Private Range Membership

[TXGunNut]

Finally negotiated the purchase of a range membership about six miles from the house! It has a waiting list over two year long but I lost an old friend to cancer last year and negotiated the transfer of his membership. It has rifle up to 200 yds, several pistol bays, trap, skeet and 5-stand. I believe it even has a sporting clays range.
Shotgun shooters run this place so I hope all my riot guns don't mind if I add a nice O/U just so I can blend in. I'm not much of a shotgun shooter but I've been known to break 24......if I can get someone to throw a case or two.

[crabo]

Which range?

[Janoosh]

I'll bet there are a group of rifle shooters lurking in the shadows, waiting for a Saturday "Range Rat" get together.

[country gent]

Alot of the private ranges waiting lists are growing due to the influx of new shooters into the sports looking for places to shoot. The club I belong to you can be a guest twice then are expected to join or not come back, ( alot were group buyinga membership and one was member and 2-4 would come in as "guests"). We used to have range days open to the public ( sight in days before hunting seasons) and always brought in a crowd of new shooters and also picked up new members over this weekend, but liability stopped these. WIth the influx of new members we are experiencing we are looking at an "orientation class" on each range before you can use it unsupervised. We have Trap skeet, rifle, hand gun (3 diffrent ranges), archery a lake and a range indoors in the main club house for juniors and 22 matches. With the number of new / first time firearms owners there is alot of poor handling saftey issues on our ranges that need to be addressed ( not always new members shooter either). Getting a range membership in todays climate is a real accomplishment.

[snuffy]

TxGN, that sounds a lot like my private range. We have a 150 member limit, it's just too small to have more than that. For a long time the new member had to have 300 bucks to join, 150 dues, and 150 initiation fee. We had a list of people waiting to get in. Somebody had to die or move away to get in.

The board of dir. had the bright idea of increasing the initiation fee to 600 bucks, to whittle down the waiting list. 50 people waiting on that list went down to zero overnight. Now we have a lot of unfilled spots.

It's a key club, so we're very careful when a new member pays the fee's. He has to go through a 6 month period where he can only use the club when a current member is there to supervise. After that, he can only bring in 2 guests at a time, and they are expected to put in an application after 2 visits.

[gbrown]

Our club is very cheap, compared to others described on this thread. 22 range/pistol range (covered) out to 200 yards, can accommodate about 40 people, 50 yard pistol range (covered) can accommodate about 50, 50 yard tactical/cowboy can hold about 10-15, 100 yd rifle (covered) 40 can use it at the same time, 5 positions on the far left can go out to 200 yds, 600 yd rifle (covered) 15 can use it at one time, and a trap area. $100 initiation, $75 per year after that, $65 for seniors. Became a member when I was 20, dropped out for about 15 years and got back in. Only thing I can observe is that clubs need to be a little more conscious of those that do not respect the place--trashing it up--there was a thread about this sometime back. There are plenty of old timers at mine (myself counted among those) who will point out safety violations or tell somebody to clean up after themselves. For the most part, we do a good job of policing our own.

[TXGunNut]

Which range?


NTSA, ever been there? I've been there as a guest a few times over the years. My "home" range is over 30 miles away and I no longer have a key to the PD range so this place is looking good.

This place has a long waiting list but they expanded several years back and added a few slots. A substantial part of the dues likely goes to pay for shotgun facilities but I'm OK with that. I don't want to inconvenience someone when when I'm setting up my Chrony or leisurely loading a fronstuffer or a C&B revolver.
Membership & dues aren't cheap but I feel it will let me shoot quite a bit more which as we all know, is priceless.

[texassako]

NTSA is about 15 minutes from me, but the initiation fee and 2-3 year wait was a bit daunting. I guess 2 years is plenty of time to save up and justify the cost to the wife. I found it looking for a decent range local to me, but have never been there.

[km101]

Congratulations! That is a very nice range. I believe they bought some adjacent property a couple of years ago, and expanded the shotgun facilities significantly. The rifle and pistol ranges have always been in good shape and not too heavily used when I was there so you should be happy there.

I have been to NTSA a few times over the years, but like texassako, I couldn't justify the initiation feed and the wait. A couple of years ago they went up on the fee, and that may have shortened the waiting list, but the last time I checked there were about 40 names on the waiting list. And membership doesn't seen to change much there. I will just have to content myself with public ranges unless I win the lottery. :)

[TXGunNut]

Thanks! I know several members, just never got around to scraping the money together to buy in. I first shot there probably 30 yrs ago and have always wanted to join. Better late than never, I guess. You're right about the waiting list and expansion. Best way to get a membership is to buy one from someone who moves away or dies. I haven't been there in several years but I understand it's an even better facility than it was then.

[canyon-ghost]

Congratulations on your range membership. You'll find a lot of these local ranges are open to new ideas and can use some help.

Good Luck,
Ron

[lka]

Our club is a key club, we can go whenever, I go at 5am every work am to throw some lead for 1/2 hr before work, I have the place to myself that early, oh yeah,, it's only 50.00 a year :D I heard today from a local that they stopped taking new members in, this isn't so great because we are only allowed to take minor kids, no friends, no dad, no father-in-law, if we get caught they pull the key.

[grampa243]

wow i guess the $35 a year at my club is not to bad. :)

and we are always looking for more members.

