New rule at my local range

So I went and was informed that we have some new range rules, and this is what I found:

"No 50 calibers or larger caliber allowed on the ranges.(this includes Black powder)"

and

"No shotguns."

For what it's worth, this is a privately owned range so the range owner gets final say, but I'm hoping that maybe some of you may have an idea that I can use to maybe change the owners mind.

Now, I know we have been having some issues with people shooting up the blackboards with birdshot and buckshot, which gets expensive when you have to replace them every few days, so I'm not really surprised by the shotguns being banned, although I hate that it happened due to a few people not thinking and ruining it for everyone.

As to the .50+ calibers being banned, the original intent, as it was explained to me was to avoid the .50BMG caliber rifles from being used at this range due to damage to the backboards and berms. Apparently, some .50BMG shooter raised a stink about how his .50 BMG is the same size as the .500 S&W, and .50 MLs. Well, a few of us discussed the .50 ban with the owner, and were told that over .50 caliber MLs were ok, as the ban was specifically against the .50 BMG, so several people bought .54s and .58s, which, per the original rules, were perfectly fine. Now that is no longer the case. In my specific case, the only ML I currently have that I am still allowed to shoot at this range is a .32, which doesn't do me a whole lot of good when practicing and trying to get sighted in for medium and big game hunts. I have shown the owner charts and figures so they are well aware that a .50-.54 ML is more akin to a normal modern deer rifle in performance, except for the very low BC making it much safer than any modern rifle with the ranges involved, and no where near anything a .50 BMG is capable of, and was told they understand and agree, but now apparently that has gone out the window.

So anyone have any words of wisdom? I like the people there, and consider them close friends, so would much rather educate and discuss this and hopefully fix the matter, instead of "just find another range" like I'm sure at least some of you will suggest. I hope it doesn't come to that, because I would hate to have to pay membership dues at several ranges and increase the distances I have to drive to continue shooting my hunting rifles, but I will do what I must, as I'm sure the rest of you would do. Any and all ideas and advice are welcome, and I really hope someone comes up with something I haven't thought of to hopefully fix this situation. Thanks to everyone.

I feel your pain. I belonged to a gun club for 25 years then one day I got a letter that said work parties were mandatory. After eight years of mandatory in the Army, and 30 years of mandatory at my state job ( retired now ) I said no more mandatory. I even hate the word mandatory now. So I quit the gun club I was with all them years and am looking for a new one to join.

Well if it is private the could impose a large fee for 50 smokeless and/or shotgun. It would have to be very unrealistic though as the guys that pay 5 bucks a pop to fire a rifle probably wouldnt have an issue :idunno:

It is there land/rules so to keep from any hard feelings you may have to abandon the club. Tell em to let you know when yer welcome back.

One other suggestion is to have a day or two a week for only black powder and/or shot gun, maybe offer to bring your own plywood etc?

VERY thankful we can USE our national forests here in northern AZ. I just drive off the road and find a nice embankment about anywhere and fire away. Never been hassled yet, game wardens, deputies etc drive by and wave, or occasionally on seeing all the smoke they stop and chat (and I let em shoot)

One possibility might be to point out that your rifle uses a ball that is under the .50 cut-off line. The .50 BMG shoots a .510-.511 diameter bullet while you use a .490 ball. Your rifle falls under the threshold. This argument does not help your friends with .54s and .58s though.

If the range were mine I might be talked into a energy limit. I believe the .50BMG loads are all in excess of 10,000 foot/lbs. An energy limit of maybe 5000 to 6000 ft/lbs would rule out the .50 BMGs (and a few of the huge Africian hunting calibers perhaps.) Setting a reasonable energy level would be a more fair way to take care of the owners problem.

Regards,
Pletch

Sounds to me like the owner ain't very bright. All he has to do is specifically ban .50BMG ammunition. You simply can't compare that round with anything BP, except maybe a 6 pdr.

A .50 BMG does not make a larger hole than a .50 ML. Maybe less considering the velocity difference. Get together with your buds and offer to pay for the back boards, or even pay for them and do the work to change them, or offer to pay more to shoot.

KanawhaRanger said:

Sounds to me like the owner ain't very bright. All he has to do is specifically ban .50BMG ammunition. You simply can't compare that round with anything BP, except maybe a 6 pdr.

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I agree ... perhaps the owner could simply ban centerfire cartridges over .50 cal ...

wasn't it Chuck Shumer who wanted to ban .50 cal muskets because he thought they could shoot down a jumbo jet?

I know ... ff ... my bad

anyway, I can't see why he wouldn't exempt muzzle loaders :idunno:

Well, how many of there are you that are shooting black powder? Maybe after he realizes how much money he will loose because of his new rule he will change it. Also maybe offer to bring your own target stands and not use his?, Its what we do at the range I shoot at. Another also, Have you demonstrated what it's like to shoot a .50 or .54 cal. smoke pole?. To go back, I think he is more worried about the big holes in his back stop than the "Power" of the rifle, its like Wick Ellerbe said, offer to buy or replace the back stops, but every 3rd time or so :idunno: . Forgive the rambling I'm just finishing my first cup of coffee, and the Loracet hasn't kicked in yet :td: . P.S. what is he using for the target boards? you could get a pallet of it cheap if ya'll went in together and bought some for him.

That's insane and you need an expert or two to meet with the owner and 'esplain Lucy! Shotgun SLUGS should be fine too. Shotshells they should SELL a paterning option where they buy three patterning targets, an RO helps them with a special large board being set up, and is somewhere close by when shooters test...

