The gun range seems empty these days.

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Last Friday I made an escape to the local indoor range. They blocked off every other bay so they only have 10 rather than their usual 20. I had tried to go there three weeks earlier but there was a line 10 guys deep 20 minutes before it opened, so I turned around.

Seeing that, on this trip I got there 30 minutes early, signed in and sat outside. I sat solo, and when Terrell finally opened the door for me at 10 he jokingly advised me to step lively and avoid the rush:

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Maybe three others came in before I was done shooting at noon. I think the people bought up their riot-fueled-purchase guns early, waited the ridiculous ten-days to take possession, went shooting right after they got their new gun and now have limited ammo so they’re laying low.

I’m going back next Friday, I need to shoot a new-to-me-toy :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
 
> Either folks are out of ammo to shoot, or just setting on theirs and not shooting.

That's pretty much where I am. I have a couple of guns I need to function check after fiddling with them, but I'm not willing to use more ammo than that until it cools off enough to do some reloading. (reloading stuff is in non-air-conditioned space) Then I'll have ammo to play with.

I acquired some new toys in 9mm and .223 early last year, to take advantage of cheap Wal-Mart ammunition for general range fun. [you may laugh now]
 
TRX said:
> Either folks are out of ammo to shoot, or just setting on theirs and not shooting.
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I think number 2..I buy when it's available and not too $$ outrageous..just sit on it and wait till the outdoor shooting areas around here opens back up(closed for fire danger)..Just bought some .380, .38special and 223...some 22lr at walleyworld(now gone tho)
 
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Wow ..... You can get .223 at Wally World? Wal-Mart will not sell any caliber that is chambered in AR platforms here in Massachusetts , but they do sell every other rifle cartridge. They also stopped selling all handgun cartridges here , except for .22
 
George P said:
View attachment 934813

This is my closest gun club - along the bottom, the first 5 bays are 15 yards, the next 5 are 25, the next 2 are 50; all have high berms making each one a private shooting area. Each has a 2 car metal carport cover for shade with a picnic type table/bench; above left of the first 5 are open 7 yards bays - typically used for classes; to the right of that and above the bermed areas is the 100 yard range; that is a shared range. The two on the far right are steel plate, as is the one on the the top right.
Not in the picture are the cowboy action "towns", the trap/skeet/400 yard area or the sporting clays area.
I LOVE those bermed lanes as I do not have to worry about anyone being on either side of me, bad muzzle mgt, etc. And yes, that is an Interstate at the bottom of the picture
The 4 buildings clustered on the left are the offices, bathrooms and two classrooms. This place is utilized by all local, state and fed agencies in the area, University shooting teams, and does a lot of CCW classes/training. Not bad use for what is basically swamp land.
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Where is this located?
 
grammontS said:
Wow ..... You can get .223 at Wally World? Wal-Mart will not sell any caliber that is chambered in AR platforms here in Massachusetts , but they do sell every other rifle cartridge. They also stopped selling all handgun cartridges here , except for .22
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No..223, 38S, 380 from 3 different online places..22LR at WW..
 
My indoor range has 12 lanes reduced to 6 due to distancing restrictions. You call from your car to get permission to enter and must wear a mask. They've raised their hourly rate and sometimes I only see one other lane being used. The pistol permit classes are booked solid far in advance. It's good to see so many young people getting into shooting especially in my gun unfriendly state.
 
9mm and .40 Smith is pretty much nonexistent. .223 can be found IF you know where to look but you will be paying a premium. .45 has been relatively stable in my parts, but I've been shooting my .44 mags more and more and I've got plenty of that .
 
I work at an indoor range that is state of the art. Twelve lanes, with ten at 25yds, and two at 50yds. Rifles up to 300 Win mag. is allowed. We do not sell ammo.
There is also a smaller range in the building with four lanes at 50ft.
Past election years we would have between 100 and 170 shooters on a Saturday and 25-30 weeknights with our three hours open. This year we have been averaging 15-20 per Saturday and as few as 5 on weeknights.
For years we have been telling our customers to buy while it is cheap and plentiful. Some listened and some didn't. I will let you guess which group is still coming in on a regular basis.
 
340PD said:
Some listened and some didn't. I will let you guess which group is still coming in on a regular basis.
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Even stocked up people do not shoot during times like these. It's only the reloading folks sitting on a pile of components knowing they can replace what they shoot. Oh that would finally be me now!
 
I went to the range yesterday. Just a couple of new shooters, shooting their High priced new firearm and their one box of ammo. I should have taken a pic of the range floor which is usually covered with empties, looked almost void of them. They did have a couple of guns for sale. A Glock 19X for $850.00 and a Ruger LCP ll 22.cal for $400.00.Lol, and I thought I grossly over paid for a LCP 22 at $300.00.
 
