Hey everyone,

I moved to the Richmond area from South Boston, VA last month and I need to find a place to shoot. Can you recommend a good gun club in the Richmond area and let me know the membership fees? If there are multiple good options, what do they all offer? I mostly shoot pistols and my ARs, but I would ideally like to find someplace to shoot my 6.5 Creedmoor beyond 100 yds, if possible.

Thanks!

Topic Moved

CSA and Greentop offer memberships,  for indoor pistol,

outdoor,  
Cavalier would be the best bet in the area, but not sure how long the wait is now,



https://cavrpc.org/membership-information/

you also have Black Creek (not far from the Airport)
and Conservation Park ( east of town,  Charles City


all are good ranges

and there may be others in the area I am forgetting


personally, I rarely get time anymore, but I do belong to Rivanna  in Charlottesville,

and I live in Chesterfield

Didn’t Black Creek close?

Blackcreek is still open.

But doubled their rates.  It is still a decent place to shoot but not the bargain it once was.

Cavalier is the best club close to Richmond.  $300/year plus $700 initiation fee and a 1-2 year waiting list.  Shotgun facilities are limited, but they have a 600 yard rifle range and numerous pistol bays.

Black Creek has changed hands, and every time I have been there I was annoyed by picayune rules that made no sense.  

Conservation Park is primarily a shotgun club.  It is a very nice property but a bit Fuddy and the rules are not friendly to tactical/defensive type shooting.  For shotgun it is the best in the area.

I also belong to Piedmont Sportsman Club in Gordonsville, which is a bit further out but very nice and very laid back.  It has a wait list of several years, but the dues is only $175.

I still belong to RRPC in Charlottesville, but I have not been in years.  It became overrun with uptight transplants from up north who seemed to get status and personal satisfaction from telling others what to do.  Maybe it has improved.  It is a good deal at about $100 a year and they do not have a membership cap.

I've not had that issue are Rivanna,   but I am a lower range guy,   and once in a blue moon shoot High Power,   where those attitudes are generally not tolerated,


been a member since about 94,  and learned the hill top gang (shotgunners,,,) can be a bit pretentious,

I’ve been a member since 2002 and voting member since about 2004. I could never figure out why a small subset of the club gets exclusive access to the shotgun facilities.

I used to teach NRA classes there for free.  I stopped when the BoD passed a rule that all classes had to be expressly approved by the board in advance.  I got no time for that.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm likely to join Black Creek, but I'm weighing some of the other options as well. One of these days I just need to buy some land and make my own range, but I'm stuck in an apartment for now.

I'm also in Richmond (West end, Henrico... Near the Regency Mall).  Here's my take on gun clubs around the area:

CSA (Colonial Shooting Academy) -- great place right there on Broad St.  Very clean, but professional, has memberships available.  BUT at the same time, they have a few RSO's who are like a "helicopter mom" with her kid, if you know what I mean.  They will be right there almost breathing down your neck!  There was one RSO (don't know if he's still there or was terminated), but the dude was a bit too into his job, and treated everyone on the range at CSA like they were new Marines on Parris Island!

Green Top Range (formerly Winding Brook) up there across the street from Bass Pro, along I-95 at the Lewistown Rd exit -- Fantastic place!  Same cleanliness and professionalism at CSA, but without the attitudes.  The RSO's are awesome, very straight forward, and don't breathe down your neck.  Lots and lots of people (according to rumor) have left CSA and gone to Green Top Range!

Outdoor ranges/gun clubs -- All I know is Amelia WMA rifle & skeet range and Chickahominy WMA rifle & skeet range.  Been to both of those a few times over the years, and it's full of jackwads who have no idea how to handle a firearm!  The gun clubs like Cavalier and whatnot are supposed to be really nice, but the waiting list is horrendous...

Edit:  Notice I had no mention of the old D&P range off Midlothian?  That nasty old place has probably been shut down by now.  It was either Dominion Range or D&P Range...  The ventilation was so horrible, the fumes would almost knock you out!  I haven't been to that awful old place is probably a good 15 years or so...  Ick....

