NW Wi indoor range

[zeke]

Fireline - Shooting & Training Center - Rice Lake - Wisconsin

It looks like civilization and culture is reaching the upper NW of Wi. Might be nice to have place to shoot on those negative temp days?

Not being familiar with indoor ranges, does this seem like a good deal/setup? Going to have to make some adjustments, but the rules seem reasonable.

Any comments (positive/negative) on indoor range use/etiquette certainly
appreciated.

Thanks

 

[H Richard]

It is brand new, and has state of the art equipment. The rates seemed a little high for lane use and memberships, but probably this is the only range in the area. We have no commercial ranges where I live, but when I go to Denver I shoot in a 12 lane indoor range with attached gun shop for $11 and hour. It is a well established range and does a big business.

 

[brucev]

Very effective website. Information is clearly available and easily accessed. Others could learn a lot by simply taking a look at how these folks are doing things. Prices for various items will always vary by local, etc. One would not expect to pay in NYC the price one pays in a small town for a Burger King Whopper, etc. In my area, indoor range fees are $8/hr. at one location. It is decent, not so well lit. Another location charged $20 for range time and the target I shot the other day. They are not so sophisticated, however they do allow one to do tactical training, etc. The $22/hr. they charge may in their area be reasonable, I just don't know.

From what I can see reading through their site, they appear to have a very well thought out idea of what they want to do and how they want to go about doing it. Very happily they are gearing themselves toward younger people and especially to women. This is the sort of things that is going to have to be done in order for new people to be encouraged to develop and interest in and a commitment to the shooting sports. More power to them!

 

[pawngal]

Have a new indoor range due to open here soon also. If those membership rates are yearly, they are higher than I paid early here, 2 yr was $310. There rules look similar.

 

[scooter123]

While the rates seem high NONE of the local indoor ranges in my area allow a member to shoot for no lane charge, usually all you get is a 2 or 3 dollar per hour discount. As a result a lot of ranges have very few members, why pay 400 dollars when you only save about 100 dollars in a years time. I suspect that once that range is up an running they will change that policy of allowing members to shoot for no charge at all. Because HEPA filters are VERY expensive and in my area it's about a 10,000 dollar per month expense.

 

[zeke]

All-thanks much for taking the time to help. Drove down (20 miles south)yesterday to check the place out, and to see what is actually going on. Met the owner, and he seemed sincere. Will likely sign up for a year just to support the intrusion of modernization into the area. After a years membership/experience, maybe just pay monthly membership in the winter months. If they could hire a qualified gunsmith (another rarity in the area), it would help bring in business.

Anyplace upon to the public in the winter this far north, likely has fairly high utility bills. I think the nearest indoor range is in Hudson, but am not sure on that.

 

[Marie13]

I think the membership rate is a good deal, given the fact that you don't pay at all for range time.

As a comparison, I'm a member of a 2 year old range NW of Chicago (On Target, Crystal Lake, IL). I pay $250/year for a single membership. I get 50% off range time (so $10/hour), 4 guest passes a year, $25 off any class. But the best perk: I can call the day before and reserve 1 or 2 lanes, on either the pistol or the rifle side. I can rarely get out of the office early enough to shoot on weeknights, so I'm usually shooting on Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon. Being able to reserve lanes for even busy Saturday mornings is a huge plus for me.

I can reduce the cost of my range time to $8 by buying a 10 visit punch card for $80.

ETA: there are other ranges in the area that cost less, but the air handling systems aren't as good, with not enough parking, surly employees, etc. I'm happy to drive the 35-45 minutes (depending on traffic) to get to this really nice range.