Gun ranges are just boring!

[Ribwizzard]

So, you get a new pistol or rifle, go down to the local range and punch some paper and get it sighted in, go back a few times and walk the targets out a bit further and play around with a couple different loads, all good stuff and fun. But after that, it gets boring.
At best, you can tape some balloons to your target. Or maybe your lucky enough to find a range with some steel targets to pop, but that gets old after awhile as well.
Nothing is ever as fun as being 12 years old with a .22lr or 410 , just walking through the woods shooting pine cones or soda bottles, or whatever trash you come up on.Even better was when my Mom got so pissed at the Armadillo's tearing up her flower gardens that I was allowed to shoot out my bedroom window at them when they come out at night.
I'm rambling on here now, but I think many go out and purchase their first gun, get all excited trying to determine what brand, what caliber, ect, then get their permit, then maybe do some mods to the gun, get geared up and join a range, go a few times and get bored and the gun goes in the nightstand and it's pretty much over. Maybe once or twice a year they break it out and shoot a box of ammo, but not excited enough anymore to go every weekend.

We need something different and new. Like a gun version of Top Golf. A shooting gallery like they had in the old days, but bigger, and where you bring your own handgun. A whole theater of targets moving around in front of you just like in those shooting galleries. And prizes too. Maybe not a stuffed animal, but an ice cream cone would be alright.
How cool would that be?

 

[k22fan]

There are a few ways to keep the range interesting.

You can add competition. There's nothing else like being in a league that uses cumulative scores and being one of a few competitors that repeatedly take and loose the top spot. It takes serious practice to reclaim the top spot.

In addition to the usual slice the pie and reload behind cover requirements local timed matches include moving targets. There is a target hung from a single pulley that rolls down an inclined wire. The competitor uses his gun hand to pull the cord that releases the target, drops it, then draws. There is a target holder welded to a twisted strip of flat steel. After the competitor pulls the release cord the flat steel quickly falls through a slot forcing the target to spin to briefly face the competitor then back so he only sees its edge again. One man who ran matches made competitors gather out of sight of the firing area so they'd step up to the line not knowing what the challenge would be. Among other things he used a ground level pulley system to pull helium filled balloons through the target area. Rather than focusing on the next steel in line we had to keep an eye out for balloons moving through the area and remember good guy and bad guy balloon colors. If your local matches are not interesting volunteer to help make them more interesting.

Reloading is at least half of our hobby. You can swear off not only factory cartridges but firing other people's bullets. That adds bullet casting and experimentation to make your cast bullets accurate or find loads to cycle simi-autos. Both are a bigger challenge in rifles than pistols. Also you can collect odd ball guns that require creative efforts to reload cartridges. Cranking out one more 9x19mm on your Dillion is not as interesting as reloading accurate cartridges for an old rifle that you can no longer buy brass or the correct diameter bullets for.

Whatever match you set up, remember, safety comes first.

 

[paplinker]

I have to admit I have a lot more fun shooting at camp than at a range. We have come up with a lot of fun games to try and the steel shooting tree always gets a workout at varying distances.

K22fan does have a point though. Competition can make range shooting more interesting.

 

[Wingmaster]

The local indoor range here has pistol leagues. I shoot in a weekly mens league and a weekly "shoot and move" league. Then, once a month the local action shooters club hosts a USPSA match. I shoot in most of those too. One thing I like is that ALL skill levels are welcome and the guys that have been doing it a while are really good about helping guys like me that are just getting started. I've had a few of them offer to meet at the range so they could give me some pointers.

I also think it's good practice for self defense situations.

With Rifles, I go out and shoot prairie dogs a lot. I also hunt coyotes. Every time I get a coyote I wonder how many baby deer and antelope won't get eaten because that coyote is dead.

Just a couple of ideas.

Wingmaster

 

[Ribwizzard]

I like the ideal of helium balloons. I was thinking they could be preloaded into a box similar to 50 rnd ammo box with trigger mechanism that someone could remotely operate. Different colors shoot/ no shoot great ideal. They would need to be teathered so as no one would be shooting up in the air too high.

