Shooting on open public land in portland

lippidude · May 31, 2011

Hello,

Ive recently grown an interest in purchasing a rifle. I have allways had a fascination with lever action rifles so I was planning on getting a Winchester or Savage. However, I am unsure as to where I to buy one for the best deal. I believe that I might want to start with a .22 just to have some fun with shooting since I am not a hunter or anything. I say some 30/30 for about $300-500 at a shop in Eugene. Is there a way to buy a nice rifle for at most $400-500?

Also, I live close to Skyline road up in the hills. I have driven past Cornellius pass Rd. to the other side of Skyline and noticed that on some of the back roads and fire trails there where shot gun shells and other various used rounds. Is it okay to shoot rifles in that area? If so does it require any sort of permit? If not is there an open area similar to that, that does not require the use of a range and allows you to just park your car and find a place to shoot at targets you set up?

-Lippidude

WhyteCheddar · May 31, 2011

I believe it is illegal to discharge any firearm within the city limits except for designated locations. (ranges etc...)
There are others here from the city that will no doubt know better than I though.
And I'll add, welcome to the forum.
You might note that a question like this would belong in one of the other threads and might actually get moved.
Enjoy the site!

lippidude · May 31, 2011

thank you for your help, I will also move my thread. I should have guessed that it wouldn't be allowed, especially with how anti gun Portland is.

Thanks again!

lippidude · May 31, 2011

Hello,

Ive recently grown an interest in purchasing a rifle. I have allways had a fascination with lever action rifles so I was planning on getting a Winchester or Savage. However, I am unsure as to where I to buy one for the best deal. I believe that I might want to start with a .22 just to have some fun with shooting since I am not a hunter or anything. I say some 30/30 for about $300-500 at a shop in Eugene. Is there a way to buy a nice rifle for at most $400-500?

Also, I live close to Skyline road up in the hills. I have driven past Cornellius pass Rd. to the other side of Skyline and noticed that on some of the back roads and fire trails there where shot gun shells and other various used rounds. Is it okay to shoot rifles in that area? If so does it require any sort of permit? If not is there an open area similar to that, that does not require the use of a range and allows you to just park your car and find a place to shoot at targets you set up?

-Lippidude

Buddhalux · May 31, 2011

Check out bimart online. They have a bunch of 22 lever actions on there. Most are Henry's iirc, but that will give you a ball park for their prices. I'd suggest that you get a BLM map to determine whether or not you're outside of city limits before you start shooting. Ignorance isn't an excuse when it comes to the law and not knowing what's public land outside of the city limits could cause you to end up with some serious fines and loss of your firearms rights.

PDXSparky · May 31, 2011

Right now, BiMart has all their .17 and .22 rifles on sale, $10 off their already good prices.

The B · May 31, 2011

west of corn pass isn't within any city, and i seriously doubt portland's limits even approach corn pass.. if you're outside of incorporated areas and outside the urban growth boundary, you can shoot. call your sheriff's office to find out if a specific address is within UGB.

aside from THAT, that whole area is generally people's yards. i've spent some time in that section of those hills, and you need to move pretty far down the range before you really get away from people's houses. might be able to find a semi-isolated clear cut to shoot at out past moreland rd, or better yet, farther down still... but skyline just isn't a great starting point.

lippidude · Jun 1, 2011

by west do you mean the half of corn pass where skyline continues to where it turns into dirt road and there are all the deep woods? i think if you take that dirt road out you end up near sauvies island.

The B · Jun 1, 2011

lippidude said:
by west do you mean the half of corn pass where skyline continues to where it turns into dirt road and there are all the deep woods? i think if you take that dirt road out you end up near sauvies island.

skyline stays pavement from start to end, nowadays. you can take it all the way to rocky point, and follow that all the way down to highway 30 south of scappoose. a lot of the roads to the NE of skyline eventually meander down to hwy 30, which is across the channel from sauvie's island. once you get out to rocky point, there's a lot more clearcut type areas, and maybe a few spots where nobody will scream at you for shooting, but dont use spent shot shell as an indicator of where to shoot- thats ALL private land, up there, and just because somebody's been shootin there doesn't mean you can.

generally speaking, if you haven't seen a mailbox for a few miles, and there's gated clearcuts, you're probably fine to shoot.

Will_Power · Jun 1, 2011

bkb0000 said:
skyline stays pavement from start to end, nowadays. you can take it all the way to rocky point, and follow that all the way down to highway 30 south of scappoose. a lot of the roads to the NE of skyline eventually meander down to hwy 30, which is across the channel from sauvie's island. once you get out to rocky point, there's a lot more clearcut type areas, and maybe a few spots where nobody will scream at you for shooting, but dont use spent shot shell as an indicator of where to shoot- thats ALL private land, up there, and just because somebody's been shootin there doesn't mean you can.

generally speaking, if you haven't seen a mailbox for a few miles, and there's gated clearcuts, you're probably fine to shoot.

Really? A few months ago, I was out past Dixie Mt, and it's graded gravel..

Any rate, if you don't mind the bit of a drive, there's plenty of land to go plinkin around at between Scapoose and Vernonia and Clatskanie. You'll need to check the timber co regulations, as some prohibit shooting, and others don't.

Or, just head out to Tillamook State Forest.

The B · Jun 1, 2011

Will_Power said:
Really? A few months ago, I was out past Dixie Mt, and it's graded gravel..

Any rate, if you don't mind the bit of a drive, there's plenty of land to go plinkin around at between Scapoose and Vernonia and Clatskanie. You'll need to check the timber co regulations, as some prohibit shooting, and others don't.

Or, just head out to Tillamook State Forest.

once you hit rocky point road, you're ON rocky point.. that's where skyline ends. it stays pavement till you get to dixie mountain and dixie roads, both of which are gravel. i'm not sure when they paved it- i think it was fairly recently, but not within the last few months.