Poll: New Indoor Shooting Range

[Maru]

Meanwhile, back on the farm, Maggie (owner of farm) noticed that the Vandals took the ( Pump) Handle when she needed some water...

(Or, IOW, where is the origanal poster) and why are their no further inputs from her????

philip,

Philip, I'm here, just trying to get to all the posts.

 

[Maru]

"We are called Stonebridge Shooting Academy.. and will offer the following.."
It seems disingenuous to say that you are something when you are not now anything. anyway

Hi Certaindeaf. Good point but I don't know how else to say it. We are an LLC and from the states perspective we are a business filing business taxes, even though we don't have a facility as of yet. What would have been a better way of saying it?

 

[Maru]

Add rentals to the list of requested features. Lots of obscure and interesting rentals. I think a range like this marketed correctly could pull a bunch of new shooters into the game. More shooters equals more people fighting for our rights. A safe room children could wait in and play while their parents shoot would be great as well. Let us know when you're hiring!!

Hi Dave. Thank you for the positive support. This type of endeavor is not easy and it's something I've been formulating and working on for over a year.

 

[RicInOR]

@Maru -
Good luck with your plans.

Intel is a sheeple zone. So, I encourage you to have a valet locker service for the day. This way the engineers can drive thru, drop off their FA, and then come shoot at lunch/after work.
Also, you'll need a bit of an education program for non-US citizens, including non-English speaking safety instructors. That would encourage the use of your facility for their team building events.

I would also suggest indoor competitive leagues - Speed Steel, Cowboy Action & IDPA come to mind.
( although there is something just off about indoor cowboy shooting ... )

One "service" or "training" which I would be interested in is "Gun Fitting"
Not everyone shoots every pistol well. Trying to rent 10 different or 50 different is impossible.
But being able to pay a fee and be coached thru the weapon to find the one(s) with the best natural point of aim, is valuable. Then getting consideration on that fee if the FA is purchased at your pro-shop.
Similarly fitting rifle / Shotguns.

I didn't see a "Pro Shop" unless you include that in retail. There is a difference in buying hats and t-shirts from buying fine firearms.

Gunsmith services.

 

[Maru]

Hey friends. Thank you for all your feedback. Keep in mind, the models I posted for Frisco Gun Club and The Governors Gun Club were to show images of the type of facility I want to open. I never mentioned prices and many folks posted comments based on the pricing of these two examples. Of course pricing would be a HUGE incentive to shoot with us and I get that. This is just my first step of speaking to the public about the idea. I've purchased a detailed marketing analysis from NSSF on this specific area. I expect to receive that in the next 2-3 weeks. This will tell me what type of pricing this area will support.
As I said in another post, we are not just a shooting range, this is just one aspect of Stonebridge. We are positioning ourselves as a premier destination, offering several different amenities. For those that don't like to shoot guns, perhaps they'll try the indoor archery range, shop for their spouse or friends at the retail shop, take a class from us, visit the restaurant, or rent the acreage for an event (for example, someone getting married could purchase the Shotgun Wedding Package that provides the catering from the restaurant, the grounds, and TBD).
Again, this is still on paper and it is being tweaked all the time as we move through this process. No one said it would be easy. We have a HUGE mountain to climb.
BTW, for those that enjoy golf, my realtor tells me that on the corner of Brookwood and highway 26 in Hillsboro, an indoor driving range will be opening up. Something like 3 or 4 stories with a fine restaurant as well. Its name is Top Golf.

 

[Maru]

Its one of the few rifle ranges with any distance close to Portland. Im a member over at The Place to Shoot. Fine indoor range, nice people. Cant shoot any rifle ammo though. I was a member at Johnson creek indoor range but had stricter ammo limitations.

Douglas Ridge sounds like a very nice distance range but its over an hour drive each way for me.

Threat Dynamics new range allows rifle rounds, but does not have the distance range.

