Do you guys remember a public outdoor rifle range in the Taylor area (Pennsylvania & Telegraph, I think) called "Last Chance".  It was a real dump!

Quoted: Do you guys remember a public outdoor rifle range in the Taylor area (Pennsylvania & Telegraph, I think) called "Last Chance".  It was a real dump!

Yes...The place that had Metal roof and huge barrels with Brass and the bench's where steel with just a small opening....

ant

Wasn't that also "Tony's" at one time? Right around Telegraph and I-75.

Yeah, I used to go there with a buddy of mine who lived in Wyandotte. I bought my first rifle there-a Type 53. They had a pretty good selection of milsurps. It wasn't that dumpy. I wish I had a decent range open to the public near me.

Damn... there was a rifle range near telegraph and I-75 and nobody told me??!?!?!?!?!?
I wish i knew about that growing up in dearborn heights.

I have fond memories of the place. Too bad you missed it. The range officer was a nice, big, old WW2 Marine veteran. A Grandfatherly type. He helped me out alot when I was just starting to shoot. Must have been back in 1992 or so.

They didn't give you any crap about rapid fire or large capacity mags either. It was a good old-fashioned gun range.

No magnets on your ammo and they carried surplus ammo in every caliber for cheap. Range fees were like 3 dollars for the entire day too and they didn't restrict any firearms and gang-bangers didn't show up there ( at least none of the times I was there). They were also damn nice people to deal with. Rare in these days of slow fire, asshole range masters, and single loading.

If I could find another range like it, I'd be there every day.

I can't understand why anyone would decry a great old range like Last Chance. Some people here amaze me in their complicity in the political correctness that is pervading our hobby. It would never be tolerated back then.

One of the last old gun ranges. We are poorer for being without places like this and Maplegrove at 21 and Gratiot. Those who think they were dumps have the same mindset as those who closed them because they were just dumps.

These were the places our Grandfathers and Fathers learned to shoot and got together with like-minded free men before and after the war. Sure they were old and a little dirty, but that was their charm. It was where men went to get away from the family and do a manly thing.

They were really bastions of the same kind of freedom that made this country great.

Tony's was there as far back as I can remember that would be the 60's or early 70's. Taylor was called Taylor Center and was basically farms and open country. Times have changed, my uncle had a farm in Romulus and we would shoot there. It was not uncommon to see young boys walking down Ecorse rd. with a .22 rifle or shotgun. I used to shoot by the railroad tracks by me. Now with all the subdivisions and urbanites/suburbanites moving from Wayne Co. those days are over too.

Last Chance/Tony's has a big Fountain Homes sign on it. What a great place it was. Then so was Detroit Dragway.. I could hear the top fuel cars from my bedroom window when I was a kid.

hughjafj Great post thanks for the trip down memory lane. Spend a few Saturdays there what a great experience for a kid.

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I have a lot of good memories of Last Chance. I only made it a few times a year, but those were the early year of shooting for me. I wouldn't call the place dumpy, just the outside wasn't kept up all that well. Not like you need to have a surgical operation field to bus' caps at paper. I mean, it was nothing like breathing pure lead in that dungeon below Irv's Gunshop before the murder.

As a side note, I was at LC on one of their last days in business, and the owner gave me an AR15/M16 manual and a bunch of other stuff for free just becuase I happened to have an AR15 with me that day. From what I remember, the big guy had finally finished building his kit helicopter and was just waiting on that to retire.

Guys, I wasn't dumping on Last Chance--I had some good shooting times there, too.  It was dumpy, IMHO, compared to the DNR ranges, but it was cheap and fun, so when it was open I would go there to shoot rifles.