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Range report, Lakeville Gander mountain
1/9/2012 1:10:59 AM
I went to the Gander Mountain in Lakeville to introduce a coworker to handgun shooting. I brought a Ruger Mk 2, a 1911A1 a 6.5 Grendel AR and .50 Beowulf AR, just for fun.
I got there early, bought bullets and such and went back to the range and training area. My first impression was "Holy shit, nice place!" You walk into a wide carpeted hallway with classrooms on the right and big comfy chairs in the center, on the left is a wall with big screen monitors. These were used for the 4 minute orientation video.
I checked in, and waited for my coworker, loading magazines.
When he showed up I decided to go back out to the gun area and get another magazine for my Mk 2. I stopped a worker and asked where the pistol magazines were. He looked confused and said all the magazines were up by checkout. I thought that was a funny place for magazines and asked him again where I could find a pistol magazine for a Ruger Mk 2. He insisted all the gun magazines were up by the checkout and that finding a magazine for a specific gun might be hard. Since I am not well known at work for suffering fools, my coworker was laughing but trying not to show it. I finally thanked the guy and went in search of the magazines myself. I found one, and my butt started hurting immediately. I paid the $30 for a cheaply made, lightweight, mostly plastic magazine and we went in and shot.
Overall it was a good experience, the range master wouldn't let me get my brass when the range went cold so I lost a bit of once fired brass, so that was a major bummer, I have never had that happen before. Luckily it was just a handful of 6.5 Grendel but 7 rounds of .50 Beowulf hurt a little bit.
EDT: And I almost forgot. While explaining to my coworker why the bullets were low out of my 6.5 Grendel at 15 feet the Rangemaster came over and decided my explanation was subpar. He proceeded to tell the kid that when a bullet leaves the barrel it arcs up and crosses the line of sight and then comes back down. I just let him finish and moved on...
I got there early, bought bullets and such and went back to the range and training area. My first impression was "Holy shit, nice place!" You walk into a wide carpeted hallway with classrooms on the right and big comfy chairs in the center, on the left is a wall with big screen monitors. These were used for the 4 minute orientation video.
I checked in, and waited for my coworker, loading magazines.
When he showed up I decided to go back out to the gun area and get another magazine for my Mk 2. I stopped a worker and asked where the pistol magazines were. He looked confused and said all the magazines were up by checkout. I thought that was a funny place for magazines and asked him again where I could find a pistol magazine for a Ruger Mk 2. He insisted all the gun magazines were up by the checkout and that finding a magazine for a specific gun might be hard. Since I am not well known at work for suffering fools, my coworker was laughing but trying not to show it. I finally thanked the guy and went in search of the magazines myself. I found one, and my butt started hurting immediately. I paid the $30 for a cheaply made, lightweight, mostly plastic magazine and we went in and shot.
Overall it was a good experience, the range master wouldn't let me get my brass when the range went cold so I lost a bit of once fired brass, so that was a major bummer, I have never had that happen before. Luckily it was just a handful of 6.5 Grendel but 7 rounds of .50 Beowulf hurt a little bit.
EDT: And I almost forgot. While explaining to my coworker why the bullets were low out of my 6.5 Grendel at 15 feet the Rangemaster came over and decided my explanation was subpar. He proceeded to tell the kid that when a bullet leaves the barrel it arcs up and crosses the line of sight and then comes back down. I just let him finish and moved on...
1/9/2012 11:01:35 AM
I was invited to go down there later this week, so I'll hopefully be able to see how things are operated there as well.
1/9/2012 12:17:10 PM
Originally Posted By Clarinath:
I went to the Gander Mountain in Lakeville to introduce a coworker to handgun shooting. I brought a Ruger Mk 2, a 1911A1 a 6.5 Grendel AR and .50 Beowulf AR, just for fun.
I got there early, bought bullets and such and went back to the range and training area. My first impression was "Holy shit, nice place!" You walk into a wide carpeted hallway with classrooms on the right and big comfy chairs in the center, on the left is a wall with big screen monitors. These were used for the 4 minute orientation video.
I checked in, and waited for my coworker, loading magazines.
