Hey everybody, the wife and I have finally made it into Virginia, boy has this been a long and tiresome move.
Thank you everybody who sent links and information in the past, I used alot of it!!!

Now that We are here I am looking for hunting shooting fishing clubs in the Spotsylvania or Stafford areas.  
Is anyone familiar with the areas a memeber anywhere?
Can anyone recomend a good overall gunsmith and gunshop?
Also looking forward to the Richmond gushow in March, hope to meet some of you there.

Nick

Welcome to Virgina!  Now.....go out and buy a machinegun!

I'm a little north of you, but I'm sure that you'll find whatever you want down there in Spotsylvania county.

Actually, go out and buy some land where we can all get together and have Machinegun shoots.

Welcome to VA.

By your nick, I assume that you left Rhode Island. My folks moved to the mountains of Va, from RI back is August. Went I retire, I'm probably going move back to the Va. mountains.

Jamie

welcome to VA

Welcome, LilRhody!!  

About time.  We'll keep you in the loop next time we get together.  Hope you enjoy Virginia!!

    Black Fox

welcome to va.

Glad to have you down here!!

I used to be a member of a hunt club in Spot. country....it was called Jackson's trail huntclub.....near Chancellorsville....great spot, that was 11 years ago..

As far as gunshops go you are just up the road from Greentops the mega-sporting goods store for the hunting/gun/fishing enthusiast

Where will this be located?  Length of range? more info.. [:D]

When the time gets closer, you might want to ask here for volunteers to help you clear your land for your range.  We'd be more than happy to get poison ivy. [;)]

Welcome to your new home.  Don't hesitate to ask ANYTHING of me (and I would venture to say any of the other VA citizens).  I will be more than happy to help any way that I can.  I'm down here in Virginia Beach with the rest of the Hampton Roads members.  

Now go out and get your CCW and join the VCDL!

Ross

I'll second that!

I live in Stafford.  Contact me back channel and I'll help familiarize you with this area, maybe over a brew.

There are a couple of good gunsmiths in the area.  I happen to prefer a crusty ole Jarhead south of us on Hwy 1, just north of Richmond.  The business name is [b]tti-International[/b].  This is his biz url:  [url]http://www.tti-intl.com/[/url].  His name is Trapper and he specializes in AR-15s/M1As and M-1 Garands.  He is a fine technician with fair prices.  He has customized my AR and I am happy with the work.  I think his custom trigger job is one of the best...if not THE best AR trigger I have ever used.  (If you're a Marine...you have an edge with Trap.)  He has been very busy since 9-11.  He makes custom ARs, especially for LEO organizations.  They also sponsor a shooting team...and they ARE good.  I shoot against them occasionally and they don't get shaded often.

Virginia Guns on Hwy 1 just south of the Quantico Marine Corps base is a good place to browse, drool and buy too.  Bill is a good dude.

The Range, an indoor range shooting range and gun store is on Hwy 1, just up the road from us.  You can shoot virtually any pistol cartridge including SMGs plus rifles & with pre-fragged ammo.  Ask for Bing or Paul.  Here is
their url:  [url]http://www.indoorrange.com/[/url]

There are three gun shows each month in our general area.  Richmond, Warrenton, Dale City.  Many vendors are at all three.  

Clark Bros. gun store and outdoor range is about 30 miles up Hwy 17 to Warrenton.  They have a pretty good range for skeet, pistol and rifle out to 100 yds.  You must buy their ammo to shoot.  Certain times of year, month, day of the week and hour of the day are REAL busy with a long wait...so plan ahead.  Just before deer season is a bad time.

Fredericksburg Rod & Gun Club is actually in Spotsy county...I think they are full up now...but I could be wrong.  There is also an Isaac Walton Conservation Club out Route 3.  Membership is by invitation only...but not impossible.  Networking is how you get in.

There are a couple of other rod and gun clubs.  Here is the web site of the region 8 of the United States Practical Shooting Assn. (USPSA): [url]http://www.vamdsection.org/index.html[/url].  Take a few minutes to browse...

Of course...there is the NRA HQ, just up the road in Fairfax Cty.  Every good shooter should visit Mt. Olympus at least once...and the facilities are neat.

Finally, I can point you to a fun rifle match if you contact me by phone.  You will need an intro, plus a fast shooter with lots of ammo and mags.

Welcome!

Maybe check out Fredericksburg Rod and Gun?