I would not go to your range on a regular basis for just the extra features. I'd rather spend the money on guns. I would go for a special occasion though. But I have many places to shoot handgun rounds at paper at 50 ft. But I have no local range for distance shooting rifle rounds.

Why wouldn't you visit us even though you didn't use the extra features? I haven't listed any prices yet, so what would be the deterrent?

 

[bolus]

Why wouldn't you visit us even though you didn't use the extra features? I haven't listed any prices yet, so what would be the deterrent?

I'm guessing at your prices because I priced building an indoor range myself. I was seeing $15,000 per lane for just backdrop and target holders. Then considering insurance, air quality, etc I knew why the simple ranges in town were so expensive.

If you can have a reasonable price I'd be there in a second. But knowing the basics on cost for a range, I cant see how you could do what you want to do without a significantly higher price than the ranges I go to.

Best of luck though. I will be there for opening day for sure to check you out.

 

[Maru]

@Maru -
Good luck with your plans.

Intel is a sheeple zone. So, I encourage you to have a valet locker service for the day. This way the engineers can drive thru, drop off their FA, and then come shoot at lunch/after work.
Also, you'll need a bit of an education program for non-US citizens, including non-English speaking safety instructors. That would encourage the use of your facility for their team building events.

I would also suggest indoor competitive leagues - Speed Steel, Cowboy Action & IDPA come to mind.
( although there is something just off about indoor cowboy shooting ... )

One "service" or "training" which I would be interested in is "Gun Fitting"
Not everyone shoots every pistol well. Trying to rent 10 different or 50 different is impossible.
But being able to pay a fee and be coached thru the weapon to find the one(s) with the best natural point of aim, is valuable. Then getting consideration on that fee if the FA is purchased at your pro-shop.
Similarly fitting rifle / Shotguns.

I didn't see a "Pro Shop" unless you include that in retail. There is a difference in buying hats and t-shirts from buying fine firearms.

Gunsmith services.

I smile at the valet service. I am an Intel employee
We are certainly planning on having competitive leagues, glad you brought it up.
I love your idea on Gun Fitting and if you don't mind I'd like to incorporate it.
Help me understand what you mean by Pro Shop. Do you mean an onsite gunsmith?
We agree completely that buying firearms is very different from hats and shirts. A solid marketing plan does not include hats and t-shirts, this is not a good use of retail space or product line. We do plan to sell firearms and all the items that support the sport.
Thank you for a great post. Please keep sending the ideas.

 

[Maru]

I'm guessing at your prices because I priced building an indoor range myself. I was seeing $15,000 per lane for just backdrop and target holders. Then considering insurance, air quality, etc I knew why the simple ranges in town were so expensive.

If you can have a reasonable price I'd be there in a second. But knowing the basics on cost for a range, I cant see how you could do what you want to do without a significantly higher price than the ranges I go to.

Best of luck though. I will be there for opening day for sure to check you out.

The goal is to make it affordable to all.

 

[bolus]

If you had class 3 rentals I'd probably waste too much money on those. Flying to vegas to go to one of the ranges that lets your rent multiple full auto guns is on my bucket list.

 

[RicInOR]

I smile at the valet service. I am an Intel employee
We are certainly planning on having competitive leagues, glad you brought it up.
I love your idea on Gun Fitting and if you don't mind I'd like to incorporate it.
Help me understand what you mean by Pro Shop. Do you mean an onsite gunsmith?
We agree completely that buying firearms is very different from hats and shirts. A solid marketing plan does not include hats and t-shirts, this is not a good use of retail space or product line. We do plan to sell firearms and all the items that support the sport.
Thank you for a great post. Please keep sending the ideas.

Like a Golf Pro Shop - a place where you can get firearms - and expert advice. More than say the gun reseller shops. You can by a gun near Intel - Freddies has them - but are you getting expert advice?


Gunsmith - to me it matters if I can talk with the smith, But, perhaps you would just work with local independent contractors rather than having one on-site all the time.



