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Massachusetts Rifle Association - Woburn, MA

Varmint said:
Thanks, but since mine is restricted to target/hunting, I can only put it in my car if I'm going shooting or hunting. I know you're allowed to stop along the way, so it's probably ok.
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NO NO NO!

It's restricted for *carrying* while hunting and target shooting. That means you can carry a loaded gun in a holster while doing those things.

You can *always* have an unloaded gun in your car, no matter what the restrictions on your LTC say. (assuming you follow the regular transportation rules and you don't drive onto Post Office property or any school property)

You're absolutely fine going shooting after work and leaving your stuff in your car all day.
 
milktree said:
NO NO NO!

It's restricted for *carrying* while hunting and target shooting. That means you can carry a loaded gun in a holster while doing those things.

You can *always* have an unloaded gun in your car, no matter what the restrictions on your LTC say. (assuming you follow the regular transportation rules and you don't drive onto Post Office property or any school property)

You're absolutely fine going shooting after work and leaving your stuff in your car all day.
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Ok, cool, thanks - that's starting to make sense to me! I was wondering how you buy a gun if you're only allowed to transport to ranges & hunting.

The laws are beyond confusing. For example, my town detective said I can concealed carry to a range, but what if I drive through another town who doesn't view it that way? it's insane. Preaching to the choir, I know.
 
thimblerigger said:
I think all the outdoor ranges at MRA are shut down for inspection today.
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WTF

e2atyda5.jpg


Sweet. Wasn't planning on going this morning with this fever. Trigger time should help.
 
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Varmint said:
Can you go to the club to shoot before or after work, and leave your firearms locked in your trunk while at work?
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Legally, yes unless your PD takes a very, very narrow view of restricted.

On trick with a semi-auto is to take the barrel in with you - that way, you are not bring a gun into work and, if your car is broke into, you have the police report that "inoperable gun parts" were taken (less stuff for HR to hang you with)
 
American said:
Does anyone know what score is required to pass the new member rules test?
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I believe you can only get 2-3 wrong maybe 4 before it has to go to be discussed with others. Read the riles several times, paying attention to range names, hours of operation, caliber and magazine restrictions, the red safety line, ect. and you will be fine.
 
Massman said:
I believe you can only get 2-3 wrong maybe 4 before it has to go to be discussed with others. Read the riles several times, paying attention to range names, hours of operation, caliber and magazine restrictions, the red safety line, ect. and you will be fine.
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Again, it's really not that kind of a test. The goal isn't to fail anyone, it's to make sure you learn the rules of the range. If you get an answer wrong, they tell you to try again. If you still can't get it right, they'll discuss it with you, or make you read the rule book again, until you can figure it out. Then they'll make you try again, until you get it right.

It also helps that they go over all the rules, and write half of them on the white board before they give you the test.

I've never heard of anyone "failing" the test and not getting into the club because of it. You'd have to be very dumb and very unsafe for them to turn you down.
 
TonyDedo said:
Again, it's really not that kind of a test. The goal isn't to fail anyone, it's to make sure you learn the rules of the range. If you get an answer wrong, they tell you to try again. If you still can't get it right, they'll discuss it with you, or make you read the rule book again, until you can figure it out. Then they'll make you try again, until you get it right.

It also helps that they go over all the rules, and write half of them on the white board before they give you the test.

I've never heard of anyone "failing" the test and not getting into the club because of it. You'd have to be very dumb and very unsafe for them to turn you down.
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Thanks. Took the test this past Sunday. The guy who administered the test didn't go over anything before, but afterwards had us score ourselves and discuss any that we answered incorrectly. Like people said earlier, it's not difficult if you read the range rules a few times.

Another question: How strict are they about the 6 month waiting period to use the outdoor rifle ranges?
 
American said:
Another question: How strict are they about the 6 month waiting period to use the outdoor rifle ranges?
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They've sometimes waived the waiting period for people who have a current member vouch for their experience, but you still need to pass a test. (...and just scheduling the test can be a pain depending on your schedule vs. the volunteer's.) When I took them, it was pistol and rifle offhand at 50 for McLaughlin, and then benched rifle at 100 and 200 for Summa.

