Hey north Bama crew! Just moved up from West Alabama (at least I’m not one of the out of state new guys) and looking for a range until I buy some land.

I’ve got plenty of time to shoot while working on the masters and looking for a good outdoor range within 20-30 miles of town. I’ve been to a few of the public ones but would prefer a club to get away from the assholes they throw watermelons in the air and shoot them. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

WMA ranges:

Swan Creek - Tanner
Hurricane Ridge - 15 miles south of Wren
Skyline - Skyline (200 yards)

Clubs:
Blue and Gray - Guntersville
Cathedral Caverns - Woodville/Grant

Strategic Edge - Chapel Hill TN
Elk River Training - Pelham TN
Eagle Eye Shooting Complex - east of Ethridge, TN

Indoors:
Larry's Huntsville - north Huntsville
Madison Guns Last Resort POS - NO NO NO!!!


When you're ready and it's time, try to find *someone* who can make you a concrete shooting bench:

Madison guns? You mean Last Resort on county line? I went once and was rubbed the wrong way.

Have you tried bullet and barrel yet?

@Merlin

Yea, whatever it's called.  The owner called for more gun control to help his bottom line about 5 years or so ago.  I forget what retarded gun control bullshit he was spouting, but he pissed off a lot of people.

No, the answer should be obvious why.  

I went once a few years ago. The owner was at the counter when I went in to try the range. He made a couple snarky comments about the AR pistol with a brace, and how they aren't practical and exist just to look scary, or something to that effect. This was about the time there was a lot of talk about the legality of shouldering it. His range boy was watching me intently the entire time, and made it super awkward. I didn't stay very long and never went back.

Right on, thanks for the info!

And great looking bench, maybe I’ll have to give that someone a call in the future

Look me up sometimes and I'll take you over as a guest to the Blue and Gray in Guntersville. Needs to be during the week. I usually go early on a Wed - Friday morning. Rarely anyone there. just a warning - I'm an old guy and tend to shoot uncool guns.

WARNING!  Do not listen to this.  Axl is a cool guy with cool guns and even cooler kayaks and canoes.

Ha thanks, IM sent!

I'm just trying to be neighborly - not asking him out on a date or anything. You doing OK? Weather is getting about right to get back on the water.

I've honestly never understood the hate for Last Resort Guns. "His range boy was watching me intently the entire time, and made it super awkward." Yeah man! I hate RSO's who actually do their jobs and make sure everyone is being safe. And can anyone provide any kind of actual source on exactly what Russ, the owner, said? Because according to the store employee I asked, he said "Oh, that's not that bad" in reaction to Obama wanting universal background checks. But otherwise the place is fine. It's more of a gun range that also sells guns. So the prices are okay, but the selection is pretty poor. A place like Larry's or Winter Timber is on another level as far as selection goes. Plus, the $45 transfer fee is ridiculous ($15 and accepts individuals at Gold Guns & Guitars).

If you want to do dumb shit like mag dumps the go to Swan Creek. But if you're in the Madison area, Last Resort is pretty legit. $20 covers you for the whole day, even if you leave. They also run events open to the public that no one else does. "Tac Tuesday" they run drills. So shoot on the move, rapid fire, fire from cover, etc. Hell, once they set up no-shoots on poles and waved them in front of you while you tried to engage steel. They also do the same thing but with rifles, and two gun as well. Those cost like $25 or so for non-members. Plus, their memberships are reasonable. Like $40/mo gets you unlimited range use with 12 guest passes, ammo discounts, free rentals, reservations, etc.

I know it sounds like I'm shilling for the place, but holy shit people on arfcom really hate it for a reason that no one I've asked has ever been able to provide a source for. The place just doesn't deal with snowflakes. You either follow their rules, or you don't shoot there. Simple as that. The rules are posted everywhere, but it seems like every time I go shoot I see the RSO get onto someone for doing something stupid.

The hate isn't about the rules.  

I refuse to support a gun store whose owner wants an AWB to pass so he can profit.

Like I said, provide a source. I've heard everything from wanting universal background checks to brace bans to assault weapon bans. Yet not a single person has ever been able to provide a shred of proof.

iirc it was in a local news interview.  I remember seeing it but couldn't tell you where to find it, been too long I guess.

