a $142 difference. This ends up being a total membership cost of $291 per year for ISRA, and $328 per year for Darnalls.

Secondly, the ISRA is open to me all the time, and all the ranges. Darnall's is arranged in a way that severly limits shooting distances and choice. For example, if there are shotgun shooters, all the rifle ranges are closed. If there are 100 yard rifle shooters, the 200 and 300 yard ranges are closed. This only allows the rifle ranges to be open from 9am-12:30pm, or 3.5 hours. Not to mention I would save about 1200 miles a year on my car, and save 3 hours of driving if I switch to ISRA.

In conclusion, I've discovered that what initially seems like a bad deal ends up being far better than the other choice.

As you can see, I have far too much time on my hands, but this discovery made me much happier. I'd much rather pay the more expensive amount now if it means saving more later.

 

[Preacherman]

Yet another example of the adage "Buy cheap, pay dear". If one scopes out all of the ramifications and hidden costs of any purchase, it's astonishing how many times this changes one's choice.

 

[mhdishere]

Also consider that you'll go to the closer range more frequently, thereby getting more use out of your membership. If you have a free four or five hour window of time you can haul off the the range and still get a couple hours shooting in. When you have a five hour round trip you'll need to allocate a whole day.

 

[trickyasafox]

im so happy my range is 1.2 miles from my house by dirt road, and 2.5 miles from my house on a main road with a 25$ per year fee its not the greatest, but then again convience counts for A LOT

 

[ball3006]

Only shoot 9 times a year?

Gee, I thought I was lacking only shooting one time a week..........my club is 8 miles from the house.......and 2 miles from my favorite Vietnamese eatery........chris3

 

[ScottsGT]

Also consider that you'll go to the closer range more frequently, thereby getting more use out of your membership. If you have a free four or five hour window of time you can haul off the the range and still get a couple hours shooting in. When you have a five hour round trip you'll need to allocate a whole day.

But by going more often, his ammo cost will go up significantly. So maybe it is still a wash.

 

[Dave P]

Maybe you could take advantage of the driving time and do some reloading???

 

[Tomekeuro85]

Yup I have all my reloading stuff that I just bought. I've already loaded some .223 and .308 and I can't wait to shoot them. I'm faxing in my application for membership today.

 

[Hemicuda]

My great range discovery was the one where i realized that i could get a full 300 yard range in, right off my deck, iff i just built a dedicated bench, and a target holder (those went in at 25 yds, 100 yds, 200 yds, and 300 yds), and pruned a tree or 2, and mowed some brush... then i added a pair of dusk to dawn lights, at 25 and 100 yds (night shooting is fun too!)

 

[Pilgrim]

With the prices being about the same, I chose to join the club farther from my home because the ranges were better and shooters were on their honor to follow the rules and take care of the ranges. The closer club had for a grounds keeper and range officer a drunk who often made up rules on the fly and tended to make a nuisance of himself.

Pilgrim

 

[armedandsafe]

My range is $45/year and is 25 miles from the house. I get there about 5 or 6 times a year because there is so much open shooting land within a couple of miles of the house. The next nearest range is 85 miles, $250/year and open on wekends only to competitions. The nearest indoor range I know of is 120 miles out.

Pops