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Just noticed that someone posted a video of the Forest Service range I'm stuck with, 45 minute drive one way. This, or a nitpicky indoor range that's too expensive and run by wannabee Rambos. Ten minute drive, so you know its gotta be bad. Or a high dollar members only club that's nearly an hour away.

It's a six minute video, and doesn't show the actual target area much until the last two minutes. The posts are two foot high I-beams that sometimes have chicken wire strung across them. It doesn't last long after the rangers put it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI5VMq50uYI

Looks like a scenic drive to get there. I can see why they brought the coleman stoves and did lunch.

When I first started shooting here, the best place was the Cavalier range in Ashland. But they were expensive and had a don't call us, we'll call you policy. I started shooting at the Chickahominy WMA. The state had put up a very nice rifle and pistol range. They had a load of folks from the Williamsburg and Hampton Roads area shooting there. It was about 60 miles from my house. The state started complaining about the fact that people were using the range, shut it down for maintenance and reopened it with the pistol range eliminated and the rifle range a bit more limited. I never could get VGDIF or the commission to explain that.

I shoot at the Black Creek range in Mechanicsville. It's about 30 minutes from Glen Allen. Not bad and about 100 bucks a year.

BAOM and bgreene have about the best, closest and least expensive I've seen. Maybe they will tell you about them. All you have to do is move to Michigan.

BTW. Was one of the guys in the video shooting pistol from a rest still snatching the trigger? Looked like why he was getting low on the swinging plates.

That looks like fun shooting, with food, not many shooters, and a relaxed atmosphere.
H

Looks like it's a pretty nice place to shoot. The main thing is it safe? It looks like rocks are around some of the targets that could cause problems.

From the video its hard to tell about the backstop and surrounding area. I do see some large objects that look like rocks, especially on the right side of the range, but I cannot be completely certain from the camera's angles.

I also wonder how safe it is there based on the short views I saw. Muzzle discipline was in question a few times, especially by the one guy in the background while the subject was shooting off of the rest. I don't know what's out there on the left adjacent to that range but the one guy points his muzzle upward and to the left quite significantly and it looked like he had his finger on the trigger while doing it. Plus later in the segment, the camera person wandered out in front of the shooter's muzzle while he was shooting the .22 - a big no-no from a safety perspective. Are there Range Safety Officers out watching the shooters? Those swingers aren't going to last long with folks shooting high power rifle rounds at them, that's certainly not what they were designed for. Open drink containers on the shooting bench? Jeeze that's just plain foolish.

Sorry it was not my intention to pick apart this video. Overall seems like a nice range but I get some chills from that little snippet of film I watched.

R,
Bullseye

Perhaps I'll post pictures of my range next time I go.

I imagine you poor slobs using rental ranges will be green with envy at 0 - 50 yard indoor pistol/rimfire and 0 - 100 yard outdoor with 24-hour keyless entry to the indoor and unrestricted shooting outdoor during daylight/twilight hours.

I do have to drive nearly 12 minutes to get there, so that's a bummer.

My drive time varies. If I need a cup of coffee on the way a detour to Mickey D's is requires, drive time 15 minutes. If I go directly , maybe 12 minutes. I I detour by way of my local smith/gunshop which is not really that far out of the way, who knows.
We have an indoor 50 foot pistol range used for the winter leagues only. Outdoor range 100 yard and 500 yard 3 positions each. Outdoor 25 yard has 12 pistol bays and the Self Defense range has 2 position at 5 or 7 yards. Gate opens by a passcode and usually at mid day my shooting buddy and I and of course Bear have the range pretty much to ourselves. Can back my range bag up damn near to the firing line and jsut work out of it . We used to have a14 position 25 yard indoor range about 30 miles away but it closed because of not enough business to keep it operating. sure miss that this time of year.

This was someone I don't know who posted this on youtube. It came up in a Google search.

The whole target area is rocky. Mostly fist size rocks scattered everywhere. They are handy in that you can weight a box with them to clip targets to. The "backstop" has some sizable rocks. I would guess it's about 130 yards back.

