Building The Perfect Range ... Or "Range Me"

[Ron J]

I am thinking about building “the perfect” gun range.  Found an area of the country that has a strong gun (and archery) culture with a sincere void in legitimate gun ranges (two private ranges that have a two year wait to join). 

Considering the hundreds of hours of range time you all have, I would like to hear your ideas to what would make the “perfect range”.

Ideas for now …

Gun range would be dual indoor and outdoor. 
Indoor/mechanical adjustable to 25m and would have state of the art ventilation.  It may be possible to put in a sliding roof.  Objective would be to have room for three separate stations of five lanes each.  Separating the stations would allow for separate small bore and large bore shooting.
Outdoor 5m, 10m, 20m, 50m and 100m.  Range would have a “pit system” to allow target changing without stopping firing on the shooting line.
Both indoor and outdoor stations will have soft barrier walls that will deflect empty brass downward.
Possible room outdoors for shooting clay birds.
Archery range w/stationary and moving targets.
Two to three classrooms.   
Gun store.

Also thinking about …
Having a casual dining restaurant on site and a pro-shop for fishing (have investors that want to open a restaurant). 

Open canvas to paint on …let’s see what you would create. 

[dj454]

Where is this range going to be. It sounds awesome I'm jealous already.

[PegLeg45]

Sounds like a dream range.
My best friend opened a local rifle and pistol range and club about two years ago as a side project (he is a state LEO). It is small but very nice. It has up to 50 yard pistol and 300 yard rifle.

He said one thing to absolutely do first is hire a good pro-gun lawyer to handle zoning and legal issues.

Have fun, and good luck on the project.

 

[Ron J]

Sounds like a dream range.
My best friend opened a local rifle and pistol range and club about two years ago as a side project (he is a state LEO). It is small but very nice. It has up to 50 yard pistol and 300 yard rifle.

He said one thing to absolutely do first is hire a good pro-gun lawyer to handle zoning and legal issues.

Have fun, and good luck on the project.

 

YES!  That is the best advice.  And I do have a very good lawyer that is shooter and hunter.  Also will have a state representative involved with the project. 

[PegLeg45]

Sounds like a plan.
We need more ranges to introduce more people to our world. I was a member of a local club 20 years ago, but all they did was Bullseye matches. I liked the precision shooting, but wanted more. Problem was, there were no ranges close by. Now all I have to do is drive 5 miles to shoot in a safe, shooter-friendly environment.

[Sponsor]

[Ron J]

How about a big "shooting gallery" range for .22s like the one featured on Shooting Gallery a season or 2 ago?  That would be fantastic fun for all.  Great to get the young ones excited about shooting.

The episode was in season 5:  Zen of the 22.

Great idea! 

One of the reasons why I want to have at least three different stations is to segregate noise levels.  Maybe something like one area for 22’s, one for non-magnum handguns, one for the hand cannons.

The gallery with a combination of resettable “poppers” would be a great idea. 

What I want to design is the ultimate range.  The “Disneyworld” of shooting facilities.  Wait ….  I need to have a “Small World” range!!   

[Rastus]

YES!  That is the best advice.  And I do have a very good lawyer that is shooter and hunter.  Also will have a state representative involved with the project. 

Oklahoma...or Montana?

Also...the Zen of the 22....One of MB's three best shows in my book...and yes, the range was superb.

[Ron J]

Oklahoma...or Montana?

Also...the Zen of the 22....One of MB's three best shows in my book...and yes, the range was superb.

Sorry!  Can't discuss location at this point.  Will say that OK is not in the running (something to do with flying monkeys and tornados!).  Found two states that have favorable markets, sites and regulations to open a premier range facility. 

[m25operator]

RonJ, I have this to say, a shooting range is a better venue than a gun shop... In a decent location it always has income coming in. The gun store just adds potential profit.  The shooting gallery theme is a good one, why wait for the circus to come to town, when someone already has the fun stuff to shoot at, and the guns to shoot them with. But the gun game is complicated, competitors  will  ALWAYS GO FOR THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR, they have to, Only the rich can afford the best, day in day out..   The common person might bring his family to your range but not enough, to make a living,, I wish you the best , but I've been at this a long, long time. 

[BigSaucy]

Space and funds permitting, don't forget the Skeet, Trap and 5 Stand fields.  They seem to be good revenue earners at the clubs in the Northeast. I rarely miss a week without shooting at least 2 rounds of skeet.  A 200 or 300 yd rifle range would also be a plus from my perspective. 

Good luck getting this project off the ground. Sounds great.