Range Fee's

[2172]

No public ranges here in western NC, so I belong to the Asheville Rifle and Pistol Club..excellent covered ranges (one for pistol, one for rifle), outhouses and so on...good for during the week shooting, too scheduled for anything on weekends..costs $50 a year. I belong to The French Broad Rifles Inc, a purely muzzleloading club..we shoot twice a month, dues are $30 a year, and we charge ourselves a $5 fee each time we shoot...well, one fee a month...
When I lived in the People's Republic of NJ, there was an excellent black powder only range run by the state that was free not far from my house...the Fish & Game people had created it to test hunter safety candidates...Hank

 

[dlemaster]

Heck our State operated ranges are only $5.00 a day to shoot, and they are fairly good ranges.
I too was a member of Columbus Muzzle Loading Gun Club for many years, even back to the time is was the Bill Moose Muzzle Loading Gun Club (which moved down to Darbyville) back in the late 60's. These were both excellent places to shoot.

Regards, Dave

 

[kodiakemt414]

Have an indoor 25 yd range with no bench unless you bring a chair. $12 a day or $250 a year.

 

[weirdjack]

Heck our State operated ranges are only $5.00 a day to shoot, and they are fairly good ranges.

The last time I shot at the nearest state operated range, there was an M16 on the left of me and an M14 on the right. The guy with the M16 was full-auto'ing cartridges into my face. The guy with the M14 started the session shooting AP bullets into a steel block...then began lobbing practice rifle-grenades downrange. ::
At that point I buttoned-up my shooting pouch, turned around, walked away, and never returned to a public range.

Jack

 

[bshultz]

My club charges $35 dollars a year, but I shoot at my own range most of the time, cost a bit to build but it was worth every penny! :thumbsup:

 

[No Deer]

Here in Michigan the DNR has ranges set up around the state.. There is one about 20 minutes from where I live. They are free and even will supply targets. It is clean, kept up well and run very well. The club I belong to has 2 pieces of property totaling about 60 acres that are about a half hour from where I live. We have 25, 50, 100 and 200 yard ranges, shotgun range and a woodswalk. Yearly dues are $30 and you can go and shoot anytime you want, and we also have camping facilities. I mostly go to our club because it is not much further, and usually not many if any other people there shooting, so I can post, check and pull targets as often as I want without waiting on others or causing them to wait on me.

 

[bob1961]

i was bout to chime in on PA but Maestro beat me to it....free no range master and a bunch of guys from n.j. and n.y. every year bout 2 or 3 days before hunting season opens....sounds like WWII going when i git bout 1/4 mile from the range....went there one day to see how many people were there and they were 5 deep in line to git to a bench....over all bout 100 people there that one day i went there to see how bad it gits....not fer me no how no way....i'm all sited in bout a month before that..............bob

 

[Jon in MI]

I belong to 3 clubs that I use for different types of shooting.

Capital City Rifle Club for HighPower, $50 per yr
http://www.ccrifleclub.org/

North Macomb Sportsmen's Club for shotgun and rifle practice $125 per yr
http://www.northmacomb.org/

Detroit Sportsmen's Congress for Muzzleloading, $195 per yr
http://www.d-s-c.org/

I guess I must be a gun nut! I know it sure drives my wife nuts when I have to pay for all these. ::

 

[Tumblernotch]

Our club, Mountaineer Flintlock Rifles, has been in existence since the early '60's. A few years ago, we lost the lease on the property (owned by a large utility) and had to use the county range for a while which was geared toward modern weapons. We finally obtained about 20 acres of our own, and after some dozer work and a lot of sweat, we have a nice range with a covered shooting area (not finished yet, but soon), and we can shoot out to 100yds. We have dirt embankments behind the target backers as well as a few assorted gongs on the main range. We have what we call the primitive or woods walk area where we shoot gongs at various ranges and difficulty levels. We also have some trails being opened for nature walks, etc. as well as primitive camping and we're looking at further improvements. It is black powder only and other than when we're shooting, very quiet and peaceful. Members can shoot there whenever they want and we have a monthly regular shoot as well as a monthly primitive shoot. We encourage visitors to come and meet the members and shoot during the monthly shoots. Our yearly dues are $35.00. My home away from home.

I also have a range on the hill behind my house that I use once in a while. It's primitive but I have a heavy duty bench and 100 yd. capacity. Only problem is, I have to lug everything up a steep hill, so basically, it's one gun at a time and a minimum of equipment. But IT'S FREE!
:front:

 

[lanedh]

Last year I signed up for use of the same range that RIArcher talks about. It's small but it's free (only requirement is either completion of a hunter safety course or show a DD214 to the town clerk; get your license there and fax a copy to the Range Mistress at DEM). Range permits are good for one year at a time (range is not open all year, but every day from April thru October, weekdays only during the winter months. You provide paper targets, the range provides frames. Two stations with self-operated electric clay bird traps; ten, maybe twelve firing points, all covered, with benches. If you're driving in for any distance you hope that the duty range master is already there and has unlocked the gate. Be sure to display your range permit.