It's normally busier than the video. I usually find 3-4 of the nine tables occupied when I arrive on Sunday mornings. My usual spot is the first table on left if it's open. First nice days after a stretch of bad, or the week before deer season, there can be a wait for a spot. I have waited an hour a few times.

There is one modern outhouse, but bring your own TP, water, and food. Most cellphones won't work there, but have service about a mile down the mountain.

It would be fine if not so far away and up a mountain. It's about 30 miles, mostly 45 speed limit. Takes my little xB about two gallons and 90 minutes round trip..

A lot of interesting comments here on this topic. I'm not sure what the reference to "poor slobs" meant? The bottom line IS safety. I have been doing some RSO service at my club on the pistol range. "Indoor" for winter, "outdoor" for summer. Regardless, I am amazed at what I have witnessed in this short time. There have been people we have sent home due to poor "safety discipline", mostly for pointing the muzzle at neighboring shooters. Not keeping the muzzle pointed down range is the biggest violation I encounter. After we warn them once, they gotta go home the second offense. Some shooters can't even hit the target, or keep the rounds in the pit. The ones that raise the red flag, are the ones who come in and start bragging about how experienced they are, only to find out they don't have much at all. In reference to the rocks out on the range(in the video), ricochets are a common danger. The backstop at our basement range is filled with ground up tires (rubber) 5 feet deep? It is getting time to clean out the backstop because of lead build up. Rounds are "ricocheting" off other rounds in the pit and coming out and approaching the shooting benches. A police officer was shooting 15 feet from the pit, as is the way they practice their SWAT techniques, and was hit by a piece of lead causing him to get 3 stitches above his right eye (forehead). Ricochets DO happen. As far as the "nitpicking" range officers do, they do it for a reason: To prevent injuries, and save lives. Yes, sometimes I get annoyed at their styles of discipline, but it is offset by the sense of relief I get knowing someone is correcting poor shooting habits. Even the most experienced shooters need correction sometimes, they are human too.
Haka

Haka, from that video, I did not like the looks of all those rocks in the berm. Could lead to problems, dirt is OK, sand is the best.

I'd prefer a sand berm behind targets and a smoother field, but it doesn't look too bad. On unsupervised ranges you need to be doubly watchful of the actions of others.

greener wrote:I'd prefer a sand berm behind targets and a smoother field, but it doesn't look too bad. On unsupervised ranges you need to be doubly watchful of the actions of others.

Yes you do Big Greener, what are the plans for the new to you 10/22? My range is dirt and not sand but it is pretty rock free and not hard pan either, so it is pretty good. Shorty keeps the grass mowed and the range is pretty well kept up. Even a member only range unsupervised as ours is you got to keep an eye out for the other guys. Most of them are pretty good about not walking down the 100 yard range when people are shooting oon the 25, but you get a few know it always, usually older guys that should know better. Even though it is relatively safe it is still against the posted rules. Sometimes old guys bug me and I AM ONE.

I guess the rocks are just part of the topography. The range was bulldozed out of a hillside, and the whole area is rocky, not just the shooting field. There's a good uphill slope from the shooters, which might reduce the risks some. The rock is mostly soft shale, at least. The Forest Service apparently graveled the field, but most of that has sunk in.

Most users are intelligent and mature. I've had two occasions where someone was a worry. One where some very adolescent 20-somethings were "ghetto shooting" some water jugs. Another "Mr.Tactical", head-to-toe, was pretty lax on keeping his muzzles downrange. Both were quickly lectured by the rest of us.

http://www.kalamazoorodandgunclub.org/ about 5 min from home..... Archery range, 200yd rifle, 15, 25, and 50 yd pistol, cays field and a "special use range" all are covered outdoors (except the shotgun range). and there is a indoor pistol airgun range that is open for league shoots.

its a very nice friendly place with a VERY reasonable membership fee, and they limit the # of members so it doen't get crowded.

I think there are at least 10 other public/ member ranges within an hour from my house.