I'm in that exact area.  I spent 12 years in Columbia and a the last 10 or just to the east of it.

It's very rare to find a large back yard (and you have to define large - I'm using a 0.5 to 1.0 acre back yard as 'large').  To do so in Columbia you'll need to find an 'outparcel' (a home that existed in Columbia before Columbia was built).  Not all out parcels have large yards, but they do exist.  The problem is they don't come on the market often and when they do it's for a lot of money..

The good news is the state's best private range is in Marriotsville, only 15-20 minutes from Columbia, there is also an indoor range just outside Fort Meade.

Columbia has miles and miles of paved walking/biking trails through the city that go to a variety of small play areas for kids (most neighborhoods have a couple of these), and larger parks with lakes and other facilities (sporting, picnic, fishing etc).

If you want a large lot you'll really need to start looking up in Carol County or western Howard County to keep the commute to 30 minutes (even then you might be stretching it a bit).

That club is now closed to additional people, not even sure if your work on base if you can still join.  If you were already a member you can use it.  If you're a member of the MD State Rifle & Pistol Association you can use it one day a month when it's open for them (pretty much limited to High Power type competition/practice).  From what I understand the 600y range isn't being well taken care of and can only handle a fraction of the number of shooter it was designed for.


DelMarVa Sporting Clays? Yeah I like that place and the RO is a good guy.  Steel plates at 200, 300, & 500y make for much rifle fun.



The Associated Gun Clubs of Maryland at Marriottsville has some of the nicest range facilities in the state, can handle large number of shooters, and is a relatively short drive from the Ft Meade area.

You mean you have to JOIN a club to use a Private range!?  Who would have thought!  And yes there is a range badge fee, because some of those clubs have other facilities, so if they have members that don't want to use Marriottsville they don't have to pay for it.

If you think the cost is too high you must not shoot that much.  It's less than a cost of a case of 9mm,  Try to use a commercial indoor range, Freestate alone charges about $100 more per year and you're limited to 25 yards, not to mention restrictions on caliber and ammo (no cheep steel cased ammo can be used there); oh and you have to pay for guests.  On Target is closer to Ft Mead, a little cheaper than Freestate (but still more than AGC) and has even more limits on what you can shoot.  

There are cheaper places to shoot, but they all require one to drive much further, have less shooting positions (meaning you may have to wait), and add a host of other restrictions.  I've shot at most every public/commercial range in a 60 mile radius, shot at several more outside that range, and was a member of 2 other clubs.  Only 1 had facilities that Marriottsville lacked and was cheaper, it also lacked the number of shooting positions, a 200y range, and was usually a 2 hour drive to get to.  I burnt more in fuel than I would have spent on an AGC badge.


From your posts I'm beginning to see why they didn't return the calls.  I've shot there before, and I have a friend in competitive High Power that does so regularly.

There is your problem, you don't understand what is going on.  The AGC is not a 'club' it's a range facility that is owned and operated by an association of clubs.  On their webpage is a list of member clubs, their dues and other requirements for membership, and links so you can contact them or show up at meetings to join.  Heck if you just drive up and ask the RMs can help steer you to a club that meets your interests.  It's not hard at all.

TX is great, if you have land, talking with the boys down there near urban areas they have issues finding decent ranges.  Personally, if I was moving to the SW I'd pick AZ, carry law is much better and there is all that BLM land you can go shooting or 4-wheeling on.


Your poor attitude and self entitlement is pretty easy to see in your posts.

Longest range at AGC is 200y.

I can't speak for all the clubs, but I know several of the 'company' clubs don't have meeting requirement.

Do you work at Northrop-Grumman, APL, or Goddard by chance?

I know if you're a retiree of Northrop you're still eligible for membership, not sure about the others.

Those clubs are low cost (I pay $10/year for Northrop), and have no requirement to attend the meeting.

You might want to tell him what that 4.4 acre lot will cost.  

About half a million, with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and built in the 19th century.

LOL you're kidding right?

Hap Baker - where you have to shoot through a box from the bench.  No offhand shooting, no prone, no sitting positions.  Limited positions to place targets.  Mosin Nagants limited to 1 round at a time.  No full-auto ever. Paper targets only, no steel or polymer reactive targets.

Want to test loads with your chronograph?  Good luck with that overhead over extending so far out (BTDT and couldn't get any readings).

No Trap range,

No shotgun patterning range.

No archery range.

Handgun limited to 17 yards.

No drawing from a holster.

Limited number of shooting positions.

No BBQ on event weekends

Hap Baker is a place you go if all you need to do is sight-in a deer rifle or try out a handgun.  It's a range conceived by and run by bureaucrats.  The AGC facilities are owned and run by shooters and is responsive to club members needs (which is why we have options for steel targets and drawing from the holster available).

"Shoot Through"  You mean you have to have a target stand to hold your target?  Wow that's radical.  That means you can set your target up to shoot at any distance from 25y to 100y, at any height required for the position you're shooting (from prone to offhand), and type of target (paper, polymer, or steel).  I'm failing to see an issue.


 The only time someone sits behind the berm to raise/lower targets is during a match/training event.  If you're not shooting in the event you're not sitting behind the berm.  If you are shooting in the event then yes you're expected to pull your weight - NO FSA here.


 You can choose to volunteer to help or not.  It's 100% your choice - nobody badgers you to help..  If you do volunteer - it counts toward reducing the cost of your next range badge.  If you volunteer enough your next range badge is free.  How the hell can anyone complain about that?


Considering you've only been there 3 times, and you've made up the other BS above, we'll take that with a grain of salt.


Interestings as I've shoot 50 & 100 on the same lane at the same time.  Paper at 50 with steel at 100.


Well I've been going to ranges up and down the east coast for over 40 years (from Burlington VT to Fredericksburg VA), civilian and military, indoor and outdoor and if you think Hap Baker is a decent range (compared to anything else in MD) you need to show us on the where on the doll the rangemaster touched you.  I'd rather shoot at the DMR ranges (particularly Savage River) than Hap, seriously who wants to shoot through a box? Last time I saw that shit was over 25 years ago on a National Guard range in the 25M zero area (and at least one was shooting from the prone position).

So the good people know what we are talking about:
Shooting rifles at Hap Baker:


Shooting rifles at Marriotsville:


or if your really want to shoot from a bench - Marriottsville offers them; as well as 10 rock solid concrete benches for the serious bench rest shooter.

People can see examples of the target stands.