FWIW:
You may have done so, but the owners of Orenco Tap House and Rainy Day Games are/were Intel employees who started businesses while working for the company. They might have some wisdom on dealing with the bureaucracy.

 

[jrprich]

The land we are looking into is located in Hillsboro just off of Evergreen parking, near Solar World. Right in the middle of the Silicon Forest High Tech area.

That would be very close to me. I drive by Solar World every day

 

[Maru]

Like a Golf Pro Shop - a place where you can get firearms - and expert advice. More than say the gun reseller shops. You can by a gun near Intel - Freddies has them - but are you getting expert advice?


Gunsmith - to me it matters if I can talk with the smith, But, perhaps you would just work with local independent contractors rather than having one on-site all the time.



FWIW:
You may have done so, but the owners of Orenco Tap House and Rainy Day Games are/were Intel employees who started businesses while working for the company. They might have some wisdom on dealing with the bureaucracy.

Great minds think alike. We will be looking for a gun expert as well as a gunsmith to work with us as needed. Thank you for the business contact suggestions. I will take you up on your suggestion and talk with them.

 

[fbdt99]

This seems like an awful expensive project, millions IMO. You mentioned funding, are you looking for or have investors? Any Idea on any ETA? This is a huge undertaking hopefully you have some experience in the industry.

I would for sure be a member at this range as it sounds awesome It just seems like a huge and expensive task.

 

[Maru]

This seems like an awful expensive project, millions IMO. You mentioned funding, are you looking for or have investors? Any Idea on any ETA? This is a huge undertaking hopefully you have some experience in the industry.

I would for sure be a member at this range as it sounds awesome It just seems like a huge and expensive task.

Hi. I agree, this is a big undertaking. My husband and I both hold MBAs and have experience running our own businesses. We haven't started the funding portion yet, I'm working with an architect who will provide me a rendering of the building, lobby, and range. Once we have this, with the business plan in place and a few mentors, we will be ready for the next step..........funding. Most people don't want to invest in a business unless they can see it, or at least the visual concept.

 

[PDXSparky]

If you had class 3 rentals I'd probably waste too much money on those. Flying to vegas to go to one of the ranges that lets your rent multiple full auto guns is on my bucket list.

You don't have to fly to Vegas to rent time on FA guns. In May, drive on down to the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club for the Saddle Butte Machine Gun shoot. It's $5 entry fee, then you pay for what you want to shoot. Everything there from .22LR to 50 cal belt fed.

In addition to allowing full auto at the indoor range, having suppressors to demo would be outstanding.

 

[rdt]

gun lockers next to intel alone would make money. I wish you luck.

 

[usagi]

100 yard indoor shooting range would be astounding, incredibly awesome, but unfortunately would also be incredibly expensive.

there are only a few 100 yard indoor ranges in the nation, and for good reason. the expense is simply too high.

 

[Maru]

gun lockers next to intel alone would make money. I wish you luck.

Thank you RDT I appreciate the support very much.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Well, assuming the price is nominal, or say, reasonable (not like the links you listed) then i'd be very interested, assuming the following;

1) No ammo restrictions

2) Reasonable distance rifle range, i under stand if you can't make the 100yd version, but getting as long as you can would really help pull in the rifle shooters (more around here because of hunting)

3) Most importantly, reasonable membership.


I also drive right by this area every day, i know almost the exact piece of land you're looking at.
I am still looking for a club and this would be very close for me, but whilst i appreciate you are a complete business and this is just a small section, i likely wouldn't use the other features, and think it would be sensible to 'price off' the range use only for fee structuring.


I'm not going to say don't do this, i'm not going to say it costs to much, i'm going to ask the above and hope that your research comes back satisfactorily and that we all gain something good from all of this.

I will say that if you can support rifles (not .22) then my wife would come as well and we'd both likely use the restaurant on occasion if it's any good.