When he showed up I decided to go back out to the gun area and get another magazine for my Mk 2. I stopped a worker and asked where the pistol magazines were. He looked confused and said all the magazines were up by checkout. I thought that was a funny place for magazines and asked him again where I could find a pistol magazine for a Ruger Mk 2. He insisted all the gun magazines were up by the checkout and that finding a magazine for a specific gun might be hard. Since I am not well known at work for suffering fools, my coworker was laughing but trying not to show it. I finally thanked the guy and went in search of the magazines myself. I found one, and my butt started hurting immediately. I paid the $30 for a cheaply made, lightweight, mostly plastic magazine and we went in and shot.
Overall it was a good experience, the range master wouldn't let me get my brass when the range went cold so I lost a bit of once fired brass, so that was a major bummer, I have never had that happen before. Luckily it was just a handful of 6.5 Grendel but 7 rounds of .50 Beowulf hurt a little bit.
EDT: And I almost forgot. While explaining to my coworker why the bullets were low out of my 6.5 Grendel at 15 feet the Rangemaster came over and decided my explanation was subpar. He proceeded to tell the kid that when a bullet leaves the barrel it arcs up and crosses the line of sight and then comes back down. I just let him finish and moved on...
I went to the Gander Mountain in Lakeville to introduce a coworker to handgun shooting. I brought a Ruger Mk 2, a 1911A1 a 6.5 Grendel AR and .50 Beowulf AR, just for fun.
I got there early, bought bullets and such and went back to the range and training area. My first impression was "Holy shit, nice place!" You walk into a wide carpeted hallway with classrooms on the right and big comfy chairs in the center, on the left is a wall with big screen monitors. These were used for the 4 minute orientation video.
I checked in, and waited for my coworker, loading magazines.
When he showed up I decided to go back out to the gun area and get another magazine for my Mk 2. I stopped a worker and asked where the pistol magazines were. He looked confused and said all the magazines were up by checkout. I thought that was a funny place for magazines and asked him again where I could find a pistol magazine for a Ruger Mk 2. He insisted all the gun magazines were up by the checkout and that finding a magazine for a specific gun might be hard. Since I am not well known at work for suffering fools, my coworker was laughing but trying not to show it. I finally thanked the guy and went in search of the magazines myself. I found one, and my butt started hurting immediately. I paid the $30 for a cheaply made, lightweight, mostly plastic magazine and we went in and shot.
Overall it was a good experience, the range master wouldn't let me get my brass when the range went cold so I lost a bit of once fired brass, so that was a major bummer, I have never had that happen before. Luckily it was just a handful of 6.5 Grendel but 7 rounds of .50 Beowulf hurt a little bit.
EDT: And I almost forgot. While explaining to my coworker why the bullets were low out of my 6.5 Grendel at 15 feet the Rangemaster came over and decided my explanation was subpar. He proceeded to tell the kid that when a bullet leaves the barrel it arcs up and crosses the line of sight and then comes back down. I just let him finish and moved on...
Nice. Its like the bullet that hit Kennedy. Mystical powers.
1/9/2012 6:58:39 PM
Take a look back at my AAR from there, would've been in September. There are some grade-A dumbasses at that place.
1/9/2012 8:35:10 PM
I think I saw that you have to have a site sponsor to post about that particular range.
1/10/2012 9:04:40 AM
Originally Posted By Rocco123:
I think I saw that you have to have a site sponsor to post about that particular range.
I think I saw that you have to have a site sponsor to post about that particular range.
No, you just can't be advertising classes on MN_HTF.
1/10/2012 10:08:56 AM
Originally Posted By mcnielsen:
No, you just can't be advertising classes on MN_HTF.
Originally Posted By Rocco123:
I think I saw that you have to have a site sponsor to post about that particular range.
I think I saw that you have to have a site sponsor to post about that particular range.
No, you just can't be advertising classes on MN_HTF.
That was kind of tongue in cheek statement on my part.
1/17/2012 11:16:05 AM
Sorry, went there last week, but didn't get a chance to post about it. Been sicker than crap lately.
