Indoor Ranges?

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irishlad

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I see quite a few posts where folks are shooting at indoor ranges. I've never been to one(always lived close to National Forest and BLM). I was curious if it makes you nervous shooting with strangers and having no idea how they're handling their guns?The pics I've seen show a barrier between the stalls. Also curious if you shoot less because you gotta pay to shoot? Thanks
 
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I ve shot at them. Others don’t bother me. I don’t like the other things that sometimes come with the indoor ranges. Some make you buy and use only their ammo, some don’t let you collect your brass. That said, if it’s all you got, it’s what you do.
 
Makes me nervous anywhere there are others shooting, especially if you get to looking at the facilities and how tore up they usually are. Walls, ceilings, bench/counter tops, stall dividers, etc., all show signs of, putting it nicely, a lack of attention as to what people were doing.

I used to shoot at a couple of different indoor ranges over the years. I usually paid for a yearly "family plan", which allowed for unlimited range time for all of us and discounts in the store on other things. Well worth the money there if you shoot a lot, and usually pays for itself in a couple of visits.

These days we belong to a nice little private club just around the hill from the house, that has great facilities and rarely, if ever, is anyone there when I go. None of the usual BS you see at a lot of clubs either. I can shoot at my house as well, but prefer to bother the clubs neighbors instead of mine. Prefer not to draw that sort of attention too.

Having seen some pretty scary stuff at places like the state game ranges, sand pits, etc, I avoid them like the plague.
 
The newer ranges have ballistic panels between the stalls... enough to stop a 50BMG if what the rangemaster is telling me is correct.

I've seen enough abysmal firearm handling in ranges through the years, I guess I'm just used to it by now, but like TrackSkippy mentions... I've seen some pretty stupid stuff at outdoor ranges as well. My last range session, out in NV, had 3 carloads of Mexicans pull up, including the women and children, spilling out all over the range... and then I caught the odor of weed. At that point, I packed my crap up and went down the trail... even leaving my target stand behind, for obvious reasons.
 
One opened in the town 26 miles south of me last year. First ever within 100 miles. Requiring an appointment to shoot and $20 per hour has kept me away. For 60 bucks a year I can go to my outdoor gun club range any time I want. Being cooped up in a building with strangers shooting guns has never appealed to me anyway.
 
We are recent refugees to Omaha from a small town. I'd shot 60 + years out in the open on private ground, mine and friend's. This past May was my first experience at not only a commercial range, one indoors. It went fine. You adapt. Since then I've been there six more times.
 
Indoor ranges are pretty much all I have ever known. One gunshop/range I go has a large window behind the counter where the staff can keep an eye on the shooters, another monitors that shooter via camera, 2 others have safety officers. New shooters watch a video on range safety and etiquette, one range then has a Q&A session with a safety officer. Biggest drawbacks to indoor ranges IMHO are
increased noise levels and less than satisfactory ventilation. At one range I have occasionally halted my shooting to help newer shooters observe safety, help them with proper form, jams, etc. The owners have thanked me for that.
 
I did shoot at a indoor range two to three times a week until August, you learn what times to go, when it's the least crowded and if you help someone from Hood with their marksmanship, remember to wipe the gun off, so you don't have visitors later. :)
 
I was curious if it makes you nervous shooting with strangers and having no idea how they're handling their guns?
Well, having grown up military, I'm somewhat inured to having to line up with window-lickers and crayon-munchers with indifferent levels of situational awareness while having live ammo.

The significant thing about indoor ranges in my book is in finding ones with adequate ventilation and visiting at time of least customer demand.

You very much want to max out your hearing protection as the hard walls will make all the shots sound like naval rifles going off.

Many indoor ranges are very restrictive, even invasive, in their strictures. This can be galling to the experienced.

They can be handy for getting in some handgun "reps" at known distances. In my case, there's a decent one a mere 20 minutes' drive away. Far easier than the 100+ miles I need to get to an outdoor range--and the Texas weather is not always clement for such things.
 
They can be crowded................and loud.
I don't like the fact that most of them in my area don't appreciate it when you collect your own brass...
Of the prolly thousands of customers they have, there have been such a small number of mishaps.
The 2 major ones I can remember is that the folks committed suicide in 2 separate facilities...(Those are not mishaps...!!!)

I prefer the outdoor range I belong to even tho it's about 40 min away. There are only a few (200) members so the weekdays you are by yourself mostly.

