Does anybody here go to the Tucson Rifle Club range?

Have you shot any matches there?  Any tips/reviews/thoughts?

I normally go to Pima Pistol Club but you have to cross a wash to get in. This has not been an issue in the last two years but this monsoon season the wash has been running more often than not. I have a car so unfortunately its just not worth the risk of trying to cross the wash and getting stuck. This has made signing up for matches super frustrating and I had to cancel this weekend as somehow the wash is still running. Their USPSA match is also pretty much dead due to some drama.

So I'm looking for some other options in the Tucson area as not being able to shoot is really bumming me out.

I like to shoot IDPA/USPSA/Steel Challenge as well as just normal pistol/rifle shooting.

Thanks!

I used to go there just to shoot the steel.  Then they started to allow the rifle silhouette range to decline where very few targets remained.  Most targets present were chained down so you couldn't use them.

There was serious and dangerous crossfire that the rangemasters would deny.  I have been shot at before and the sound of a round streaking by is very distinctive.  They eventually closed down the range and dug some of the pits deeper and raised berms to cut down on dangerous skip shots that were causing the cross fire.  The rangemasters would rarely leave the shack, so you were really on your own for safety.  This was a problem if you were downrange resetting targets and some shithead showed up and started fingerfucking their guns at the firing line.  Having a backup to watch the line was almost a necessity.

They now have a safety zone and hot/cold lights set up, so I hope those things are still working.

Best bet is to go out and take a good look at the range to decide if current conditions merit a membership.

Without a membership, you won't have access to all of the ranges.

Pistol and rimfire silhouette range was always a blast too.

I bet it has been over 5 years since I have been out there.

Went there two times, both in the summer. The first time, I attempted to zero a few firearms, including a red dot equipped shotgun, and was told “no shotguns” by Rangemaster Fudd who never left the air conditioned shack.

Proceeded to zero my AK and it was pretty standard public range stuff. It closes at like 12:30 PM during the summer or something silly - it’s not convenient, especially given how far it is.

The next month I shot the 3 gun match there, including the shotgun (maybe Rangemaster Fudd never saw me?) with no problems, but the 3 gun match was kind of small and you had to show up at like 6 AM to help set up. There was also some goofy stuff at this one like one stage that was handgun only, mandatory condition 3 start. Surprisingly only one rifle long range stage.

I then discovered the Multigun match at Rio Salado in Mesa, which is a better facility with more complex stages that I could show up at 7 or 10:30 to shoot, and never went back.

I can’t speak to the pistol match scene. I heard TRC is nice for some of the static, traditional rifle matches. Sorry the USPSA at PPC fell apart, that’s a nice facility too.

yeah I guess I'll just have to drive down sometime and check it out.
Their website looks like it was last updated about 20 years ago.. gotta wonder how the place stays open

There was a fire at some point and they rebuilt the target repair/maintenance building a while afterwards.

Border Patrol used to set up tents and do training/quals at the range.

I shot a cowboy action match there and it was pretty OK.  No issues. That has been a while.........

I worked part time out there YEARS ago and it was a pretty nice setup...except that one day we found a car abandoned on the 500 meter silhouette range. Never did get an explanation on that one when PCSO took it away. The 1000 yard range is cool, but as a non member you can, (at that time), only use thee ranges, not including the 1000 yard range. The Cowboy action bays were VERY cool when set up, neat 7 bay range with lots of mobile "building fronts".
It is way out there, past Three Points, but if you needed the really long range, it was the only game in town.

You used to be able to pull out steel targets, used in the bays for the matches, but the last time I was there they were all locked up.

I had my own steel, so I used one of the bays with my group.

You don't have unlimited access to the 1000Y range.  They let me use it on a day when I had no hardware with me for it.  They tend to open it only for organized events or to one of the CMP shooting groups.

The 1k range is available to schedule for use.

A membership is $100 a year for two people.

Members shoot free.

The 560y range  ("Range 1") is GTG but busy during hunting season.

BP used to shoot on Ranges 2 and 5, and may again.  Its a contract, and when BP is not shooting, the ranges are available for public use.

There are no tents, there is plenty of covered metal awnings anchored in cement slabs.

You can drive downrange to set up targets.

The 1k range can get you 1250-1300y if you try hard enough.

The main building has a classroom that people can use.

The range staff are pretty cool dudes.

You can bring a grill and BBQ while you shoot.  Bring enough to share.

They run matches with a high degree of regularity.  

You can park your RV there and shoot all summer (many people from up north and back east winter at the range).

Its the best range in Pima County, by a very wide margin, and possibly in all of SE AZ.

