Houston Range Day Part 2
- Thread starter Tejano Scott
- Start date
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It's not a bad place. It's just when people are comparing it to a private range where you pay a yearly or monthly fee and get to do whatever you want it is easy to look down at public ranges.
Personally, I don't have a problem with ASC. I get to shoot and have a good time with friends. Anything beyond that is just a bonus to me.
Personally, I don't have a problem with ASC. I get to shoot and have a good time with friends. Anything beyond that is just a bonus to me.
I agree. I go there on pretty much a weekly basis. Not the best for large groups. I spend hours out there by myself and have a great time.
First, a couple of qualifiers. I didn't mean to imply that any range that doesn't offer all that is not worth shooting at. It wasn't a list of must-have criteria; I don't expect any range to offer everything. A place that did would cost so much I wouldn't be able to afford to shoot there. I just wanted to know the rules before I went so I wouldn't run into any "gotchas".
To specifically answer your question, though, no place meets all those criteria. For example, no indoor range has sufficient lighting or will allow me forward of the firing line to set up a chronograph, unless I wanted to rent the entire place and bring supplemental lights. That's actually do-able but I find it easier to just shoot outdoors when I want to use a chrono. I also didn't ask about "casual" bump-fire. I've seen that done unsafely more often than not (from the hip, spraying the entire landscape, etc.)
However, Spring Guns and Ammo is Class III friendly. They have a Slide-Fire equipped AR in the rental rack and suppressed pistols in the rental case. As long as you're hitting your target, the range has allowed rapid fire in the past. Since some nimrod started a fire with tracers on one of the ranges, RO presence has been more obvious and I get the feeling that at least some enforcement of the "No Rapid Fire" sign on the left side range probably occurs. However, on the right side range, where the full-auto stuff is allowed, it would be pretty hard to enforce a "No Rapid Fire" rule as long as you're not shooting up the range equipment. I will say I have put extended mags in Glocks and in that Slide-Fire carbine of mine and sent lead downrange as fast as possible with no static. Of course, I was actually hitting my target.
That being said, they recently changed managers and I haven't done any fast shooting recently. In the past, full-auto, Slide-Fires, and suppressors were allowed under RO supervision until the RO was convinced you knew what you were doing. After that, you were left alone. I haven't seen any posted policy changes since the management change. If you'd like, I'll ask the manager about the rules and how they're enforced these days and report back here. The info might be useful for future meetups.
SGA also meets all the other applicable criteria I listed. I can bring my own targets (within reason, I suppose. We all know of certain offensive targets that even private ranges will prohibit.) They allow and actually sell targets with faces. (ASC doesn't? Why?) Distance restrictions are a moot point since it's an indoor range. Also, since they are indoors they obviously don't have a plate rack; no ventilation system would be good enough to handle that much lead dust in the air. However, if I wanted to rent one of the ranges for a block of time, I doubt they'd object to those self-sealing, polymer-type plates. With that rental, I'd also gain something that normally isn't available at indoor ranges, the ability to move while shooting.
One criteria I didn't list (since it had already been covered higher in the thread) was ammo restrictions. ASC, it appears, allows steel or aluminum case ammo. Like most (all?) indoor ranges, SGA does not.
So, within the restrictions that simply can't be overcome when shooting indoors without investing ridiculous money, SGA meets all the criteria I listed.
That said, the things that are only practical to do outdoors (chrono, plate racks, pistols at extended distance are the things I listed; I'd also amend that to include position shooting) are either unavailable, impossible due to range design or prohibited by the rules at all the outdoor public ranges I'm familiar with. At the private ranges I know, all that stuff is available or possible *except* rapid/bump/full-auto fire. (I'm not familiar with the Bayou Rifles complex south of town and I'd love to hear from a member there what's available.)
So, no, nobody has it all. I don't expect them to, even though some come very close. I just like to know what's possible before I go to a range. There's no use packing stuff I can't use, is there?