It's a clean, new indoor range, quality ventilation and filtration system that actually works.
For those of you used to going to indoor ranges you'll notice there's a notable difference between what many of you are used to...
All shooters have to watch a 4 minute intro & safety video before going into the lanes.
The lanes are limited, and they are pre-scheduled in an appointment manner.
You can sign up for appointment slots online for a specific date & time. Usually in 1 hour blocks.
Once your hour is up - you have to pack up & clear out.
Targets are free - shoot until your target is pretty well shot up, and then ask for a new one.
The range is 30 Feet or 50 Feet??? I can't recall exactly which - not a full 25 yards though.
They allow lead core copper jacketed ammunition. No steel core SS109's, and absolutely NO RELOADS ALLOWED
They seem terrified of KaBooms (but they allow Glocks
)
Get there early, view the video presentation, so you're not wasting your time watching the video when you should be in your lane & shooting.
Cost was PER LANE, not PER PERSON or PER GUN. You're allowed 2 People Per Lane - No more.
Lanes are partitioned with closing gates - only two people in each lane at a time.
If you come in a group of 4 people, and take 2 lanes, if you want to shoot your friends' guns in the other lane, you have to leave your lane, somebody in your friends' lane needs to switch places with you.
They are very safety conscious, and you'll witness fewer muzzle sweeps than you'll see at other less supervised ranges.
You have to be escorted in & out of the sound buffer doorways by an employee.
Once packed up & ready to exit, they will zip-tie your gun cases & range bags before you leave.
All in all, I had a good time - shooting is fun. The environment was different than what I'm used to - it was clean, very safe, and I was surprised how quickly an hour flew by...
Then I went home to cough & hack since I was pretty sick that evening.
It's a clean, new indoor range, quality ventilation and filtration system that actually works.
For those of you used to going to indoor ranges you'll notice there's a notable difference between what many of you are used to...
All shooters have to watch a 4 minute intro & safety video before going into the lanes.
The lanes are limited, and they are pre-scheduled in an appointment manner.
You can sign up for appointment slots online for a specific date & time. Usually in 1 hour blocks.
Once your hour is up - you have to pack up & clear out.
Targets are free - shoot until your target is pretty well shot up, and then ask for a new one.
The range is 30 Feet or 50 Feet??? I can't recall exactly which - not a full 25 yards though.
They allow lead core copper jacketed ammunition. No steel core SS109's, and absolutely NO RELOADS ALLOWED
They seem terrified of KaBooms (but they allow Glocks
)Get there early, view the video presentation, so you're not wasting your time watching the video when you should be in your lane & shooting.
Cost was PER LANE, not PER PERSON or PER GUN. You're allowed 2 People Per Lane - No more.
Lanes are partitioned with closing gates - only two people in each lane at a time.
If you come in a group of 4 people, and take 2 lanes, if you want to shoot your friends' guns in the other lane, you have to leave your lane, somebody in your friends' lane needs to switch places with you.
They are very safety conscious, and you'll witness fewer muzzle sweeps than you'll see at other less supervised ranges.
You have to be escorted in & out of the sound buffer doorways by an employee.
Once packed up & ready to exit, they will zip-tie your gun cases & range bags before you leave.
All in all, I had a good time - shooting is fun. The environment was different than what I'm used to - it was clean, very safe, and I was surprised how quickly an hour flew by...
Then I went home to cough & hack since I was pretty sick that evening.
1/17/2012 1:43:32 PM
Originally Posted By iNuhBaDNayburhood:
They allow lead core copper jacketed ammunition. No steel core SS109's, and absolutely NO RELOADS ALLOWED
They allow lead core copper jacketed ammunition. No steel core SS109's, and absolutely NO RELOADS ALLOWED
Is it wrong that I love putting reloads in factory boxes and bringing them to places like this?
1/17/2012 10:08:04 PM
Nope, I had my 50 Beowulf and 6.5 Grendel reloads in magazines and they accepted them. One of the range guys commented on how he didn't think wolf ammo could shoot one hole groups at 50 feet. Too bad they were reloads and match reloads at that.
