Does anybody shoot at the Jay Henges range in STL County? How do you like it? How are the facilities? The ROs aren't Nazi jerks are they? Is it pretty comparable to the one at the Busch wildlife area?  I might go there in a couple of weeks and I'd like to get some info on how it is beforehand. Thanks.

Before I joined Arnold Rifle and Pistol Club, this was where I shot all the time since I didn't have access to land of my own.  A lot of people on this board despise the conservation ranges for reasons that I understand.  I OTOH enjoyed them for the most part.  They're clean, they're safe, and they're relatively cheap.  I wouldn't hesitate to use them.

If you need to use one to test custom loads however, forget about it.  The 15min. rule prevents that.  If you feel a need to rapid fire, forget it.  There's like a 3 second rule between shots.  Other than that, I found the range officers at Jay Henges to be even less hands-off than Busch.  It's been a couple of years since I've shot there though.

ETA:  I didn't get hasseled for shooting the M4 and a lot of folks bring these types of rifles and AK's and SKS's as well so don't worry about the "That gun is for military only!" aspect.  It doesn't exist there that I've found.

Why don't some guys on here like the Conservation ranges?  Even though I live in Illinois, the Missouri DOC ranges are the only ones I go to.  Everything around here is a club with obligations, like work days.  The only obligation to the DOC is to pay your fee and clean your mess.  And none of the clubs around here are really any closer.  They can draw some yahoos, but besides that, I've got no beef with Conservation ranges.

I've been lucky so far I guess.  All I've seen is a guy try to check out during a cease fire (grab his cased firearm while guys were downrange, not overly dangerous but the rules are the rules) and somebody open a case outside a booth.  Both times the RO was on it pretty quick and told them what's up.  Hopefully, that's the worst I see.  Hopefully....

its mostly what duke said. but some other things also. i mostly shoot black rifles, and C&r stuff. every time i have been i catch crap of why do you need those, why do you want to shoot that old pos it probably has a tooth pick for a firing pin.  then they get mad if i out shoot there new fancy bolt guns. i probably have  1 type of most every firearm made. from muskets to modern stuff.  i also like to be left alone. i dont come to the range to socialize. i come to be left alone and shoot. remove stress. i dont want to be harrased and bugged.

also they dont allow class 3 stuff we have allot of local shooters that have class 3 stuff and get questioned.


i also dont like the idea og getting shot. im one of those people that if the range gets crowded i will leave.

Ronald.

Quoted: Why don't some guys on here like the Conservation ranges?  Even though I live in Illinois, the Missouri DOC ranges are the only ones I go to.  Everything around here is a club with obligations, like work days.  The only obligation to the DOC is to pay your fee and clean your mess.  And none of the clubs around here are really any closer.  They can draw some yahoos, but besides that, I've got no beef with Conservation ranges.

Some of the guys I've spoken to don't like the Conservation ranges because:

1)  There are some over zealous range officers at some of them (I haven't experienced this at Jay Henges).
2)  The 3 second rule between shots.
3)  Testing reloaded ammunition with a chronograph and recording measurements and so forth is complicated by the cease fires occuring every 15 minutes.
4)  The incredibly poor hours of availability during the week.

Reason 4 is really my only personal complaint about them.  During the summer, it's nice to be able to head out to Arnold Rifle and Pistol Club after work.  The mandatory work days are a bummer,  yes, but I don't view them as mandatory.  I choose to take the $100.00 hit since my weekends are valuable to my wife and I.

Quoted: its mostly what duke said. but some other things also. i mostly shoot black rifles, and C&r stuff. every time i have been i catch crap of why do you need those, why do you want to shoot that old pos it probably has a tooth pick for a firing pin.  then they get mad if i out shoot there new fancy bolt guns. i probably have  1 type of most every firearm made. from muskets to modern stuff.  i also like to be left alone. i dont come to the range to socialize. i come to be left alone and shoot. remove stress. i dont want to be harrased and bugged. also they dont allow class 3 stuff we have allot of local shooters that have class 3 stuff and get questioned. i also dont like the idea og getting shot. im one of those people that if the range gets crowded i will leave. Ronald.

That's one aspect of the ARPC that drives me crazy.  Sometimes I'll get there really early in the morning because I just want to shoot and inevitably I'll get someone that wants to talk the whole day.  Sometimes I don't mind but at other times it's enough to drive you crazy.

I was never hasseled about the type of guns that I shot out at the conservation ranges.  Did that happen to you a lot out there?

i had it happen many of time. when i shoot my Fal, had local hunters tell me my ak was illegal, and had many of people tell me my Ar was illegal during the ban, even when you tried to explain preban didnt matter. i quit going to public ranges.

sad but true. the straw that broke the camels back was when we had the gangbangers show up with the ak and trun it on its side and shoot sideways. they missed the whole brem.

sad really. stuff liike that gives gun owners bad name.

one time i was with mousegun and we were working with my M1 getting ready for cmp match and they were getting mad since we were shooting prone. and going thru the match. people were making a big deal.

im not saying gun clups is better.  it just the conversation ranges have got worse.

