Hi.

I just came back from my third and final trip to Kenmore to sight in "Louise" (My AR15) (this time bringing the correct tools instead of just using the tips of bullets to adjust my sights.).  At 100 yards, I put 20 rounds in the black (black circle on the paper target with an 8 inch diameter) after sighting it in with nothing but the A2 sights.  No scope.

Finally, my AR15 is "sighted in".  It was worth it.  

Now it's time for PLINKING!  I'm ready to shoot a Coke can from 50-100 yards out and I now intend to blow away blocks of ice (the BEST plinking target) away at any range.

I have no problem with using scopes (I use a scope on my Crossman BB/Pellet rifle) but I love the challenge of having a down-in-the-dirt indestructable assault rifle, and plinking knowing that after I've sighted her in, a hit or miss is MY responsibility.  In a couple of weeks, I'll be plinkin' for the first time with Louise!  She's accurate.  It's up to ME to steer her in the right direction.

Kenmore is a great range.  Remember, it's cash only so if you intend to charge $50 worth of ammo on your card when you get there, the old guy will say for the thousandth time that your plastic isn't worth anything there.  

Today, an older gentleman was shooting two of his new guns and had his first Kenmore experience.  He had to not only take off his ear-protection apparatus, but turn on his hearing aid to hear me.  He wasn't hitting the paper at all, so I told him about the free "Bore Sighting" that the rangemaster would do for him.  After that was done, this gentleman enjoyed his rifles for the first time at a range and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Two young guys were there with there identical .22 LR's as well, shooting (like I was) with nothing but iron sights.  It was like an IROC shooting competition.

Kenmore is a great place to sight in your weapon.  ALL of the shooters are friendly and helpful. It may take a while to get used to the rules, but it's worth it.  


Anthony

Quoted: It may take a while to get used to the rules, but it's worth it.

There ARE a lot of 'rules', but it IS a safe range.
Kind of a PITA sometimes, but I keep my Family Membership going.
Just need to GO more often.

Glad you had a good time.  C'mon back!

BTW:
Nice rifle.
My Girl's name is 'Darlene'.
This pic is with her clothes on...but, I like her naked, too!

Rule #1: One round and one round only.
Rule #2: All other ammo must be kept a half mile from your weapon.

Screw Kenmore - if I wasen't such a supporter of gun ranges I would be all for closing that place down and building a shit processing facility there.

Quoted: Rule #1: One round and one round only. Rule #2: All other ammo must be kept a half mile from your weapon. Screw Kenmore - if I wasen't such a supporter of gun ranges I would be all for closing that place down and building a shit processing facility there.

I wasn't happy with Rule #1 at first.
I was perplexed, puzzled and pissed about it.
After becoming a Member...I requested that I be able to function test some of my firearms/magazines/accuracy at the SAME TIME so I'd know what worked.
I was required to attend a Membership meeting to make the written request and approval official so the RangeMaster had a record of it.
There IS a provision for this activity IF you are a Member and go through the process.
Additionally, it is ONLY allowed on Range #1, the Members Only section.
Compliance with the rules allows more than one round at a time.  
When you've learned what you need to know (and don't bump-fire...) you simply revert to the one-round-at-a-time and hopefully continue to enjoy shooting at a controlled range.
True, it's a pain, but their safety record is impeccable because of the rules.

I've never heard of keeping the ammo far away from the firearms, though.  
Must've missed that one!

Fortunately, this place has not been turned into another type of facility.  
That WOULD be shitty.

Maybe more of us Washington Shooters could become members and meet there once every month or two as it might be a good thing to support the range through membership and it may be easier to get toghether there vs. out in GF.
At least we'd have a roof over our heads in the winter weather.

( I can't believe I just wrote all this on a Sunday AM directly after waking up...
I gotta go cook breakfast and have Sunday School at the table with our sick kids; Mom's at church being a Sunday School Teacher.  
Ironically, the devotional text is about Sunday School Teachers... )

edited to add:
bad words and sunday school mentioned in the same post is not oxymoronic - it's all about trying.

