Public or Private Range

[kdf101]

I am curious as to how many people here shoot at "public" ranges as opposed to "private" ranges? With the exception of military ranges, I don't think I have ever even stepped foot onto a public range. I have always shot on my own property (48 acres WAY out i the country) or at friend's property. I understand that most people don't have this luxury, but was just wondering what the ratio was.

 

[docnyt]

Not much choice where I live. Only the public range which is at Tuskegee Forest allows plinking but there is no supervision, no range officer, nothing to ensure safety except mutual respect. The private ranges are scarce and obviously require membership. I usually split up range time depending on what I plan to do.

 

[NW JS]

I had a membership to an indoor pistol range, After a few times I started to not like it at all, just did not feel comfortable there. I shoot on public land in the woods, I have met only nice people out there and you cant beat the outdoors.

 

[jonmerritt]

I use a private range, (club). It used to be open to the public during business hours. But the people that came in there were causing problems, so it is strictly private now.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Been shooting on my own place since I bought it in 1967.
I average shooting about 5 days a week.

I keep up my membership in a club but haven't shot there in over 3-4 years.

 

[MinnMooney]

For many years I shot at a privately-owned gravel pit on the weekends when they weren't working it.

Now I own 80 acres and have a 400+ yd range with permanent, covered target stands every 100 yds.

I, also, belong to a rifle range due to the monthly competitions. I may drop my membership due to the $125 yearly dues, $15/competition and a possible surcharge to each member of $500-$600 this year (one time deal) to buy a bunch of adjacent land as a buffer. Too expensive for the 10-12 times a year that I use it.


from NW JS (post 3) :

I shoot on public land in the woods, I have met only nice people out there and you cant beat the outdoors.

We're not allowed to "target practice" on most public lands in Minnesota. Hunting is fine but if there are too many shots in one place, the DNR might come down on you.

 

[kdf101]

I'm curious about the shooting on public lands thing. Indiana generally doesn't allow it. Is it more common out west? I see a lot of videos on Youtube of guys shooting in the desert. My home range is currently only 100 yards, but i have big plans.......just not the money.

 

[Jwbfx4]

Mostly on private owned land, but when hunting season is in we do all of our shooting at the public range.

 

[bigalexe]

I shoot at a private club, which I guess could be called semi-private as there are some members I don't know.

Shot a few times at a state park range locally but that was always boy scout events.

 

[TH3180]

90% of my shooting is at a public indoor range. A lot of local LE shoot there and the people that run the place are really strict on safety. I have always felt real safe there.
The other 10% of the time I shoot at a friends farm. I would like to shoot there more, but it is hard to get our schedules to match up.

 

[chaplain tom]

I grew up on a farm and used to shoot there and on the neighbor's farms. I still get to shoot on a couple of those farms, (the ones still owned by the same families). There's only one "public" range, but it is owned by an ammunition manufacturer and they charge everyone who doesn't work for the company. I can't see paying to shoot when I can shoot for free. The ammo costs enough. About the only reason I would consider joining a shooting club would be for the fellowship, but from what I've read on gun forums, this too can be a problem with some people trying to run the show so to speak and get into everyone's else's business. Let's face it, there's an immature "fanatic" in every group. We're all "fanatics" to some degree, but most of us are mature enough not to be a nuisance.

 

[tooltech]

kdf101, we can shoot on national forest land, but if you live in a liberal county as I do (Boulder County) the county commissioners do everything they can to shut down the easily accessible areas. It doesn't help our cause when idiots take computers, propane bottles, VHS tapes etc, blow the crap out of it, and leave the trash behind.

Now, if I want to shoot outdoors, I either have to link up with a friend, and go to his range, (ideal, but difficult logistically) or drive 75 miles one way to a public range.

I prefer shooting outdoors, but, I now have a membership at a private indoor range.

 

[Pocket Rocket]

I'm curious about the shooting on public lands thing. Indiana generally doesn't allow it. Is it more common out west? I see a lot of videos on Youtube of guys shooting in the desert. My home range is currently only 100 yards, but i have big plans.......just not the money.

Out west there are large tracts of land under the supervision of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) where you see a lot of the desert shooting taking place in videos. National Forests are usually open to shooting too, at least in Nevada. That's not always a rule as there are closures to public lands and rules in different states. Closures can also happen for all sorts of reasons, one of which is irresponsible people who turn the shooting holes into junk piles.

 

[OkieOFT]

Public, always. 5 miles back in the woods on a dead end road with 5 covered shooting benches, only 100 yards though.

No way am I paying $150 a year plus a mandatory NRA membership, while having some range officer tell me how to shoot. I go out every November into the deep woods filled with drunken hicks looking to shoot anything that moves. I can handle shooting at an "unsafe" public range, and it's free to boot. And I can doubletap, tripletap, or fire as fast as my finger will allow and no one will say a word.

 

[Palehorseman]

Couple hundred yards from the back yard is over quarter million acres of public land, so guess I shoot at a public range.

 

[Tim the student]

Always public. I have two free public ranges within about 20 minutes from my house, and a third about an hour away.

 

[SSN Vet]

private rod n' gun club 3 miles down the road...

nice folks, no hastles, everyone is courteous, range set up emphasizes safety, dues are reasonable...

now the club meetings are another story, as they always manage to cram 15 min. of business into a 90 minute meeting

 

[HOWARD J]

Back in the 50's I belonged to a private gun club
Also shot at a dump at a customers farm about 10 miles from home.
Gun club moved farther out---Farmer died.
Houses poped up everywhere.
Now I drive 70 miles to a state range...................

 

[AirForceShooter]

mostly public ranges. Some with RO's and one or 2 with no supervision.
Used to belong to an indoor range. They hired a retired NYPD type that was a total fool and nasty. Dropped my membership

AFS

 

[benEzra]

I live in NC, where all our Pittman-Robertson funds go to fund wildlife management, even though most of the funds are paid by nonhunters. As far as I know, there are no public ranges at all in eastern NC, though I'd love to learn otherwise.

 

[Topspeed]

Currently I shoot at a private range about 7 miles from my house. I'm not aware of any public ranges close by. When I lived in Ohio the Dept. of Natural Resources operated several outdoor public ranges around the state. One of which was about 28 miles away. It had a pistol range, rifle range and a skeet range. They charged a daily fee or you could buy a yearly pass if you possessed a hunting license. It was staffed by a DNR employee.

 

[mcdonl]

I shoot on DOD owned property. There are no official ranges, but very large pits... ATV riders use the same land. As do sled dogs, dune buggies, Apache Helicopters, joggers, etc....

 

[razorback2003]

I shoot at a private club outside Memphis. It is great. We have competitions....pretty much everything. It is one of the nicest ranges in Tennessee. There are no hassles and if you go certain times you have the whole range to yourself...everyone is a range officer.

 

[kamagong]

Private owned range here. But it's open to the public. Members pay reduced range fees though, as well as have access to all the facilities. Non-members can only use the pistol and 100-yard rifle ranges.

 

[Sgt_R]

I have a membership at a 25 yard indoor pistol range, which is about a 15 minute drive from my door. Members shoot free on weekdays and get reduced rates on weekends and rental guns. It costs me $150 per year.

There's another indoor range that I prefer, but it's an hour drive and it's also more expensive, so I don't have a membership. I do shoot there occasionally though, and I take training courses there when I can.

My father in law is talking about putting some targets on his property (outdoor, probably 50 yards max), so if/when that happens, I'll do some shooting at his place. It's an hour drive as well, but I visit often enough.

I still need to find a 100+ yard outdoor range for my M4gery. Does anyone know a good spot in central Ohio?

R