I still go weekly if I do not have to work lots of OT and or not get a day off. OLD place I like because it's cheap. 12 lanes, so they can only use 6 at a time now since Governor here never did give them the OK to open at all. He wanted to keep them closed but was not quite ready for that fight yet. They started opening at 11 instead of 9 in the morning which sucks for me but at least they are open. I always get there :15 early just to make sure I can park. Have a membership so get first crack at a lane. Only go weekdays to avoid crowds. Monday they filled all 6 lanes right off the bat. I have seen both a lot of new shooters who just bought their first gun. Love to see that and love to help if asked. Also seeing a lot of people only shoot a couple boxes of ammo and leave. Monday I was there about an hour and a half. The other 2 lanes on my side changed out a couple times while I was there. When I checked out they had a handful of people sitting there waiting for a lane to open.
 
I was at the range yesterday. The club has multiple outdoor ranges and I had the place all to myself which is pretty much normal on weekdays. I went up to the pistol range first and took my time setting up my targets and getting my tarp and net in place. After running 60 rounds each through my 9mm and .45 I headed down to the rifle range and put a mag each of .22 and .223 through the rifles. I then called it a day with a total round count of 175 rounds fired. I used to blow through 400 rounds on a range trip but even with a fair stockpile of ammo and components I think it prudent to conserve a bit if I want to continue going once a week. Who knows when this shortage situation will end. Could be long term.

A sidenote. When I went to the rifle range I felt like a lottery winner. There on the ground was a pile of .223 brass, 60 cases in excellent condition which I quickly scooped up. I almost always come home with more brass than the number of rounds I fired. Must not be too many reloaders among our members.
 
A few weeks ago, my local range was pretty much packed (only half the lanes open) with mostly inexperienced shooters. Now that ammo has almost completely dried up it was pretty quiet today.
I usually went (pre-covid) when they opened at 7 AM to avoid the novices. They seem to show up later in the day, for the most part. Evening hours are out of the question for me, too crazy of a crowd.
The hardest part for me is that many of the newbies have no concept of range etiquette.
There is a couple of ranges in town that require all new shooters to take a half hour class before using their range, military and LE are usually given a pass but the still go over the range rules. Once you register with them you can go right on the range. Nice concept but too pricey for me.
 
Same around here. The indoor range i frequent call me a regular at 2 sessions a week. I was a regular at FT Knox pre-retirememnt as a 6 days a week shooter/RSO. They say down at my local range that folks are sitting on the ammo. Election year, pandemic and the rioting have everyone doing the wait-n-see. A LGS told me that the day after the BS started in Minnesota he sold 18 AR15s. All of them to 1st time owners of any firearm. Happy for the business, happy to see them exercise their rights, terrified by all the new inexperienced owners out there. Things are just crazy out there for sure. Stay frosty friends
 
Work as an RO on a public outdoor range, large facility, closed Mon, Tues and then open 9-5 the rest of the week.
The 100 yd range has 44 shooting lanes with benches now with the first 9 lanes set up with extra set point 50yd lanes as they are trying not to open the 50 yd range during the week.

Last Saturday I worked the 100yd range with one other RO and I was watching the end with the 50yd lanes. Those lanes were full the entire day with a waiting line 3 different times during the day. The rest of the 35 lanes were at about 80% for the whole day.

Yesterday, a Wed. I worked the 300 yard range which has 12 lanes and from 9am until 3:30pm I was at 75% for the whole day.

The 25yd range is slowing a little because ammo is getting very expensive and hard to come by for most shooter. But is still probably at 70% full capacity every day, which is 22 lanes.

Will be interesting to see where we are a month from now.
 
It's a combination of Covid, shooters not being able to find ammo, and those with ammo not wanting to deplete their stockpile during very uncertain times. I've noticed that fishing equipment is wiped out both online and in stores. Most people have multiple fun hobbies.
 
shafter said:
It's a combination of Covid, shooters not being able to find ammo, and those with ammo not wanting to deplete their stockpile during very uncertain times. I've noticed that fishing equipment is wiped out both online and in stores. Most people have multiple fun hobbies.
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Same with bicycles.
-Former Bike Shop owner..
 
My wife and I went to one of the outdoor ranges we belong to on Saturday just to see how busy it was. Since this Covid thing it has only been open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Yikes the pistol range was almost full and the only rifle range open that day ,had people waiting for an open lane. The Range officer said it was like that every day. I didn't see anyone that is normally there.
 
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