Let me get this straight.

You put one round in the mag, charge the rifle, fire.

Then take out the mag, put another round in, charge, and fire.

What in the world is the point of this rule?

Sounds like what they're really saying is "Bolt guns only, no mags."

I can't see how this makes the range safer.   What you do with a loaded weapon is what makes the range safer, not where you keep your ammo.

Quoted: Sounds like what they're really saying is "Bolt guns only, no mags."

Except that most bolt gns have magazines, too. Maybe they should just turn the place into an archery range. Then they won't have to worry about that quick followup shot somehow escaping the facility or offending the neighbors with more than an occassional single gunshot.

I'm glad to hear that you had an enjoyable shooting experience, Anthony, but I would personally be frustrated and upset with such restrictive rules. It must really suck to be a city slicker and limited to shooting facilities with such onerous rules being all that is within a reasonable distance. On the flip side, however, if you're still planning on moving to California, at least you'll be primed for the mistrust and disrespect you can surely expect to receive as gunowner down there.

DonGalt,

I see where you're coming from.  When I first went there, I noticed the "one round at a time" rule and instantly thought it didn't seem to have a practical reason for being.  I can only assume that it prevents rapid-fire (but why?)  

Kenmore to me is definitely a "sighting in" only range.  There's really not much else to do there.  Now that "Louise" is sighted in, it's plinking time from now on.  I'll only take her back to Kenmore to re-sight.


Anthony

Go to Issaquah Sportmen's Club, they allow 10 rounds per mag (but no rapid fire)and if you want to test the full capacity of your mag talk to the rangemaster he was nice enough to let me try it once (empty the mag as fast as I can squeeze the trigger). That was when I was the only one at the range.

I didn't know the Issaquah range had a 10rd limit. I haven't been there in years though. Snoqualmie Valley Rifle Club rules! The only rule I don't like is no metal targets within 200 yards, and it's a 200 yard range. They have a steel plate out there though. [:\]

I was up there Friday with CK to run a few clips through my Garand. I brought my AR with two 30rd mags anyway. There was a couple sighting then their Rem700s with huge scopes for hunting when we arrived.

I took out my AR and fired a few shots off hand at the steel plate and hit it a couple times. Then I asked the guy if we could have a cease fire so I could put a target up. He said 10 more rounds and they'd leave.

So he takes his Rem700 with huge scope out of the sight in vise and rests it on a sand bag. He fired his 10 rounds at the steel plate. Im not sure how many time he hit it, but it wasn't a lot.

I immeditaley sat down with my AR and fired 10 rounds at the plate in rapid sucession. Guess what? 10 hits of course! I looked over at him and smiled. He said "have a nice day," and they left.

Aw, Super Chicken ,why you so mean to that blind guy??  :-)

I didn't know Issaquah had a 10 round in the mag limit.  I just don't understand these things.  What's up with that 11th round?

IF someone knows a legitimate concern that is behind these rules, I'd like to hear it.  Otherwsie I have to assume its the pro-hunter anti-non-hunting-rifle bias behind them... and I just won't support people like that.

A bunch of good ole boys who are hanging on to the ways of the democrats.

They are still kowtoing to the liberal democrats who fucked Washington gun owners over back in the early 90's.

The only rules that my range has:
Pick up your brass
Wear eye and hearing protection
Shoot at the targets only.
No pistols on the rifle range.

All that for $40.00 a year, open all year long, BBQ's every other Sunday during the trap shoots.

Issaquah sportmen's club is walking distance to a school, I bet that has something to do with the 10 round limit, next time I'll go and ask "why?"

I could live with it and it is 10 times better than Kenmore. And as I said before the rangemaster is a cool guy even the other bolt action shooters, never got evil eyes from them but they sure love my M1 carbine, brings back tears and memories for some of them.

