Posted: 3/5/2016 12:41:52 PM EDT
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Shooting Range Use
Outdoor shooting ranges with any kind of distance are few and far between. The private clubs that do have them we founded by High Power Rifle shooters. Places like Elk River Sportsmans Club goes to 600yds, North Star Rifle Club goes to 600yds, and Gopher R and R Club goes to 1000yds. These actively host F-Class, High Power XTC, Palma, and other matches. The club up in Duluth has range distance of 500yds they host High Power XTC matches. Their main purpose is not for Joe Blow to try his hand at long distance shooting on a whim. Many people do not have the skill set or the equipment to do it. And, SAFETY trumps your need to feed your ego! Ranges do not need to have their conditional use permits voided by bullets leaving the property! Frankly shooting at distances beyond 300 yards a person should have a spotter, and if it is on a formal range with target carriers then someone to operate the carrier. Not something to be alone. There is Faribault Rifle & Pistol Club which I believe has their range down for reconstruction at this time that goes out to 600yds. They host more handgun orientated programs. There are other ranges like Dakota County Gun Club goes out the 300yds, Rainbow Sportsmans Club out north of Cokato that goes 300yds, and Forest Lake that goes to 400yds. And, then ranges get smaller like Minnesota Horse and Hunt, Del Tone, Oakdale, Post 435, Delano, MRC, Beaverbrook, and Minnetonka Sportsmans Club. I probably missed a few. Reality The clubs are private across the board save for Del Tone in St. Cloud which goes to 200yds. Oakdale has limited public access in the summer months, but is still a private club. Now we get to the whiners…..and there is no other word for it. Unless you are fortunate to be able to own land that is safe to shoot at distance on or have access to such land you are stuck. So, whining is not going to make a range magically appear. Get over it! Quit your bitching! Things like you do not want to join a club, pay dues, or meet other membership requirements! NO FREE LUNCHES! Clubs have membership requirements! WOW what a novel deal! Someone has to pay insurance, buy the fuel to mow the grass, pay the electricity, build benches, pay for backer boards, target frames, have the Porta Potty’s pumped out, etc. The club members do this. No Free Lunches here folks! Sure there are membership expenses in the form of money or time such as Initiation Fee - Annual Dues – Work Hours – Range Attendant Hours. Some requirements are pretty easy, pay money get range key and no work requirement or you can buy you hours out at fixed rate. Some are bit more involved where you have to do range attendant duty a couple shifts a year! WOW some can be done in one day if planned properly! While I am not one to say we do not live busy lives, etc. That would be foolish. But, I work 6 and sometimes seven days a week. I did my range attendant time with no muss and no fuss. If you want to shoot there are venues! But there is a price! And, then we get to being a good neighbor. Look at Del Tone they do not need bullets leaving the property with people screwing around, just like Post 435 does not need bullets leaving the property. Nor does any club want bullets anywhere but in the back stop berm area! It is truly a shame the way private club members treat their ranges. They shoot up targets and do not reface them with fresh targets, or they shoot at anything but the back boards, or the bring crap like computers or computer monitors and shoot them up and leave all kinds of debris. Then there are the public indoor ranges! Holy cow bullet pock marks on the floor, ceiling, walls, shooting stalls, light fixtures etc. I felt bad to see when the Burnsville Range opened the 47yd bay up, and within days there were scars inflicted in short amount of time. And, even go look at SW Metro Training range it has its share of scars too, mostly from law enforcement use rather than public use as it is limited. You can either pony up to buy “X” acres of land and then do work to make sure you have safe back stop and shoot to your heart’s content. Or join a club and gain access. Hmmmm……. If you want to shoot at distance and not join a club you can shoot F Class league on Monday nights at Elk River…. You start with an equipment check @ 100, then move onto 300, and finally 600 for the rest of the league nights. This is open to the public. |
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Same old song and dance from you over and over on this topic.
Some people can't do range time, its just how it is. I've been a member of a few ranges, there are some dinks running the show at some and screw it up for everyone. Also, Del Ton, part of the problem there was ricochets off the ground because they closed the pistol bay because of people "shooting it up". They put everyone on the 50 yard range AT the 50 yard line, then people were shooting at close distances off the 50 yard line and the bullets weren't impacting the berm. I actually went to them and pointed this out a few weeks before the lady got shot on her porch there. I informed them that pistol rounds weren't impacting the berm, I also told them that rounds were ricocheting off of the gazillion large rocks that they had on the range in the dirt. Once again, your attitude type is probably why a bunch of long time members I know left one particular range. I would frankly like if you never posted about ranges again, you post the same crap and it isn't worth a damn. |
| I don't let bullshit like his comments get to me. Just his opinion. You know what they say about opinions. As was posted above, some of us don't have the luxury of time and money o belong to a range. Rather just pay whatever they charge and go shoot when I get the chance, which is not to often. |