D&P is gone,  (the D of D&P is a neighbor) and it was bought, changed to Dominion,  and is still there and as far as I know still open,

I used to shoot there often,   and honestly,  felt the air was cleaner on the range than the store,  but that was back when you could smoke inside a store,  and damn near everyone did,,



there is also a small shooting range in Colonial Heights,  just up the hill from P Burg

Wow... Dominion is still around!  I thought that old place closed up.

I won't go back there though.  Seen too many crazy things downstairs at the range lanes:
{seriously... on my mother's soul...}
The last time I ventured into Dominion to shoot my 1911, I was horrified by a pair of, uh... you know...  "Da Boyz" came in off the street, pants dragging showing their underwear, baseball hat sideways, etc... you get the picture.  They rented an old Tec9 (if my memory is right), or some extended mag semi-auto handgun, back then.
I witnessed the pair, stepping AWAY from the shooting lane, with the loaded 9mm, and each one taking photos of each other waving it around!!!
Oh yeah... I immediately cleared my 1911, packed up, cleared my lane, and ran back upstairs to loudly complain!
The two people behind the counter said something like, "Yeah, we know. We're watching".
I requested my tab, paid my range bill, and got the "F" outta there.
NEVER AGAIN.

Is Kay still around..........have not been there in 7 years now.........

Nope.  And that's why it's not the same place anymore.

if by Kay yo mean KC,   I know he was in bad shape,  not sure if he is still alive or not,

there was some big discussions / rumors last year about who was going to take it over , etc etc,  

not sure what the final outcome is,  or was,  as far as who is running what now,

To anyone on Arfcom,

I'm the current President of Rivanne Rifle & Pistol Club (RRPC) in Charlottesville VA.

We have a 25 Yard Indoor Pistol Range
50 Yard "Tactical" range.  (rifle/pistol/shotgun - shoot on the move - transition from long gun to pistol, etc)
100 Yard Rifle Range
25/50 Yard Bullseye Pistol Range
50 Yard "Plinking" Range
Pistol Steel Target Range
300/200 Yard Rifle Range
3D & Bag style Archery Ranges
Skeet, Trap & Wobble Trap shotgun fields.

If anyone want to come take a tour - feel free to contact me and I'll show you around, maybe even let you shoot a bit.

To join it's a one time Application Fee = $100.00
You must be at least an Associate Member of the NRA = $10.00/year (you can pay more, but I don't)
Yearly RRPC dues are currently $140.00/year

Bob S.

To bad, I went down to Florida to care for a family member in 2016, last time I was there...............seems like the dues are triple what they once were...........nice facility tho............

Anybody remember Don and Helga Weiss?  Way back in the day they operated what I guess is Dominion now, the gun store with that amazingly bad range where carpet samples were used as soundproofing.  
If I recall Don eventually shot himself on the brink of conviction for running guns to New York.

Don had that place built from the ground up.....I want to say it was called the firing line...........he used to be farther down midlothian tpke.........back in the early 80's......Research road area......He was a retired Lt. Colonel, Us army.......Got into trouble with the ATF and they shut him down...........The one handgun a month law first came about around that time...........

Helga or Hilda?


I went to her house in Chesterfield 5 or so years ago and did an appraisal for some guns she had left over,

nice lady,  

she declined my very generous offer,  basically wanted me to pay her with about a 5% profit margin,


nope

It was to my understanding and all this happened 30 plus years ago...........their store inventory was sold per the ATF

not all of it,  she kept about 40 firearms

FWIW,  it was probably well over 30 yrs ago,  and the ATF wants them destroyed or disposed,   before the license is surrendered,

if she signed the out to herself,   that is ok,

I did not ask her

probably so............been over 30 years ago now..................

I actually have a property for sale near Black Creek. 6.6 acres. You could have your own shooting range. lol

Catcatcher,

Hours for the RRPC range are...

Outdoor firearm ranges - Mon-Sat, 08:00-Sunset (Sunset is an exact time and is posted on the ranges), Sun - 13:30-Sunset
Indoor Pistol Range - Mon-Sat, 08:00-22:00, Sun - 13:30-22:00
Archery ranges - Mon-Sun, 08:00-Sunset

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Bob S.