Mandatory labor is not fun.

But keep in mind, it's a club, not a $40 a year shooting range.

My club has this problem. The solution is to make dues several hundred dollars a year, or make people work 4 hours or suffer a $80 penalty.

Going back to the no 50 cal rule.

Bring the gun with some dial calipers. Hey it's a 49 cal, not a 50.

Or, don't get mad, get even. You probably have 1, 3, or 5 muzzleloaders. Good excuse to pair them off with another 45, 40, 36, or 32 cal. Shoot the same 32 cal for practice, then bring out the bigger gun that looks just like the little one for some sighting in......

Attack the problem not the people. Our club always used chicken wire frames for back boards attach your target to a piece of cardboard and hang with cloths pins, it took ten years to wear out. I shoot my large cal. mls into a bullet trap so I can recycle the lead.
If to much power is concerned use the USPSA powerfactor and set a maximum (The power factor is calculated by multiplying bullet weight (in grains, 7,000 to the pound) by muzzle velocity (in feet per second), then dividing by 1000).

personaly the whole thing sounds political. it sounds like they are deliberately trying to purge the club of certain members ( I have seen this done before ).
Having a 50 BMG on a normal shooting range is like a frieght train in a bumper car arena.

Does your club have a discipline problem?

then bring out the bigger gun that looks just like the little one for some sighting in......

THATS CHEATING! :blah:

Likely a hair brain idea wort would note the difference in boom and amount of smoke!

I like the idea of the chicken wire frame. It was starting to get expensive using plywood, or even that crappy chipboard. Especially since your firing with a dirt bank behind you. Since my range is a private one(my own and friends) thats a much cheaper way to go, especially since we have a couple of chicken coops with fencing on the farm. :hatsoff:

We would just leave the cloths pins hang on the bottom of the wire when not in use. glue targets to cardboard with glue stick.
you can hang all kinds of things from chicken wire

Our frames were 4x8 freestanding and poratable 2 guys could pick up and move to different distances

If the wire begins to wear out in the center just go over top with some more wire.

They work great for shotguns too

chicken wire is cheaper than plywood and doesn,t rot

How many of you are primarily ml users there? You might be able to convince the range owner to designate a certain number of positions to ml only and you and your other ml buds agree to maintain the target frames. A little sugar can go a long way.
BTW, I like the chicken wire idea. At my home range I use black construction board and it is a PITA to handle and store.

Ok, I will try and answer all the questions. We use black insulation board for backboards, 4x8 size, with the frames being 4x4 posts for the uprights and 2x4 for the horizontal supports. The target frames are set at 7,15, 25, 50, and 100yds, and not large enough to designate a special section to any particular firearm, with the exception that they don't allow rifles at closer than 25yds. The 4x4s are inserted into holes we dug in the ground, so moving the targets isn't an option. We used to have some 1x1 frames that we would staple cardboard to for patterning shotguns, but those are also history because people would shoot them up and then leave them on the range, leaving the owner or the few of us who help out to clean up. The "work parties" aren't mandatory, but rather a email goes out and whoever can show up, does, and I try to make as many of them as I can, usually at least one every other month to replace the backboards and frames as necessary. I also teach classes there, and couldn't tell you how many of them I have taught there in the 8 or so years that I have been there. The membership fees are $125/yr. There are about 5-10 of us who use MLs, but every one also uses modern guns, and last I heard, we had just over 500 members total, plus non-members who just pay the daily fee. So there wouldn't be much revenue loss from losing the ML shooters in the grand scheme of things. As to my MLS, I have .32, .50, .54, .710, and the owner has fired them all, or at least one of each caliber, so knows that these things aren't even in the same league as a .50 BMG, so that is not the reason. I was told that basically, they had .50 BMG shooters complain that their .50 is the same size as any other .50, and that allowing anything else that fires a .50+ while banning them is discrimination and the owner got fed up with explaining that to them so just forbids everything to keep from having to explain the same thing to people over and over again. Personally, I would have thought that just banning the .50 BMG specifically and telling anyone who asks that it is their land and their decision and leaving it at that would be enough, but I'm not the owner so my opinion doesn't matter in the end.

fools sulphur said:

Mandatory labor is not fun.

But keep in mind, it's a club, not a $40 a year shooting range.

My club has this problem. The solution is to make dues several hundred dollars

Bring the gun with some dial calipers. Hey it's a 49 cal, not a 50.

Or, don't get mad, get even. You probably have 1, 3, or 5 muzzleloaders. Good excuse to pair them off with another 45, 40, 36, or 32 cal. Shoot the same 32 cal for practice, then bring out the bigger gun that looks just like the little one for some sighting in......

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fools sulphur said:

Mandatory labor is not fun.

But keep in mind, it's a club, not a $40 a year shooting range.

My club has this problem. The solution is to make dues several hundred dollars a year, or make people work 4 hours or suffer a $80 penalty.






I understand your point, but I'm not there to be social. I'm there to shoot.

If I want to be social I'll go to the American Legion or the AmVets. They did have a penalty for not doing the work parties that I paid for 25 years, now you have to do the work parties.

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When I go to my range I'm there to be social and to shoot, plenty of time to do both, I have let a lot of folks shoot my flintlock and when I show them a sub 2" target shot at 50 yrds. I get a thumbs up and some questions to answer. Whether or not I've converted anybody I don't know but Its nice to show folks that "real" muzzleloaders can be more accurate than they thought.

The chicken wire is a fine idea. I will start using it on my range. Thanks.