This work?  
EDIT:  Post 556!

I would like to Thank the folks who came out to support us today. We appreciate your patience as we navigate through the new computer system, more importantly we truly appreciate your business. After being so focused on this project for the last 2 1/2 years and sick as a dog the last few days it did my heart good to see fellow shooters so excited about the range.  Thank You ALL !!!!

It would be nice to have a new option in this area. Will you allow full-auto mag dumps? Done safely and on target, of course!

Mr. W stated earlier in this thread that full-auto is allowed during certain periods.

Hi Folks,


Here is the latest update on the range. I had my weekly meeting with the GC today and although it was a little tough to hear we are still 3-4 weeks away but remaining very optomistic for an October opening. As I previously stated my concern has always been the range equipment. The amount of steel and range equipment going in is staggering especially when you throw in the 50 and 100 yard ranges. We're getting it done and I think everyone is going to be extremely happy with the facility. I truly appreciate everyones patience, I promise it will be worth it. In the meantime we will be doing range orientations/memberships this weekend both Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm. Come say Hi meet some of the staff and get your range orientation out of the way before the mad rush when the doors open. Thanks Again for everyones support.

Curious, will membership come with guest passes of some kind?

Are you guys going to have a party of some kind?  Either an open house prior to the range being open (but the building finished) or something?

I asked that today when I got the membership for myself and the wife, The young lady helping us stated it was $10 per guest. I was hoping.

My g/f and I went out to the trailer today and took care of our orientation. It is a 9 minute video going over the rules and they ask if you have any questions. We figure we will save up for a membership.

They did say the shoot house will still be under construction when they open and they will eventually have class 3 rentals.

That was the plan the first weekend after we received the occupancy permit was to have an Open House weekend originally scheduled for Oct 17th with celebs, food, shooting demo's and contests, door prizes etc… Now with the the doors potentially opening a few weeks later than anticipated and the change in everyones schedules we are actually debating whether or not we just want to get the doors open ASAP and have a celebration later. Something I am going to figure out this week.

No they will not


In the range industry people have different definitions of Memberships. Elite Shooting Sports is open to everyone. It is not a " Members Only " range nor do we have different tiers of Memberships that give you a bunch of empty extras that are just excuses for higher membership prices. Example without naming names: A range in the area advertises  with a membership you get your FFL transfers done for $45 instead of the normal $75 they charge. Well our current pricing for an FFL transfer is almost half as much as their discounted price whether you have an annual membership or not. Or how about this one, A 10% discount on rental firearms which still ends up being 25% higher than our normal firearm rental fee, and this one, A $1.00 off of a box of ammunition which is actually priced 25%-50% higher than our normal pricing and so on and so on. We're not about playing that game, we actually think customers are smarter than that. We are competitively priced with other ranges in the area and across the nation with similar demographics. We would rather sell you an annual membership for $50 less than give you two free guess passes only to find out once the fine print is read your guest passes are only good for certain times and/or your guests still have to pay an initiation fee. Even with the current ammunition situation we would rather sell more at less of a mark-up than less at more of a mark-up.

It's plan and simple at Elite Shooting Sports our definition of a membership is a customer who buys an " annual membership " because their intent is to come to the range more than once a month. If you come to the range twice a month an annual membership saves you money over the pay by the hour plan. Even our annual plans that are paid using monthly payment installments have the least expensive enrollment fee by at the very least 50% of any range that offers something similar program in the area, some are even higher.

Look I never wanted to have this thread turn in to a sales thing but always stay an information thread so if it sounds like it I apologize. My intent is to just enlighten some folks that sometimes (Marketing 101 ) "extras" really aren't " extras" the consumer still pays for them the advertising just makes them feel better about it.

I don't think that's the case at all.  You're answering all the questions that has been posed to you.  I interpret what you're saying as "here is how we are different", which is exactly what everyone here wants to know.  But after seeing the website, and the facility in person, the range and amenities speak for themselves.  It's worth every penny.

And with me living off Rt 234, I'll be there weekly - if not more often.  

What days and hours is the trailer open for membership sales?

M-F 9am to 3pm
Sat & Sun 10am-4pm

wait so are the annual members subject to a 1 hour limitation on range time? I apologize if I missed the obvious, but I don't see it on the website

thanks guys

Any update as to when your 100 yard rang will be open for business?

Holy crap.  Go check out their Facebook page (I hate Facebook, too.  You don't have to join to see it).  UNREAL!!!

Those pics are just amazing.  Guys, and gals, we've hit the jackpot.

Are you open yet?

No.  But it's killing me, too.  

I do want to thank Greg in advance for this awesome range.  We are some of the luckiest people in America to have such an incredible range so close to us.

OK, I am in for an annual membership, signed up today.

I am looking forward to training and competition opportunities.

Any update on when the range will be open to members?

Facebook posting from yesterday says a week or two.

Thanks.

Very excited to see another range in the area.  Pictures look great so far.  What are the range hours going to look like?  One thing I like about NRA is that it's open until 11 PM some nights.  If Saturday, Sunday and another weekday could go to 11 PM then I'm in,

I don't know why, but I thought I saw that they were open 8am - 10pm daily.

