Indoor Ranges - RFI

[Lane C]

For just over two decades I had unlimited access to the Kingdom. At my old Job we had a multi acre range facility with multiple range bays, SH, reactive targets, car bay and 600m range, etc. And it was 24/7 access. In a remote area and officially outdoors.

Now that I am retired and under 5 feet of snow at the mountain casa, I started looking into commercial indoor range facilities. I have used many .gov and .mil indoors, but yesterday was my first visit to a walk-in, pay the man, commercial facility.

Too say i felt like a fish outta water would be an understatement! The safety rule list was about 25 bullet points. I was schlepping gear, ammo cans, targets, etc. on multiple trips to get in the range. where i was used to just pulling up to the bay in the g-ride, open the vault and get to work. Also, being assigned to one-lane only and not doing multiple targets was new to me. I felt a bit cramped.

Anyhow.....On to my point. Im looking to get my gun on at a minimum once a week at an indoor facility. What guidance or pointer about indoors can you guys feed me. Should i just work on BRM and BHM? Is there a lane or location in a facility that you use and prefer either for safety or preference. Should i get one of those old lady shop carts to lug in my gear in one trip? How much time is too much time at an indoor? Anyone have favorite drills they use at indoors, carbine and pistol?

What i have learned so far is that most of the indoors here are 25Y max, no M855 and can handle up to .50 cal.

Look forward to some insight.

Cheers

 

[Chad H/BC520]

No chance of shooting still at your own property? The "mountain" part is what I'm wondering about.

 

[Lane C]

Sadly, not til the snow melts. 10 minute drive to get to the location, but the pass is closed in winter

 

[Chad H/BC520]

Winter is the time I focus on lots of dry practice, throw in scenarios, and work as much non-firing skills that need to be sustained as I can with guys I work with. I'm fortunate that I can shoot wherever I can plow, from out my front door to the formal range on my property. Because of the snow, I do a lot more from my driveway. When you go to the indoor range, I'd look at your training plan and see what skills would be best suited for that environment, like fundamentals, Malfunctions and support hand (drills no one likes, so what better time to practice them,), anything you can do with the timer.

Simplify.

And see if you can start the planning for a place to shoot that you don't have all the restrictions, if possible.

 

[nate89]

I work at an indoor range that was built by action target, and sounds similar to the one you are using. It really depends on the specific rules of the range regarding what you can work on. Can you draw from the holster? Rapid fire? While we have posted no rapid fire on our range, I do allow those who are practicing and are competent to shoot faster. The same goes for drawing from the holster. I use the indoor range to focus on accuracy, and to do static drills like FAST, 1-2-R-3, etc. As far as rifles, I like working on shooting from different positions (standing, kneeling, prone), because getting into and out of positions is a weakness of mine currently. I also work on mag changes for both handguns and long guns. I would say if possible, having a good relationship with the range personnel is going to be the best thing you can do to allow you to do what you want on the range. Just having someone who is competent and serious about improvement is so rare, and meeting someone like that makes me much more likely to be lenient for that person.

 

[nate89]

Add: I agree with weak hand shooting-if you can use the time indoors to become comfortable with both hands, that is a big advantage.

 

[Lane C]

Nate. Are you in SL valley or farther north?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[nate89]

I am further North. I live in Cache Valley and work at the indoor gun range at Al's Sporting Goods. That is about 75 minutes North of Salt Lake.

 

[Matt Landfair]

Lane we can hit Tandoori Oven when you come over.

 

[Dr. No]

I tend to practice a lot of accuracy at 25, 1 reload 1, and I have a lot of 8.5x11 pieces of paper I'll put up with different targets such as 1" dots, 2" circles, pistol forum's dot torture, etc. This helps change things up even though I can only stay static and not draw.

 

[Lane C]

Lane we can hit Tandoori Oven when you come over.

You know it!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[back spin]

First off, congrats on making it to retirement Lane!

Since you likely can't push multiple shots at speed, push for heavy accuracy 1-2 shots at speed. Use the par feature on the timer to give you an idea where you are at. If you can't draw, practice snap shooting from low ready or compressed ready.

At 7 yards, indoors, my favorite target is a 3x5 card. I push my singles and pairs. At 10 and beyond, I go for a B8 bullseye.

One thing I found about indoor ranges is if the lighting sucks, maximum accuracy suffers with irons especially at 25 yards. The solution I have found there would be using a MRDS equipped pistol...but I'm too cheap to get one.

 

[Dr. No]

I do a lot of table starts, too. Empty and loaded starts.