Place to shoot/store near Umass?

[crazymjb]

Another question, I did some searching and didn't find anything, but feel free to point me in the right direction.

For the foreseeable future my girlfriend and I are going to be attending Umass Amherst. We do end up going home most weekends for various reasons but that is not always and cannot always be the case. Currently we live on campus, and at the most will live on campus for one more year, so obviously we have nowhere here to keep the rifle and shotguns her dad is giving her, and whatever else we decided to buy together, other than back at home in either Waltham or Newton.

My first question is are there any recommended clubs out here in or around Amherst, and until we get an apartment what would be our storage options?

Also, are there any recommended clubs in the Newton/Waltham area that have ranges acceptable for rifle use? I plan on my christmas/birthday gift for my 21st birthday (a year from January) being an AR15. I am very familiar with the M16 and enjoy firing it, and would like to continue with something similar both to keep in practice and for fun.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[bob68]

check out the fairview sportsmans club........its on carver st in granby ma. nice club, just under 400 acres of land, stocked pond for fishing, archery targets,rifle and pistol ranges and a trap field. somebody is usually there during the day on sat and sun so drop by and give us a look.

 

[crazymjb]

Thanks, do they have college student friendly prices by any chance? Also, do they have any solution to our storage issue?

Mike

 

[dingbat]

Franklin County Sportsmans Club is right up the road from U-Mass.
Send me a pm if you'd like to have a look around, or stop by any Sunday between now and Thanksgiving for our annual turkey shoots from 9am to Noon. Membership is in the neighborhood of $75 a year for students.

http://www.fclsc.org/

 

[oneswithfunes]

Franklin County Sportsmans Club is right up the road from U-Mass.
Send me a pm if you'd like to have a look around, or stop by any Sunday between now and Thanksgiving for our annual turkey shoots from 9am to Noon. Membership is in the neighborhood of $75 a year for students.

http://www.fclsc.org/

+1 I am a member there. Great club. If you would like a look see let me know.

 

[crazymjb]

I'd definitely be interested in checking it out. I am going home pretty much every weekend through thanksgiving but after that would probably be good.

Do they have anything related to storage though? That is the huge thing since you can't keep anything on campus.

Mike

 

[ateamrob]

yep.

Franklin County Sportsmans club. I belong to that club and its a great club to shoot at and its only 20 minutes from UMASS.

Rob

 

[oneswithfunes]

No ideas for storage for ya. It seems that you might be in a bind.

 

[Woodstock]

Storage & clubs

Mike:
Welcome to Happy Valley from a UMass alum. I don't think you'll find any clubs around here with storage facilities. Too many headaches and possible theft issues, as none have full-time resident staff. Your best bet might be to join a club, make some friends, and see if you can stash a small Stack-On safe at someone's place. Sounds like a long shot, I know, but my experience is that gun folks are very friendly and helpful.
A couple of other clubs are the Norwottuck club in South Amherst, halfway up the Notch on Route 116. They do a lot of skeet and trap shooting, especially on weekends, and Swift River Sportsmen's Club, which is out past the center of Belchertown. They have indoor pistol and archery plus a ton of outdoor activities. They own a lot of acreage. Good guys, too. I shoot pistol matches there with another team, and it's a very friendly crew.

 

[hminsky]

Westwood Gun Club has a 100 yard range, it's the most convenient to Newton I have found.

 

[crazymjb]

If I can't find a place that solves the storage issue then I will probably start looking for places closer to home to use when I'm not here, until next year or the year after when I move off campus.

I do want to check out a couple of these places regardless as they sound pretty nice.

Thanks for all the good suggestions I really didn't know where to start and it's good hearing about things from a primary source.

Mike

 

[bob68]

Thanks, do they have college student friendly prices by any chance? Also, do they have any solution to our storage issue?

Mike

i believe there is a student membership somewhere around 25 bucks or so but i am not absolutely sure of that. there is someone there on sat catch as catch can but on sunday from 730 until at least 11 people are there as we have turkey shoots going on until the end of april. there is no storage there due to it not being occupied 24/7....and i think you will find that most if not all clubs have no storage facilities for guns for just that reason.

 

[richgetsy]

Norwottuck club in south Amherst is $20 a year for a family! Rent a storage locker on the road behind Rockys hardware on RT9.