Well, this is gonna suck for the BulletHole

[RandomHero]

it shoud be noted that this is NOT my article.

Bullet Hole: Worst Range in San Antonio | The Truth About Guns

This past Saturday was Take A Newbie Shooting Day, and I had about 15 people joining me at the Bullet Hole range in San Antonio. It was a convenient drive for everyone, and offered some private shooting bays so we could have people running handguns and rifles at the same time. In theory, it was ideal for the day. In practice, it was awful.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, it had been raining for a good few hours. For every other range in the city this isn’t a problem, since they have covered shooting positions and gravel covering the ground to keep from getting muddy. Bullet Hole, on the other hand, is one gigantic mudpit. Even walking through the complex to the range, the pavement lasts only a few yards before the muddy mess that is Texas mud takes over.

Thankfully it had only just rained so there wasn’t enough time for the water to soak in, but I’ve been at the range days after a rainstorm only to leave with my shoes and all my gear caked with mud. Its annoying, it makes an awful mess, and in the summer its a prime breeding ground for the mosquitoes that roam the place in great swarms.

Before even getting a range assigned, we were treated to the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced.

Since this is one of the bigger ranges in the city, people generally start showing up and queuing for a private bay around a half hour before the range opens. Ranges can be reserved during the week, but weekends is a first come first served deal. This particular weekend was also the CHL licensing course (which sucks, I’ve taken it, don’t recommend it at all) so the microscopic parking lot was already full. Which means that we all had to park along the street, which has limited visibility thanks to some steep hills at either end of the street. Not a very safe start to the day, and the range wasn’t even “open” yet.

When the doors finally opened, there was one guy manning the counter. One. And I should mention that the line was a good 20 people long at this point, actually on the smaller side for a normal Saturday. And yet there was only one person to deal with all the people wanting to use the range.

What makes this even better is that this guy who was manning the register was 100% “tunnel vision” focused on selling some guy an Arsenal AK pistol for $900+. Which meant that the line of people patiently waiting was ignored.

For a good 20 minutes.

That’s 20 minutes where the only employee at the counter was doing nothing but doing a transfer. No one was handing out paperwork to speed things up. No one was even making an effort to be efficient.

By the time I finally paid my money and was issued one of the bays, I had been waiting in line 30 minutes past opening. And I was second in line.

I told the guy behind the counter that I was expecting more people, and he said it was cool and he’d send them back. So I popped out the door and went to practice my draw while waiting for the rest of the guys. Turns out that they were only a few places in line, and they turned up AN HOUR later.

It took the guy OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF to take money from 20 people and hand them a slip of paper saying which range they were on.

When my friends got to the range, we started the Take A Newbie Shooting day in earnest. The newbies were loving it, the experienced guys were having a blast shooting all the cool guns, and a good time was had by all. Until a few minutes later we were told to leave.

When I rented the range, we were given a two hour chunk of time to shoot. That’s the deal: you pay your money, and you get two hours of range time. I had been there two hours, but everyone else had been there less than one thanks to the guy behind the counter.

I told everyone to stay on the range while I sorted the situation out. When I got to the counter (with the same guy behind it) no one was there. There was no line, there was no one waiting, and everyone was happily shooting. So I did what seemed logically acceptable — I offered to hand him more money for continued use of the range. He said no.

We argued for a bit, and it came down to his boss being angry that people were extending their range time in the bays. I guess it wasn’t making them enough money to have the same people in the bay for two blocks of time, so they wanted to cycle more people through. I asked if we left and came back could we have another bay — the answer was no. And it wasn’t a polite “no,” the guy was actively being a dick. Even though some of our group had been on the range WAY less than the two hours they paid for, which was completely due to their own crappy customer service, we were being kicked out and not allowed to rent the range again.

Some of the staff tried to argue my point, saying that there was no one waiting and that I should be allowed to hand them more money, but the guy behind the counter was having none of that “logic” stuff. Apparently we were in the way of paying customers. Who were invisible.

The Bullet Hole range used to be run by nice people, and in an efficient manner. But those days are long since gone. What we have now are power-tripping employees and cash hungry owners that don’t care about customer service. They offer a sub-standard facility with poor accommodations that isn’t well maintained at all, and charge an arm and a leg for using it.

Oh, and if you ever bring an NFA item with you, they demand to see your papers. Doesn’t matter that they aren’t ATF agents, doesn’t matter that you’re not legally required to carry those registration documents, they demand to see the paperwork. Which I always found to be a bit invasive.

I had had enough. When we handed in our target stands and they handed back my range membership card, I whipped out my pocket knife and sliced it in half leaving the pieces on the desk. I will never go back to that range ever again. I left the Bullet Hole range and drove the 45 minutes to the Bracken Range on the northside to sight in my new competition rifle instead of paying to use their 50 yard range.

It was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had on a range, and it feels good to vent. Especially when you can vent to 1.4 million readers and on a site that is beloved by the Google search engine.

 

[Charlie]

Sorry about your range trip. Glad I have a friend with acreage I can shoot at.

