[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Howdy future neighbors (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/19/2011 2:55:36 PM EDT
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In September I'm voting with my feet and escaping CA. I'll be visiting next month and moving to somewhere in the general DC area on the Virginia side (don't have a place picked out yet). I was raised in the midwest so you don't have to worry about me bringing any california attitudes.
The first thing I'm going to do when I get a permanent address is buy a MG (probably an M11/9) as a final FU to California. I can't wait to live somewhere my CCW permit is valid and FTF isn't relegated to C&R guns. So, what are the good gun stores and ranges around there? I'm also looking for competitions of just about any type (3gun, IPSC, USPSA, etc). |
STFU!
An honor to have you good sir! wmounts will be along shortly to fill you in on the 3gun/USPSA shooting (loads out here). Good ranges in VA: NRA, SharpShooters, Izaak Walton League, Fairfax Rod and Gun Club ($$$$) probably more (still new here myself). I'm told there are some in MD, but I don't venture in to that state if I can avoid it. Good gun stores? Virginia Arms in Manassas has just about anything you want and is close. Feel like a road trip on a weekend, and there's Ashby Arms in Harrisonburgish and The Armory in VA Beach (great ammo prices). |
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I have a house for sale....you should buy it. 
Out in the sticks? Ultimately I'll be looking for property out in the direction of Winchester  Some people do consider Reston the sticks.... http://www.ziprealty.com/property/1681-CEDAR-HOLLOW-WAY-RESTON-VA-20194/72367981/detail?blc=true Renting is an option too! |
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Ranges: NRA if I have to shoot indoors and at a open to public range.
Gun Stores: NoVA Armament is decent. To be honest, you will get the best deal buy purchasing online and sending to an FFL (in most cases). I know that some do not like to send their business outside the state or to an e-tailer, but when it comes down to dollars, I go online. Check out VAguntrader.com. Lots of local deals on that site. Also, I have found even posting on this hometown forum has helped me get a gun serviced and night sights installed. I hope the transition goes smoothly as it can!
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I have a house for sale....you should buy it.
Out in the sticks? Ultimately I'll be looking for property out in the direction of Winchester Some people do consider Reston the sticks.... http://www.ziprealty.com/property/1681-CEDAR-HOLLOW-WAY-RESTON-VA-20194/72367981/detail?blc=true Renting is an option too! Nice place! But not nearly enough acres 
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Ranges: NRA if I have to shoot indoors and at a open to public range. Gun Stores: NoVA Armament is decent. To be honest, you will get the best deal buy purchasing online and sending to an FFL (in most cases). I know that some do not like to send their business outside the state or to an e-tailer, but when it comes down to dollars, I go online. Check out VAguntrader.com. Lots of local deals on that site. Also, I have found even posting on this hometown forum has helped me get a gun serviced and night sights installed. I hope the transition goes smoothly as it can!
I've been reading VAguntrader for the past few weeks
What to FFLs charge for internet sales in the area? No matter what it is, it's going to be less than I've been paying here 
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| $25 to $35. I paid $30 for my last gun at NoVA Armament - they just raised their prices. NoVA Armament has an online form and have processed my last two transactions without any problem. I have another private FFL, no gun shop that I use - his rate is $35. Expensive nonetheless, but cheaper than paying VA tax and inflated metro area prices. |
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here is a link to local competitions: Local competitions
I would look somewhere close to where you plan to work and rent first, when figure out where you want to live. Unless your working in Winchester, its a fair commute to Herndon/Reston/Chantilly and even further to inside the beltway. ETA: Welcome and best of luck in escaping from CA! |
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here is a link to local competitions: Local competitions I would look somewhere close to where you plan to work and rent first, when figure out where you want to live. Unless your working in Winchester, its a fair commute to Herndon/Reston/Chantilly and even further to inside the beltway. ETA: Welcome and best of luck in escaping from CA! Thanks for the calendar link.. I'll be bookmarking that. I'll see if I can shoot any while I'm out there next month. |
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If your going to the Winchester area. Just move 10 miles further and be in WV. Then we can fill you in on a place that does 5.00$ transfers.  
