Andover Sportsman Club info and sponsor

That Guy

That Guy

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Is anyone here a member at Andover? I am considering joining because they are pretty close to me as well as the gun shop I have been frequenting the most (North Shore Firearms) and they look to have pretty decent facilities. I looked at Danvers but I don't like the fact that you can only shoot if there is a range officer available. The only thing I don't care for is the five round limit in the mags, but I guess I can handle that for the convenience of the geographic location.

Secondary question regarding Andover - if anyone is a member, would someone be willing to sponsor me? I am a very safe, very experienced hunter and shooter with 20 years of military experience. I can guarantee I will not embarrass you if you sponsor me.
 
I'm a member. To get a tour just drive up on a Sunday morning. The gate is open to the public for trap shooting. One of the guys shooting trap can show you the club and indoor range if you want to get inside to look. You can walk over to the outdoor range and look. Same for the archery range.

No range officers are needed on any of the ranges. If you read the instructions on the application you'll notice that you don't need a sponsor, just references. Include a photo copy of your LTC/FID too when you mail in the application. If you want to get in during November you better hurry. The BOD meets the first Thursday of the month and you get sworn in at the general meeting on the second Thursday.

Lotta info here: http://www.andoversportsmensclub.org/ Read the range rules. The indoor range is 24/7 and you can shoot any ammo, including jacketed, up to .45 cal. but no magnum loads. You can set your target anywhere from 25' to 50' which is nice and not usually allowed at most indoor ranges. Bummer is the 5 round max load allowed.
 
Hi That Guy, I am a member as well for the last 6+ years, and yanici covered the info well. I would add that it is good group of guys and gals. Good facilities and well maintained. Very reasonable annual dues. It is a bummer about the 5rd mag limit, but that could change. Feel free to ask if you need further info. I think you will be happy there as a member.
 
Thanks gor the help - I must have mistaken references for sponsorship when I was reading. I'll come up tomorrow morning and drop off my application and look around.
 
I got my confirmation email on Sunday. I will be coming up and getting sworn in on Thursday night, then with a little luck getting my range orientation done this weekend. It's been over a month since I last fired a gun and I'm starting to have withdrawals.
 
Badfl97 said:
I am also interested in joining, so all I need is a reference not a sponsor ?
Click to expand...

Here's the application link http://www.andoversportsmensclub.org/Membership home page.htm

You'll notice that you need two references on the downloadable application. Good to send a photocopy of your LTC as described. It's all pretty easy and explained oif you click the above link.

Good time to join in Dec. The Christmas food spread at the general meet ing is awesome.
 
I am going to submit my app for ASP this week im so excited it local to me (i live in andover also) and its a great club hope to see some of you there!
 
I've been very happy since I joined. The 24 hour access to the indoor range is great - I went up Sunday night about 10:00 p.m. because I wanted to test out an adjustment on my pistol. Not too many places that you can do that - ended up shooting a couple hundred rounds while I was there.

They have also got me hooked on trap already. I sold my shotgun that was set up for skeet just to buy a trap gun - addictive game.
 
Great place, the outdoor range is getting a little crowded which is a good thing. I'd love to get the max in the mag rules overturned someday. That said I need to do some work like getting to member meetings which I don't so no complaints until I try!!
 
piman said:
Great place, the outdoor range is getting a little crowded which is a good thing. I'd love to get the max in the mag rules overturned someday. That said I need to do some work like getting to member meetings which I don't so no complaints until I try!!
Click to expand...
Hey P. I just saw this and reminded me we were going to get together. Sorry. Been busy. Did you ever shoot the new AR?
 
It was pretty active there today. Always an open spot, but a lot of people came through. It looked like there were quite a few up at the trap range. I did see a Dodge Ram with a Northeastshooters.com sticker in the back window.:)
 
I was there around 11:30 on the indoor range shooting my pistols. Was going to go to the outdoor range after but it was packed. I've never seen that place so busy before, usually there's only a few people total.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2
 
Sunday mornings is usually the busiest time. I've gone on Saturday afternoons in really nice weather and been the only one there. Lately the ranges have seen much more use than in previous years and I think that's great. The place was way underused.
 
rsal452 said:
I'm a member over at Andover, can any other members here tell me how one becomes a RSO? If its a class when do they hold it?
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The class is held once per year, usually on a Sunday. Keep an eye on the training area of the web page to see when the next class is scheduled. You are then supposed to attend the class on a yearly basis to be updated and refreshed.
 
rsal452 said:
We were never really given a straight answer at orientation. Pretty FUDDish if you ask me. But for everything else the club has to offer its not so bad.
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I've been trying to get that changed for years. The BOD's answer was "We see no need for a change." I wasn't happy either. There is a new board now and it appears to be more active in the pro-gun movement. You can try to get a BOD member to bring it up again at one of their monthly meetings. It's worth a try. If they hear it from more members, maybe they will change the rule.
 
As Mark explained it to me when I asked, their rationale behind the five round rule for handguns is if you have a runaway gun, you'll run out of rounds before the pistol rotates back into your face. the case he referenced was the kid in MA who managed to kill himself on the range with an Uzi that way. Leading me to wonder if they realized that a) that was a fully automatic Uzi to begin with so it wasn't a malfunction and b) I have never seen or heard of anyone having a runaway gun with a handgun. I know it's theoretically possible, but I don't know anyone who has ever seen it first hand.

I kept my mouth shut because I am new, but when I get a little more experience with the club I intend to bring it up as a possible change. Might not work, but it sounds like there are a lot of people now more interested in seeing that rule changed.
 
Hey, That Guy, you got half of an answer. I actually asked them to at least allow full capacity loading of revolvers and they shot me down. I cringe every time I let a newb shoot my 22 revolvers and they dry fire on an empty chamber, possibly damaging the gun, because I'm not allowed to load a full cylinder. It's just idiotic.
 
Clubs can change over time. Hopkinton was a "5 round club" when I joined in the mid 80's. Today, you can only find a few members who can even remember when the club had such a rule.

In many cases the 5 round limit may be traced to the fact that the NRA bullseye gallery course only requires 5 rounds loaded.

I find it the ultimate in hypocrisy for a club to urge its members to get out and vote against laws that would prevent one from carrying or possessing magazines > 10 rounds while concurrently telling those same members that it is unsafe to load more than 5 rounds when shooting at their club.
 
There is a movement to change that rule, but at the same time there are some that see no need. I was once told to my face that I cant put 8 shots in My SW revolver "Because it could go full auto" There have been some changes in who runs which range and we will have to see if the rules change. The Rifles were also limited to 5 rnds in the past, but the former outside range director shot a Garand, so they changed it to 10.
 
Does ASC have steel plate shooting? I only see that hey have Bullseye practices. Does the outdoor range have steel plates?
 
Dangger said:
Does ASC have steel plate shooting? I only see that hey have Bullseye practices. Does the outdoor range have steel plates?
Click to expand...

There is a new Outdoor Range Director. At present there are two steel plates set at 100 yards. I'm not sure of the size but one is larger than the other and about 12" in diameter. The new director is going to add some more plates.

The 25 yard range has a steel plate set at 25 yards and looks to be about 10" in diameter.

These club steel targets are the only ones allowed. You can't bring your own spinners, etc. for example.

There are no sleel plate shoots with the falling plates and no falling plate stands on the range, just stationary plates hung on chain.
 
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