Houston Crew (and points north) Range Day 09/14/2013
- Thread starter Glockster69
- Start date
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Anyone else headed there from Cypress? Considering this will be my last day in TX for a bit I was going to strap on the AR15 to my back and head over on the motorcycle.
A person following me would be great for a few reasons, documentation is one.
A person following me would be great for a few reasons, documentation is one.
TexasGunGirl
Member
Hoping I'll still be able to go. Have to see how time plays out. Today just finished three days of IV steroids. GRRRR. Woke up Sunday morning and everything was visually distorted. Dominant eye still "weak" so I'm seeing how the steroids play out. They are treating me differently than EVER before. And both of my XDS-9mms' have been recalled....GRRRR....All in the same week.
ShootingTheBull
Active Member
- Jun 18, 2013
- 569
- 1
Someone earlier in the thread asked if the gun club's restroom was handicapped-accessible. I was out at the club today so I checked, and it looks like it's designed to be handicapped-accessible. The room is about 5' x 5' so there's some maneuvering room, and there's a handrail on one side. I don't know if it's "up to code" for what a handicapped restroom is supposed to be or not, but it looks like they've taken efforts to make it so.
Probably not going to make this one after all. I know ya'll will miss me
....
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Updates
There's good news and bad. I've talked to Curtis about this stuff and he's OK with me posting a few things to this thread.
I'll make several small posts. If I did one giant thread update with a solid wall 'o text, those of us with the attention span of a gnat (you know who you are) would miss something they consider important.
I submitted my membership app to the club a while back so I decided to go up there and check out the place. It's very nice. I like it a lot. There's steel at ~35 yards for pistols and rimfires and also at 100. I didn't check the 200 and 300 since Curtis said he's bringing some steel.
Good question and one that people need to chime in on. If we start early, we're looking into the sun. I started early today and came home with a big headache because of that, despite the fact that I wore good sunglasses the entire time.
If, otoh, we start late then the sun will bake us from behind and the midday heat will drain the energy from all of us at an accelerated rate. You young'uns in great health won't mind, of course, but some of us will feel like we've left every last ounce of energy on the field after 2 or 3 hours.
The choice is high heat in the middle of the day or looking into the sun during the cooler early hours.
Discuss.
There's good news and bad. I've talked to Curtis about this stuff and he's OK with me posting a few things to this thread.
I'll make several small posts. If I did one giant thread update with a solid wall 'o text, those of us with the attention span of a gnat (you know who you are) would miss something they consider important.
I submitted my membership app to the club a while back so I decided to go up there and check out the place. It's very nice. I like it a lot. There's steel at ~35 yards for pistols and rimfires and also at 100. I didn't check the 200 and 300 since Curtis said he's bringing some steel.
Good question and one that people need to chime in on. If we start early, we're looking into the sun. I started early today and came home with a big headache because of that, despite the fact that I wore good sunglasses the entire time.
If, otoh, we start late then the sun will bake us from behind and the midday heat will drain the energy from all of us at an accelerated rate. You young'uns in great health won't mind, of course, but some of us will feel like we've left every last ounce of energy on the field after 2 or 3 hours.
The choice is high heat in the middle of the day or looking into the sun during the cooler early hours.
Discuss.
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Navigation
Use the directions Curtis PM'd to you to find the range. If you follow the Google recommendation to exit earlier and use Rocky Ridge and Carter roads, you'll find yourself on one-lane dirt roads, crossing a number of not-confidence-inspiring wood bridges, and looking for turns that are not marked. It's possible to spend quite a while quite lost. Please don't ask me how I know this.
Use the directions Curtis PM'd to you to find the range. If you follow the Google recommendation to exit earlier and use Rocky Ridge and Carter roads, you'll find yourself on one-lane dirt roads, crossing a number of not-confidence-inspiring wood bridges, and looking for turns that are not marked. It's possible to spend quite a while quite lost. Please don't ask me how I know this.
Fitting in with the schedule
While I was there, I spoke at length with the president of the club. He's a nice guy but he was surprised to hear that we were coming. The "proper" way to get on the calendar with an event at this range is to attend a quarterly board meeting and get them to OK what you want to do. Then it goes on the calendar.
Of course, no one updates the calendar on the web site but that's neither here nor there. If you go to a board meeting, at least the entire board knows what's going to happen.
Curtis got the approval of a board member and figured that was good enough. It wasn't. The president was planning to have a big 4H event that day. Luckily, he hadn't finalized his date and he knew that since he hadn't put anything on the calendar he couldn't expect Curtis to know about it.
Feathers were slightly ruffled. Conversation ensued and things got settled. We have the range for the 14th. We're not closing it and we must coordinate with any members who show up. They have priority to use the range and we must make way for them.
OK so far?
While I was there, I spoke at length with the president of the club. He's a nice guy but he was surprised to hear that we were coming. The "proper" way to get on the calendar with an event at this range is to attend a quarterly board meeting and get them to OK what you want to do. Then it goes on the calendar.
Of course, no one updates the calendar on the web site but that's neither here nor there. If you go to a board meeting, at least the entire board knows what's going to happen.
Curtis got the approval of a board member and figured that was good enough. It wasn't. The president was planning to have a big 4H event that day. Luckily, he hadn't finalized his date and he knew that since he hadn't put anything on the calendar he couldn't expect Curtis to know about it.
Feathers were slightly ruffled. Conversation ensued and things got settled. We have the range for the 14th. We're not closing it and we must coordinate with any members who show up. They have priority to use the range and we must make way for them.