Hobbs Island is a nice range, but a little expensive.  It has it's flaws but most do.

It was in a AL.com/Huntsville Slime site article IRC.  Good luck finding it on their shit-for-brains web site.  

That's it - I remember it too. Got a lot of attention at Larry's at the time. Lots of guys came in saying they would never shoot there again. That plus the range guys were assholes.

Took some digging:


https://www.waff.com/story/30892469/al-gun-shop-owner-not-entirely-against-obama-gun-control-plan/

Going off of memory for the fallout, but I seem to remember him doubling down on his stance when called on it, then he/his wife/someone running the LRG FB page went went scorched earth against the commenters on Facebook and did a good job showing their asses.

I don’t recall him showing his ass again over AWBs or pistol braces, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did.  He seems like a guy that’s a go-to source for the media when they want a “reasonable” gun guy’s take. But that shitshow combined with prior experiences and some pretty laughable prices, I’ve seen no reason to go back there or recommend people go there.

Your move, LRG ... uh I mean JB18.

Pretty far cry from wanting to ban braces and calling for an AWB, but at least it's an actual source! I'm not a huge fan of Russ. But I'm also not going to shoot myself in the foot and deny myself a good place to train just because I very slightly disagree with the owner politically.

So gun control is OK for you?  Why are you on a gun board if you believe in gun control?  

You got shown the proof you demanded, but it still doesn't matter to you.  You were never interested in the proof anyway.  You're just like LRG: a gun banner.

You're the Simone Biles of mental gymnastics. But it seems like you're a few cards short of a full deck when it comes to reading comprehension. I never said I am okay with gun control. I said I'm not going to deny myself cheap training just because the owner of the range supports universal background checks. I asked for proof that Russ wanted an AWB and instead got proof of exactly what I said I'd heard from employees. So no, the proof doesn't really matter to me considering it's not the proof I asked for.

There's not a great selection for ranges in the area. You can go to Swan Creek and deal with the morons there. You can go to the Guntry Club at Bullet and Barrel and pay $20/hr. You can go to Larry's which is nearly as bad as Swan Creek and seems to be the go-to place for suicides. Or you can go to Last Resort, where the owner was dumb enough to admit that he wants universal background checks.

That's absolute BS. I worked there for five years. One suicide. One other a few years before that.  Two in thirty years? There are two guys on the range at all times. I shot there every day during my lunch. Absolutely never a problem regarding safety except for hood rats and they were quickly sent out the door. And Swan Creek now has a range officer there any time the range is open. Been that way for about two years. I interviewed for the State position but didn't want to make the drive.

Shoot wherever you want to. But you don't need to trash other ranges to justify it.

This. I like Larry's range. Range staff is cool and helpful. I've never had an issue with them. The only issue I've ever had at Larry's on the parkway is finding parking.

This wasn't the typical "RSO doing his job." Dude was literally standing at the next firing line just staring at me. Maybe 5 feet away, completely in my field of vision. Wasn't paying any attention to anyone else there. Could have been an innocent thing, but happening right after the guy up front talked down to me about my ar pistol, and making me feel uncomfortable, it sure seemed like he was just waiting for me to shoulder the pistol brace so he could set me straight. Place is nice, and I'm sure is a great experience for most folks, but I just got rubbed the wrong way.

Let's get this thread back on track:

WMA ranges:

Swan Creek - Tanner  100 yards max IRC; 25-50 yard pistol plus shotgun range
Hurricane Ridge - 15 miles south of Wren - 100 yards max
Skyline - Skyline (200 yards) - never been there, but it looks nice while driving by
WMA ranges require WMA stamps or AL hunting licenses; don't be without them or you're forked!

Clubs:
Blue and Gray - Guntersville 25-50-100 200 yard ranges; High power matches monthly, other stuff, see their web site.
Cathedral Caverns - Woodville/Grant - lots of cowboy matches, but never been there  

Strategic Edge - Chapel Hill TN, pistol IPSC ranges and matches, 100-200-300-500-700-1000-1200 yard ranges - this is the premier rifle range in TN/Al AFAIK.  Top forking notch outfit; owner is a world class record precision rifle shooter

Elk River Training - Pelham TN; former air field; long range precision rifle classes; signed up but bowed out due to cost and lack of skills

Eagle Eye Shooting Complex - east of Ethridge, TN; appears to be action/IPSC/IPSA oriented shooting? don't know

Indoors:
Larry's Huntsville - north Huntsville


And then there is the Hobbs Island range mentioned earlier.

