Joining A Private (Gun) Club

[jyl]

This is probably not a very remarkable topic, but the experience is new to me.

I’m trying to join a private shooting club here in Portland. It has been around since 1948, the backstop is from WW2 naval armor plate, cool old-school vibe, many members have grown up shooting here as children. Very low profile - no web presence, no contact phone or email.

As far as I can tell, you have to 1) know someone who invites you to come visit, etc. From then, the process is: 2) fill out an application, 3) come in for a preliminary interview, 4) they discuss and vet you, 5) you get invited to come in and shoot under observation (they are watching for gun safety), 6) maybe do that a couple times, 7) more discussion and vetting, 8) get invited to attend a membership meeting and introduce self/answer questions, 9) eventually membership votes on 10) who gets admitted. They cap membership so there are only a limited number of new membership opportunities.

So far I’ve made it to step 4), I think. The whole process takes a few months. Not hearing back right away is a good sign, I’m told.

We talked about their bullseye team, in which I’m interested. My concern is that I’m too bad to be on a team, but apparently new team members get a handicap, which is welcome.

[Skytrooper]

Go for it !! I belong to the club where I went as a 14 year old to get my hunter safety course. A great place with a great bunch. My son belongs to a club in Alb, NM that had a vetting process like you described.

[Bill Douglas]

Gun club, know as fun club.

You'll love it. always nice people.

[fanaudical]

Sounds like a cool club. I hope you can get in.

[varmint]

way pickier than the one i joined.

[Por_sha911]

Be careful to not refer to your firearms as "spoons"

I hope you get in.

[jyl]

You mean talking about spooning my spoons might be over-sharing?

[vonsmog]

At one time I belonged to one for sporting clays with a buddy of mine. His wife pasted away at 30, and this got him out of the house and kept his mind off of it. we went about 3 times a week and had a blast and got very good at shooting. we were not there for the social aspect, just there to shoot and have fun. He moved away with a new job, so I never renewed my membership, as didn't see the need to keep it without my buddy. But I have found memory's of it.

[cantdrv55]

I have a friend who’s a member of a private gun club. He’s invited me and my wife to shoot with him and his wife a couple of times. Very nice folks at the club and I’m tempted to become a member since wifey and I both own spoons now. Too bad the club is 2 hours away without traffic.

[Arizona_928]

Sounds funs. I would do it

[flatbutt]

Good move jyl. Clubs like that are far more than just places to shoot. Their entrance requirements are extreme IMO but that's a good thing. I belong to two, indoor and outdoor.

[NutmegCarrera]

Come out to Wisconsin. Our procedures are as follows:
Go out to the club and introduce yourself.
Buy a round at the bar.
Head out and shoot a round of trap (6 bucks - remember, ya aren’t a member yet)
Don’t forget to tip the trap boy. Buck or two will do it.
Head back into the club house. Buy a round. Beers are two bucks each.
Get a membership form from behind the bar. Take home and fill out - bring back and turn it in.
You probably have to put a few hours of labor in throughout the year.

Yes, there are more organized and more discerning clubs too - but if you just want a place to shoot, there are many like what’s described above.

If you want access to full service pheasant hunts, those places will run $1k/yr to get your foot in the door.
I can afford the redneck variety…

[Jeff Higgins]

I like the idea of private gun clubs with strict membership requirements. Public shooting ranges scare the hell out of me. These aren't racket clubs, or country clubs - there is good reason to exercise caution with regards to who is offered membership.

My club operates both private "members only" ranges and "public" ranges all on the same property. We do this in two distinctly different ways. For rifles, we maintain two physically separated ranges. The members' range provides 50, 100, 200, and 300 yard targets, and is very strictly "members only". Not even guests of members are allowed. There is no rangemaster on duty. Everyone using that range is effectively a "range master".

The other rifle range is open to the public, as well as members who have not yet qualified for the "members only" rifle range. This range employs a full time paid rangemaster who exercises very strict control over all proceedings.

We only have one handgun range, with targets available at 7, 10, 25, and 50 yards. We manage it with "public" hours and "members' hours". Members can shoot any time they want. Like the members' only rifle range, during members' hours every shooter is a "range master". During public hours, we have a paid rangemaster running things.

I avoid the public rifle range and public hours on the handgun range at all costs. Our range masters are very, very good, and all members using those ranges are obligated to help out by being additional eyes and ears. But, still...

It's disheartening to me to see just how poorly some of our "public shooters" (as we call them) handle their firearms. Sloppy, inattentive, lazy. Once it crosses over into "dangerous" they are given very, very little slack. Most safety infractions are given but one warning, some none at all before the offending shooter is told to leave (without a refund).