OK so far?
Running the line
One of the main reasons I visited the range was to peruse the range SOPs which should be at the range for anyone to refer to. They were not there. They are kept off-site. Thus, I talked at some length with the president about procedural issues.
Generally, the entire line should be called safe when anyone needs to go downrange. However, the trap and skeet shotfall areas do not extend very close to the rifle and pistol firing lines. We can call the rifle and pistol lines safe and go downrange even while the shotgun fields are in use as long as we don't go more than 25 yards downrange. If we go further, everybody onsite must know, including the shotgun shooters.
So that we can actually meet this requirement by the host club, I volunteered to act as an RSO for the event. I won't shoot; I'll just run the line and try my best to make sure we don't commit any serious faux pas. Curtis was OK with this; in fact, I'm not sure if even he is going to have time to shoot since he'll spend most of his time playing host.
The club president seemed much happier with having a crowd on the range if we also brought along a full time RSO. (I cannot overemphasize the importance of that statement.)
Does anybody have any objection to me doing this job? Would anybody have any problems with allowing me to do this job? I can certainly understand that someone might object and the time to tell me to go to hades is now, before the event. If not, I'll expect to be able to do the job on the day of the meet.
Besides, I'm not too awfully much of a range nazi.
One of the main reasons I visited the range was to peruse the range SOPs which should be at the range for anyone to refer to. They were not there. They are kept off-site. Thus, I talked at some length with the president about procedural issues.
Generally, the entire line should be called safe when anyone needs to go downrange. However, the trap and skeet shotfall areas do not extend very close to the rifle and pistol firing lines. We can call the rifle and pistol lines safe and go downrange even while the shotgun fields are in use as long as we don't go more than 25 yards downrange. If we go further, everybody onsite must know, including the shotgun shooters.
So that we can actually meet this requirement by the host club, I volunteered to act as an RSO for the event. I won't shoot; I'll just run the line and try my best to make sure we don't commit any serious faux pas. Curtis was OK with this; in fact, I'm not sure if even he is going to have time to shoot since he'll spend most of his time playing host.
The club president seemed much happier with having a crowd on the range if we also brought along a full time RSO. (I cannot overemphasize the importance of that statement.)
Does anybody have any objection to me doing this job? Would anybody have any problems with allowing me to do this job? I can certainly understand that someone might object and the time to tell me to go to hades is now, before the event. If not, I'll expect to be able to do the job on the day of the meet.
Besides, I'm not too awfully much of a range nazi.
We are guests.
Everyone knows that, of course. The club president will attend the meet. It's his job to watch us like a hawk. I do not hold that against him and I don't think anybody else should, either. However, please keep in mind that he has absolute authority to throw us all off the range, pull Curtis' membership, and curse us to eternal damnation if we piss him off.
I have no problem with this. That's the way clubs run. I sincerely hope everyone does everything they can to make him feel a part of the group. Any future good standing we might have at this facility depends on it.
Frankly, I think we're going to want to come back so making the president happy is, to me, a fairly high priority.
Everyone knows that, of course. The club president will attend the meet. It's his job to watch us like a hawk. I do not hold that against him and I don't think anybody else should, either. However, please keep in mind that he has absolute authority to throw us all off the range, pull Curtis' membership, and curse us to eternal damnation if we piss him off.
I have no problem with this. That's the way clubs run. I sincerely hope everyone does everything they can to make him feel a part of the group. Any future good standing we might have at this facility depends on it.
Frankly, I think we're going to want to come back so making the president happy is, to me, a fairly high priority.
SOPs and allowed/disallowed firearms
Another of the reasons I visited the range was because I wasn't extremely confident about the size of the berms. Some of them are pretty small, both in thickness and height. The property line for the club is about 150 yards past the 300 yard berm, so shots that don't impact the berm are absolutely a huge problem. (More on this later.)
Due to the limits to the facilities and the general culture of the club, the following long-standing rules must be obeyed by everyone who attends.
Of course, it doesn't matter if I understand the rules. They exist. They're engraved in stone. We must obey them. Period.
Look, I know how disappointed some of you will be with this. I feel the same. However, it's better to know now and plan than screw up and get thrown off the range the day of the meet.
Another of the reasons I visited the range was because I wasn't extremely confident about the size of the berms. Some of them are pretty small, both in thickness and height. The property line for the club is about 150 yards past the 300 yard berm, so shots that don't impact the berm are absolutely a huge problem. (More on this later.)
Due to the limits to the facilities and the general culture of the club, the following long-standing rules must be obeyed by everyone who attends.
- No full auto.
- No SlideFire.
- No .50 BMG.
- No rifles more powerful than 30-06.
Of course, it doesn't matter if I understand the rules. They exist. They're engraved in stone. We must obey them. Period.
Look, I know how disappointed some of you will be with this. I feel the same. However, it's better to know now and plan than screw up and get thrown off the range the day of the meet.
mikeofcontex
Active Member
I shot a match up there once and they started early. A couple of cures for the sun: an umbrella bungy corded to a post. a narrow tarp bungy corded to the posts. It would take someone's effort, but the sun can be attenuated.
TundraWookiee
Scruffy Nerf Herder
Thanks for taking the time to do all of that Ben. I'm all for starting early and working around whatever issues present themselves and going off of past range days I am inclined to think the group will agree but I won't speak for them. I could not think of anyone I'd rather have as RSO than you and have no issues whatsoever with it. Thanks again for looking out for us all with your meticulous planning.
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