I don't exactly have my heart set on Winchester (I've never been there) but all the pictures & descriptions I've seen make it sound beautiful. Lots of history, cheap land, nice piece of middle-of-nowhere. As it stands that would be about a one hour commute each way. My current commute is 30-45 minutes and I'm OK with bumping it up a touch, but it would have to be a perfect place. Also, if I moved to a place that had $5 transfers I would go broke
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Winchester? That's out in my neck of the woods. I'm about 15 miles south in Strasburg. Wish I could tell you it's nice to own land out here, but I don't think my townhouse qualifies! lol If you look in Linden, there's a small funstore call Virginia Pistol. I think they do $25 transfers. In Front Royal you can go through the pawnshop and it's $20. Not really any public ranges around here except for The Cove. Haven't been there yet. I usually go to the NRA range on the way home from work or Clark Brothers down in Warrenton if I want to do an outdoor range. The only caveat with Clark is that you have buy your ammo and targets from them to use the range, but it's free to use. So there's a trade off.
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Quoted: STFU! An honor to have you good sir! wmounts will be along shortly to fill you in on the 3gun/USPSA shooting (loads out here). Good ranges in VA: NRA, SharpShooters, Izaak Walton League, Fairfax Rod and Gun Club ($$$$) probably more (still new here myself). I'm told there are some in MD, but I don't venture in to that state if I can avoid it. Good gun stores? Virginia Arms in Manassas has just about anything you want and is close. Feel like a road trip on a weekend, and there's Ashby Arms in Harrisonburgish and The Armory in VA Beach (great ammo prices). Got here as fast as I could, but I see that Olivers_AR has already taken care of things.  Welcome to the Old Dominion! |
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I'm a Calif. native, born and raised in Fresno for 41 years. Been here in the eastern panhandle (EPH) for 13 now. Sure don't miss most things about Calif., especially the gun laws. Definitely look around here for property.
2 ?s for you, where are you in Calif and what type of work do you do? |
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I commute from WV to Haymarket Va area and it takes about an hour or hour and 15 on a bad day.
And cheap and land go hand in hand when you company Va to Wv. Wv is cheaper so you can get more for your $$$ I didn't mention the place that does 5.00 transfers also can get you your MG and is a master gunsmith that does great work. Also custom rifles.
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I'm a Calif. native, born and raised in Fresno for 41 years. Been here in the eastern panhandle (EPH) for 13 now. Sure don't miss most things about Calif., especially the gun laws. Definitely look around here for property. 2 ?s for you, where are you in Calif and what type of work do you do? I'm around the bay area and I do computer stuff. Thanks for the info everybody! |
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Welcome sir! I am sure ANYWHERE you look in VA will be cheaper than ANYTHING in the Bay area of CA. Too bad you won't be able to tele-commute. You could live outside of the NOVA and NOVA influenced areas and really save some money on land.
Good luck on your move! |
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Mike SH is not kidding when he says that this place is friendly to folks from CA, Neither Turnskull or myself have shot him yet and we shoot with him when we can all get together, same for Hard Rock who is the Gun Guru Master Gunsmith he was referring too. WV and VA both have places out away from NOVA that are full auto friendly. Mag Capacity is not a question when hunting here. If your mag will hold 40 rounds, you can hunt with 40 rounds, unless your shotgunning for Migratory Birds.
ANGMSG |
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Welcome sir! I am sure ANYWHERE you look in VA will be cheaper than ANYTHING in the Bay area of CA. Too bad you won't be able to tele-commute. You could live outside of the NOVA and NOVA influenced areas and really save some money on land. Good luck on your move! Actually most of the apartment rents I've seen for the area around where I'll be working are slightly higher than I pay now  Not by that much though, and certainly not enough to discourage me from coming
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Mike SH is not kidding when he says that this place is friendly to folks from CA, Neither Turnskull or myself have shot him yet and we shoot with him when we can all get together, same for Hard Rock who is the Gun Guru Master Gunsmith he was referring too. WV and VA both have places out away from NOVA that are full auto friendly. Mag Capacity is not a question when hunting here. If your mag will hold 40 rounds, you can hunt with 40 rounds, unless your shotgunning for Migratory Birds. ANGMSG Glad to know I won't get shot Does the NRA indoor range allow FA? I heard from someone who goes there that it is, but I can't find anything on the website about it.