The problem with competition though, is for busy people , it's hard to stay up with a schedule every week. I shoot when I can get away or not too worn out from wotking.

 

[Ribwizzard]

I'm currently in Miami, was thinking about setting up a .22 and start iguana hunting. Heard they taste good.

 

[S&WsRsweet]

It is hard to beat the old days of walking in the woods with your rifle as far as the memories go. I have enjoyed the shooting sports in one for or another the most of my life .I have competed and hunted been blessed by many good friends I have made thru the years.Looking back on it all now I only wish I had more money to spend back when I was younger.Heck man the whole side of guns is fairly new to me so even after 45 years I found something new to get excited about and lots to learn .

 

[JayFramer]

There is something magical about stomping through the creeks and forests with an M1 Garand pretending you’re on Guadalcanal, blasting every “Japanese soldier” milk jug you see, or doing the same with a Mosin Nagant in winter pretending you’re on the outskirts of Stalingrad picking off “Nazis” (who mysteriously look like dad’s beer cans!)...

Not that I’ve ever done that, of course!

Seriously, I still love to go out to the woods and shoot whenever I’m home. It can be really nostalgic and special. Do it with something like a flintlock Kentucky long rifle with your shooting bag and powder horn, just like Davey Crockett, and it can transport you back in time. So much more fun that shooting at a range, but I’ll admit that’s what I do most often since the open public shooting ranges where I now live in Las Vegas are simply dangerous and I live close to one of the best outdoor ranges I have ever been to, the Clark County range north of the city on the side of a mountain.

I simply never go to any indoor ranges, though. I’ve had my time with them, and avoid them at all costs!

 

[Breakaway500]

I shoot Sporting Clays every week. Very entertaining and keeps your shooting skills well honed..even if it is done with a shotgun..it's still pulling the trigger etc. I much prefer it over any rifle/pistol practice i've ever done.

I've always thought bringing a remote control model car/truck to the shooting range would be a fun target.One person shoots..the other drives and avoids carnage. First one to disable the other persons RC wins...

 

[Andy Lowry]

There are a few things I've done to avoid the boredom you're talking about:

--Always use the same target (a B-16 in my case), score them, and enter into a spreadsheet to watch for improvement or lack thereof

--Take a handgun onto the 100yd rifle range and hit the steel plates set up at the end. This is easier to do with a 1911 than I would have thought; it's pretty much point of aim.

--Use a shot timer and start competing with myself on draw time, splits, et cetera. There's also actual competition, of course, but that trains a person to always aim a certain way, which is not to my liking.

--Take a chronograph and use the results to fine-tune loads. This alone can eat up the rest of your life.

 

[Salty RI]

So, you get a new pistol or rifle, go down to the local range and punch some paper and get it sighted in, go back a few times and walk the targets out a bit further and play around with a couple different loads, all good stuff and fun. But after that, it gets boring.
At best, you can tape some balloons to your target. Or maybe your lucky enough to find a range with some steel targets to pop, but that gets old after awhile as well.
Nothing is ever as fun as being 12 years old with a .22lr or 410 , just walking through the woods shooting pine cones or soda bottles, or whatever trash you come up on.Even better was when my Mom got so pissed at the Armadillo's tearing up her flower gardens that I was allowed to shoot out my bedroom window at them when they come out at night.
I'm rambling on here now, but I think many go out and purchase their first gun, get all excited trying to determine what brand, what caliber, ect, then get their permit, then maybe do some mods to the gun, get geared up and join a range, go a few times and get bored and the gun goes in the nightstand and it's pretty much over. Maybe once or twice a year they break it out and shoot a box of ammo, but not excited enough anymore to go every weekend.

We need something different and new. Like a gun version of Top Golf. A shooting gallery like they had in the old days, but bigger, and where you bring your own handgun. A whole theater of targets moving around in front of you just like in those shooting galleries. And prizes too. Maybe not a stuffed animal, but an ice cream cone would be alright.
How cool would that be?