If they are your only feasible choice to either shoot or not shoot, then the indoor range it shall be....
 
I was a member at a small indoor range for a minute back before I stopped working half days on Friday. Was nice to get off work at noon and drive 10 minutes to have the place to myself. They didn't let people recover brass forward of the line, but the owner would always grab my strays and give them to me. Pistols only, no magnum rounds. Loud. Very loud. Even with plugs and muffs.
 
I was curious if it makes you nervous shooting with strangers
After running 30 or 40 rounds through my 9mm during the shooting portion of the Concealed Carry Class I took a few years back, I kind of got used to "shooting with strangers." I wouldn't want to have to do that every time I go shooting though - we usually shoot on public land, our friend's ranch, or the county gravel pit. :thumbup:
 
I shoot at a very nice indoor range in Ashburn, VA. Cost is about $40 a month, with the ability to make appointments on line, shooting as often as I want. I avoid shooting on major holidays because, even though I could get a range by making an appointment, I feel the pressure of the crowd when there are a lot people filling the lanes.

The sin I notice most often is someone tracking the muzzle left or right as they look in that direction. The RSOs do a pretty good job of keeping an eye on the shooters. I make a point of staying between the glass partitions - some of which I note have been hit by bullets, so even at a pretty well-run range I can tell somebody has fired rounds at a 90 degree angle from the direction the lanes run.

Some reasonable rules at this range: You can pick up your own brass. Two people max per lane. You can shoot your own ammo but have to shoot their ammo in a rental gun. You must keep your gun cased (or in a holster) until you are in your booth. Your slide must be locked back (or revolver left open) before you may set the handgun down on the shelf in front .
 
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I am a member at two ranges. Outdoor is limited to Fri-Sat-Sun, $125 a year. It is 22 miles away, each way.

Indoor is ten minutes away. It is unlimited use and available 7 days a week for $300 a year. I shoot there on average 2x a week; sometimes I shoot several guns and I’m there for a while, other visits are shoot one gun and gone in half an hour. I double up with plugs under earmuffs. This keeps most shots tolerable.

Occasionally you get next to the wall, which I like because there is 50% less to distract or worry about. The other times you are somewhere in the middle with shooters on both sides. Then I just do my best to pay more attention to things going on around me.

IMG_7126.jpeg

Open desert is at minimum an hour and change away on the freeway, it’s at least 60 miles one way. It can be great if no one is around. Popular areas can become a bit of a war zone when the weather cools down.

I have had a few indoor sessions here and there marred by guys shooting muzzle-brakes on their AR rifles, making the blast almost unbearable; guys sometimes handling guns behind the line that get the RSO out to set them straight; or scattershots who bounce their rounds off the roof, through my target or hitting the target hangars. Some of the circled shots landed at least six-eight inches above where they should be hitting.

IMG_7003.jpeg

You realize very quickly that not every shooter keeps their rounds in the 8-9-10-X rings, in fact I will say most of the shooters I am seeing shoot like these guys were. IMG_6769.jpeg

(I hope they are new shooters, who will seek out some good instruction and vastly improve.)

Like just about everyone else, I would prefer to be solo and outdoors when I shoot. But when you live in suburbia, ya gotta do what ya gotta do if you want to enjoy the shooting sports.

Stay safe.
 
I shoot at a very nice indoor range in Ashburn, VA. Cost is about $40 a month, with the ability to make appointments on line, shooting as often as I want. I avoid shooting on major holidays because, even though I could get a range by making an appointment, I feel the pressure of the crowd when there are a lot people filling the lanes.

The sin I notice most often is someone tracking the muzzle left or right as they look in that direction. The RSOs do a pretty good job of keeping an eye on the shooters. I make a point of staying between the glass partitions - some of which I note have been hit by bullets, so even at a pretty well-run range I can tell somebody has fired rounds at a 90 degree angle from the direction the lanes run.

Some reasonable rules at this range: You can pick up your own brass. Two people max per lane. You can shoot your own ammo but have to shoot their ammo in a rental gun. You must keep your gun cased (or in a holster) until you are in your booth. Your slide must be locked back (or revolver left open) before you may set the handgun down on the shelf in front .
Scary!!!
 
Indeed! :oops: My usual spot has banned AR/AK pistols and shotguns because of constant damage to the target trollies, but I can’t recall seeing 90-degree dents in the metal patritions.