No test for the 50' outdoor range, btw. For rifles it's rimfire only, but (imho) it's a nice range that doesn't get used much.
 
I'm taking the McLaughlin test this weekend. What's it like? Rifle will be easy but I don't think i've shot pistol at 50 yards for a long time. No place to practice that far out. 25 yards at Loeb is as close to 50 yards as I have been at recently.
 
A1850 said:
I'm taking the McLaughlin test this weekend. What's it like? Rifle will be easy but I don't think i've shot pistol at 50 yards for a long time. No place to practice that far out. 25 yards at Loeb is as close to 50 yards as I have been at recently.
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Just bring a .22 pistol and it is a piece of cake to be on paper at 50 yards. I don't think you are allowed to shoot from a rest.

Chris
 
I took my shooting test with a .44 magnum revolved and a marlin 30-30 rifle. Pistol was benched. Rifle was both benched and standing off hand. I was stressed about hitting the target at 50 yards also but with the size of the target and benching the handgun it wasn't an issue.
 
i don't understand there test they have signs posted at each range as if people can't read. why memorize the ranges read before you walk in common sense. yes people are gonna do what they want occasionally, but then they eventually get caught on camera [smile] and loose membership.
 
Benching a pistol, does that mean it's mounted to the bench or you can just rest your hands on it? How big is the paper target at 50 yards?

can you use the rifle to put a hole in the pistol target before they go check? :)
 
Varmint said:
Benching a pistol, does that mean it's mounted to the bench or you can just rest your hands on it? How big is the paper target at 50 yards?

can you use the rifle to put a hole in the pistol target before they go check? :)
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"benching" means, "you can rest the gun or your hands on the bench or on a rest or on sandbags. Or in other words, you don't need to shoot offhand, unsupported.

I can't remember how big the target is, but it's not tiny.

the point of the exercise is *not* to prove you're a distinguished expert precision shooter, it's to prove you're capable of shooting at 50Y without any danger of shooting such that a bullet gets out of the range. "on the paper" is a suitable proxy for that.

If you find yourself at the range for the test, look at the target and you think, "wow, that's gonna be tough", that's a really good indicator that 1) you should spend some more time on the Loeb range with the target at 35', (then 50', then 25y as you get better) and 2) that shooting at 50 yards would be a complete waste of time for you.
 
Varmint said:
Benching a pistol, does that mean it's mounted to the bench or you can just rest your hands on it? How big is the paper target at 50 yards?

can you use the rifle to put a hole in the pistol target before they go check? :)
Click to expand...

We were able to use a rest, think sand bag, for stability. You still had to hold it and pull the trigger. I forget the target size but probably 16" black circle you had to hit. Could have been bigger. It wasn't too hard and everyone passed as I recall.
 
milktree said:
If you find yourself at the range for the test, look at the target and you think, "wow, that's gonna be tough", that's a really good indicator that 1) you should spend some more time on the Loeb range with the target at 35', (then 50', then 25y as you get better) and 2) that shooting at 50 yards would be a complete waste of time for you.
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I have absolutely no interest in pistols at 50 yards at this range but I still had to qualify to be able to use the range at all since pistols are allowed. Many of us don't practice long range pistol so the thought of having to hit a target at 50 yards in order to qualify to use the range at all can seem a little rough. That said it wasn't hard in the end.
 
milktree said:
"benching" means, "you can rest the gun or your hands on the bench or on a rest or on sandbags. Or in other words, you don't need to shoot offhand, unsupported.

I can't remember how big the target is, but it's not tiny.

the point of the exercise is *not* to prove you're a distinguished expert precision shooter, it's to prove you're capable of shooting at 50Y without any danger of shooting such that a bullet gets out of the range. "on the paper" is a suitable proxy for that.

