New gun range

[jaywapti]

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission ( FWC ) plans to build a 360 acre $ 2 million gun range 25 miles west of Melbourne, including a 1000 yd. rifle range. The FWC says there are 1,690,248 shooters within a 50 mile radius of the range.

JAY

[BigDanS]

And if you look around the State for 1000 yard ranges, they are few and far between.

D

[jbp-ohio]

And if you look around the State for 1000 yard ranges, they are few and far between.

D

Probably because they are so hard to operate. You can't see bullet holes @1000yds, you need a spotter and target frames you can pull down behind a berm so the shot can be marked. How can you have a spotter safely down range on a public range (no safety officer on site?)

[shooter]

Probably because they are so hard to operate. You can't see bullet holes @1000yds, you need a spotter and target frames you can pull down behind a berm so the shot can be marked. How can you have a spotter safely down range on a public range (no safety officer on site?)

Neither the old range at Pella, IA or the current one in MO have/had pits or sliding frames. But it was 1000 yard bench rest competition and we spot our own sighters at clay pigeons on a dirt bank. F-Class and Hi-Power need a more complex system as you described. My limited F-Class experience was on a range that had pits.

[jbp-ohio]

Neither the old range at Pella, IA or the current one in MO have/had pits or sliding frames. But it was 1000 yard bench rest competition and we spot our own sighters at clay pigeons on a dirt bank. F-Class and Hi-Power need a more complex system as you described. My limited F-Class experience was on a range that had pits.

Were these public ranges? It would take 20 minutes to walk down to check/ change targets, I would hate to be 1000 yards from my stuff when anyone can just drive up. When you take the Lowest Common Denominator into account, I wouldn't want to use that range without supervision. I've seen enough scary stuff (including people who didn't know how to clear a firearm) at the 100 yard range to throw serious doubt on a 1000 yard.

At the minimum, you would need two people to shoot. One to stay at the firing line while the other goes down range.

[snake284-1]

Probably because they are so hard to operate. You can't see bullet holes @1000yds, you need a spotter and target frames you can pull down behind a berm so the shot can be marked. How can you have a spotter safely down range on a public range (no safety officer on site?)

I gotta agree with you JPB, it would be hard to do and expensive. You'd have to hire someone or some people to do all that and have a qualified Range Officer on site. For one thing, it's a long way down to the targets and it would be a challenge to keep it safe. The firing line and the target berm are too far apart to do safely without people and communications. That constitutes a fully staffed sight.

With a 200 or even 400 yard range it's close enough to the berms that everyone can readily see what's going on and who is down range. But I wish our state would have 4-5 of these long ranges properly staffed, even if they were only open on a limited basis, if of course range times were well advertised so you'd know when to go.

[shooter]

Were these public ranges? It would take 20 minutes to walk down to check/ change targets, I would hate to be 1000 yards from my stuff when anyone can just drive up. When you take the Lowest Common Denominator into account, I wouldn't want to use that range without supervision. I've seen enough scary stuff (including people who didn't know how to clear a firearm) at the 100 yard range to throw serious doubt on a 1000 yard.

At the minimum, you would need two people to shoot. One to stay at the firing line while the other goes down range.

They are private in the sense that only members can use them except on match day. If you want to shoot a match, show up, pay your entry fee and shoot. They both sold memberships as well and we had a good crowd on the Friday before match day for folks to get dialed in or try out a hunting rig or whatever. The range is a cold range and bolts are never in guns until the command to load and commence fire. On practice day we are self policing. Nobody goes down range until all bolts are removed and placed on the table. Semi-autos have the bolt back and a highly visible chamber flag inserted.

In four years, I've only seen one semi-auto in a match. Practice day is different though and folks bring non competition guns to play at the various ranges all the way out to 1000. Last year I took my 6.5 Grendel AR-15 on the "play day" and shot steel targets from 200 to 700 yards. Anytime someone goes down range for any reason, all guns are unloaded, bolts removed , etc..

[snake284-1]

Neither the old range at Pella, IA or the current one in MO have/had pits or sliding frames. But it was 1000 yard bench rest competition and we spot our own sighters at clay pigeons on a dirt bank. F-Class and Hi-Power need a more complex system as you described. My limited F-Class experience was on a range that had pits.

I hate to say this about my own state shooter, but I think our "lowest common denominator" is lower than in PA. We have new people come to the meeting, join the gun club, at which time they're issued a copy of the rules and warned about the main few safety items, and go right out and start shooting at "Propane bottles!" How we gonna manage a 1000 yard range with idiots like this?

BTW, one of the most important and emphasized rules is that unless it's a club sanctioned shoot, you only shoot at proper targets on the back boards, so propane bottles are a definite no no and all these newbys are told this in front of God and everybody when they are voted in and before they pay their dues. So it's not a case of not knowing the rules.