Agreed. I think that as long as I don't have a pre-existing conflict (e.g., I'm going to a pistol class in Colorado in mid-August), I'm going to try very, very hard to make the next Gatesville meetup.
That is some BS. I'd never go back there either. Basically saying, "yeah we're screwing you, like it or go home". ASC was $7 per gun, that's it, until about 3 months ago. Once Hotwells jacked its prices up, ASC jacked em up even higher. I only go there for rifle shooting now. Although since this is different, I'll probably have a 357 magnum and a 9 with me this day, but typically I don't go to ASC's pistol range since they raised their prices. I've heard stories about Range Officers there telling people they couldn't pick up their own brass too. I'd have a serious problem with that. For pistol I go to MSC on Wednesdays, 1/2 priced range fee (per person, I go alone just to pop off 200 or so rounds in my 9 from time to time), bring all the guns u want (I think its only for an hour though).
lmao...I don't like Hotwells Rifle range AT ALL.
TundraWookiee
Scruffy Nerf Herder
The only range I would say I've visited multiple times is Champion Firearms pistol range in College Station. $10.50 for range time with as many guns as you bring in and you can share a lane for $7.50. Granted its a small indoor range but I took a good number of dates there and would frequent it to get my fix while I was in school there.
Hicksville range is the anomaly when it comes to ranges in my experience. It's a shame there aren't more like it but I can understand why. The possible liability or legal issues from a potential incident could become a nightmare. I'm sure everyone has seen someone at a range at one point who had little or no proper firearm experience and could have been a danger to others.
If only we had a TGT club range. I'm hoping to build myself a nice backstop and maybe have some people down to my place at some point in the future.
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Hicksville range is the anomaly when it comes to ranges in my experience. It's a shame there aren't more like it but I can understand why. The possible liability or legal issues from a potential incident could become a nightmare. I'm sure everyone has seen someone at a range at one point who had little or no proper firearm experience and could have been a danger to others.
If only we had a TGT club range. I'm hoping to build myself a nice backstop and maybe have some people down to my place at some point in the future.
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If you shoot rifles at ASC, maybe you can tell me - did they ever open up the long range side of the range? When I've been there (remember, I said it had been many years), the berms beyond 200 yards weren't maintained and there were no benches on the right side of the range. When the place was first constructed, I was excited about having a public range with ranges out to 500 meters (or 600 yards, or whatever it was). Then they never put them to use. Are they available now?
Hang on. I've just dug a bit deeper into their web site and found the following:
Pistol shooters will stand and shoot at said targets where ground and overhead baffling is present. Rifle shooters will sit and shoot from 50 yards to 300 yards using the same basic criteria. Situations regarding the longer ranges and various shooting positions, i.e. kneeling, prone, or standing will be addressed as need arises by the range officers and range management.
OK, I guess that answers a bunch of my questions. I like to shoot a .22 caliber rifle, standing, at 25 yards. I like to shoot pistols from the bench or from position at extended ranges. Both of those would require a special dispensation from the management.
They are also, apparently, not using the long-range berms that were installed some 25-30 years ago.
On the good side, they list an extra $7 up-charge for using the steel targets. I take that to mean they still have a plate rack. I like that.
It's good to know this stuff in advance.
The outdoor ranges in Houston have raised their prices considerably. I went to ASC on a Saturday about 6 months ago, when it was just $7 per gun, you would barely walk in there it was so packed. The price increase has definitely cut down on the crowd a bit, which I guess is "somewhat" of a benefit. I go by myself pretty regularly and usually early, like right when they open. I'll be zeroing my scope on my AR on the 30th, not sure how much time I'll have but I'll be there till at least noon or so. Gotta go to a wedding that night. I really wanna take a few big bore revolver shots so if anyone is bringing a 44 mag or a 454 casull please let me know.
TundraWookiee
Scruffy Nerf Herder
I've never even attempted a 600 yard shot...I took a deer at 427 yards several year which was my longest attempt ever. It would definitely be interesting to try sometime but I doubt I'll be bringing any bolt rifles on the 30th.
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