First trip to an indoor range

[Wink and the Gun]

The best indoor range I've ever been to was down in Jacksonville, NC. It was clean and well lit, rarely crowded. You paid $10 or $12 and you could shoot all day. They pretty much just left you alone, and let you do draw drills. Fantastic place, I used to go a lot. I'd like to find a good one around Indy - or just open land to shoot on, though that's less exciting in Dec - Feb.

 

[Cowboy1629]

Applied Ballistics

WOW! That place sounds great, just visited their website. I normally just shoot in my back yard but this winter it may be worth the 50 mile drive to try the place out.

 

[JoshuaW]

Only indoor range I've shot at is Midwest Gun & Range. I didn't really mind it but it was pretty dark about 1/2 down the lane. I prefer shooting outdoors even if the weather isn't great.

for Midwest!

Midwest is the only indoor I have been to in recent years (went to at at least one when I was younger, may have been two or three, but I dont recall). Midwest is clean, safe, and well lit. I buy my range passes there 10 at a time, just because I know I am coming back.

My only comment about shooting indoors, NOISE! Its not unbearably noisy, but it is noticeably more noisy. It gets really bad when someone is shooting something a bit larger right next to you. Oh well, guess that is why you wear hearing protection.

 

[sepe]

Even with hearing protection it was still pretty loud. We had someone shooting an M44 2 bays down. Kind of overkill for an indoor range but I guess some people just like making lots of noise.

 

[Saiga223]

I've been to Pop's and Don's. I am not a big fan of Don's range. Pop's was nice, but you can only shoot small rimfire rifles and handgun caliber carbines.

 

[viiiupndhead]

Looks like a trip to Lafayette is definitely in the works. Too bad Sportsman's Warehouse is gone, would have been the perfect day!

 

[Bapak2ja]

H & H Fort Wayne has a good range at a reasonable price. Mile Corner in Garrett is pretty good, too. Both tend to be a bit chilly, but manageable if you wear an extra sweatshirt. I think Roush is a great range, but I was only there on a very cold Saturday. Think I will wait for Spring to try it again!

 

[schafe]

and they didn't even have defective targets either did they schafe. sorry they didn't have those pre-shot targets like atterbury has, for you to take home. lol

Yeah,I didn't see any of the pre-shot targets to show Mrs. Schafe. That's why John and I shared the lane....in case someone asked, i'd tell them they were all mine...you think they would notice the difference between my 9mm holes and his 22 holes?

 

[M2A2]

I some times shot at Blythes in Valpo. It's a older range and you pay for a hour and you can shoot all day IF nobodys waiting. Good range fan.. NO HEAT DRESS WARM! A dude killed himself there this summer rented a pistol and did himself right there!

 

[billt]

Back when I lived in and around the Chicago area I shot at indoor ranges on a regular basis. Mostly because of the lack of nice weather. After moving out here to Arizona beautiful weather is all but guaranteed most of the time, but in the Summer months it is simply too hot to shoot outdoors.

I don't know why, but it seems the safety factor at indoor ranges out here is much lower. Because of that I will never set foot in one again. The last 2 times I went I was with my wife and we were both muzzle swept twice by idiot's. The last time it was by a group of hispanics who were there with their girlfriends, and were all speaking spanish and waving their guns around wildly. I was pissed off and didn't want to start anything so we immediately packed up our guns and gear and left.

When we were checking out at the counter, (the range has closed circuit television from many angles), I complained to the clerk and he simply shrugged his shoulders and gave us both one of these "$h!t happens" looks. He then had the audacity to tell us we needed to go back and sweep up our brass! (We were both shooting .22 rimfire handguns.) I told him if he thought for a New York second I was going back in there he was nuts! Needless to say we never went back.

About 3 weeks later it was all over the news there was a suicide there on the range. Some woman came in and rented a pistol and wanted to shoot. It was standard procedure that a range attendant would accompany the shooter until they felt the person was able to proceed on their own. It was reported that witnesses who were shooting at the time said after the attendant left her she loaded the pistol, placed it under her chin and pulled the trigger.

We have 3 indoor ranges here in the Phoenix metro area, and all of them have had at least 1 suicide. Some have had several. Between that and the idiot's I won't go to one again. I currently belong to a private club that has several ranges for both handgun and rifle out to 500 yards. The only problem is in the Summer. I try to work it so I do most of my handloading in the Summer, and shoot from late September until mid May when it starts heating up again. Bill T.

 

[Zimm1001]

The best indoor range I've ever been to was down in Jacksonville, NC. It was clean and well lit, rarely crowded. You paid $10 or $12 and you could shoot all day. They pretty much just left you alone, and let you do draw drills. Fantastic place, I used to go a lot. I'd like to find a good one around Indy - or just open land to shoot on, though that's less exciting in Dec - Feb.

Would you happen to remember the name of that range?

 

[Wink and the Gun]

Sportsman's Lodge, I think. If you took Piney Green up to 17 and took a right (going away from Jax), it was a couple miles down on your left. Big sign for paintball, if I remember right.
website is here:
Sportsmans Lodge USA in Jacksonville, NC

looks like on the weekends, they have a 2 hr limit on lanes now, but i'm pretty sure during the week the all day deal still goes. was there in the spring

 

[wrigleycub]

Went to one indoor range and never made it inside. I was a little more than unsettled as to the clientel that was renting firearms and strolling in. I Hate to sound like that!