Gun club

[Battis]

If you don't have to belong to a gun club to shoot, consider yourself very lucky.
I have belonged to a nice gun club for many years, but every now and then, stupidity rears its stupid head.
I brought my H&K P7 to the range today, just to test function, not necessarily accuracy. But, a group of members had set up a bowling pin shoot practice session at the pistol range, and also commandeered the adjacent 100 yd range. It should have been posted on the website and every member should have been notified of the range closure. Never happened. Anyhoo, they said that I, and another member, could use the 200 yd range. OK, what the heck. The other shooter had an M1 carbine and I had the 9mm. He set up a target at 200 yds, and I only wanted to shoot at the berm (his M1 was a 9mm).
We were firing away, my P7 was flawless, then one of the guys from the bowling pin group drove over and told me I couldn't shoot the 9mm at the 200 yd range. I said I was shooting at the berm and he said - he really said - "can those bullets reach that far? I don't think they can." We thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. He said, "Let me see you hit it." What the heck - I fired off six shots and made a smiley face in the dirt - well, not really, but I made a relatively tight group in the dirt. He said, "You only got half of them in the berm." He had coke bottle glasses.
Can you imagine not knowing that a 9mm can hit a berm at 200 yds, while claiming to be a gun person?
Anyways, I ran it by the club president and he said he would have told the guy to go poop in his hat, and thanked me for keeping it calm.

[Arkansas Paul]

Yeah, that kind of stuff is frustrating.
I'm very lucky. My local gun club has 9 different ranges. It's only 10 minutes from my house.
So, I'm picky. If I go and there's a lot of folks shooting and all of the ranges are occupied, I turn around and go to the house.
Most of the time, I can find a range where no one is and have it to myself for an hour or so. Lots of other folks feel the same way, because there will be folks driving by slowly and going on to the next range if I'm there. It is a rare occasion that someone pulls up and starts shooting in the bay next to me, even though most of the ranges have 10-12 bays.
I'm fortunate.

[barnabus]

i shoot at crpc in charlotte. we have range nazis. most are old retirees that dont even shoot.when they come by my bench i just stop shooting till they leave

[Stew]

I live in an area where the state has public ranges in conservation areas. I have to drive about 35 minutes to get to the range, that's the only drawback. The only time I may have to wait for a shooting lane is on the weekends, but I'm retired so I try to shoot on the weekdays. There are two shooting lanes at 25, 50 and 100 yards which works out for me. If I wish to use a longer range lane, there are a couple private clubs within driving distance that have longer shooting lanes but I don't belong to any of them. So far I'm happy with what I have available.

[Shawlerbrook]

I am lucky and have my own range right out my back door. Most people are alright, but in every group there’s always “that guy”.

[sureYnot]

I miss all the free brass, lead, and ammo boxes/loading blocks. But I have a decent collection now and love my backyard range where I live now. I doubt they'd have been happy about shredded wet pack all over the lane.

[Half Dog]

During the summer months I’ll go in the middle of the day. I’ll usually have the range to myself.

[jsizemore]

Maybe the fella really can't hit the 200 yard berm with a 9mm. No telling where his shots are going. You and the clubs liability sets on this no shooting rascal's shoulders. That's why I got out of my gun club. I'm fortunate to have a big backyard.

[Sasquatch-1]

I belong to a club where once a month during the warmer months we would have a 2x4 shoot. The dates would be published on the club website and in the club house. We would only have 10 to 12 shooter max. Almost without fail someone would show up to use the 25 yd range where we held the shoot. We didn't get jacked out of shape but would tell the member as long as he didn't mind waiting, he could shoot between relays. He would also be invited to pay the supply fee and join us if he wished.

[MrWolf]

Would have told him if the 9mm couldn't shoot that far then what was he worried about? Probably would have said that after I told him to piss off.

[Nines&Twos]

Someone should tell Jerry Miculek that a 9mm won't hit that far out......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3XwizTqDw

[Battis]

They were holding an unannounced, unposted practice for an upcoming shoot. They should have waited for me to shoot, not the other way around. Even the club president was unaware of their practice session. The Karen wasn't shooting at the 200 yd range, but he went out of his way to bust 'em on me.
Maybe I can get a certificate for qualifying with a 9mm at 200 yds.