Sure is reassuring to that there still are places to shoot for free or at reasonable cost. Two of the private clubs I checked out nearby are rather costly to get into, one requires membership in an organization I don't support, the other requires hours of 'public service' before membership application is finally approved. Membership is prohibitive for the amount of shooting I get to do yearly; more better drive 25 miles to the range described above.

RI archer & SwampRat: when are we going to meet to shoot?

 

[akapennypincher]

I had a chance to shoot at a range in the
neighborhood that I didn't know existed.

They wanted $18.00 to shoot. No fee to join or something. Thats just $18.00 for each day that you shoot.

Worse yet, this place was a HOLE, in many places there was
6" of standing water, decrepid falling down shooting benches, NO range officer on the line.

How much are you guys paying to use PUBLIC ranges ?

Mabey I am just cheap, but, I have shot at a lot nicer
places for a lot less money.

Thanks Guys

God Bless

Leo

AZGame & Fish run a World Class Range north of PHX. (Ben Avery Shooting Facility) $5.00/Day. FREE for me as I Volunteer as a R/O. For $20.00 a Year I also belong to a Private Range 22 Miles from Home. Not world Class, but a HELL of a Lot Better than you describe.... :shake:

 

[Zonie]

My membership in the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club runs about $75 a year.
Their range is adjacent to the Police Academy in south Phoenix by South Mountain.
Up until recently they charged non members $5/day to shoot but they reciently raised that to $10/day.
The range, which is open to the public only on the weekend, is limited to 50 yards but if your a member can use the 50/100/200 yard range, any day of the week from dawn to dusk.

As was mentioned the Ben Avery Range, about 30 miles north of Phoenix is open and for folks out in the East Valley there is the Usery Pass Shooting Range.

Much of Arizona is National Forests. Shooting in the National Forest is permitted but unless you want to be cited for "hunting without a permit", you should have a hunting license.

The Indian Reservations are taboo! NO Firearms Allowed without special Indian Hunting permits. Unless your a member of the tribe(s), if they find a gun on you or in your car/truck, they will confiscate it.

 

[oomcurt]

Kinda shabby??????? You're kidding, right?

 

[aflatlander]

I pay roughly $65 a year for a years membership in the local gun club. That officially includes 2 children and un-officially includes my wife (when I can get her to the range; which is not often). There is no per-day fee and over 50% of the time I have the 100 yd. rifle/35 yd. pistol range to myself. I've moved around a bit and this is a real deal considering the new 100/200/500 yard rifle range, action pistol/cowboy area, and shotgun trap/skeet areas (under construction). The land is all leased from the city, but that hasn't been a problem as the police are happpy with the improvements we've added. Officially there is a yearly lease fee to the city, but range improvements are subtracted from that and there have been alot of improvements in the last few years. It's been a win-win situation so far and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I've paid more for less in other locations.

They are having a fun match next weekend and I'm seriously thinking of shooting my muzzleloader (as well as my CMP M1 Garand). The match is 2 bullseye targets at 100 yards shot off-hand with anything you bring that is safe to shoot. It is 5 shots per target and only the best target is scored. Half the fun will be seeing what people bring to shoot. It's only $5 and a good chance to meet other club memebers.

 

State operated ranges here are free and no permit required, no range officer either. Covered shooting points with good, heavy concrete benches with the seat that swivels to either side of the bench for righty or lefty shooting. The only ones I'm familiar with go to 100 yards but there are separate 25, 50 and 100 yard ranges. All of them have high berms between and behind them. They are well constructed shooting ranges.

I used to be on the board of directors at United Sportsmans Club in Jefferson City and that is a fine facility with all facets of the shooting sports well represented and provided for, including indoor and outdoor archery. Fees used to be $75.00 for initiation and I believe $35.00 a year thereafter. I'm sure that has increased since the mid-90's. My favorite ranges have been the two on my own property. I only have 100 yards on this place but on our farm I had 520 yards......and I never charge me a penny.

 

[shmrck1]

Jack,
very same club i speak of....
snake-eyes

 

[AeroE]

Kinda shabby??????? You're kidding, right?

Yes, I'm kidding. We are pretty proud of that range and are constantly working to make it better. We have a new general purpose, 20 bench range under construction that will extend to 300 yards so shooting to that distance is always available when the 60 bench range is being used for a match. [We tried to lay it out for 500 meters, but the will wasn't there; I don't think the board of directors can conceive of shots acrost a holler.]

Missouri has many free, unsupervised ranges located on Conservation Areas all over the state. The Conservation Department is supported by a 1/8 cent sales tax that has allowed this department to become one of the top two or three in the Nation. Some of the older ranges are a little short, but the newest tend to be very nice. On the other hand, I mostly avoid the supervised ranges run by this department - too many range nazi's with insufficient common sense, even if they are following directions from above.