It appears I will be moving to Billings, MT in the next month and I'm curious about places to shoot. I find two club ranges listed (wait time to join 2-3 years). The Cody, WY public shooting complex is 100 miles away but that's a bit far. Anyone have any other information they can share.
Ranges near Billings, MT
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BozemanMT
Member
Dude, it's Montana
Mountain's everywhere, all public land, etc
BTW, the Billing gun show is pretty cool
you are way going to like Montana.
Mountain's everywhere, all public land, etc
BTW, the Billing gun show is pretty cool
you are way going to like Montana.
Monkeyleg
Member.
I called Jack at Butt's Gun Sales, since he's on my site.
He mentioned that the clubs around Billings have a long waiting period.
He also mentioned the "17 Mile Marker" range, which is essentially a free area that a lot of people use. I'm sure that BozemanMT can fill you in about that one.
I'd also be interested to hear what anyone thinks about Jack and his shop. He seems like a really good guy to me.
He mentioned that the clubs around Billings have a long waiting period.
He also mentioned the "17 Mile Marker" range, which is essentially a free area that a lot of people use. I'm sure that BozemanMT can fill you in about that one.
I'd also be interested to hear what anyone thinks about Jack and his shop. He seems like a really good guy to me.
Your site works by-the-way. I looked up and read about Butt's Gun Sales last week. I have curtailed my visits in California shops in anticipation of the move figuring the selection had to be better and the hassles fewer at BGS. (In addition to no sales tax.)
modifiedbrowning
Member
Welcome to Montana! If you are ever over Bozeman way let me know, maybe we can do some shooting.
TallPine
Member
Out north on Hiway 87, just past the Billings Motorsports Park (BMP) there is some BLM land on the left side of the hiway with long bluff where people shoot all the time (this might be what someone called the 17 mile site).
I think the road is called "Crooked Creek"
I shot there once, but now I just shoot on my own land.
You can shoot on most NF and BLM land as long as you use some common sense.
Butts Gun Shop is cool - I got a Bianchi holster there last summer very cheap
I think the road is called "Crooked Creek"
I shot there once, but now I just shoot on my own land.
You can shoot on most NF and BLM land as long as you use some common sense.
Butts Gun Shop is cool - I got a Bianchi holster there last summer very cheap
Freeze N
Member
Montana and guns are like, cereal and milk. Check out Big R on the west end, they have the best selection and prices. Scheels is cheaper on reloading supplies. Enjoy you time in the banana belt of Montana. If you can't find a place to shoot here your not looking very hard.
TallPine
Member
The downtown Big R store has a nice gun dept as well, though maybe not quite as much inventory. I have bought most of my guns recently at one or the other of the Big R stores
I bought 1 gun from Scheels and that was a good deal (my every day 357 carry gun) but I will never buy anything from them ever again. I went in there looking for a Saiga 7.62*39 and the salesman told me they could order "anything I wanted." Later, he finally called me back and told me the store would not sell "assault weapons."
Took this issue all the way to the national gun manager of Scheels and we "agreed" that he wouldn't sell "assault weapons" and I wouldn't buy another thing of any kind from Scheels. Then I ordered the same gun through a pawn shop gunstore. Later, Big R starting stocking the Saigas (cheaper than what I paid) but of course now the import supply has dried up.
One of the nice things about MT is that you can carry a gun in your car without a permit or anything (and that is pretty common in my observation) and concealed carry is legal without a permit outside of city limits. Of course, you can get the permit too if you want.
And of course you have to get a pickup, if you don't already have one.
I read once that there are something like 250K pickups registered in MT among a population of only about 900K, and that doesn't even count all the unregistered pickups being used on ranches.Thanks for the insights.
I just want to assure those from MT that I'm not just one more Californian cluttering up the state. I'm a Billings native who is trying to undo the injustice done when my parents hauled me and my siblings to Las Vegas many years ago.
(How do you tell the MT kids in Las Vegas in November? They are the ones swimming outdoors in an unheated swimming pool and complaining about the heat.)
My wife, though a CA native, can claim 3 generations of MT roots back to the 1860's. We believe the first ones helped hang the Plumber Gang.
My attitudes are shaped by a ranching grandfather who sold the 150K acre ranch but kept the mineral rights, a father who gave me his 1953 Win Model 70, a mother learned to drive on a tractor, and years of vacations in a family owned cabin on the Clark's Fork River. Do not get my relatives started on the "new money" fences in WY and MT.
I just want to assure those from MT that I'm not just one more Californian cluttering up the state. I'm a Billings native who is trying to undo the injustice done when my parents hauled me and my siblings to Las Vegas many years ago.
(How do you tell the MT kids in Las Vegas in November? They are the ones swimming outdoors in an unheated swimming pool and complaining about the heat.)
My wife, though a CA native, can claim 3 generations of MT roots back to the 1860's. We believe the first ones helped hang the Plumber Gang.
My attitudes are shaped by a ranching grandfather who sold the 150K acre ranch but kept the mineral rights, a father who gave me his 1953 Win Model 70, a mother learned to drive on a tractor, and years of vacations in a family owned cabin on the Clark's Fork River. Do not get my relatives started on the "new money" fences in WY and MT.
phoglund
Member
Welcome back!! I keep thinking I should join a range but I never get around to it. There are several handy places closer than the range I can just shoot up in the NF or on BLM land.
modifiedbrowning: Nice to know there is another on the High Road here in Bozeman.
modifiedbrowning: Nice to know there is another on the High Road here in Bozeman.