[dverna]

I only had a few "situations" at public ranges. Fewer at member gun clubs. None at all on my range until last year when I had a member of the hunt club challenge my safety rules - and that did not last more than a minute.

25, 50, 100 and 200 yard range off my back porch. Shooting table is semi-permanently set up by the grill.

I do not miss the "free" brass as I have enough to last a lifetime.

[Iron369]

There’s really only 2 outdoor ranges anywhere near me. One is pretty well known and really popular. The other is expensive and has shooting tubes. There’s a couple indoor ranges that I use for pistol shooting but they get crowded and sketchy at times.
I live on a 1/4acre in a subdivision with a n elementary school about 200y behind my house so a home range is a little out of the question.

[rbuck351]

When I retired I insisted on having a home where I could have a range on my own property. I found that place about 2 miles outside of the small town of Eureka MT. There are only 6 or 7 places within a 1/2 mile of me most have 20 acres or more. 4 of us have ranges. I can only get 170 yards on my place because of steep hill on the back of my place. I really got tired of having to deal with range nazis and the folks that just want to make as much noise as they can as fast as they can seldom with proper safety practice. I won't go to a public range or gun club.

[.429&H110]

If you are ever in Fairbanks AK, check out the Cushman range
it will make you scream where is the RSO. There isn't one.

[Adam Helmer]

I joined my local gun club the day before I bought my nearby farm in May 1988. I am a past Board Member and continue as a club member as a senior for $15 per year. During the week I am all alone on the 16-acre range with 6 covered firing benches with 50, 100, 200 and 250 target frames.

The problem IS the trap shooters have taken over the club board and the RULES for handgun and rifle shooters is the reason I like my 6 ranges on my 60-acre farm. I shoot in my backyard or out to 400 yards in the big hayfield.

At the club with about 150 members, we have "rules:"

1. No holster draw before firing.
2. No Rapid Fire-no more than 3 shots in 15 seconds.
3. No silhouette or humanoid targets.
4. Nothing TACTICAL. (Whatever that means?) I am glad I have an option. I provide an alternative to good people needing real training. I do exclude certain students who do not pass "muster."

I run handgun training classes on my farm nearby the club where a piece of paper, the B-27 silhouette target, has no concerns. CCW folks NEED to holster draw to "groove" their survival in gravest extreme. Gun clubs can descend into WOK or whatever nonsense. I am glad I can whistle up old dog, put the Garand or SKS into the Ranger and go ring gongs out to 400 yards at my discretion. The hayfield is 22.15 acres and is about 250 yards by 410 yards. Rapid fire depends on how fast I WANT to shoot.

Be well.

Adam

[fatelk]

I wish I had land I could shoot on. I grew up on a farm with plenty of room. Now I'm raising my family in town. Around here, you either need family land, or have to be wealthy to afford room enough to shoot on.

So I belong to a gun club less than a half hour away. There's no range master; members get a key to the gate and are responsible for following the safety rules. There are a half dozen pistol bays and a nice 100 yard rifle bay. It would be nice if it was longer but it's better than nothing. In the ten years I've been there I've only seen one annoying incident, and that was pretty minor, but I usually go during the week when it's pretty deserted.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Think yourselves "lucky" at our gun club you can't shoot any round that exceeds 308 Winchester so that excludes 17Rem, 270 Win, 30.06 etc; also any firearm with a barrel shorter than 20" is a no no.
And that is after paying $AU28/hour range fees.

[Shell knob]

There’s a large range a few miles from me. It comprises several hundred acres. Has about 6 acre pond for fishing. There’s trap, archery, and range to 600 yards I think. Many area law enforcement departments use the range. I do hear shooting from my home, sometimes full auto. I’m fortunate to be able to shoot the small calibers out the kitchen window in bad weather, and the big stuff from my patio. When there’s no crops in the field I could shoot to about 6-700 yards

[Sasquatch-1]

I can understand 1 and 2 of the rules you posted. I do think three shots in 15 seconds is kind of vague. To me it sounds like you could walk up to the line and pop off three shots in one second and then not shoot again for another 14 seconds. I tell people at the range I belong to, to give themselves a one second count between shots. Also, seeing how poorly some people shoot at seven yards, with a spread you couldn't cover with a pasta platter, it is nice that they should be required to take time to sight the firearm each time they pull the trigger.

