New Shooting Range

[BlackdogGS]

Hows the range in those heavy winds?

The shoot house is comfortable as it's protected by a roof and walls on 3 sides. Down range is not protected from the wind.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I'm going to shoot there today. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I stopped in yesterday to talk to the RSO's and they were all nice guys with good information. First impressions of the range and people there was excellent...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Update on the new range. Well, like I said, it's a very nice range. Great guys (RSO's) there, but............ their system needs tweeked a bit.... I really like the head RSO (Tim). It's a new club, and there are definitely bugs that need to be worked out, but I urge any of you guys that want to try a new range out head to Dalles Port Washington. I took my 19 year old daughter and a friend. It was my daughters first time to shoot an AR. She had a blast shooting both my Noveske and my new M&P 10 6.5 Creedmoor. If I'm not careful, she'll be shooting better than me in no time flat... In all, she had a blast but I hope the highly structured format there doesn't scare her away from shooting. Even my friend that has shot by my side for the last 35 years, had a little mixed feelings about the new range. He'd rather shoot in the national forest. Let me explain to you guys that I am not a newbie to the shooting sports. I've shot many many many different clubs, I've been shooting some form of competition since I was about 23 years old. For the longest time it was trap, money shoots was where it was at for me, then centerfire rifle and rimfire competitions at different clubs. Clubs are always going to have rules and we must follow safety rules and abide by our safe gun handling practices at ALL times. WE know that. A club needs to be safe, its members need to be safe, we always need to be aware, we need to watch out for each other. For those of you that are thinking about going and trying it out, here's what to expect:

1. They are going to have a little talk with you about their rules.
2. You'll have to read 5 or 6 pages of rules and sign a waiver.
3. You'll have to sign a consent form.
4. You'll have to sign an envelope and put down your address and phone number, seal it up with your $15.00 inside and drop it in a drop box.
Now this is where it gets interesting. The cold range and hot range situations.

1. You will stand behind the yellow line painted behind the benches, until they call for a hot range, then you will proceed to pull your firearms out and then can commence firing.
To me, this needs to be changed. They allow guys to get their rifles from the racks and out from their cases behind the line, while you are firing. Personally I DO not like anyone fiddling around behind me with a firearm. I don't care if it is not loaded or not! I don't care if its being pointed in a safe direction. It doesn't matter. It shouldn't happen. Their rules are going to have to change a bit before I go back. I've belonged to a lot of clubs, so if they want to PM me, I can talk to them regarding these issues and maybe get them straightened out a bit and make it more safe and less stressful for everyone. Heck, I'll even invite them to my clubs range where we can go over how we approach the safety aspect of cold and hot range. It can be made easy and safe. I'd personally really like this range to be successful, but at the rate they are going, they will probably scare more people off than entice them to come back.

Oh, another thing, no cell phones allowed in the range. I pulled mine out to take a picture of my daughter shooting my AR10 for the first time, like a proud papa would do and just about got the third degree.

For the $15.00 fee, they do supply the targets, which is a bonus. On the downside, the wind funnels in there very badly. I don't know if it's a poor design, but the berms of gravel on each side of the range do nothing to help with the wind. It was absolutely horrible. So be prepared for that. No more shooting those sub moa 10 shot groups!!!! At least not there at this range.

I'm going back to the positives of the range, it has 10 rifle benches, that are very comfortable, and 5 pistol benches. There are dividers in the pistol area. The stools you sit on are adjustable for height and work well. I like the foam padded bench tops. They are comfortable to shoot off of. They do need more rifle racks and a better PA system. The RSO (giving commands from inside the office) is very hard to hear and understand through the speaker system. I think that about covers it guys. I don't want you to think I hate the place, but also want you to understand, I probably won't go back until some changes to the system are made. If you go, good luck and hopefully you have a great time!!!!!

 

[Steel Head]

The shoot house is comfortable as it's protected by a roof and walls on 3 sides. Down range is not protected from the wind.

What's the furthest distance you can shoo there?

 

[Camelfilter]

Update on the new range. Well, like I said, it's a very nice range. Great guys (RSO's) there, but............ their system needs tweeked a bit.... I really like the head RSO (Tim). It's a new club, and there are definitely bugs that need to be worked out, but I urge any of you guys that want to try a new range out head to Dalles Port Washington. I took my 19 year old daughter and a friend. It was my daughters first time to shoot an AR. She had a blast shooting both my Noveske and my new M&P 10 6.5 Creedmoor. If I'm not careful, she'll be shooting better than me in no time flat... In all, she had a blast but I hope the highly structured format there doesn't scare her away from shooting. Even my friend that has shot by my side for the last 35 years, had a little mixed feelings about the new range. He'd rather shoot in the national forest. Let me explain to you guys that I am not a newbie to the shooting sports. I've shot many many many different clubs, I've been shooting some form of competition since I was about 23 years old. For the longest time it was trap, money shoots was where it was at for me, then centerfire rifle and rimfire competitions at different clubs. Clubs are always going to have rules and we must follow safety rules and abide by our safe gun handling practices at ALL times. WE know that. A club needs to be safe, its members need to be safe, we always need to be aware, we need to watch out for each other. For those of you that are thinking about going and trying it out, here's what to expect:

1. They are going to have a little talk with you about their rules.
2. You'll have to read 5 or 6 pages of rules and sign a waiver.
3. You'll have to sign a consent form.
4. You'll have to sign an envelope and put down your address and phone number, seal it up with your $15.00 inside and drop it in a drop box.
Now this is where it gets interesting. The cold range and hot range situations.