I will look more closely when I go back over there. (I think I’ll go today just for giggles.)

Stay safe.
 
I am a member at two ranges. Outdoor is limited to Fri-Sat-Sun, $125 a year. It is 22 miles away, each way.

Indoor is ten minutes away. It is unlimited use and available 7 days a week for $300 a year. I shoot there on average 2x a week; sometimes I shoot several guns and I’m there for a while, other visits are shoot one gun and gone in half an hour. I double up with plugs under earmuffs. This keeps most shots tolerable.

Occasionally you get next to the wall, which I like because there is 50% less to distract or worry about. The other times you are somewhere in the middle with shooters on both sides. Then I just do my best to pay more attention to things going on around me.

View attachment 1230857

Open desert is at minimum an hour and change away on the freeway, it’s at least 60 miles one way. It can be great if no one is around. Popular areas can become a bit of a war zone when the weather cools down.

I have had a few indoor sessions here and there marred by guys shooting muzzle-brakes on their AR rifles, making the blast almost unbearable; guys sometimes handling guns behind the line that get the RSO out to set them straight; or scattershots who bounce their rounds off the roof, through my target or hitting the target hangars. Some of the circled shots landed at least six-eight inches above where they should be hitting.

View attachment 1230858

You realize very quickly that not every shooter keeps their rounds in the 8-9-10-X rings, in fact I will say most of the shooters I am seeing shoot like these guys were.View attachment 1230859

(I hope they are new shooters, who will seek out some good instruction and vastly improve.)

Like just about everyone else, I would prefer to be solo and outdoors when I shoot. But when you live in suburbia, ya gotta do what ya gotta do if you want to enjoy the shooting sports.

Stay safe.
We have the same deal, my indoor range is 10 minutes from the house, the two outdoor range's I belong to are 25 and 23 miles away
 
I used to shoot at an indoor range all the time. ROs keep pretty good control of it, but you would still see bullet impacts in the ceiling!
My main issue and the reason I stopped going there was I traced my high blood lead levels to the range.

If you do some research lots of people who shoot at indoor ranges run into the blood lead level issue.
Can an indoor range be done right to prevent this, sure, however many are not done right.

If you start shooting at one I would suggest to you get you blood lead levels tested every now and then.

I felt fine but my lead level was sky high, only had it tested because I saw it suggested here.
 
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I used to shoot at an indoor range all the time. RO keep pretty good control of it, but you would still see bullet impacts in the ceiling!
My main issue and the reason I stopped going there was I traced my high blood lead levels to the range.

If you do some research lots of people who shoot at indoor ranges run into the blood lead level issue.
Can an indoor range be done right to prevent this, sure, whoever many are not done right.

If you start shooting at one I would suggest to you get you blood lead levels tested every now and then.

I felt fine but my lead level was sky high, only had it tested because I saw it suggested here.
That's why I limit myself to no more than a half hour.
 
I've only shot at an indoor public range twice, and neither time was the range very crowded. In fact the last time we went we were the only three people shooting there, so not an issue.
I shoot at the indoor range at our gun club all the time and you have to be a member of the club to shoot anywhere there. It has 12 positions, and I've been there on occasion when all 12 positions were full and never saw anything that alarmed me. But it has cameras monitoring the range, so if a member breaks any of the rules he'll get a call from a board member and depending on how severe the actions were he might get anything from a verbal warning to suspension, or even dismissed from the club if it's very serious.
 
I'm a member of an outdoorsman's club with outdoor rifle, pistol, archery, and assorted shotgun ranges but it's 20+ miles away. I greatly prefer shooting there even though there are usually other shooters.

There is an indoor range 5 miles from my house. It is handgun and 22 rifle only. Price is reasonable at $10/hour, but if no one waiting to use the lanes they don't care if you go well over the hour. In fact, I often have the place to myself and rarely have more than one other lane being used in addition to me.

It's not the people that bother me. I just don't like shooting indoors. The noise is a lot worse. With most handguns more powerful than 9mm you can feel the concussion, not just hear it when others shoot. I go there on rare occasions when I need to shoot just a few rounds through one of my handguns to get it zeroed or if the weather is too bad to shoot outdoors.
 
We have a nice indoor range within a few miles. I've been a few times, always mid week when it's pretty slow. I usually just wait and do my shooting on our property, not as fancy but I don't have to worry about other shooters.
 
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