What do you look for in a Gun Club?

[wmccurdy53]

My intent for starting this thread is to take an informal poll regarding the sort of things that attract you to one gun club over another.

I am currently a member of Nashua Fish & Game and Purgatory Falls Fish & Game and I joined these clubs for different reasons.

Nashua offers 600 yd rifle, 25-100 yd rifle/pistol, indoor 25 yd smallbore rifle/pistol, archery and trap ranges. The range is less than 5 miles from home and that was the primary reason for joining.
They do offer a few organized shooting disciplines such as bullseye pistol, high-power rifle and trap but for the most part, the range is very quiet on weekends.

Purgatory Falls is a small, limited membership club with a 100 m rifle/pistol and archery ranges. They shoot trap every weekend, short course silhouette practice every Wednesday evening and a match 1 Sunday each month during the season (Apr-Oct). They also hold various other fun shoots/competitions from time to time, but not on a regular basis.

I am completely addicted to silhouette. It is a great test of skill at varying distances and it can be shot with pretty much any firearm. I wish more clubs shot this discipline.

I enjoy shooting steel. Knockdown or static, it doesn't matter, I find it to be great fun and feel that it helps sharpen my speed skills, target transition and acquisition, trigger control while shooting fast and reloading.

I also enjoy bullseye for the simple reason it helps me keep my basic gun handling/shooting skills sharp.

I am an IDPA member, but have not yet shot that discipline yet. I have gone to observe a few matches and feel that I'll be ready participate in that activity by the time spring rolls around.

So, what activities do you participate in? What activities do you wish your current club offered?

 

[Dirtypacman]

Determing factors for me were:

Location- closer the better to my home
Hours of Operation- wanted to make sure I can shoot when I have time off to do so
Facilities- what ranges do they offer and distances
Ease of Enrollment- did not want to deal with a club that was too much work to get in

I for one appreciate any and all activities/events the club puts on but I also did not want to get pushed off the line everytime I went there because an event was scheduled.

 

[Ripach]

I joined my club (Copicut Rifle Assoc.) because it was close to home, had a 300 yard rifle range, supports the NRA and GOAL, and was relatively inexpensive. I am currently thinking about joining another club nearby that has campsites I use with my kids.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Distance from home.
Basic facilities
General laid back attitude (NOT about safety, I'm talking about the general personality of the club.)

 

[BillK]

Determing factors for me were:

Location- closer the better to my home
Hours of Operation- wanted to make sure I can shoot when I have time off to do so
Facilities- what ranges do they offer and distances
Ease of Enrollment- did not want to deal with a club that was too much work to get in

I for one appreciate any and all activities/events the club puts on but I also did not want to get pushed off the line everytime I went there because an event was scheduled.

Very great points there, the same I look too.

I will some up my last three clubs:

One of them thought that if you were not into trap and skeet then you really had no rights to be on the range.... "well fu^( you, I moved on.."

The second one is not too far from where I live, but I am not in the area that much any more to be a member.

The third, is about 5 minutes from my house, I shoot year round (I piss off the people in the winter ice fishing on the pond close by with the noise..) The club allows me to shoot anything, and they enjoy the aresnals I bring out from time to time.

 

[terraformer]

• Hours: I don't do well having to wait for a RSO and coming in to shoot between 1 and 1:30 then between 3 & 3:30 because the prevailing club members shoot three rounds, shoot the shit for 2 hours, then three more rounds and then play poker for the rest of the evening. If we can't be trusted to shoot on our own, we can't be trusted to shoot. I am sick of clubs that treat their members like children, imposing mag limits, rate of fire limits, etc. It is bad enough we are putting up with that from our supposedly elected officials. I don't need one of us doing it to one of their own.
• Ranges: Pits and long range rifle ranges, with steel plates as a bonus. Love the sub-gun range @ Harvard.
• Ease of Enrollment: Stealing this one from you pacman. You aren't going to learn much about someone from a 10 minute interview or a frick'n written test (see my rant on being treated like a child above). If you want to run a successful club, bring people in, set reasonable rules on civility, and have a probationary period for a bit if you feel you must. I can personally attest that 30 yr life members can do some pretty stupid things like throwing lit genies at unsuspecting and random people (me, he is lucky he didn't get shot since I had no loaded mags) just like a newbie could. Also, there is also no reason why old-timers can't impart their wisdom on newer members without being crotchety ol' pricks. If someone isn't doing something well, help them. We all need to help each other frankly and these snobbish elitist wannabe clubs don't help. Before we are club members, we are fellow shooters and above that, brother (& sister) Americans. We don't need to segregate ourselves any more than the politicians are already succeeding to.

Yeah, I am in one of those moods today...

 

[Len-2A Training]

There was a similar thread before with lots of good info. I recall posting quite a bit about looking "beyond the facility" towards member/management attitudes, etc. in that thread.

Over the 32 years I've been shooting, I've quit two clubs due to "management attitudes". I'm currently a member of two clubs and they don't offer everything that I'd like to see in a club, but the members and officers/board's attitude towards how they run the club more than makes up for any deficiencies in facilities/rules. Another club I visited I crossed off my list due to hearing some racist jokes as I approached the folks for info and a tour (I'll admit that it might have been an anomaly, but I have a low tolerance towards that sort of stuff).

You might do a search and see if you can find it. I have to head out to work now and then to BR&P for the meetings, so I don't have time to look for it.

 

[dbhn]

Location, location, location. I don't get much time out at the range. I'd get a lot less if they were more than 5-10 minutes from home.