If you find yourself at the range for the test, look at the target and you think, "wow, that's gonna be tough", that's a really good indicator that 1) you should spend some more time on the Loeb range with the target at 35', (then 50', then 25y as you get better) and 2) that shooting at 50 yards would be a complete waste of time for you.
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bdb said:
We were able to use a rest, think sand bag, for stability. You still had to hold it and pull the trigger. I forget the target size but probably 16" black circle you had to hit. Could have been bigger. It wasn't too hard and everyone passed as I recall.
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Thanks guys. I don't think I've ever shot a pistol further than maybe 25 yards, but sounds like fun.
 
I have been a member of MRA for 6 years and have yet, like a dummy, to qualify for the outdoor 50yard range. I need to do this ASAP as shooting my ARs in the Loeb can get annoying. How does one sign up to qualify for this? Do we just show up on Sunday's and ask in the office, or do we need to schedule it? Is a spotting scope needed, or just a pistol and rifle and your G2G? My guess is iron sights only on the rifle, no red dot or red dot/magnifier combo?
 
ramair2k said:
I have been a member of MRA for 6 years and have yet, like a dummy, to qualify for the outdoor 50yard range. I need to do this ASAP as shooting my ARs in the Loeb can get annoying. How does one sign up to qualify for this? Do we just show up on Sunday's and ask in the office, or do we need to schedule it? Is a spotting scope needed, or just a pistol and rifle and your G2G? My guess is iron sights only on the rifle, no red dot or red dot/magnifier combo?
Click to expand...

Show up Wednesday night or Sunday AM and talk to them, they will schedule an appointment. You have to do pretty much the ENTIRE safety training and videos you did when first becoming a member then you move on to the shooting test discussed in the previous posts. Once qualified bring whatever you want to shoot (assuming it's approved for the range). Capacity is limited at 8 rounds with no rapid fire. Steady sustained fire is OK but you cannot mag dump a 3 rounder as fast as you can like in Loeb. I shoot irons, scoped, red dots, you name it. Doesn't matter what is on the rifle or pistol for optics or sights.
 
8 rounds rifle max. 10 rounds handgun. Three shotgun (slug only).

Better than the 1 round max on Summa I guess.



bdb said:
Show up Wednesday night or Sunday AM and talk to them, they will schedule an appointment. You have to do pretty much the ENTIRE safety training and videos you did when first becoming a member then you move on to the shooting test discussed in the previous posts. Once qualified bring whatever you want to shoot (assuming it's approved for the range). Capacity is limited at 8 rounds with no rapid fire. Steady sustained fire is OK but you cannot mag dump a 3 rounder as fast as you can like in Loeb. I shoot irons, scoped, red dots, you name it. Doesn't matter what is on the rifle or pistol for optics or sights.
Click to expand...
 
bdb said:
Show up Wednesday night or Sunday AM and talk to them, they will schedule an appointment. You have to do pretty much the ENTIRE safety training and videos you did when first becoming a member then you move on to the shooting test discussed in the previous posts. Once qualified bring whatever you want to shoot (assuming it's approved for the range). Capacity is limited at 8 rounds with no rapid fire. Steady sustained fire is OK but you cannot mag dump a 3 rounder as fast as you can like in Loeb. I shoot irons, scoped, red dots, you name it. Doesn't matter what is on the rifle or pistol for optics or sights.
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Thanks for the info. I should have been more clear. Can I use optics for the qualifying rifle test or do they require irons to quality? I need to brush up on my long range pistol shooting as I normally don't shoot my pistol at that distance.

There is nothing like shooting outside on a nice brisk fall day. Beats sucking in all the carbon/smoke from the indoor range. Looking forward to it....long overdue
 
A1850 said:
No .22. Only 9's and (GASP) 40's.
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Really? I know I did not own a 9mm and certainly not a 40 when I took the test. I thought I used my Ruger Mark III hunter. I may have used a S&W 686 then.

Regardless, being on paper at 50 yards is no big deal unless you have a MA trigger.

Chris
 

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