Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

[TheCotMan]

Here is another choice:
http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/dep...ting_Park.aspx

...
The shooting park will operate for the next three weeks on weekends only and transition over to full-time hours when the park officially opens in mid-January. Collins will fire the opening shots at 8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Shotgun Firing Range, Field 1. Temporary hours of operation will be as follows:

* Dec. 19 and 20, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Dec. 26 and 27, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Jan. 2 and 3, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The park is located at 11357 N. Decatur Blvd., about five miles north of the 215 Beltway. Rifle rentals and ammunition are not yet available and it is recommended that park users bring their own firearms, ammunition and hearing and eye protection before coming.

The facility features the following venues:

* Combination trap and skeet fields;
* An archery range;
* A public rifle and pistol center where targets will be sold; and
* A shotgun center with 80 recreational vehicles spaces for shooter.
...

I liked the place that was selected for Defcon 17's shoot. It provided a level of autonomy for the group to be responsible for itself instead of being at risk for some external manager squashing any kind of fun for whatever reason, like a life guard closing down the pool because of a small amount of blood. I'm only mentioning is now, because I've been following this topic for years, and see they finally have set an opening date.

[sintax_error]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

It does look like a beautiful facility, however, one of the first things I picked up on is their policy on targets.

Human image targets are not for sale by Clark County Shooting Park and are not allowed for use at the Public Rifle/Pistol Range. In particular Clark County Shooting Park does not endorse the use of human image targets for any reason by junior shooters.

Though this may not affect anyone or anything directly, and I may be totally off base and incorrect, as nothing is stated in their policies/guidelines on the matter. But in my experience every range without exception that I've been to that has a rule like the one quoted above is also rather harsh on "non standard targets", e.g. anything other than paper targets, clays, and bowling pins.

I'd imagine that if the site were to be considered, a few phone calls of an inquisitive nature would be in order.

[streaker69]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

It does look like a beautiful facility, however, one of the first things I picked up on is their policy on targets.



Though this may not affect anyone or anything directly, and I may be totally off base and incorrect, as nothing is stated in their policies/guidelines on the matter. But in my experience every range without exception that I've been to that has a rule like the one quoted above is also rather harsh on "non standard targets", e.g. anything other than paper targets, clays, and bowling pins.

I'd imagine that if the site were to be considered, a few phone calls of an inquisitive nature would be in order.

I'd question as to how they define "junior shooter".

[Melesse]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

My only consideration is that they let us shoot Watermelon Trap!

It's a requirement at this point.

Actually, while I liked the freedom offered at the place from last year, I did sorely miss tables at the firing range, and the long, long, LONG drive to get there.

It's not enough of a pain that I won't be there this coming year, but it does make me yearn a little bit for a closer place.

Mel

[AgentDarkApple]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

I'd question as to how they define "junior shooter".

I would assume it is based on age? I do not know what other criteria they could use.

[TheCotMan]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

I drove to the location of the shooting park from the Riv 3 or 4 years ago, and it took 30 minutes to get there. The drive was mostly surface streets with many signals. The place that we visited last year was a greater distance, but a large part of that was travel on roads without traffic control by stop signs or signal, so it didn't take that much longer, did it? I seem to remember somewhere around 45 minutes.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

It does look like a beautiful facility, however, one of the first things I picked up on is their policy on [human type] targets. ...

stupid. just too stupid for words.

NEWS FLASH to the owners of that gun range... most firearms are for shooting people. there are some that are geared more for (and often used for) taking game animals, and all firearms are in one way or another suited for the sport of target shooting... but the bulk of the firearms owned and trained with today are for defense. part of that training is aiming for and learning to hit center mass. you can't do that with a bulls-eye.

"non standard targets", e.g. anything other than paper targets, clays, and bowling pins.

yeah, i'd be afraid of that, too... after all... bowling pins almost look like little (gasp!) people, don't ya know?

phone calls of an inquisitive nature would be in order.

unless someone is grossly misrepresenting their policies or mis-quoting them here, i don't even think a phone call is in order... unless it's to say "we have a huge group and are sad to say that you're not getting a dime of our money or our patronage because you look like a bunch of shit-scared nancies and we worry that it would be utterly impossible to have a good time at your facility.

again... i could be misunderstanding the situation... but my vote is that these people don't get a moment's consideration from us. i had enough of a hard time with Desert Lake (which also was a rather nice place) changing the costs on us and imposing rules about which guns could be shot at which range yadda yadda yadda.

i love the spot we have now... since we are in charge of it when we go there. we oversee the safety and we shoot responsibly and we don't have to worry about some manager wetting their pants because a black and white silhouette has little round holes appearing in the 10 ring.

last year was a greater distance, but a large part of that was travel on roads without traffic control by stop signs or signal, so it didn't take that much longer, did it? I seem to remember somewhere around 45 minutes.

yes, that is also my recollection. and this coming year i'm pushing Titanium Chef way back later in the afternoon... to run at the same time as the main ToxicBBQ, so my worry of getting "back on time" to the Riv will be totally non-existent. (last year we cut it a little bit close)

[Quiet]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

Seems like the Clark County Parks & Recreation Department heard the compliants about "human shaped" targets and changed their policy, because they are selling human silhouette targets at the Shooting Park.