[url]http://www.vaskeet.com/clubs/fredericksburg.htm[/url]

When I first moved to Virginia, I had a serious problem with the "One-gun-a-month" rule.  I had newborn twins at the time, and their upkeep often left little extra cash to buy one gun a month!!  On those "tight" months, I just bought cheap, like a Jennings or Lorcin.

Things are better now, but storage is becoming an issue![%|]

Welcome to Virginia!

I have five acres now. It just isn't enough to set up a good 100yrd range (especially for rifle). Unless it backs up to a mountain or some kind of natural stop.

I would recommend at least 25 acres for a safe/reliable 100 yard range.

208'x208' = ~1 Acre 416x208 = ~2 Acres etc.

As MrP says, as long as you have a solid backstop ie mountain, you should have no trouble with 100 yards.

I'm looking to buy around 40+ acres for just shooting.  Anyone know the current rates of interest for JUST land?  

I've never bought anything big before except cars. :)

Lil Rhody, you lucky b*%^$*@! I envy you. Enjoy your new life in Free VA.
[beer][bounce]

I am still here in Occupied Massachusetts.[>(]  

Oh, well, at least- as long as the state doesn't take away my licence-[spank] I can go out and buy all the guns I want at once here- er...as long as they aren't pistols made or brought into the MA-SSR after 10/98....[whacko]

...even if I could afford them....[:(!] the taxes up here alone are killing us- and they're going up again (go figure)

Even my hoplophobe British wife is getting sick of the PRoMA....she's finally figuring out that the Liberal Life is intrusive, overbearing, AND very expen$ive.[thinking]






.............
I once heard the head of the Internal Revenue Service claim that taxes are
the price we pay for civilization. In fact, it's the other way around:
civilization is the price we pay -- what we are required to sacrifice -- in
order to have taxes.
- --L NEIL SMITH

Congrats!  Welcome to Virginia.

Don't forget the Quantico Gun Club...$35 a year and all sorts of ranges.  A bargain.  No class III allowed though.  You are going to get a Class III aren't you?  Hate to waste the ability.  Don't forget to get your concealed weapons permit.

Once again, welcome to the neighborhood.

I'm jealous...
I think you will like Virginia.

Thanx everybody for the WARM WELCOME!!!!!!!!

I screwed up my e-mail and so I just decided to pick a new nickname and start fresh with my account.
So for anyone that cares LilRhody is now Whisper300.


I hated the vehicle inspection process here in Spotsy.. they made me pull the tint off one of my windshields and also pulled the fog lights off another one of my vehicles 'cause they were not wired into my rear lights. (who the heck drives with just fog lights on?) anyway....

Passed by the local county clerk and got my CCP within 10 days with no hassle whatsoever, this was the best experience I have ever had getting a permit, not to mention the quickest and cheapest. {RI and NYCity took me long months and cost hundreds of dollars.}

The seach for real estate is on and I seem to have picked a great agent to work with.
Sorry guys I have looked into it, but buying enough land to shoot on would also constitute adding alot of time to our daily commute.
On top of that there is just no shooting allowed anywhere in Spotsylvania or Stafford where your neighbors can hear or have homes nearby, this includes land several acres large and land that abuts local battlefieds, farms and other areas that look large and free but really aren't. My realtor now just says "Forget it" every time I look at a home on wooded property or behind a clear field, with longing in my eyes. We laugh about it but it causes my wife no end of aggrivation and irritation towards me (hee hee).

Ahhh,,, machine guns.......
First I gotta get me a job. (working on it)
Then comes the house and all associated expenses(damn womenz!)
Then I gotta figure out how I'm gonna explain the NEED to spend close to 10k maybe more! on a hunk of iron that spits out little chunks of lead at a ferocious cylic rate to my loving, most understanding, most beautiful wife.
Hhhhmmmmmm, I'm working on it! [devil]


Thank you all again for the warm welcome!

Nick
Whisper300

cmymud - I concur with the others.  5 acres isn't much to have a range on, but it can be done.  I have a 35-yd and a 100-yd on a 10 acre lot, but also own the 13 behind it.  Natural barrier is a must.  I may even have to stop shooting on it depending on how much they build up behind it.  

Rhody - break the wife into class III with something cheap to start with.  Maybe a Mac-11?  I got mine for $800 + $200 tax stamp.  LWilde gave a great summary of some of the hotspots in the area.  Hope you enjoy it here.

    Black Fox