1. You will stand behind the yellow line painted behind the benches, until they call for a hot range, then you will proceed to pull your firearms out and then can commence firing.
To me, this needs to be changed. They allow guys to get their rifles from the racks and out from their cases behind the line, while you are firing. Personally I DO not like anyone fiddling around behind me with a firearm. I don't care if it is not loaded or not! I don't care if its being pointed in a safe direction. It doesn't matter. It shouldn't happen. Their rules are going to have to change a bit before I go back. I've belonged to a lot of clubs, so if they want to PM me, I can talk to them regarding these issues and maybe get them straightened out a bit and make it more safe and less stressful for everyone. Heck, I'll even invite them to my clubs range where we can go over how we approach the safety aspect of cold and hot range. It can be made easy and safe. I'd personally really like this range to be successful, but at the rate they are going, they will probably scare more people off than entice them to come back.

Oh, another thing, no cell phones allowed in the range. I pulled mine out to take a picture of my daughter shooting my AR10 for the first time, like a proud papa would do and just about got the third degree.

For the $15.00 fee, they do supply the targets, which is a bonus. On the downside, the wind funnels in there very badly. I don't know if it's a poor design, but the berms of gravel on each side of the range do nothing to help with the wind. It was absolutely horrible. So be prepared for that. No more shooting those sub moa 10 shot groups!!!! At least not there at this range.

I'm going back to the positives of the range, it has 10 rifle benches, that are very comfortable, and 5 pistol benches. There are dividers in the pistol area. The stools you sit on are adjustable for height and work well. I like the foam padded bench tops. They are comfortable to shoot off of. They do need more rifle racks and a better PA system. The RSO (giving commands from inside the office) is very hard to hear and understand through the speaker system. I think that about covers it guys. I don't want you to think I hate the place, but also want you to understand, I probably won't go back until some changes to the system are made. If you go, good luck and hopefully you have a great time!!!!!

Hmm interesting point on range rules, and what you are used to.

We're used to:

Hot range = ok to handle firearms, safety on, magazines out (if detachable) action open, carried to a rack or a bench, safe direction without sweeping (normally barrel up).

Or alternatively cased and carried directly to a bench (safed, open action, mag out (if applicable) in said case).

Cold range = no one handles a firearm. At all. Actions open, magazines out (if detachable), safety on.

The "newer" trend seems leaning towards chamber flags as well for cold. Kinda like that idea, as it's just a quick look at all benches before going cold.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Hmm interesting point on range rules, and what you are used to.

We're used to:

Hot range = ok to handle firearms, safety on, magazines out (if detachable) action open, carried to a rack or a bench, safe direction without sweeping (normally barrel up).

Or alternatively cased and carried directly to a bench (safed, open action, mag out (if applicable) in said case).

Cold range = no one handles a firearm. At all. Actions open, magazines out (if detachable), safety on.

The "newer" trend seems leaning towards chamber flags as well for cold. Kinda like that idea, as it's just a quick look at all benches before going cold.

Seems like youll fit in nicely. By the way, when we walked down range, i turned back to look at the benches and the RSO's were looking through my scope on my rifle. When i got back to the benches they were still close to my bench and one of them says, "nice scope, Nightforce, is it made by Swarovski?" I damned near told the guy, dont be touching others belongings on the bench. At our club, no one touches firearms on the benches when the range is cold and people are down range.

 

[Camelfilter]

Seems like youll fit in nicely. By the way, when we walked down range, i turned back to look at the benches and the RSO's were looking through my scope on my rifle. When i got back to the benches they were still close to my bench and one of them says, "nice scope, Nightforce, is it made by Swarovski?" I damned near told the guy, dont be touching others belongings on the bench. At our club, no one touches firearms on the benches when the range is cold and people are down range.

I would have told the guy! Not that big of a deal, and gets the point acrossed. Futzing with firearms while folks are downrange. Jeeze...

Up at Albany (ARPC), have had to holler at folks to step back behind the line (cold range), from out in the field. Then discuss with them the range rules & the why's, once back thru the line.

 

[BlackdogGS]

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Anyone else here try the new range out? I'm sure some of the people here on this site would like to know if it's worth its price of admission. Some other members reviews would probably be helpful. I posted my first time experience. What do you guys think of this new range? They are open right now until about 7pm tonight. If you are close, you may want to check it out. Be warned though, it's been pretty windy lately....

