As I know a lot of you have taken training classes at various places as well as some of you being instructors, I need your help and input on setting up a range at our club to eventually be able to host handgun and carbine classes.
I’m on the Board with our local club and I and another guy basically oversee the rifle/pistol range. Loose translation, we’re the volunteers that pick up trash, replace posts and belts, etc. Basically our whole Board is volunteers overseeing various areas that take care of upkeep. This club focuses heavily on Trap/Skeet shooting and that’s where a majority of the money is spent. There are quite a few old timers that are members who are trap shooters and if it doesn’t relate to that, they could care less about it so things can be a difficult sell. I’ve been on the Board for three years and I’m finally making some headway. The rifle/pistol range is only viewed as a “perk” and a place to sight in your deer rifle once a year. There are a lot of opportunities that could be made but as we only have a one time shot, I want to make sure it’s done properly. As stated, money will be tight until we start showing some “return” so please keep that in mind.
These are the pics of the range in its current form.
25 yard Pistol
50 yard rifle
100 yard rifle (50 yard to right, 25 yard pistol berm to left)
100 yard rifle showing covered shooting area
The first thing we’re doing is building another covered bench shooting area on the 50 yard rifle that will add 6 more stations. We are then going to push the 50 yard berm back to the 100 yard marker so we will have 8 benches for the 100 yard range. 100 yards is as far as we can go as the Board isn’t interested in anything longer than that so it is what it is. There will be no berms on the sides of the 100 yard range but all others will have 3-sided berms.
Here are my questions:
- Should we put a 50 yard range where the pistol range is for Carbine classes or can these be held on a 25 yard pistol range? Which would be preferred by participants/instructors?
- What would be the ideal width size for a 50 yard and 25 yard range to accommodate a class of say 20 participants? I’m guessing at least 20-25 yards wide on a 25 yard pistol range and maybe 35-40 yards on a 50 yard range. Am I close?
- I’m thinking of one large 50 yard range (where pistol range is now) then two 25 yard ranges but would we better served with having 3-4 25 yard ranges? We do have the area to grow but this would be the max due to the layout of the county roads.
- Although personal opinion, what makes the range environment enjoyable when attending classes?
- Which is preferred…grass or gravel for the shooting pits or does it matter? I know gravel would be easier for retrieving spent casings and give better footing in wet conditions but I imagine grass would be easier on knees/elbows and equipment.
Anything else you can add or think of would be great as I’m sure you see the direction I’m going regarding info I’m looking for. If you happen to have any names of clubs or websites showing pictures then that would be a fantastic tool to aid us. Thanks in advance for your input and help!