Welcome to my world fellas.
Around here we've got a tough combination, lots of shooters and very few places to shoot. There's one range a couple miles from the house, which is nice, but it's run by the state and is always over-crowded. The ticket office opens at 10am on Saturday, 1pm on Sunday and by then there's already a line about fifly people deep. Gets closer to a hundered depending on the hunting season. $5.50 per shooter, per lane for two hours or you can buy a yearly membership for $100 that'll allow you to bypass the line and go stright into the range entrance where they inspect your firearms. The membership earns you a buncha dirty looks from folks wait'n in line.
You can bring any ammo you like for pistols and rifles. Only real restriction is slugs only for shotguns. They use wooden target stands which don't fair well against shot spread.
The RSOs are commonly referred to as range nazis by most members due to their watching every move shooters make and their tendancy to shut the range down in an instant while singling out individuals and screaming at the top of their lungs. I've got to know them pretty well over the years so they leave me alone, but the fact is they have more than enough reason to be on pins and needles. One guy blew his big toe off two years ago chambering his .45 pointed straight down with his finger on the trigger. Same year another guy shot himself in the stomach trying to clear a jam in a .32acp pocket gun. I've seen a guy look straight down the barrel of his pistol immediately following a misfire and have been strafed by new, excited shooters turning to smile at their boyfriends while pointing a still loaded firearm down the line. It's utter insanity what you see out there sometimes. The RSOs are all volunteers whos only compensation for their time comes from selling collected brass. I've got a lot of respect for those ladies and gentlemen for being out there every weekend.
Here recently they've added closed in screens to the rifle range lanes which only allows for shooting seated at the bench through about a 1 sq. foot window. Apparently there was an incident where a shooter attempting rapid fire lost control of their rifle and the rounds went over the 25' berm striking a house in the distance. Now we all have to shoot seated using a rest or a bipod, even when shoot'n slugs through a shotgun. That's a little uncomfortable to say the least.
The next closest rifle range is 45 minutes away and the only other pistol ranges in town are poorly ventilated indoor spots at gun stores run by testosterone fueled brand snobs. One state of the art indoor rifle/shotgun/pistol range just opened up at a new upscale mega gun store in town, but they seem to only be interested in speaking to you if you're wearing a business suit and a $1000 watch. Last time I was in there was with a friend of mine that wanted to check it out since he's looking to purchase his first firearm. We walked in the store and the employees stopped what they were doing to watch us walk around the store. None of them spoke, just watched. One guy slowly positioned himself between us and the front door, standing there with his arms crossed as if we were about to try a snatch and grab. Needless to say I won't be returning to that place. My only opportunity for independent shooting is at my buddy's farm land that's an hour and a half outside of town. We get out there a couple times a year and spend a few thousand rounds in a couple days. I truly wish there were more places to shoot around here, but unless you own a decent sized piece of land you're SOL. Hickok45 is out just west of town and has an incredible private range set up, but for the rest of us it's slim pickins...