The folks at nevadashooters have a thread about the Clark County Shooting Park.

Here's some of the posts about it

Well first off, you can shoot at human silhouette targets, as a matter of fact they sell them there, several different types and sizes. It is a very nice facility. We started at the pistol/rifle area first. The shooting lanes have very nice concreted tables with a bumbell bench rest, carpet squares and a very heavy seat. The target frames are a light and sturdy poly material. They have pre-placed concrete mounts at 3, 5, 7, 25 and ? yards to setup your taget. You shoot for 15 minutes then 5 minutes to place, check or tape targets. The staff was very friendly and helpfull. Later we switched to a rifle lane and I sighted in a new scope at 200 yards and shot our AR and mini 14 at 100 yrds. On the way out we checked out the trap and skeet ranges which were also very nice.

The shotgun and pistol/rifle areas each have a nice snackbar area which will open next month for their regular opening. There was a decent amount of people at the rifle area, maybe 25% occupancy but the shotgun area was only using 2 lanes. While I don't support closing the desert to shooting, I enjoyed this new facility and plan on going back many times in the future with the family. I can see tailgating with a good BBQ or some dutch oven cooking in the future.

We sent Matt off with $7 this morning to go scope it out first hand for us.

Suprsingly he was very happy with it.

Shoot from a holster / holster drills OK

Human / Human shaped targets OK

No pain in the ass RO's.

Said the facility was very nice and the people running it even nicer.

We'll see where it goes politics wise, but as far as a range goes, between what Ken just said above and what info Matt brought back to us, sounds like its pretty decent place to shoot.

So far, it sounds good.

[erehwon]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

There is always Zombie Targets!

[sintax_error]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

There is always Zombie Targets!

I remember popping some of those up near Reno some time ago, love the idea. Since seeing them, I've been working on a variety of targets including zombie, alien, district 9 "prawn", etc. I'll see if I can get some finished and printed up in time. Anyone have any ideas or requests while we're still early in the game? I make no promises to get it done, but I'll work on it.

[xor]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

No buts, I liked the location of the shoot last year. I enjoyed getting away from the hotel, and the city and seeing the desert, which was quite beautiful, almost religious, but I'm not. If I hadn't had to come back and volunteer I might still be out there . Yes, it was that beautiful. Note to west coasters, you take scenic views for granted, we east coasters don't. Any chance to see something out our windows, other than a brick wall, is very welcome. There it is East Coast, West Coast, the glove has been throw down.

xor

PS Always willing to offer free rides. Unless of course Star Bucks finally builds that store in the middle of the desert according to a fellow shooters IPhone GPS. Then a cup of coffee is all it will cost.

[MissterY]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

So I take it this the shoot is only for those who can bring their own weapons?

[TheCotMan]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

While it seems most people that plan to shoot do bring weapons to shoot, several people make arrangements with other people bringing weapons to share weapons. Some people brought weapons with plenty of extra ammo to share with anyone that wanted to fire off a few rounds, but others had weapons that required more expensive ammunition, and some of these people made arrangements to share a weapon if another person was willing to provide the ammunition, or trade something.

Announce your interest early, and try to make arrangements with other attendees to borrow their weapons. It may be as simple as buying a specific manufacturer's specific caliber of ammunition, or just the cost in time to offer something to, or ask the people that arrive with weapons. The cost of ammunition has gone up, and shelves have been empty at many local stores.

Your chance of making arrangements early with other people increase if you know people that can vouch for you as a sane and safety conscious person. Obviously, they would need to be people that know you and the party with which you want make arrangements.

Last year, a few people like Deviant Ollam had .22 rifles and other small caliber rifles that they offered to anyone to try. Others would allow others to shoot their weapon if they were asked in-person, but some of the larger caliber weapons can be expensive to shoot, especially the automatic weapons, which don't take long to exhaust a clip of ammunition.

[sintax_error]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

Cot's post is very on the ball, but something I'd like to add, and personally, I think anyone should keep in mind before asking to use someone's firearm, is that a weapon is not like most possessions. A firearm is, for me at least, one of the most personal kinds of objects one owns. "This is my rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine..." holds very true for a lot of people; a lot of shooters put a lot of time and money into customizing every possible detail of their gear, and that's something that should always be respected when handling, or even asking to handle another's gun. It's like asking anyone here if you can use their laptop.

[MissterY]

Re: Location of shoot for DC17 was a good one, but...

Thanks Cot, I will do that. And yeah, I know some people that will be at the shoot and would let me pop off a few rounds, if not force me to so they can teach me a few things...and I'm good, [edit]

Anyway, I was really interested in the archery thing. That is one thing that I could do for sure. I was almost about to ask if there was any way to "rent" a low weight compound bow, but then I stopped myself when I realized it would be just like asking to rent a gun. And no establishment would go for it. I figured that would sound absurd considering all the red tape one has to go through to get a weapon and figured googling it would be futile.

And yeah sintax, I get it. You wouldn't want to hand over an instrument that is very dangerous and could be easily misused if put into the wrong hands. And you're right, I would probably never hand over my weapons to anyone else either.

I know Dev pretty well, and I'm sure he will share his weapons and infinite knowledge about them and everything else he knows about. Quest complete.