As a result, we have earned a "reputation" locally. I actually like hearing that - it keeps the riff raff out. In a day and age when standards of behavior seem to have slipped across the board, range safety simply cannot be one of them. That seems to upset some people. That's fine, they can go to less controlled public ranges, virtually every one of which in the area has had a serious accident (including fatalities) in my lifetime. We never have. We're proud of that. It might seem "snooty" to some, but being primarily a private gun club that only allows "public" shooters under the strictest of supervision and control has served us well.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

It's disheartening to me to see just how poorly some of our "public shooters" (as we call them) handle their firearms. Sloppy, inattentive, lazy. Once it crosses over into "dangerous" they are given very, very little slack. Most safety infractions are given but one warning, some none at all before the offending shooter is told to leave (without a refund).

.

Sweep the line once at either of my clubs and you're gone.

[jyl]

The pistol range I currently belong to is an unattended range. Enter with card key, shoot, pick up brass, leave. It has been considerably more crowded in the past year. I don’t love being sandwiched between guys burning through hundreds of rounds with their plastic combat 9 pistols and carbined festooned with lasers. The constant concussive blasts are irritating and watching them use every bit of the 2’ x 3’ target is worrisome. There is the occasional old guy shooting tight groups with something old school, but the average level of marksmanship is such that I don’t think it really matters what caliber these guys arm themselves with.

[HardDrive]

Amazed that place has not been shut down by encroachment of the woke.

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I like the idea of private gun clubs with strict membership requirements. Public shooting ranges scare the hell out of me. These aren't racket clubs, or country clubs - there is good reason to exercise caution with regards to who is offered membership.

My club operates both private "members only" ranges and "public" ranges all on the same property. We do this in two distinctly different ways. For rifles, we maintain two physically separated ranges. The members' range provides 50, 100, 200, and 300 yard targets, and is very strictly "members only". Not even guests of members are allowed. There is no rangemaster on duty. Everyone using that range is effectively a "range master".

The other rifle range is open to the public, as well as members who have not yet qualified for the "members only" rifle range. This range employs a full time paid rangemaster who exercises very strict control over all proceedings.

We only have one handgun range, with targets available at 7, 10, 25, and 50 yards. We manage it with "public" hours and "members' hours". Members can shoot any time they want. Like the members' only rifle range, during members' hours every shooter is a "range master". During public hours, we have a paid rangemaster running things.

I avoid the public rifle range and public hours on the handgun range at all costs. Our range masters are very, very good, and all members using those ranges are obligated to help out by being additional eyes and ears. But, still...

It's disheartening to me to see just how poorly some of our "public shooters" (as we call them) handle their firearms. Sloppy, inattentive, lazy. Once it crosses over into "dangerous" they are given very, very little slack. Most safety infractions are given but one warning, some none at all before the offending shooter is told to leave (without a refund).

As a result, we have earned a "reputation" locally. I actually like hearing that - it keeps the riff raff out. In a day and age when standards of behavior seem to have slipped across the board, range safety simply cannot be one of them. That seems to upset some people. That's fine, they can go to less controlled public ranges, virtually every one of which in the area has had a serious accident (including fatalities) in my lifetime. We never have. We're proud of that. It might seem "snooty" to some, but being primarily a private gun club that only allows "public" shooters under the strictest of supervision and control has served us well.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by jyl

The pistol range I currently belong to is an unattended range. Enter with card key, shoot, pick up brass, leave. It has been considerably more crowded in the past year. I don’t love being sandwiched between guys burning through hundreds of rounds with their plastic combat 9 pistols and carbined festooned with lasers. The constant concussive blasts are irritating and watching them use every bit of the 2’ x 3’ target is worrisome. There is the occasional old guy shooting tight groups with something old school, but the average level of marksmanship is such that I don’t think it really matters what caliber these guys arm themselves with.

I hear you. That is exactly the kind of thing we will not tolerate. Number one, all shots must remain on target or they will be asked to move it closer until they do. Number two, no rapid fire - two seconds between shots.

We get criticism for the latter from the folks who claim they cannot run realistic defensive drills. To make matters "worse" for this crowd, we do not allow anyone to draw from the holster to shoot, nor do we allow anyone to reholster any gun after having fired it on our range. It is here where far too many people shoot themselves in the leg, or the concrete floor right next to them, and so forth.

We do recognize a need for that kind of practice. Unfortunately, we are not set up to accommodate them. We are accused of being "fuddy duddy" set in our ways old farts but - see above. No injuries. Ever. We simply cannot afford a single "accident" of any kind. See below...

