I grew up here and after visiting these past few months I can't wait to get the fuck out.
- MOST of the women are ugly
- Everybody has an attitude
- If I see ONE more Woody Allen clone driving a Saab here I am going to fucking lose it.
Now for the featured rant...
I have 2,000 rounds of XM-193 coming up so I have the green light to hit the range. There is ONE private range in the Cleveland area that permits rifles. It's $12/hour, but $18 if you bring a shotgun or a high-powered rifle (and time is strictly enforced). Being the only show in town I graciously acquiesce and bring an AR, an AK, & a 1911 over. Then the real shit hits the fan...
After learning the contents of my bags the clerk asks to see the mags. I show him the mags and he says "you've never shot here before, have you?" He then spreads out a copy of the range rules and proceeds to tell me the ones of interest.
"No FMJs". OK, I'm sure it wears on the backstop but I have fired rifle in a 100' indoor range countless times before and I know it can be done. It's their range though and their rules, so I understand, But there's no way in hell I am going to pay gun shop prices for ammo so that rules out today (and if FMJs apply to pistol it rules pistol out altogether)
Single shot operation ONLY for rifles In other words, ONE round in the mag, shoot, and reload. Now I'm going WTF? "If people could shoot rapid fire there'd be holes in the ceiling." Ahhh, so you can be a responsible shooter with a pistol, but as soon as it's a two-fisted boomstick the shooter turns into Charles Bronson... a lot of fucking sense that makes. Of all the places to have ignorance about guns. That soured me from ever using this range. Imagine paying $18/hr to fire single-shot in an indoor range! That would cost an arm and a leg to expend the ammo, to say nothing of the nightmare of the reloads and the unfun nature of this "recreation".
"No Headshots" OK, FUCK YOU. It may be your range and rules, but telling someone what they can shoot at in terms of paper that the customer bought is insulting beyond belief. I don't care if it has to do with people missing and hitting the roof, or if it's a stick-in-the ass adherance to some belief that chest shots are defense, head shots are murder. The point is The customer bought the paper and maybe he wants to get the full use out of it, before having to shell out another $2-3 for another one. I happened to glance at this one on the sheet, so I kept it to myself. The guy made the boss out to be the bad guy so I was civil with him, but there will be a phonecall tomorrow, believe me.
Since there are NO other private ranges (meaning within 30 min, that acommodate rifles, and/or that will admit you w/o an annual membership) I did some homework. It turns out that you cannot shoot on public land anywhere in OH and there are NO law enforcement facilities open to the public. The best I could come up with is a 100 yard outdoor public range that is 40 min away, and the sad thing is that as miserable as this area of the state is regarding guns and shooters, I'm rather grateful.