I'm looking forward to hunting with drums
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Does the NRA indoor range allow FA? I'm certain they do. They're even more anal about safety than pretty much any other range I've been to, though, so they may hover. Congrats on the move... I did the same thing last year, and other than family, the weather, and my regular food haunts there... I'm done with CA. |
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What to FFLs charge for internet sales in the area? No matter what it is, it's going to be less than I've been paying here  You'll also find that the stuff you get transferred look kinda different. Rifles here have sort of an "incomplete" look and feel. For one thing, the magazines fall out if you hit the wrong button. Definitely not like CA, where they're nice enough to make sure they don't come out at all. Second, stocks often look unfinished, like they added the pistol grip and shoulder stock, but forgot to add the bottom part. With that piece missing, the "thumbhole" is more like an open space between the stock and grip. Weird! Of course if you ever get homesick, I'm sure you can have one of these works of art shipped to you:
When it comes to gas-powered tools, you will notice that you can only find the models that don't end in "C", and they have mysterious descriptors like "49 state compliant." They cost a bit less and sometimes work a bit better, but in general, Virginia is like many states: extremely smoggy, dangerous and full of incompetent firefighters. Without CalOSHA, CARB, CAL FIRE, et al, we're just a bunch of at-risk hicks and morons. We're so backward that those wacky libertarians at the Mercatus Center called us the 9th most free state in the US. Welcome to the Commonwealth! NoVA is the one area that's a bit different, so more Arfcommers up there is a good thing. It's also a good thing when the good guys leave the bad states. It's good for the individual and good for the balance in Congress (too bad it takes so long to have an effect). You'll find that living near DC gives you access to America's lone remaining growth industry: government. The housing market here is stronger than most other places and jobs are more readily available (not that you need one). Again, welcome!
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What to FFLs charge for internet sales in the area? No matter what it is, it's going to be less than I've been paying here You'll also find that the stuff you get transferred look kinda different. Rifles here have sort of an "incomplete" look and feel. For one thing, the magazines fall out if you hit the wrong button. Definitely not like CA, where they're nice enough to make sure they don't come out at all. Second, stocks often look unfinished, like they added the pistol grip and shoulder stock, but forgot to add the bottom part. With that piece missing, the "thumbhole" is more like an open space between the stock and grip. Weird! Of course if you ever get homesick, I'm sure you can have one of these works of art shipped to you:
http://www.monstermangrip.com/images/homepage_mmg_cust01.jpg When it comes to gas-powered tools, you will notice that you can only find the models that don't end in "C", and they have mysterious descriptors like "49 state compliant." They cost a bit less and sometimes work a bit better, but in general, Virginia is like many states: extremely smoggy, dangerous and full of incompetent firefighters. Without CalOSHA, CARB, CAL FIRE, et al, we're just a bunch of at-risk hicks and morons. We're so backward that those wacky libertarians at the Mercatus Center called us the 9th most free state in the US. Welcome to the Commonwealth! NoVA is the one area that's a bit different, so more Arfcommers up there is a good thing. It's also a good thing when the good guys leave the bad states. It's good for the individual and good for the balance in Congress (too bad it takes so long to have an effect). You'll find that living near DC gives you access to America's lone remaining growth industry: government. The housing market here is stronger than most other places and jobs are more readily available (not that you need one). Again, welcome!
Hmm, these are all CA legal, and no abomination stocks.. 
They do have bullet buttons. Those and my 10 round magazines are going to go into some pay-it-forward or contest once I move. And CAL FIRE EMTs scraped my ass up off the pavement when I wrecked my motorcycle, so I can't say anything bad about them 
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I live in Warrenton, not to far from Winchester. Your welcome out at my place anytime to shoot. It's free. Clark Brothers is a popular place to shoot, but I prefer to shoot in my back yard. Oh that must be nice to be able to walk out side and fire some rounds like that ( so envying you right niw )
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Quoted: I live in Warrenton, not to far from Winchester. Your welcome out at my place anytime to shoot. It's free. Clark Brothers is a popular place to shoot, but I prefer to shoot in my back yard. Lucky! I don't think my neighbors in the townhouses here would appreciate it if I tried that. The wife said she wants to get a horse now and I want some land to shoot on, so it looks like it's time to start saving up for a nice plot somewhere!
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What did you do you first night on our soil as a new resident? (Remember to go to our DMV ASAP to switch your driver license and car registration, if you have a car.) Fell asleep on the couch watching Star Wars
I have a rental car for now; my truck will be here in bout a week. Do the cops like to targt out of state plates? Whats the status of the Gadsden plates? |
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Do the cops like to targt out of state plates? Not that I saw... but I rushed to get rid if anything that associated me with CA. I had VA DL and plates within a month. Whats the status of the Gadsden plates?
They're coming! Supposed to be "by this fall". So... two weeks?
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Do the cops like to targt out of state plates? Not that I saw... but I rushed to get rid if anything that associated me with CA. I had VA DL and plates within a month. Whats the status of the Gadsden plates?
They're coming! Supposed to be "by this fall". So... two weeks? I'll hold on to my CA plates for a little longer if it means I can get Gadsden plates to replace them with.. then maybe use my CA plates as target practice?
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