As far as number 2 goes just look on you tube at how many people either shoot themselves in the leg or hit the ground right next to them.

As for #4 I agree, I have no idea what they mean by "Tactical".

Most of the rules of this nature are due to insurance requirements.



1. No holster draw before firing.
2. No Rapid Fire-no more than 3 shots in 15 seconds.
3. No silhouette or humanoid targets.
4. Nothing TACTICAL. (Whatever that means?) I am glad I have an option. I provide an alternative to good people needing real training. I do exclude certain students who do not pass "muster."

[GhostHawk]

I have a good local club with indoor rifle and pistol ranges. I used to pay 200$ for a membership. As i have aged I shoot less, so I just pay the 20$ walk in fee and consider myself lucky.

[beemer]

I have a 100 yd. range on my place, just step out the back door. It faces the side of a mountain that I own so it is safe. I had 200 yd at one time but keeping it open through the woods got to be more trouble than it was worth. I sort of live out in the boonies but there is a small water park about a quarter mile down the road. It is busy in the summer. I don't shoot when they are open, never had any problems but I am not inviting any either. Years back nobody cared but things change. They are decent folks and just trying to make a living.

The nearest range is 25 miles and private, almost have to wait for someone to die. I have been with a friend a couple times over the years to watch a match. Buddy keeps wanting me to participate but I am simply not interested, would rather tinker with my stuff here at home.

[Battis]

I belonged to a club in the 80s that had a skeet field that faced towards a river. We had to keep a spotter near the river with a walkie talkie, and when he saw canoeists coming, he'd call and we'd have to stop shooting. That skeet field has since moved.
I belonged to another club in NH where a developer built several houses across the street. When the houses sold, the owners sued to get the 100 yr old club shut down due to the noise. The court basically said, "Ah, you knew the club was there when you bought the house." The club is still there.
The one I belong to now is about 2 miles from my house with an archery range, a walk-through archery course, trap field, 100 & 200 yd rifles ranges, pistol range, air gun range and a trout pond. They limit membership. 90% of the time I shoot alone and no one bothers anyone. But, sometimes...

[sureYnot]

I can understand 1 and 2 of the rules you posted. I do think three shots in 15 seconds is kind of vague. To me it sounds like you could walk up to the line and pop off three shots in one second and then not shoot again for another 14 seconds. I tell people at the range I belong to, to give themselves a one second count between shots. Also, seeing how poorly some people shoot at seven yards, with a spread you couldn't cover with a pasta platter, it is nice that they should be required to take time to sight the firearm each time they pull the trigger.

As far as number 2 goes just look on you tube at how many people either shoot themselves in the leg or hit the ground right next to them.

As for #4 I agree, I have no idea what they mean by "Tactical".

Most of the rules of this nature are due to insurance requirements.1) This needs to be practiced so you don't shoot your foot in a gun fight
2) There should always be at least 2rds center mass. I'm no Jerry Miculek, but I like to stay practiced enough to double-tap 2 targets at 20' in 1 second. Taking careful aim isn't always your best option.

People go there to hone their skills. As long as it's pointed downrange and there are no people downrange, it shouldn't matter what, why, how, or how fast you shoot.

[jdgabbard]

I have mixed feelings about clubs....

So the short version, is a buddy of mine owned an indoor range which also has a membership option. But it's not really that bad, $20 to shoot for the day... But here's the catch, there was a homicide in the range one day. Guy came in, rented a pistol, wasn't flagged by anything, walked into the range, got to his lane, loaded up, and walked behind the guy that was next to him and popped one off to the back of his dome. Turns out the guy was a Schizophrenic. Ever since then, I have been VERY leery of those around me. And I have pretty much regulated my shooting to one day a week when there is another member I'm acquainted with there. We both ask to be all the way down at the very end of the line, and usually watch over others in our immediate AO.