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Amazed that place has not been shut down by encroachment of the woke.

Yup. We have been the victims of "suburban encroachment". Even when I joined, some 35 years ago, we were still well out in the woods. We are now surrounded on three sides by housing developments, with a gravel pit across the road being the fourth side. We are situated mere blocks outside of the most notoriously anti-gun county in our state (King County, home of Seattle) in probably the third most anti-gun county in our state, Snohomish County.

Many years ago King County found itself in need of a new sewage treatment plant (aka "turd farm"). Their County Executive placed our site on his final list of three candidates, even though it lies outside of King County. The only things that saved us were the fact that we are the only site in a multi-county area that provides a location for the firearms training of law enforcement personnel, for one, and secondly, our neighbors. They actually love us. We have been fantastic neighbors. Much, much better in their estimation than a new turd farm - for the neighboring county. What an insult.

We have developed an outstanding relationship with the law enforcement communities in our area. We are all they have. They come to us or they do not shoot. What a horrible, untenable situation for their various counties and municipalities to have placed them. Alas, such is the anti-gun fervor in this area (but please, I don't want to get into that). We could actually really "bend them over" through usage fees and the like, since we are the only game in town. But we don't. They shoot for free, even to the point of us shutting down our members' only range and hours to accommodate them. We bend over backwards to help them. That relationship paid off in a big, big way.

Much of our good relationship with our neighbors is attributable to how we run our ranges. The fact that they do not see emergency responders showing up with sirens on, the fact that they have never read about an "accident" (most really aren't) at our club. Our rifle and pistol ranges are sufficiently baffled so as to keep the neighbors from complaining about the noise. It is audible outside of our property, of course, but we keep very "neighbor friendly" hours. What they don't need to hear is some "rat a tat tat" nonsense emanating from our range.

So, yeah, in spite of dramatic encroachment, we're hanging in there. Growing, even. I attribute our success to our absolutely diligent adherence to our own rules, and a rule set that takes into account just where we are located.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by jyl

The pistol range I currently belong to is an unattended range. Enter with card key, shoot, pick up brass, leave. It has been considerably more crowded in the past year. I don’t love being sandwiched between guys burning through hundreds of rounds with their plastic combat 9 pistols and carbined festooned with lasers. The constant concussive blasts are irritating and watching them use every bit of the 2’ x 3’ target is worrisome. There is the occasional old guy shooting tight groups with something old school, but the average level of marksmanship is such that I don’t think it really matters what caliber these guys arm themselves with.

People do far, far, far more stupid things than that. If that's your complaint, then you're lucky. We have seen people shoot shotguns on a cold rifle range with someone down range because he thought it was a "safe distance". People bring glass bottles instead of using the paper target and wood slat frame. They move target stands. They drop a loaded pistol. On the ground.

I would never want to be a range master, nor am I sanctimonious enough to tsk tsk other guys. That's not what makes me happy. But there's a point where you have to say thank God the real dumb ones get kicked out. And I dont mean "irritating". I mean "dangerous". I think the key for you is to dial in your preferred amount of sanctimonious gun-guy, by finding a club that strikes the right balance for you. For example, the punky guys who shoot one handed and sideways are on one end of the spectrum. The gun snobs on the other. There are a lot of both types everywhere.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by jyl

The pistol range I currently belong to is an unattended range. Enter with card key, shoot, pick up brass, leave. It has been considerably more crowded in the past year. I don’t love being sandwiched between guys burning through hundreds of rounds with their plastic combat 9 pistols and carbined festooned with lasers. The constant concussive blasts are irritating and watching them use every bit of the 2’ x 3’ target is worrisome.

I am confused:

- What's the problem with "plastic combat 9 pistols"? Are they any less dangerous with a metal 1911 or .357 magnum revolver?

- "constant concussive blasts" This one of the reasons that God created ear muffs and ear plugs (I use both at the same time when indoors). If you don't like loud noises maybe a gun range isn't the right place for you. Have you considered golf or tennis?

- "watching them use every bit of the 2’ x 3’ target is worrisome" Maybe you were an expert marksman when you first started shooting but as a new shooter with very little experience I would have been worrisome to you.

I am more concerned about shooters who are too busy being macho big-shots who have never learned (or don't follow) Jeff Cooper's 4 Firearm Safety Rules.
If the shooter is keeping everything pointed down range and following the rules for cease fire then I'm glad they are there.

[KFC911]

My club is VERY exclusive .... only allows one azzhole to be in it ....

Seriously though, I would not like shooting with others around .... even Higgins .