 

[TXARGUY]

That really sucks.

 

[deemus]

No one else in line? And you still can't shoot? Sounds like the guy isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I have been under the impression that gun ranges actually wanted people to pay them $ to shoot at their facility?

 

[pvtsnowball82]

The customer service bit does sound upsetting, but I don't understand why this guy would complain about mud on the ground outside, after it rained. Does he expect a red carpet wherever he walks?

 

[TXARGUY]

The customer service bit does sound upsetting, but I don't understand why this guy would complain about mud on the ground outside, after it rained. Does he expect a red carpet wherever he walks?

I think that his point about the mud was to help the reader understand that this range is by default sub par compared to competing local ranges.

 

[pvtsnowball82]

I think that his point about the mud was to help the reader understand that this range is by default sub par compared to competing local ranges.

I get that, but I personally think that's bullshit. I've never seen an outdoor range with gravel covering all the icky mud. If he doesn't want to get dirty, he shouldn't go outside.

 

[TXARGUY]

I get that, but I personally think that's bullshit. I've never seen an outdoor range with gravel covering all the icky mud. If he doesn't want to get dirty, he shouldn't go outside.

Before they went private, Rustic Range outside of Lubbock used to be a slop fest any time it sprinkled even a little bit. It was not uncommon to see cars and trucks buried up to their axles in the parking area and even on the road going out. You just knew that if you were going to go there after rain your shit was gonna get muddy.

 

[StevenC.]

Having shot at every range in San Antonio, I can observe that you get muddy at every range in after it ranges. Cedar Ridge Range cancels matches when it rains (the range not the club). And, the mosquitoes come from the neighboring business as the range sprays for mosquitoes.

Also, I observe that Nick Leghorn has apparently visited the range before after the rain so… what did he expect?

Being that busy, I would if they really need his business. He should go shoot one of those other ranges that are so much better.

Was the guy getting his firearm in line ahead of Nick? Sure sounds like it. I propose Nick should have arrived sooner… Must be a pretty awesome world Nick lives in he gets customer service before those who arrived ahead of him.

I observe now you he was actually admitting he couldn't organize his friends, so that must be the range’s fault.

Why didn’t he just get “efficient” and pay for everyone and collect the money from them on the range. Or, he could wait for the entire party to be present so they all get their shooting and rental started at the same time. This is the 21st century: Smart phones, text messages, even a simple phone call.

Of all that has been written I do believe they do have a dude behind the counter who wouldn't see the value of just taking payment for another rental time. But… according to Nick the guy was doing what his boss says.

I wonder if his attitude had ANYTHING to do with Nick's attitude? Naw, I’m certain he were perfectly reasonable… And I wonder if they decided he wasn't worth the money. Maybe they’d rather see Nick gone than deal with his blame others for his inability to coordinate a group of friends.

Regarding the NFA paperwork… where are you standing when you are on the range? You are on someone else’s property. They decide how you act. They decide if you get to shoot an NFA item without proving lawful ownership. They have a liability risk if someone is shooting a Class III illegally. They bear the brunt of a media onslaught if someone is arrest with a homemade machine gun on the range.

“I whipped out my pocket knife and sliced it in half leaving the pieces on the desk. I will never go back to that range ever again. I left the Bullet Hole range and drove the 45 minutes to the Bracken Range on the northside to sight in my new competition rifle instead of paying to use their 50 yard range.”

Ooooooooh, you are so tough, and dramatic. What an awesome gesture. Btw, they have a 100, 200, and 300 range for the real men who can shoot a rifle.

Also, I shared your rant with the owner, the proper person to air your grievance to.

 

[TXARGUY]

Having shot at every range in San Antonio, I can observe that you get muddy at every range in after it ranges. Cedar Ridge Range cancels matches when it rains (the range not the club). And, the mosquitoes come from the neighboring business as the range sprays for mosquitoes.

Also, I observe that Nick Leghorn has apparently visited the range before after the rain so… what did he expect?

Being that busy, I would if they really need his business. He should go shoot one of those other ranges that are so much better.

Was the guy getting his firearm in line ahead of Nick? Sure sounds like it. I propose Nick should have arrived sooner… Must be a pretty awesome world Nick lives in he gets customer service before those who arrived ahead of him.

I observe now you he was actually admitting he couldn't organize his friends, so that must be the range’s fault.

Why didn’t he just get “efficient” and pay for everyone and collect the money from them on the range. Or, he could wait for the entire party to be present so they all get their shooting and rental started at the same time. This is the 21st century: Smart phones, text messages, even a simple phone call.

Of all that has been written I do believe they do have a dude behind the counter who wouldn't see the value of just taking payment for another rental time. But… according to Nick the guy was doing what his boss says.

I wonder if his attitude had ANYTHING to do with Nick's attitude? Naw, I’m certain he were perfectly reasonable… And I wonder if they decided he wasn't worth the money. Maybe they’d rather see Nick gone than deal with his blame others for his inability to coordinate a group of friends.