That said, I wouldn't mind being a member of a club, but Tulsa's clubs leave a little to be desired. There's Red Castle, which is honestly probably the best option. First year is about $300, then $150ish for both a full outdoor range that is really nice, and a pistol only indoor range a few blocks from the office. There USAA Shooting Academy, but it's too rich for my blood. Tulsa Rod and Gun, you gotta wait about 10 years on a list to get a chance at buying in for a ridiculous amount of money. And from what I can tell it's mostly NRA types that hang out there - nothing against them, just hate the NRA, it's a useless organization that hasn't been relevant since 1986. A few others, but they're mostly just a lot of money for a very mediocre range.

There are a couple outdoor ranges open to the public, they're not bad. Happy Hollow is probably the best, run by an old Marine. But way out in the country. The rest of the ranges are just trash...

[35 Rem]

I grew up on a farm and still own it along with more farm land I bought that joins it, so I have plenty of places to shoot on my own land. But I have gone to a couple of ranges over the years mainly to shoot with friends from work. One of them was wide open for years with no management at all. Now part of me likes that, as I do not like having some grouchy old Ex military guy barking orders at me when I'm shooting. You won't find anybody who is safer with a gun than I am but I won't tolerate being barked at like an army recruit. Yet, I know why some of that is needed for the general public. Even people who have been around firearms all their life will sweep their muzzle across your legs again and again. And when that starts happening, it needs to be nipped fast because of the consequences and you can't worry about being polite. Anyhow, this range was completely unsupervised for years. A Friend had a gun stole there one day while he was down range checking a target and there wasn't even another car out there. Another time I was there with a different friend, and we were shooting our AK's among other guns when a car slammed it's brakes out on the road, backed up and came driving out to where we were shooting. They stopped and all got out. There were about 5 redneck thugs all were obviously drunk. They started crowding around us acting the way drunk rednecks do. I had just put my AK in the truck and locked the door about the time they arrived. Well, despising drunks in general I decided to show no consideration at all for our new "visitors" so I continued to shoot my 44 Magnum revolver with heavy H110 loads and 200 grain hollow points. Of course, they had no hearing protection so this was causing them some serious discomfort even in their condition. :) But they were still enjoying the gun display enough to start asking to "borrow" my friends AK to shoot it some. We looked at each other knowing that was a bad thing. The main drunk started insisting and bit harder. He was not going to take "NO" for an answer. I decided that as much as I had shot and fooled with guns all my life, I was not going to let myself be killed by a bunch of drunks on a shooting range where I had plenty of ammo and was still in control of the situation. I moved slowly around and partly behind the guy wanting the AK - but still where he could see me - along with his other drunk buddies, drew my revolver from the holster, pulled the hammer back to half cock and began punching empties out then dropping loaded rounds in the chambers, drew the hammer back to full cock and let it down. No empty under the hammer either. Then just stood holding it in my hand down by my side as I looked them in the eyes. They decided that they didn't need to shoot an AK that day as bad as they thought they did and left. But what if we had been downrange when they arrived? With a bolt action I always take the bolt down range with me, not so easy to do that with most guns. I even do that on my own farm a lot of the time when there is Zero chance of another person being around. I'm so thankful I don't have to mess with other people for my shooting unless I want to. I put a berm in the backyard last summer for handgun shooting so I can recover all my lead. Rifles don't get shot nearly enough to worry about recovering all the bullets so that's not an issue. My big field is 930 yards across so I can shoot way further than I will ever actually want to there.

[Handloader109]

Yeah, I shot a few times at a state owned range about 30 minutes away from me at the time. Unsupervised, and I left a couple of times when it was packed. Don't need to be shot or even shot at by ignorant folks. And most were pretty ignorant. I can shoot at my home range now and I'm very happy to do that....

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[ebb]

Quote My Cousin Vinny and tell him it's time for thicker glasses.

[country gent]

Most of the rules are made for the beginner or inexperienced shooter but they have to be enforced across the membership. The experience or trained shooter can shot faster and farther more accurately but when the novice tries it usually a disaster waiting to happen. Hence the rules.