When I was a kid I had a 22/410, O/U, this was back in the 50's, I think I had more fun with that gun, than any gun I have ever owned, miss those days.[emoji22]

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[arjay]

I don't think any range can compare to heading into the woods with a 22 and a friend as a kid except for doing the same with a new shooter and a sack of tin cans

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

Ribwizard, you have a great idea. Years ago shotgunners got tired of "boring" old trap and skeet where you shoot the same stations repetitiously and came up with sporting clay courses. "Sport plinking" would catch on for sure.

 

[jejb]

I agree with the OP, that the vast majority of gun buyers likely never get 1000 rounds down range before the gun mostly collects dust. I hear that at the indoor range that I shoot at. I shoot 2-3 times a week and have been doing that for a long time. I have a yearly membership, and the workers tell me most folks that have memberships rarely use them. I would not be surprised if I topped their list of visits on an annual basis.

I keep it interesting by running timed drills. You can find them on various sites. I also repeat the drill we had to shoot to receive the Arkansas "Enhanced" CC permit. I have an app on my phone called "Splits" that I use for a shot timer, and it works great. I also enjoy working on tightening up 10 and 20 shot rapid fire groups.

I like the idea of a weekly league thing. I'll have to talk to the range owner about that. I'd like to get involved in competition side of the sport.

 

[Collo Rosso]

Joining a gun club was the best thing I've done. Bowling pin and steel challenge matches keep me entertained and I get to choose semi-auto pistol, revolver or PCC for the match. In between that I enjoy shooting skeet, 5 stand and sporting clays. I've shot some IDPA matches, but don't get me started about some of the participants and the endless rules. There's the SASS also, and they look to have a lot of fun. Never thought about joining. If I did I think it would become a spaghetti western...

 

[Ranger17]

While I too enjoy being able to get together with family and do some shooting on our property, it isnt something local or always convenient to do. So I have to rely on ranges, and except for summer I’m indoors which yes will have restrictions.
Doesnt bother me though as i like to shoot. If that day is nothing but targets at indoor distances, so be it. Usually i run rounds thru one or more of my 9’s for practice and fun; then bring out the Victory or Buckmark just to play. I make the best of what I have to use.

 

[joeintexas]

I can see if going to a range and shooting paper is the only thing you do how it would get boring. I go to shoot for sure, but I also enjoy the visits with other folks there, other shooters, the RO, everyone has a story to tell and it's entertaining to listen. To me it's a social event, I do enjoy people. Also, reloading, you can test different loads, adds to the interest of the sport. I don't care for indoor ranges, too confined for me, our outdoor club has 7 ranges, handguns, rifles, black powder, bow and arrow, something for everyone. To me it's fun to just be around like minded folks.

 

[G-Mac]

I just joined a second gun club because the one I've belonged to since 1986 lost it's appeal to me. Longest range was 100 yards. No steel targets allowed. The one I just joined has "spinner" steel targets up close for .22s. And larger steel gongs at 100 and 200 yards. Much more fun.

 

[kimporter]

For me the “thrill” ended when my dad stopped hunting and shooting ,

 

[Golddollar]

Yesterday I went to an event that had all the excitement you could imagine. My honorary nephew (we're not actually related, I'm a friend of the family and addressed as "Uncle") sponsored his annual Machine Gun Shoot at the Eastern Lancaster County Rod & Gun Club around Gap, PA. There was about every kind of full auto firearm you could imagine, plus some big, loud toys like .50 BMG rifles. You were not restricted to full auto if you brought any of your own guns. I had fun shooting up bowling pins and pumpkins with my 9mm Suomi 31 semi-auto carbine from Finland. Plus a lot of exhibitors would let you shoot their full auto guns for a moderate fee. And I got to see my honorary nephew, who I've watched grow up to be one of the premier firearms law attorneys in PA.