That is my understanding also
7 days a week 8am to 10pm

It's going to be nice to meet up with fellow HTF members at shoot, but also socialize in the cafe or one of the two lounges.  AGGRR!!!! Open already!!  

Just signed-up for my membership this morning.
They are shooting for this Saturday as the opening day.
Check FB page they say.

Alright - are you being a smart ass?  

Their FB page says a week or two.  If it opens this Sat that would be awesome!

Nah, I've asked the gal helping me with the membership about when would they be opening?  And she replied, "This Saturday" and watch FB page for the updates.
But then about the same time, "Inspector" from the Prince William County was there doing something.
I'm assuming that they are about to have all the permits from the county to start their business at anytime.

Ah ha...  I don't have any plans for Saturday (hopefully).  I'm sure it's going to be a cluster that first day, but also like a kid on Christmas.

Wife and I got our family membership today.

During the tour the guide mentioned they are working hard towards a soft opening the weekend of Nov 8-9.  They are working to ensure all lanes are ready and operational.

Plans in the works for the hard opening/grand opening 2 weeks after the soft opening.

Saw work happening on the 50 yard ranges, putting the shelves and sides in.  25 yard ranges looked to be about ready.  100 yard range the guide said is ready with the exception of having the machines to move the targets down range.  They are expecting them in on Monday.

Also was mentioned that members can sign up for for a specific time on line.  Members will be restricted to one hour of shooting time if a waiting list is in affect.  If no waiting list then members can shoot for as long as they want.

Have a nice day.

Bill

Good lord!  100 yrds is a LOT farther than I thought....

Love it ! And it figures.. finally a decent range opening, and  I'm PCS'ing to TX in May... guess it doesn't make much sense to get a years membership, especially driving from Springfield..

It's funny, because when I was in the Army, I would shoot at 50 and 100 meter targets without almost aiming.  150 and 200m required a bit of aiming, but not much.  I really only seemed to take a full second or two for the 250 and 300m shots.  Now that I am old, I sweat 50 yards.  Of course, now I am trying to hit the center of a target and then I was just trying to make contact with a much larger target...so there is that....but I do miss those young man's eyes.

It's something about shooting indoors that make targets seem further away..?

Probably has something to do with the solid overcast.

Yeah, it's funny how those irons get fuzzier as you go.



 

Looking forward to shooting that distance - I never have.  Hopefully I don't hit the ceiling, floor, or walls.  

or the guys target in the next lane - I've seen it happen at ranges before

"Dude quit shooting my target"  Sorry!

HA!  If it happens to one of you guys (or anyone), I'll buy you a new target.  

Overhead, deck and Bhds . will catch a lot of traffic." If put it out there, they WILL shoot it"

Well, apparently the range opened Saturday.  

How they think posting to Facebook is the best way to communicate that - AND NOT THE NEWSLETTER EMAIL I SIGNED UP FOR - is beyond me.

I had a non-shooter alert me to this a few minutes ago.

Pissed off does not describe me at the moment.

Yep - just saw on the web site that they are now open.
If I had known I could have swung by there from work this morning but now I'm home oh well perhaps tomorrow

I was there on Saturday. They are open, but they call it a soft opening.I'm guessing that means not advertised.
They older gentlemen that I spoke with said they would have the grand opening in a few more weeks.
I think they did this to figure out any potential bugs in the operation. One 25 yard range was closed due to heating problems. The target carriers for the hundred yard range have not been delivered yet.
Very nice place from what I saw.

That is correct we did a soft non advertised opening this weekend while we are working out the bugs. Three of the four ranges are operational we are hoping to have the fourth which is the 100 yard range open by this weekend. We did have a temperature problem on bay two that is being taken care of. The target system on the 100 yard bay is actually there they just have not been fully tested at this time. They were finishing painting in the bay today and are working on the target system now. We will be having a grand opening next weekend and I do appreciate everyones patience as we work out all the little bugs. It amazes me how we were able to get the process approved through the county including two public hearings in 5 months instead of 18 months which is the norm. Build a building inside of a building which is equal to 130,000 square feet, equip it with more steel and range equipment than any other commercial indoor range in the United States in 7 months instead of a year and a half and yet people still get upset that we didn't do it fast enough. I have consulted on ranges that took over 5 years to bring to life so I thought I was doing pretty dang good here, I guess you can never please everyone. Anyway I hope you all can make it out to check the place out it is truly a beautiful facility I am very proud of it.

You never can please everyone, that is true.  You can take comfort in that most people just want to patronize your new business ASAP.  I, for one, am impressed with how quickly everything came together. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was looking at picture of the early stages of construction. It's awesome that we're going to have another great facility in the area.  That 100 yard range might just make me buy myself a nice Christmas present of the optical variety.

I would like to add the staff was 100% professional in every aspect.
Well done ESS.

I was there for the first time earlier today. Very nice! I was on the 25yrd range. Wide shooting lanes, well lit, very comfortable. The staff is friendly and helpful. The floor plan is very well laid out. The hand washing station is right were it needs to be. The doors separating the range from the lobby have windows so you can see if it is safe to enter/exit. The lobby is very comfortable. The target carrier controls are easy to use. Sturdy benches. The best thing is that the hours of operation make it convenient for I think anyone's schedule.

Same experience, 50yrd range.