- Joined
- Dec 7, 2005
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I was very disappointed to hear that I missed seeing Paul Taylor at the Manville match, but a short-bus full of us headed up to the Hampden Rifle and Pistol club for their November monthly match. They are the newest, and furthest north, of the Northeast Section clubs.
Their facility is absolutely beautiful. Four brand new pits and the remarkable thing is that each pit is 50 yards long by 25 yards wide. The options are endless with that kind of space. The surface is 6 inches of brand-new "starpak" (or "trapped rock gravel" or "blue stone/dust mix" or whatever you choose to call it). In other words, the surface is smooth, dry, and offers excellent traction. A note to other clubs, they received a significant portion of their funding through the annual NRA grant program.
They ran 5 stages and we were finished before 11:30. Being November, there were fewer shooters than they have during the summer, so you might not be finished until noon or noon-thirty in August. They followed-up with hot dogs and burgers at the club house. (Then we followed-up with a trip to the riverside Seadog Brewery.)
They also have 200 yard and 600 yard ranges. During their October 3-Gun event, the competitors shot at both of these distances. It was a good ol' fashioned local event, so there was no problem with bending the rules a touch; they had an experienced high-power shooter at the stage who helped the competitors with two sighting shots before the timer began.
Travel time was 3-1/2 hours (or 4 hours when you include a quick stop at Kittery Trading Post). If we had split right after range clean-up, we'd have been back by 3:00.
My short version of this post could simply have read, they're great people with a great facility and it really ain't that far away. They're shooting December 2 and January 1 (making us flatlanders look like a bunch of pansies for going inside during the winter). If you can get up there, definitely go; and it's a very nice area to bring the family. It's right next Bangor and awful close to the shoreline.
www.maine3gun.org
Their facility is absolutely beautiful. Four brand new pits and the remarkable thing is that each pit is 50 yards long by 25 yards wide. The options are endless with that kind of space. The surface is 6 inches of brand-new "starpak" (or "trapped rock gravel" or "blue stone/dust mix" or whatever you choose to call it). In other words, the surface is smooth, dry, and offers excellent traction. A note to other clubs, they received a significant portion of their funding through the annual NRA grant program.
They ran 5 stages and we were finished before 11:30. Being November, there were fewer shooters than they have during the summer, so you might not be finished until noon or noon-thirty in August. They followed-up with hot dogs and burgers at the club house. (Then we followed-up with a trip to the riverside Seadog Brewery.)
They also have 200 yard and 600 yard ranges. During their October 3-Gun event, the competitors shot at both of these distances. It was a good ol' fashioned local event, so there was no problem with bending the rules a touch; they had an experienced high-power shooter at the stage who helped the competitors with two sighting shots before the timer began.
Travel time was 3-1/2 hours (or 4 hours when you include a quick stop at Kittery Trading Post). If we had split right after range clean-up, we'd have been back by 3:00.
My short version of this post could simply have read, they're great people with a great facility and it really ain't that far away. They're shooting December 2 and January 1 (making us flatlanders look like a bunch of pansies for going inside during the winter). If you can get up there, definitely go; and it's a very nice area to bring the family. It's right next Bangor and awful close to the shoreline.
www.maine3gun.org