You have to love the people who show up to the range on the weekends. The guy who keeps talking to you and telling you stuff that is completely wrong, but he thinks he knows what he's talking about. Then gets excited to show you his two hi-points but can't figure out how to fire his Beretta 92 because the safety is on. The guy shooting one handed, sideways, at 50 yards and not hitting anything. The guys shooting a 300RUM at 20 yards.

Weird, the weekend range I normally see has a crazy arfcommer dual wielding mac 10's on occasion.

Now are you talking Cushman or Birchwood?

Crap.  Better hope they do a NFA amnesty soon.  My mouse is full auto.

I hate seeing all the "that gun is illegal" stuff . people trying to be my nanny all the time. You also cant shoot more than 1 mag without some guy in a yellow
vest coming to ask 40 questions. Birchwood is really beginning to suck

Yes, Birchwood is really beginning to suck.  The rifle side was run as a money source for the scatter gunners a long time, and I wish it was still that way.

Those "improvements" have turned the bench area into an echo chamber, harsh on the ears and cramped.  I hate the restricted entrances to the ranges through doorways.  I want to move benches aside to practice sitting and prone.

I don't mind the occasional other guy on the line chattering to me about guns, ammo, politics, but I wish range employees would keep to themselves.  There is no need to police the line every 10-15 minutes.

Birchwood has to be making a pile of money.  I wish they would put some of it into building other ranges, like a 600 yard range or whatever pleases scattergunners.  We are running out of places to shoot in the Anchorage bowl as it is, and squeezing money out of a captured clientele sickens me.  





But the Beruit range in Fairbanks sure attracts some odd ducks, like the ones who confidently assume their AOW is legal because they bought all the parts online.  Those guys I do want to correct.  The guys who fidget when I get close I don 't bother talking to or ask awkward questions.  YMMV.

I talked to a guy the other week that swore the 16" barrel OAL included the upper receiver and unpinned muzzle device, so his (I'm guessing) 10.5" AR wasn't a SBR.

Those improvements are a pain in the ass.
Especially if you have multiple trips to the truck to unload your stuff.
Double ear protection is damn near neccesary in the "echo chambers"

Agree, it would be nice if they were to make practical improvements.
More shooting ranges, or a longer shooter range would be great.

I noticed the increase in noise also especially shooting a 10.5" under that over hang. I don't mind talking guns with guys but like you said the range police are bothering me firs question is always
"whatcha doing " .....um its a rifle range not a bake shop and it goes on from there .

The walls are a pain in the ass. The increase of concussion and if there
are a few people there, having to get people to move or trying to walk
between/around them. Then if you have a bunch of stuff carrying it
through the door every time if you have to park on the end. The recent
changes in the rules are great! "all rounds must impact the berm".
Because you know that every round that impacts the berm stays in the
berm.





The setup of the ranges is stupid as well. You can't shoot rifles on F and G range but you can on H? They are the same size, and distance. It's great when there is a group of people with kids or new shooters on H and i don't want to bother them with my loud gun and i go to F or G and get yelled at because it's no rifle on that range. OK, so i'll move to H and blast out the people next to me and annoy them. I try to do the good thing by going by myself and not bother others.



 

Was out a birchwood this weekend, noticed the EPM membership has been raised to $199.

And back at the wild west Cushman range - cost: $0, no employees bothering you, others bothering you can be told to fuck off, no walls, no concussions
Shoot what I want, how I want, blow shit up, always fun bits of trash to shoot at, don't have to pick it up.  Tracers, full auto, .50BMG, potato gun, cannons, tannerite in any amount, whatever you feel like.


It's a tradeoff, but worth it to me.  Like being in the woods with bears - just takes awareness and vigilance to stay safe but that doesn't cost me anything and is good practice.  It's like a big public crazy unregulated shooting pit where you shoot whatever you want and how - but with others there doing the same.


Then again, yesterday I saw someone manipulating a loaded rifle which went off and shot the ground a foot or two away, directly behind his buddy wearing shorts who was up on the line.  They had all taken off their ear pro so their hearing was blown.  Luckily no ricochet or shrapnel damage.  Funny to me only because I was back in the parking lot away from the event.  Since I know the culprit, I now get to drag this event out and shame his ass whenever I feel like doing so.  Priceless.

Tell me it wasn't the one guy we were there with.

I shoot at Birchwood a lot, I really like the idea of a range or part of a range designed for prone shooting.

The other stuff doesn't really bother me.

 

You had already left.  Lord how I wish I had recorded the event with a camera but it happened too quick.  It was kind of like kicking over an ant hill, everybody buzzing around wondering WTF just happened.  Like a mini IED cause the ground just exploded in rocks.  We even found a piece of the bullet at the epicenter of the hit.

Sometimes I miss the Cushman Range for it's hilarity.

My nephew told me the place was nuts when he first went there and I told him "I told you!".

I also told him to look for a short guy with a lotta NFA toys and introduce himself as my nephew.

Birchwood is fucking crazy, I'll never forget the day the entire line was shooting and we all just happened to stop and load our mags at the same time, some dude comes up in his ACUs just waltzes down there without saying a fuckin word to anyone. I popped my mag back in my rifle and went to take aim and say this shithead out of the corner of my eye (he was all the way on the other side) I look over at the guy sitting next to me and ask if Mr ACUs even asked for a clear, and the guy just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. It's really sad to see that place go downhill. I will not go there on a weekend as I tell my fiancee "I choose life."

I have been there and had an APD officer walk down while im shooting. It was C range so there is a 100yd and a 25yd berm. He walking to the 25 yd. I stop shooting and asks why did i stop? He said he's wearing a vest and im not shooting AT him.

Yeah never understood the need to "enclose" the area, not really ideal if there's several people there. Dumbest thing i ever saw. As for the employees, no real problems, they seem nice, my cousin and I bring some fancy toys that attract alot of attention, but they chit chat for a few and move on.

Side note: DHS was there "qualifying" with all their tactical timmy gear on. One dude was so fat, his front plate was at a 45 degree angle. What a joke those guys were.