The club I shoot at has a 1 second rule for firing. You also have to be certified for 200 yds. I also proposed being certified to shoot from position. They also have a light to be turned on when going down range.

As I said rules are made for the newer beginner shooters till the improve. The one that irks me is the lack of range etiquette and attention to whats going on by shooters.

[Battis]

Rules are good, but club members cannot make them up as they go along. There's no rule at my club that says you can't shoot a 9mm at 200 yds. The rule is that your shot must hit the berm - I was shooting directly at the very large berm. I did not miss. He said I only hit it half the time. I pointed out to him that my eyesight is 20/15, which is better than 20/20. He had big thick glasses - I doubt he could see the berm. No, he was just being an *****. And, he questioned whether a 9mm could shoot that far.
I belonged to a club with close to 1000 members. They did not train new members as to the range rules, not even a basic safety class. I asked the board why they didn't train them and I was told that, if a member is trained and screws up, the liability is on the club for training them. I also suggested a three light system for the range, red, green and yellow, and they thought it was a great idea but they couldn't agree on what green meant and what red meant, so they never put the light system in. That was a very dangerous club.

[jimlj]

When I saw the date of the OP I thought "April fools". I guess it wasn't.
For 99% of my life I have lived in areas where I could go shooting either from the back porch or within a few miles of home. It's just been the last couple years I've joined a gun club. There has been no drama at the club except when a guy shot himself in the foot. I can still go shooting within a couple miles of the house, but it's nice to shoot with a bunch of guys in a laid back competition.

[15meter]

I belong to 4 gun clubs, each for a different reason. I've made great friends at all of them. Yes, there have been issues at all of them at one point or another, never anything that was insurmountable. I had belonged to a different club but I quit that one when the president got too obnoxiously overbearing, all he wanted was a place to drink and get away from his wife. At that point I belonged to two different clubs that covered all my shooting needs. Actually considering rejoining, the old president has been shuffled off to the side, drinking is down, shooting is way up there.

I wouldn't give up the buddies and the friendship AND the shooting at any of the four clubs. I used to have access to the family farm for shooting, I would drive right past it to go to the range. More fun.

[Rapier]

In the not to distant future, if you want to shoot, or hunt, you will need your own private land. I was told that 40 years ago, and it is coming to pass.

[15meter]

When I saw the date of the OP I thought "April fools". I guess it wasn't.
For 99% of my life I have lived in areas where I could go shooting either from the back porch or within a few miles of home. It's just been the last couple years I've joined a gun club. There has been no drama at the club except when a guy shot himself in the foot. I can still go shooting within a couple miles of the house, but it's nice to shoot with a bunch of guys in a laid back competition.

We had one guy at one of my clubs not be able to find the dot on his pistol with a Red Dot sight. You can guess what happened, he stuck his index finger out in front the sight to see if the sight was on. BANG. Hole in finger. Luckily it was "only" a 22. Bill packed up his stuff, came in the club and announced he was going home to "clean" his gun then have his son drive him to the hospital.

That's how the police report read, "shot while cleaning his gun".

Bill didn't want any grief coming down on the club.


I miss Bill, crotchety old dude, but good people.

[Rapidrob]

I've been running NM MILSURPS ( Military Surplus Rifle Pistol Shooters ) for the last 28 years. The range is divided into two ranges in one. One is metric from 25 to 500 meters. The other 200 to 1,000 yards. If you want to shoot a non-military firearm during a practice you can. We shoot 50 Saturdays a year.
The only non-safety related rule is no ammo that will outright cause a fire. Tracer, incendiary or the like. Since we shoot mostly AR-550 steel targets, silhouettes and man torso targets, no real armor piercing ammo is allowed. Normal steel core ammo is O.K. ( Russian 54R, Romanian 8MM, M855 Green tip )
I also have remote control moving targets to keep the members keen on their shooting skills.
I do not tolerate any member who is unsafe, or para-military mall ninja types.
We do have fun. Ian McCollum (Forgotten Weapons ) shot with us and filmed himself shooting my M1917 rifle at 800 yards. He took 2nd place! It is posted on Youtube if you want to see it.
I've read stories of ******* members or range officials who go out of their way to make the day-ar-the-range not fun.