Hobie
Member
Beautiful country. I hope that you really enjoy your new life there.
BozemanMT
Member
TallPine said:And of course you have to get a pickup, if you don't already have one.
You have to get a dog too. I think it's the law in Montana. And it's got be named after one of the close mountain ranges. Also probably a law.
In Bozeman, every other dog is named Bridger.TallPine
Member
Uh-oh... I am in big trouble then, because my dog is named "Stirling" after the bridge of the same name where William Wallace and his men defeated the English.
Freeze N
Member
STW, yes welcome back to this GREAT State. I hope your move goes smooth, and more importantly that your wife is happy here. Keep us updated.
TallPine, I have to agree with you on the Scheel's thing. Last time I bought a Glock in there, it took damn near an hour to get out the Door, and they didn't have to even make the call. I have a CCW Permit. You fill out the Yellow form, then fill out there OWN questionair. They then go and make copies of your Driver's Lic, CCW Permit. After that the salesman has to get a manager over to go over both forms. Once he signs it, you are escorted to the cash register, where the salesman again went and made copies of the sales receipt!
I was getting very unhappy.
Buy a pistol at Big R, do the yellow form (now white form) and go to the register ,pay, and later dude. I won't buy a gun from Scheels again, unless nobody else has what I am looking for.
TallPine, I have to agree with you on the Scheel's thing. Last time I bought a Glock in there, it took damn near an hour to get out the Door, and they didn't have to even make the call. I have a CCW Permit. You fill out the Yellow form, then fill out there OWN questionair. They then go and make copies of your Driver's Lic, CCW Permit. After that the salesman has to get a manager over to go over both forms. Once he signs it, you are escorted to the cash register, where the salesman again went and made copies of the sales receipt!
I was getting very unhappy.
Buy a pistol at Big R, do the yellow form (now white form) and go to the register ,pay, and later dude. I won't buy a gun from Scheels again, unless nobody else has what I am looking for.
Gordy Wesen
Member
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There used to be a shooting range (sportsmans club) up on the Rims west of the Airport. I left Billings a while back. Its not a very dog friendly town. Hope you have a good job waiting for you.
BZNMT got the dog thing right. It really should be a lab, too. Used to be only black ones would do but the other colors have gained a pawhold in recent years. While doing penance in the state of California I got a yellow lab and named it Bridger. It was a very cool name in the Bay Area because no one used it. You can imagine my embarrassment when I moved back to BZN with it and yes, every othe dog IS named Bridger! The mountain and river names seem to be declining in numbers though, probably because we all overdid it for a while.
Gun racks in pick-ups seem to be declining too, or people are using those interior roof racks instead. By the way, if your really don't want a pick up but want a funky reverse status symbol, look for an old Land Cruiser, but it must be old! I've got an '86. Fellow owners actually wave to you in passing on the streets. There are certain disturbing vehicle trends developing here. We are rumored to have the only full-tilt Audi dealership in the country in a town under 100K. About 35K of us, with the greater "metro" area holding 89K. Subaru is probably the single most popular vehicle if you don't lump trucks generically. They're AWD (poor man's Audi) and built in their US plant. Billings isn't as bad this way as BZN, but for god's sake, watch out when you drive through uncontrolled intersections! Homicidal/suicidal maniacs love to bust those things at 25+mph with no brakes. College students, often.
Crime rates everywhere keep going up. Meth rightly gets a good deal of the blame. Although in BZN there's an expression, "our crime rate is low because the cops don't allow it." And since you know at least every other house is armed we're all real polite to our neighbors. Welcome back, and please lock the gate once you get inside.
Gun racks in pick-ups seem to be declining too, or people are using those interior roof racks instead. By the way, if your really don't want a pick up but want a funky reverse status symbol, look for an old Land Cruiser, but it must be old! I've got an '86. Fellow owners actually wave to you in passing on the streets. There are certain disturbing vehicle trends developing here. We are rumored to have the only full-tilt Audi dealership in the country in a town under 100K. About 35K of us, with the greater "metro" area holding 89K. Subaru is probably the single most popular vehicle if you don't lump trucks generically. They're AWD (poor man's Audi) and built in their US plant. Billings isn't as bad this way as BZN, but for god's sake, watch out when you drive through uncontrolled intersections! Homicidal/suicidal maniacs love to bust those things at 25+mph with no brakes. College students, often.
Crime rates everywhere keep going up. Meth rightly gets a good deal of the blame. Although in BZN there's an expression, "our crime rate is low because the cops don't allow it." And since you know at least every other house is armed we're all real polite to our neighbors. Welcome back, and please lock the gate once you get inside.
TallPine
Member
That might be, but we found that Subarus don't hold up very well on the back roads where we live
Not enough ground clearance for the mud, and we had to replace both rear axles as well as a bunch of other problems. And those damn little cars are expensive to fix.After a while, you start to think you would have spent less on gas on a big old pickup than we did on repairs on an "economy" car.
I'm looking for an old 4 banger S-10 right now....
garrett1955
Member
you are moving to montana huh? can i come along??? we were out to red lodge last summer to see some friends. great place! have fun in the big state!
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