Defunct ranges:

- Arab Practical Pistol Shooters Club (APSC), lots of good memories from shooting there in the early 90's.  Then I got a family and shooting IPSC and bowling pin shooting became 2nd/3rd/4th priority.  
- Maple Gun Shooting Range; owners got old and just gave up.  Not a bad place to shoot; out to 300 yards +/-; bunch of good people.  

Most of the APSC guys went to Cathedral Caverns/Cavern Cove and have a huge variety of matches they put on.

You have a web site for them?  My search only yielded the North AL Regulator cowboy shooters.

Thanks,

Look up Perkins Technical Services  and ask for Hank - he's the owner and shoots with Jim Clark and lots of the other guys who were at Arab. Tell him I said hello.

@evnash

Do you still shoot at Cavern Cove? What’s their schedule?

Swan Creek used to close for duck season.  I assume that still happens?  I haven't been since before they started staffing the range.

Hours of Operation

The range is closed in late fall and winter during the dates of open duck season. (November 20, 2021 - February 6, 2022)

Summer Hours (April  September)

   Wednesday - Sunday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Winter Hours (October  March)  (Closed during dates of open duck season as noted above).

   Wednesday  Sunday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The range is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Super important to know that Elk River's 1,000 yard range is only open on Wednesday from 12:00-4:00. This is because the firing line is behind all the other ranges and everything else has to be closed for safety. So it's also important to know that if you go between 12-4 on a Wednesday everything else is closed. They don't advertise that anywhere either. On their website they said to call ahead on whatever day they do maintenance to ask about range closures. I called and specifically asked "Are any ranges closed?" and was told "No, they're cutting the road frontage grass today so everything is open". after my hour and half drive I found that the range I wanted to do the most work on doesn't count as "everything".

Other than that, it's a fine range. Oh, and Strategic Edge is member's only with a crazy long wait and only allows for guests of members.

Easy way to bypass that.    

Actually no, the answer isn't obvious. So why?

I ask because they are the closest place to my office for me to go run rounds thru a Polymer80 I have built during a lunch break. I haven't shot there yet but have co-workers that have gone to sight in rifles for white tail season.

My apologies, I did not mean to be condescending or snotty; I really thought it was obvious.

I have a 100 yard range right next to my shop and about 50 yards from my house.  My 200 yard range is down the bottom of my hill in my front yard.  ETA:  See pics in post below.

Whats not as obvious is that I'm about 10 miles north of the border ie about 45 miles one way from S Huntsville.

Now, I might be interested in going there if they had Precision Rifle classes, but I didn't see any the last time I checked their web site (which has been awhile).

And you won’t. Their 100 yard range is for sighting in only. It’s something like $20 for 30 minutes. And they don’t tell you when you pay, but you don’t get to shoot for 30 minutes. You get to shoot a handful of rounds to get a zero and then you’re done. Something to do with their targets being expensive and needing to be swapped out pretty often (electronic system). Dickhead RSO wouldn’t even let me get a secondary zero for a coyote round on my 6.5cr. Four shots to zero with a deer round and he said I was done.

Looking back at this thread, my answer above wasn't as obvious as I thought it was; a case of crossthreading perhaps - oops.

Pics of my 100 yard range; how close it is to my shop and home should be clear:





This is the pic I showed above but didn't say what it was; this is my 200 yard range down at the bottom of the hill.  My house is to the left of this pic and at the top of my hill:



View of the 200 yard range from my front deck.  Look to the right and you can see the DirecTV antenna; above that behind the far tree barely visible is my lower field deer shooting house; the 200 yard concrete shooting bench is just in front of that.  I can also shoot coyotes to about 425 yards to the corner of my neighbor off to the right.



Hope this helps.

Butter.  One of the best cats I ever had.