Ronald

Quoted: Quoted: its mostly what duke said. but some other things also. i mostly shoot black rifles, and C&r stuff. every time i have been i catch crap of why do you need those, why do you want to shoot that old pos it probably has a tooth pick for a firing pin.  then they get mad if i out shoot there new fancy bolt guns. i probably have  1 type of most every firearm made. from muskets to modern stuff.  i also like to be left alone. i dont come to the range to socialize. i come to be left alone and shoot. remove stress. i dont want to be harrased and bugged. also they dont allow class 3 stuff we have allot of local shooters that have class 3 stuff and get questioned. i also dont like the idea og getting shot. im one of those people that if the range gets crowded i will leave. Ronald. That's one aspect of the ARPC that drives me crazy.  Sometimes I'll get there really early in the morning because I just want to shoot and inevitably I'll get someone that wants to talk the whole day.  Sometimes I don't mind but at other times it's enough to drive you crazy. I was never hasseled about the type of guns that I shot out at the conservation ranges.  Did that happen to you a lot out there?

When I am testing loads, practicing self-defense type shooting or I want to bust up milk jugs or old computers I go to Pigeon Hill since it's un-manned and I can practice practical shooting there too.  When it comes time for deer season.  I aviod it like the plauge of death.  Even on quiet days there WILL be one ass that starts messing with his rifle while people are down range.  It's useless to correct them too.  They are too smart for that after all.  They weren't pointing it AT you!

I just bought a remote control for my chrony so I don't have to go down range to change strings or check velocity.  I did that so I could use the manned range at Parma Woods more often because I feel much safer there.  The cease fire every five minutes does make it hard to get anything done sometimes though.

Every so often I want to shoot cans and clays and computers and ice and then I just suck it up and brave the yahoos.  I wish Parma would drop the standing or bench only rule though.  Kinda limits it's use for practice of any serious kind.

Quoted: Its the yahoos that most people have problems with.  Alot of people at those ranges don't follow even rudimentary firearm safety and they'll sweep others with loaded firearms or go down to check targets while others are still shooting.

The cant happen at the manned ranges, which henges is. They'd stop them or cease fire immediately.

As far as the unmanned ranges, the only one I've been to was spread apart like a circle so it was possible to go down range when others were shooting, at least at the 25 yard lane.



So they'd have to screw up really bad, like turn almost 90 degrees to the right to get anywhere near you. As long as someone was taking carefully aimed shots at the first or second station I would walk down to the 25. Now, if I was at the other ones, no way, or if there were idiots blasting away I'd probably just leave.

As far as the EBR stuff, I've never had a problem with the range staff at busch or henges. One guy at busch even started asking about my AKS-74 and I let him fire off a few rounds. I've never had a problem with other shooters either. I just hate the 3 second thing so I dont go very often.

My experience at Henges was that they were range Nazis. The day I was there it was pretty slow and there was no evidence of anyone mishandling things, but the range ops still acted with bad attitudes the whole time I was there. Could be they'd had some nitwit pull through before I got there, but that's still no reason to be impolite with others.

The public range I use most is Little Indian Creek near Sullivan. This used to be a place where you shot across a valley into a couple berms and a hillside roughly 100 yards across the ditch. Now, they've moved the range to the Washington County side of the Conservation Area and have it set up with the concrete benches and measured range posts. There's also a shotgun area if you want to launch some clay birds.

It is unmanned and usually the people there are quite competent. I've never been there when people weren't conscientiously self-policing. Of course, there are ample signs that a lot of dipshits go through as the various range-rule boards and other signs are usually shot up. The trash cans are thoroughly perforated, and there is a good deal of litter depending on when you go. Just before or after a major hunting season seem to be the worst times as far as having the place go crazy with a lot of users and trash. But cold weather and super hot weather tends to make the range a relatively nice place to shoot.

The range does "require" use of provided targets, and these are often not available. But I'm not sure there's anyone who enforces this with too much gusto.
Frankly, I prefer the unmanned ranges.

Gilt/Joe

The public range I use most is Little Indian Creek near Sullivan. This used to be a place where you shot across a valley into a couple berms and a hillside roughly 100 yards across the ditch. Now, they've moved the range to the Washington County side of the Conservation Area and have it set up with the concrete benches and measured range posts. There's also a shotgun area if you want to launch some clay birds.

This is the only range I shoot at these days. I only go on the weekdays to avoid crowds. I have only had one experince there that caused me to pack up and leave, but I like the range... I have been there MANY time when I am the only person there, which is really nice!

There's supposedly an unmanned range in the Apple Creek CA that goes out to 200 yards.  Heard this from a guy at ARPC but  haven't confirmed it myself yet.