[Alan in Vermont]

We're having some "issues" at the club where I shoot. Club Pres. wants to ban all guests, so far I'm not convinced that guests are the problem and until I'm proven wrong I think that having guests able to come to the range is one of our best marketing tools for getting new members. At the present we have no procedure for vetting applicants and no training/familiarization for new members. We are seeing the evidence of vandalism but never does anyone see it happening or so we must assume as nobody ever calls to report it. One of the other directors, who also favors no guests, claims he saw a group there with one member. He did not bring up our current "one guest at a time rule" with them. He is a big league BS artist so I just flat don't believe him.

Some things we have discussed are (A) changing from combination locks to a card operated gate which tracks entry/exit activity. (B) Adding security cameras so we could see who was on the grounds when vandalism occurs. (C) Going to the card reader gates would let us lock out offenders without going through the hassle of mailing new combinations to 500 members.

I'm trying to get some support for some sort of vetting/reference policy for new members and organizing a short training session before they are allowed on the range.

I'm also pushing for a fairly hefty maintenance fee, linked to the membership fee, and refundable upon completion of a set number hours of participation in club work details. Right now we have 500 members but a core of less than 20 who do the work/run the club. If figure if they want it all done for them they can contribute to paying for it.

We're trying to do capital improvements on the rifle/pistol ranges. There seems to be a level of urgency to "do something" but there is no concept of improving the ranges in a manner which will allow us to host events that will defray the costs ($100K). Right now we host 3 or 4 CMP matches a year and those are poorly attended. We can't use metallic targets because of "liability concerns", we can't have PPC matches because we don't have a firing line where we can put 12-15 shooters on a relay with 50 yd firing distance. I've suggested a running deer setup, 22 silhouettes, I've suggested a different metallic silhouette course with more "Vermont targets", crow, woodchuck, turkey and whitetail but that gets shot down because we can't shoot steel. There's a battered set of IHMSA silhouettes there from the early 80s, nobody knows what they are for I shot both IHMSA and NRA PPC matches there in the early 80s, we had the ranges for that then but the lack of foresight got those berms torn out in the last, poorly planned range "improvements".

I tend to get "hot" quickly under the right conditions. When something is suggested and shot down with "We've never done that before" I could go off on the people who figure that is a valid reason.

OK, rant mode off. Sorry I kinda took this thread off topic.

[TXGunNut]

Good points, Alan. I'm sure every member of a private range understands your concerns. All I want is a safe, convenient place to shoot. I don't know what the current guest policy is but I've been a guest there several times. There's an employee on the grounds much of the time so I suspect vandalism and trash is not an issue.
I agree on the vetting and safety training. As a former peace officer and comp shooter I've seen unsafe practices and realize that safety training only makes sense. I have no issues with vetting either.
I hope you're able to find some other members that share your concerns and will help you work towards making your range a better place.

[crabo]

NTSA, ever been there?

I've never been there, but looked up the website. It looks like a good place. The initiation fee is steep, but that would sure keep a lot of people out.

[gbrown]

Although our range is inexpensive, (initiation is $75, not $100 as originally reported) it is very active. Lots of activities year round, as our climate is mild (not counting the heat and humidity! LOL) We have a strong membership and board. The board is continuously seeking ways to expand and improve the range. I'm not actively involved with the board, but have spoken to several board members at the range. The latest "big" improvement was the construction of a multi purpose building for meetings and can double as an indoor air rifle range, which has a growing following down here. I'm interested, after reading the posts here, as to our numbers and whether we have a waiting list. Here is our website address:

http://www.gtgctx.org/

[btroj]

I pay 100 per year. We have a 50 yards range, a 300 meter range that is always open to members-no mathxes ever, and a 600 yard range. We also have a trap range and 5 pistol as out to 20 yards or so. We are adding another 5 or so pistol bays. The 600 yards range has pits for high power competition.

We are fortunate to have a nice facility. Member can bring up to 3 guests at a fee of 5 dollars each. Spouses and kids under 21 are no charge.

The club is pretty hard core in fighting idiocy, unsafe practices, and destruction of club property. I like that.

[Freightman]

our dues went up this year $125 but it was necessary as we spent $100,000 in improvements the past year and most on safety. We have plans to spend almost that much this year so a $25 a year increase was not bad. We are limited to 375 members but can bring all the guest you want to be responsible for.
We have Two rifle ranges , three pistol ranges and an indoor competition pistol range.
I am lucky to be a member as the public range is the only choice and expensive $10 for three hrs. per shooter

[Jammersix]

I am (and always have been, at least since Dad explained the Moose and the Elks to me) philosophically opposed to any group that can't write down its membership requirements or who needs a committee to vote on a membership application. If membership isn't open to everyone, it's not a club I'd join.

[gbrown]

I am lucky to be a member as the public range is the only choice and expensive $10 for three hrs. per shooter

One of our local public ranges charges $5.00 per gun to shoot, plus you have to buy their targets to use! Don't even think about collecting your brass, as they recover and sell. From what I have been told, they have tried every trick in the book to get our club shut down. As I remember, I shot there 2 or 3 times before I said THWI and re-joined my old club (20+ years). They sell guns/ammo/reloading supplies, but make all the gougers look tame/mild, even before the present madness. Needless to say, I've only been there once or twice since, and all it does is make me laugh.