Tucson Rifle Club USPSA can’t get the minimum # of shooters signed up to hold their match ( last one shot was 06/05/21)

Pima Pistol Club USPSA has a President that favors IDPA and has run off 8 USPSA match directors in the last 3 years. Real shame as it draws more shooters than IDPA ( last match was 62 shooters, without the usual group that comes down from Rio Salado ). Additionally Pima Pistol Club President, will set up his IDPA stages to “handy cap” divisions he doesn’t favor.

1st Sunday Steel Workers @ Pima Pistol Club is a all steel march using USPSA rule book scored time +, very good match.

Bottom line is if you want to shoot USPSA you need to be willing to travel to Rio Salado for matches. That’s what I do but I am the only Tucson shooter that dose it for level 1 matches.

Update: Finally made the drive out there.

Here are some thoughts in case anyone else has been wondering about it and runs across this in a search :

1. website is inaccurate. The range descriptions on the website did not seem to match reality at all. The pistol range now seems to be range 3 (from the right) although it was closed for a DPS event when I went.

2. Even though the range is huge you might not get to shoot. They were crowding everyone into range 2 for pistol and rifle shooting. This is the smallest range they had. There were about 6 tables and 2 were sprayed with "don't use" for some reason. The seats looked like someone made them in shop class from scrap metal.  I'm not sure what the qualifications are for using range 1, it seemed pretty empty

3. they spray paint the bullet holes in the wood target stands and if you accidentally make any new holes they charge you money for it. They have their own separate feet that the stands go into and they are kinda crummy and there weren't enough for even the small range i was on which was confusing people who were coming up to shoot

4. admission was 15 bucks. They don't take credit cards. The guy in the RO office did not seem to enjoy his job

5. Rules are kinda crazy and there are a lot of unwritten rules that don't seem to make sense. A guy got yelled at for walking past a range with a cased rifle. Another guy got yelled at for going to his truck during a cease fire ( I guess you are not allowed to move at all anywhere near a range during cease fire). I got yelled at for taking a picture of the range (don't want to reveal the identity of the secret squirrel shooters who rent the range), and for drinking water during ceasefire (too much movement). The RO also mentioned that .22 can only be shot at 100 yards at one of the ranges, and on the website there are a lot of rules stating that you can only shoot cast bullets like its the 80s

So yeah.. interesting place.
I'd go shoot a competition there but SAPS (uspsa?) seems to be dead and the only other thing on practice score for the range appears to be three gun.

I can't say I would recommend going there to shoot for fun. Its way too disorganized and the whole place kinda feels abandoned like an old ghost town. Maybe if you became a member and put in the time to get to know the ROs it would be different. I talked to one of the ROs for awhile and he seemed pretty cool, but you really have to be ultra alert not to break any of the weird range rules.

There are no "DPS events."  There are only DPS qualifications and sometimes vendor days.  Its state land, managed by a state entity (Fish and Game), run by the club, so DPS has a dedicated range since it is a state agency.  When DPS is not shooting, that range is generally made available to the public.  Ranges are numbered from east to west, not west to east.



"Do Not Use" was for social distancing during the rice rabies scare.  Not sure if it still applies but I doubt it.  I'd ask though.  "Masks required" used to be on the doors to the restrooms but those signs are gone too.



Wood costs money.

There are stands everywhere, sometimes you just have to look around, or walk to another range, to grab one.  You can bring your own, and many folks do.



Membership is the way to go if you are going to shoot a lot.



Yes, the rules can be a little much, but once you are used to them its not so bad.  The rules are designed to 100% protect people walking or driving down range to mark or place targets.  Your closest emergency services are Three Points Fire, and you do not want them treating a gun shot.  Better to not have any gun shots at all.

The guys who enjoy their time there the most are the ones who arrive at 0630 when the gates opens and are sending at 0700 when the ranges go hot, before anyone else gets there.

A lot of LE uses the facility and taking pictures may get you some attention, however it is obviously not illegal.



The more you go the better it gets.

yeah I think the website still lists range #3 as 'black powder' range but when I got there it had a sign saying public 5-100 yard range. It was closed for some private group (thought it was DPS) today but from talking to the RO it sounded like it is normally a pistol and maybe small caliber rifle range. Other than the calendar most of the website looks like it hasn't changed since the 90s, so trying to read it only confused me.

Its about an hour from me so not sure whether I will be back anytime soon

Yep, their website is terrible.

Its also an hour away from me.  The desert is closer

It's always been a mess,  before you go I'd call a day ahead and make sure they're not closed for any .gov training.