Regarding the NFA paperwork… where are you standing when you are on the range? You are on someone else’s property. They decide how you act. They decide if you get to shoot an NFA item without proving lawful ownership. They have a liability risk if someone is shooting a Class III illegally. They bear the brunt of a media onslaught if someone is arrest with a homemade machine gun on the range.

“I whipped out my pocket knife and sliced it in half leaving the pieces on the desk. I will never go back to that range ever again. I left the Bullet Hole range and drove the 45 minutes to the Bracken Range on the northside to sight in my new competition rifle instead of paying to use their 50 yard range.”

Ooooooooh, you are so tough, and dramatic. What an awesome gesture. Btw, they have a 100, 200, and 300 range for the real men who can shoot a rifle.

Also, I shared your rant with the owner, the proper person to air your grievance to.

StevenC, you make a few valid points here but also seem to have additional information or are making assumptions. I see that you signed up today and used your first post to respond to this thread. In the interest of full disclosure can you tell us how, if at all, you are affiliated with this range?

 

[CanTex]

Wow, Looks like you struck a nerve. We even get a new guy with one post defending the actions that happened. As with any rant or complaint I tend to be a bit skeptical and discount by about 20 Percent. However, with the blow-back you received I am glad this range is no where close to where I would be going.

I can understand your point regarding the mud, however as someone else indicated, you know about it so you deal. ( as I did not know it would have been good info regarding that range )

As for the guy spending his time taking care of the first guy in line.. Anyone with customer service experience should know how to multi task and get things running for those waiting in line. I have seen them at Reds getting 1/2 dozen or so filling out the range cards while they took care of the guy at the counter.

As for the guy with the personal comments YES this is directed at STEVEN.C ... What is up with this? you want to provoke someone or are you trying to respond to the OP's complaint as a reasonable adult. From my read, I would disregard your comments entirely as personal attacks are not warranted when you enter a discussion with an opposing point of view, unless you are a 3 to 5 year old. It does not give you credibility, it does not further your point of view. It actually detracts from any merit you may have.

 

[mitchntx]

 

[Mic]

Yeah, the mud thing is pretty common. The customer service sucks. But as a business, when your shitty day of customer service reaches a handful of people, not a biggy.
When you screw up like this and the guy happens to be one of the largest read gun blogs...not good.

 

[Big Phil]

Name an outdoor range in San Antonio that won't get muddy after rain! Good riddance to anyone who won't go back after reading that.The Bullet Hole is great, it's the longest public range in the San Antonio area, I've never had a bad experience. Their range fees are very fair and they don't charge per gun. I
plan on being there first thing in the morning.

 

[TX69]

I would guess that SteveC is affiliated with the Bullet Holes. I would also guess that he will not last.

Upon further investigation ....

Steven Cline is the administrator of the Bullet Hole forums.

February 2013 USPSA Match

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

You have to pay hourly there? And only one guy workin the check-in? Damn.

Sent from my toolbox

 

[RandomHero]

It should be known, I didnt write the article.

 

[RandomHero]

You have to pay hourly there? And only one guy workin the check-in? Damn.

Sent from my toolbox

The private bays you do. The non private is all day.

 

[TX69]

Upon further investigation ....

Steven Cline is the administrator of the Bullet Hole forums.

February 2013 USPSA Match

OUR INSTRUCTORS:
Steve Cline
Steven is a Master Class USPSA Single Stack shooter, the 2010 Texas Single Stack Shootout Champion, two time AASA Nationals Champion (.22 rimfire 2009, Stock Auto 2010) and proud member of the Bullet Hole Shooting Complex Shooting Team. As a former Captain in US Army Military Police Corps and former Johnson County, KS Deputy Sheriff, Steve can bring speed sport shooting and defensive tactics together. While serving in the US Army Steve qualified Expert with M9 pistol and M-16 rifle, and served as the training officer for an MP Company. While a Deputy Sheriff, Steve graduated as Class Valedictorian and Top Gun from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. Currently Steve is a corporate security manager for the world's largest telecommunications company with duties including investigations and instructing classes on workplace violence and crime prevention. Steve has also produced numerous videos he freely shares on Youtube covering various shooting topics(search for "deadeyesteve"). NRA Certified Pistol Instructor .
Here are what some folks are saying about Steve's instruction and videos:
"WOW! I needed this and appreciate your time in doing it." - Charles Boster

f"Thank you so much for your help tonight at the Bullet Hole. Your advice will be helpful in developing proper shooting fundamentals, and will most certainly improve our accuracy. Again, we really appreciate your instruction." - Amanda & Robert
"Thank you! You answered a lot of questions I had about proper grip and recoil control. Well done, you should make more! " - Zoroko (Comment on videos)

 

[TXARGUY]

Upon further investigation ....

Steven Cline is the administrator of the Bullet Hole forums.

February 2013 USPSA Match

I figured as much. Especially when he failed to answer my question about his affiliation.

His statement plus failure to disclose affiliation = zero cred.

My guess is that he may possibly be the actual employee RH was dealing with.

EDIT: He's got a decent résumé but still I award him no internets.