Come on guys, everyone knows that it is the 11th round that kill childrens, especially if the scholl is that close.  That 11th round will go through 5 walls and kill up to 10 kids!  Sheesh!

Quoted: The only rules that my range has: Pick up your brass Wear eye and hearing protection Shoot at the targets only. No pistols on the rifle range. All that for $40.00 a year, open all year long, BBQ's every other Sunday during the trap shoots.

What range is that KA3B?

Quoted: Come on guys, everyone knows that it is the 11th round that kill childrens, especially if the scholl is that close.  That 11th round will go through 5 walls and kill up to 10 kids!  Sheesh!

According to the folks at Kenmore, it's the second round.

This is why I prefer Plantation.  It is strict and safe, but the range master has no hangups about 20 or 30-round magazines, as long as you do not break the one round per second rule.

Quoted: This is why I prefer Plantation.  It is strict and safe, but the range master has no hangups about 20 or 30-round magazines, as long as you do not break the one round per second rule.

The last time I visited The Plantation, the RangeMaster was the 'target changer'.
Is that still the way it goes?

Quoted: Go to Issaquah Sportmen's Club, they allow 10 rounds per mag (but no rapid fire)and if you want to test the full capacity of your mag talk to the rangemaster he ....

Haven't been there in a while, huh?  The rangemaster is a "she" . But, she will let you fill your mags if she knows your not a spaz (frequently shoot there with no problems like shooting your SKS at the .22 only reactive targets like some simps did).  She is every bit as cool as the guy she replaced. Also, she has an affinity towards military type weapons.

Yeah, it's been a long time.
Last time was a few years ago.
When we left that day there was a HUGE hailstorm going on, causing 8 accidents on the freeway back down to Burlington.
We'd been shooting on the far right side so we could collect the brass.
It was nice to be able to shoot from fully loaded magazines.
We'll probably be going up that way again whenever I can convince Prospector to break out his new Bushmaster Shorty for some testing.

Yes, it's been a long time. I stop going to Issaquah Riflemen's club when I started to join the Friday night rifle league at now closed WSI. Guess it's time to pay them a visit again.

Do they still have that 10 round rule written on the postboard?

BusMaster, yes, the range master still changes targets.  I rarely want to inspect mine up close unless I am test grouping so this works well for me.  Except during hunting season, (because it is far too busy) they will always call a ceasefire for me so that I can pick up brass.  During those busy times you can collect brass during the ceasefire for target changes.  I have also been allowed to go down range to retrieve targets when they are changing or when there is nobody else there.  Winter is a good time to shoot since there are mostly hardcore shooters who collect their brass and want to collect targets from time to time.  Have you ever shot at the pistol range up on the hill?  Sweet!

Quoted: Do they still have that 10 round rule written on the postboard?

I don't know...I haven't paid attention to it if there is/was one.  Like I said, if the rangemaster trusts you, she won't say anything.  She might even let you do rapid fire if there isn't anyone else around.  But, do ask before doing so.  

Just to be clear, more than one shot per second is considered rapid fire?

That is correct, Don.

Went shooting with my son in Issaquah Sportmen's Club yesterday afternoon and you're right it's a couple of ladies that man the house now. The one that smoke is the cool and friendly one. Forgot to look at the sign but we shots 30 round without changing mag and they did'nt say anything.

re Issy Sportsmens Club: "Laura" is the "cool" one--usually wearing funky skater chick clothing.  Yes, the 10-rd rule is posted in various locations, but I frequently bring 30's for my AR, 20's for my M1A and fully loaded 9mm mags without ever asking--I'm a careful shooter and save my blasting for the pits, while at the range I don't do anything obnoxious.  Issaquah is a good group of folks--just wish they'd still have their 200yd range (lost the land to the school that's nearby...you can still see the original stations out by the little house behind the parking lot).

If anyone is going out there within the next month, fire me off an email at [email protected] love to hook up.