North of Lake Stevens

[philmccan]

A few years back my brothers friend (that I no longer have contact with) took me up highway 9 past Arlington to a nice little area to shoot. For the life of me I can not remember where it was at. I was very unfamiliar with the area and did not try to find land marks. Mostly due to the fact i did not own any firearms at the time. So I am hoping on of the kind membes here might know where I'm talking about.
I would also be open to any places maybe within a hour of Lake Stevens.

Thanks for reading my post.

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[whphel]

Norpoint.

http://www.norpointrange.com/

Or were you shooting outdoor? You must have been since this is the outdoor shooting forum.

There are lots of places up past Arlington. Any landmarks you remember at all?

 

[philmccan]

Thanks for the effort whphel I appreciate it. yes it is a outdoor spot that I am looking for. The only land marks that I remember is some very useless ones, It was past the Haggens in Arlington I believe it was on the left heading north. Haggens on the left, shooting area was on the right further up highway 9.
As far as Norpoint I have shot there once and have a member ship there. Nice place range is a little short but well kept and heated. There rifle range is not open yet, hopefully early next week. I have ammo they will not let me fire there so that is why I am looking for some outdoor spots.
whphel I see we are almost neighbors. I'm in Lake Stevens too.

 

[whphel]

Yes we are, do you have lots of rounds to shoot or just sighting in. Im on the north side of hwy 92 and I can still shoot on my property. You prob. hear me from time to time. Im not in the city on this side of 92 its unincorporated sno. co. so I can shoot high powered rifle and pistol. Its nice to be able to do right out you own back door. I limit my HP shooting to 20rds or so (dont want to freek anyone out or cause any noise issues) but shoot lots of 22 I can shoot out to 200yds here lots of trees and good backstops.

I havent done any shooting just off hwy 9 past arlington. If im going to do any long range I have a great spot out in Darrington you can shoot out to 1500 yds if you have a rifle with the capabilities. Lots of fun with my dads .375 Cheytac(.408 necked down to .375).

 

[philmccan]

Thanks for the very kind invitation to shoot at your property, I definitely appreciate such a offer.
I am looking for more than sighting in. I have a couple hundred round's in 223 and 7.62x39 that to my understanding Norpoint will not like being used at there rifle range when open.
Plus some outdoor shooting does sound like fun seeing as it has been a while since I have done any shooting outdoors.
Darrington is a bit further than I was thinking but very well might be a good alternative. Is it private property, that permission is needed?
I have a general idea of where you are located. I'm right behind team fitness.
Thanks again for all the help whphel.

 

[whphel]

No its in the hills free range.

As long as your ammo is not steel core you can shoot at Norpoint. I do understand though. Shooting outdoors is much more fun than indoors unless its raining.

 

[philmccan]

Yeap that's what i got is steel core. Darrington sounds like a good place. Do you mind giving out direction here or by PM?

 

[Will]

I live in Everett and Norpoint is a good place to shoot but there isn't many good spots to shoot outdoors these days. There's place on Ebey island, half way cross the highway 2 tressel on homestead road is about it, ther hours seem to be an option and require you to load a single round per shot (no loading up a mag and fire, only one firearm allowed on the range). Any other spots would be great to hear about.

 

[philmccan]

Thanks Will for those options. I am still keeping a eye on this thread in hopes of some kind people sharing there spots.

 

[RavenLunatic]

Due to distrubing posts regarding ethics on other threads, I have removed the dirctions to my favorite shooting spots.

 

[philmccan]

Thanks RavenLunatic! That is some of the best info I have gotten out of this thread so far. Some things did not come through like I had hoped.
I will have to take a dry run maybe this weekend to see if I can find them.
Thanks again RavenLunatic!

 

[RavenLunatic]

Due to distrubing posts regarding ethics on other threads, I have removed the dirctions to my favorite shooting spots.

 

[philmccan]

Yeah I think I will definitely be checking out C-post rd. And may be the others if I can find them this weekend. Thanks!

 

[Will]

Raven, Great info and thank you much for sharing it! Is C post road after you cross Deer Creek but before the highway crosses the Stilly, does that sound right? It's been a long time since I have been out that way. Have you shot at these locations recently? I got a leed on a place East of Granitfalls only to discover a locked gate to the DNR road

Phil, If you make the trip please let me know how it goes. I might try and make it out there in the middle of the week. It's been a long time since I have been able to shoot outdoors with the exception of Ebey Island and this time of year they are closed more often than not due to the water level there. Even when open it is weekends only after 11am.

 

[SteveZ]

I got a leed on a place East of Granitfalls only to discover a locked gate to the DNR road

Speaking of Granite Falls...I'm curious as to how many people here used to shoot up at what was called the Sandhill pit about 5 miles out of GF on the Mountain Loop Hwy?