 

[BlackdogGS]

I've been out there twice and both times we had about 11 shooters. Things went smoother the second time and the diverse group was fun to be with. I would recommend reading the range rules first here:

Klickitat County Firearms Training Facility - A Public Range | Klickitat County, WA

That way it will streamline your arrival. We normally have the chief RSO and 2 RSO volunteers working the range.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I've been out there twice and both times we had about 11 shooters. Things went smoother the second time and the diverse group was fun to be with. I would recommend reading the range rules first here:

Klickitat County Firearms Training Facility - A Public Range | Klickitat County, WA

That way it will streamline your arrival. We normally have the chief RSO and 2 RSO volunteers working the range.

View attachment 614477 View attachment 614478

Blackdog, you must know someone there to get those pics. They got pizzed when i snapped a pic of my daughter shooting my creedmoor. I thought it would be a cool pic because that was the first time she ever shot an ar.

 

[Eric in Oregon]

Blackdog, you must know someone there to get those pics. They got pizzed when i snapped a pic of my daughter shooting my creedmoor. I thought it would be a cool pic because that was the first time she ever shot an ar.

What exactly did they say? The guys out there are still getting the hang of running a range but even then a "no pictures" rule would just be weird.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

What exactly did they say? The guys out there are still getting the hang of running a range but even then a "no pictures" rule would just be weird.

Hi Eric, i think it's weird too. You can go back to my post on June 24th and see that that was one of the complaints i had. I did a pretty good write up on the range. You should read that. Im still hoping they change a few things. I also thought it was "weird" that each time you use the range, you have to supply them with all of your info, including name, address, telephone number, drivers license number etc. As for the picture taking, the RSO's said "absolutely no picture" taking allowed, "but we will make an exception this time". I had to explain to them that that was the first time she has shot an ar and actually the first time ive been able to get her to go shooting with me since she was a little girl. I would have loved to take pictures for you guys and posted them as part of my review of the new range. So unless that rule changed, its a no pictures allowed range.

 

[CRBMoA]

Since I only live a few minutes away, and I can hear it from my house, I suppose I should recon it and give you a nOOb's perspective (NEVER been on a range.).

I would have already checked it out, but my personal range is on a rancher's property less than 5 mins from my home, so I doubt I will use it.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Since I only live a few minutes away, and I can hear it from my house, I suppose I should recon it and give you a nOOb's perspective (NEVER been on a range.).

I would have already checked it out, but my personal range is on a rancher's property less than 5 mins from my home, so I doubt I will use it.

You should go there, but i promise, its not like any other "range" ive been to. I only tell you this so you dont get the wrong idea about how private ranges work. I guess this is considered a "public" range though. In Nevada, my parents live near a beautiful public range. There is no charge for using it. It consists of a few shotgun shooting stations, pistol ranges, rimfire range, seperate 100 yard rifle range and then a 400 yard range. At the 400 yard range, they have covered benches and targets placed at 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards. Heres the 400 yard targets, just for reference:
400 yards

https://imgur.com/a/UdmhSdq

Again, no charge for the use of this wonderful range. If i were a resident of that county or state, id offer up my services, like welding new trees. Its cool to go there though, because the people that use it, keep their trash cleaned up and have respect for it. Its actually awesome to see because when i go out into the national forests in oregon, the shooting areas are littered with trash. Thats one of my biggest pet peeves. So with that being said, if there are any members here that live near Winnemucca and use that "public" range, my hat goes off to you. You have my utmost respect!!!

 

[Eric in Oregon]

when we walked down range, i turned back to look at the benches and the RSO's were looking through my scope on my rifle. When i got back to the benches they were still close to my bench and one of them says, "nice scope, Nightforce, is it made by Swarovski?" I damned near told the guy, dont be touching others belongings on the bench. At our club, no one touches firearms on the benches when the range is cold and people are down range.

Wow! That is genuinely shocking.

For what it's worth, they now have an explicit rule that the RSOs are NOT allowed to look through people's scopes without permission (or maybe just not at all, not sure). You would have hoped that "no gunplay while the range is cold" would have been sufficient considering they're the ones enforcing the safety rules ...

 

[CRBMoA]

Don't need to be a RSO to understand that you NEVER touch another man's junk without permission.

What DO they teach in school these days?

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Wow! That is genuinely shocking.

For what it's worth, they now have an explicit rule that the RSOs are NOT allowed to look through people's scopes without permission (or maybe just not at all, not sure). You would have hoped that "no gunplay while the range is cold" would have been sufficient considering they're the ones enforcing the safety rules ...

Don't need to be a RSO to understand that you NEVER touch another man's junk without permission.

What DO they teach in school these days?

Amen!! I thought it was just common sense. But that doesnt seem to be all too common anymore..