We Need Bays

[JD45]

My home gunclub has no real practical bays. I want at least two. There should be room for eight.

A couple of board members say it can't be done safely. They claim that a bullet going high over the berm may fall into a residential area.

It makes no sense when you compare our property to other clubs that I know of. They all have houses much closer than ours. And I could face a berm against a forest of 50-80 foot tall trees that go uphill at our club. We seem to have land that yields a greater margin of safety than other clubs in our area.

But all we have is one plinker/benchrester/hobbyshooter/NRA bullseye type 50 yd. range. And the berms are too low. You could actually lob a round over the side of one berm and hit someone at the 300-400yd. rifle berms. They have some nerve mentioning bullet fallout when you can almost straightline shoot someone on the existing ranges.

Someone tell me how to make this happen.

Edited March 17, 2006 by JD45

[short_round]

... bring your own dirt and bull dozer so they don't have to do a d@mn thing.

... make stage design range rules that all shots through shoot targets will impact the berm with margins for a little error. No one can control the person who shoots a round straight up into the air. Form a safety committee that reviews the stages before the matches to show them that you are actually planning to follow these rules.

FWIW.

[JD45]

They are worried about practice too. More really.

We need two bays for practice more than anything. I am trying that for starters, no success so far.

[shred]

Sounds like they are more worried about unsupervised people playing 'fast-draw' or whatever in there by themselves. You'll have to get over that perception "those scary, unsafe action shooters" no matter what every other range has. The 'old guard' can sometimes be very stuck in their ways and sometimes just have to be replaced at the next election.

You can suggest some rules like 'no pointing the muzzle over the berm' and 'no unsighted shooting' and so on that will make general screwing around difficult without breaking them, yet still allow for decent practice.

Sometimes starting with NRA Action Pistol and the NRA Range manual and anything else that says 'NRA' on it helps the perception that these are real activities at 'normal' ranges.

[MarkS_A18138]

Just move! JK I am going though the same thing right now.

Good Luck

[Ray_Z]

A couple of board members say it can't be done safely. They claim that a bullet going high over the berm may fall into a residential area.

It sounds like you belong to a club that is dedicated to guns with barrels longer than 18". Get on the board. The other board members have more respect for the openions of those on the board.

[Doggorloader]

A couple of board members say it can't be done safely. They claim that a bullet going high over the berm may fall into a residential area.

It sounds like you belong to a club that is dedicated to guns with barrels longer than 18". Get on the board. The other board members have more respect for the openions of those on the board.

I thought so when I "got on the board". Last meeting I finally made a motion that we do some of the stuff we had talked about/passed at previous meetings and they looked at me like I was some kind of bad ass instigator.

At least at our club, there are a few movers and doers and the rest are old time guys and it's hard to beat down the grasses in their beds. Do get on the board and then hope with patience that others follow suit.

Good Luck!

[davidball]

When I became actively involved in match management at our club three years ago we had a similar problem. We had three backstops with little or no side berms. We were able to hold matches but were limited in our stage design for safety reasons.

Our club (WVPPS) is a separate entity than the conservation club where we hold our matches. We are basically "guests" who rent the club once a month. When I suggested that we make some modifications to the range, I was told by members (of WVPPS) that the "old guard" of the conservation club would never go for it.

I joined the conservation club and began attending meetings. I found opportunities to discuss our sport and our needs. I put together a plan for building some bays and adding side berms. I got the plan approved last winter (2004-2005).

Then I was told we would never raise the money. Our club had pretty much operated month-to-month for years. Last season (2005) we looked for opportunities to raise money, save money, and increase membership and participation. At the end of the year we had $3,000 available for range improvements.

The bulldozer moved dirt in February (pictures of the process at our website http://www.wvpps.com/ ). We added a full-sized three-sided bay, two "mini" bays, and enhanced an existing backstop by adding a side berm. We are a little over budget but expect to recoup that in the next month or two.

JD45 - I don't know if this helps you or not. I think the bottom line is to not give up, continue to work diplomatically with the "powers-that-be", and find ways around obstacles.

Edited March 17, 2006 by davidball

[Nik Habicht]

When our club first built the multi-purpose pits, the board had the same concerns. They imposed a series of rules, including that all shots fired by any club member using the pits must impact the berms.

Beyond that, there are restrictions on centerfire rifles (Lead bullets at less than 1000 feet per second) and drawing from the holster: Both require a special use permit from the board of directors that is only issued after a shooter has safely completed three matches at the club. The shooter needs to show up for a board meeting with match results and an endorsing letter from a club match director.

Dig deeper to find out their specific concerns --- then figure out how to address them. Odds are, they;ll be more receptive to a problem solver, than to a problem creator....

[JD45]

Thanks to all of you for the excellent advice.

I asked a guy at another club about the legal liabilty for a bullet leaving the property. He said it was "huge". Then I thought about the range at their club. All around it are major highways, neighborhoods, and businesses within less than a half-mile. Some are way closer.

For example, if even an experienced shooter ADs during a mag change the round will probably leave the bay. That is really my main concern, an occasional AD.

Last years club president, and the current president are all for letting us build bays. Neither one of them ever mentions legal issues or bullets leaving the range.