I shot there from about '92 to when it closed down (about 3 years ago now).....pretty much every weekend; primarily working on IPSC practice. The closing of that location is what motivated me to join the Marysville Rifle Club.

 

[RavenLunatic]

Due to distrubing posts regarding ethics on other threads, I have removed the dirctions to my favorite shooting spots.

 

[Will]

Raven, Thanks for the update and even better directions! I do remember a place East of GF, I don't remember the name but I bet is is the same place.


Steve, How do you like the Marysville Rifle Club? I looked into the club several years ago and was told they only added new member once a year (that would be about five month away at the time) and I had to apply for membership, do a background check or present my CPL (wich I have) and be approved by the board. Seemed like a lot to go through just to shoot. Being a member this might be a loaded question but is it worth it? How many members do they have? What is the facility like?

 

[SteveZ]

It probably is the same place. Many people used to shoot there (it was private property but the property owner didn't have a problem with people shooting there...until the garbage started to pile up...but much of the garbage was NOT brought in by shooters).

I needed a place where I could practice at least once a week (of course now that primers are nearly impossible to find, I'm lucky if I can practice once a month) and MRC fit that need. The IPSC group there had been asking me to join for sometime..but since if had GF, I didn't really need a range.

When I joined, there was a backlog list. I had to wait about a year before I could join. Then they increased the membership cap the year AFTER I got in. Right now there are about 35 openings. They do still require a background check (or CPL). The primary reason is they don't want some anti-gunner with an agenda to join the club...then do something stupid which would get the place closed down (like lobbing round outside the range into neighboring houses).

Is it worth it? Well thats a good question. For me its a necessity (and if primers are ever free flowing again...it really will be). I'm typically shooting often enough that driving 60 minutes to a gravel pit and back once a week becomes a major hassle...so I pay for the convenience of being able to drive 20 minutes to the range to shoot. Again for me, its all about IPSC practice and they've got lots of props that I can set up and use.

Marysville also has trap, sporting clays, a black powder group, Cowboy Action Shooting, a rifle range out to about 250 yards and a pistol range out to about 50 yards and of course, IPSC. They don't have any silly rules like "only one round in the chamber at a time" and no one has said anything about 1 round a second on the rifle range (I've only been to the rifle range a couple times....I've been to the pistol range about a half dozen times). Use of the action bays is restricted to approved members only for the primary reason that there is a MUCH greater risk of having rounds leave the range and the proximity of neighbors in that part of the range.

Generally speaking, its pretty quiet there. If you go to the rifle range, you'll probably find maybe 3 people at best there. May times I've been alone down on the pistol range. MRC does have a "work policy" however you can buy out of it....about $10/hour and they require 15 hours each year....but you can get hours doing range clean up, help out during hunter safety, going to club meetings and in my case setting up stages at monthly IPSC matches. I get all of my hours (and then some) doing just that.

Hope that helps....

 

[Will]

Steve,
I'm interested and check out the web page. The intination fee seems a little steep. What does it take to use the action bays, you mentioned that it is for approved members only. What does it take to be approved? I enjoy shooting all the same I don't want to drop that much money to start and not get full use of the facility.

Now that you mentioned it I recall when I contacted MRC they told me there was only one time per year to join and there was a waiting list. Now is there are 35 open memberships to be filled? Just asking as it seemed like before they weren't looking to add members, what changed? The kind gent I spoke with told me I would lucky to get invited to join. I couldn't even get a tour of the facility. As he put it "this is a private club, we don't give tours but look forward to your viewing your application".

The fees seem even more to join now but I would like see facility before I pay the money and know if I have access to all benefits of the club or what other conditions apply? Insight would be appreciated.

 

[SteveZ]

Hi Will...the club did increase its dues/initial fee this year. Annual dues was $50/yr and now its $75 and yeah, I agree that the initial fee is a bit steep and I can understand about being hesitant about dropping that kind of cash on something you don't know about.

The rules/use of the action bays depends on the dicipline involved. In the case of IPSC, you have to be safety certified by the head of the IPSC program and you must be a USPSA member...and if you want to practice on your own, you must be a NROI Approved Range Officer.

This probably sounds like a LOT of hurdles to jump over...but you need to understand that all it takes is one individual who sets up a target in the wrong place or isn't aware of where their rounds are going and that round hits a neighbors house...and the next thing that happens...the range is shut down. So you can see, we are REALLY safety conscious about what happens in the action bays.

The "management" at the club has changed a bit over the last couple of years. I could hazard a guess as to who you may have talked with in the past...and I can tell you he's no longer in charge. I'd recommend sending the club president (BillV) an email if your still interested and seeing if he can't arrange a tour of the place for you. Tell him that SteveZ with the MRC Practical Shooters sent you....he'll know who I am.