Looking into opening a gun range in South Florida

@ dakota.potts,

There are several reasons for opening an indoor range instead of an outdoor range.

1. Location, location, location! The only place to open an outdoor range is way out west or way down south (and west). My focus is on convenience so I need to be close to my potential patrons. The closest ranges from where we want to open is about 20 minutes without traffic. The emphasis is on the traffic part! With traffic, it could easily become a 45 minute ride. I want to make so convenient that someone can go after work or at a moments notice.

2. Weather: Miami is hot as hell and humid as hell for more than half the year. It rains almost everyday during the summer. That's why We will be investing in a good cooling system.

3. Convenience: With indoor ranges, the line is almost always hot. I hate waiting around at outdoor ranges for people to set up, remove, and check their targets. It is also a safety issue if you have some idiot handling guns when the line is cold.

4. Mosquitos are vicious down here at least 9 months out of the year.

5. Hours of operation: Trail Glades is closed Monday and Tuesday. They are open from 9 am to 6 pm Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thursday and Friday, they are open from 1 pm - 9 pm. With an indoor range, we can be open late. If there is demand for it, we may go as late as 10 pm.

6. EPA and DERM don't make it much easier for outdoor ranges. You still need to worry about lead and pollution.
 
stephen426 said:
Features: What features do you expect?
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Clean bathrooms. This may seem like a silly request. However, I've been married for going on 18 years, and I can assure you that my wife will not go to a range that does not have decent bathrooms. That means that if I want her to go with me, & I do, it must be at one of the ranges that has appropriate & clean facilities.
 
Whoa....Alright. I live in Miami, and I've been to all the ranges you mentioned. Even Big Al's in Broward County.

I don't know if you've heard of Henry's range down in Homestead. It's pretty much $15 to do whatever the heck you want.

Take Krome Avenue all the way up to 302. make a right and keep doing till you can't anymore (you need a truck). Stay on the path..it's farmland, they will shoot at you if you're on their crops. Last one to the right is Henry's. Go through the forest on the first left you see on the left after you make the right.

They're great cause it's "freedom" but too much of that is dangerous. More idiots in Miami with guns than people who are trained. (Not "hating" just pointing out a fact lol)

Something I have yet to see is this...

Both and indoor and outdoor range.

So far the best one to me is the one by Tamiami airport. Behind the Lexus dealership. Make a left on 142 and a right on the other 142. You'll see it.

They don't have ridiculous rules like Trail Glades which is also outdoor. You know the "One shot every five seconds" is the one that makes my right eye twitch into oblivion. So that's insane... the biggest one is "No grouping".....You just cut out the bulls eye, yet you can't group anywhere else on the target. Or they inpolitely tell you to stop and buy a new target. Even using your own target. You can only have one at a time. Lame..


So, just throwing out the option for indoor and outdoor. Haven't seen that before. As for rifles..since it's outdoors, they have a good rifle side and shotgun side is decent. But handguns? Forget it.

Stonehart is hands down the best one in Dade county.

Ace's...is like trailglades but indoors. I don't like them and never will.

If you want any info as far as location, PM me...US-1 would be great. There hasn't been one there for ages.

There used to be one on 8th street and Bird road..those are long gone too.

I'm blabbing..not being useful. PM me if anything!
 
Ugh..sorry...forgot to mention.

It needs to be somewhat of a gunclub. Not just a "here shoot and get out" that's always how I feel. With the "hourly" rate crap.

Ammo shouldn't be an arm and a leg. I should be allowed to bring my own. And if I want to, I can buy from you guys and it not have the Disneyland effect.

Snacks. Even just a vending machine or two and a soda machine.

A lot of targets.

Optional training courses. Real training from real trained people. Not mall ninjas.

Gun shop as well. Buy, sell, trade guns.

Take a trip to Stonehart. They're really doing great. They may need a few things. But they're great.
 
Thanks for the info Constantine. I have been to Stone Hart's and it is fine. Range fees of $18 per hour are okay, but not cheap. I like the target rail system. As I mentioned, it is still pretty far West.

I like the idea of a "gun club", but I need to make sure that I reach as many people as possible. As I mentioned, we expect to spend about $750K - $1 Million so we need to get some volume in there. I was thinking of a monthly membership that includes a certain number of hours. If you keep your membership current, the hours roll over. That way, we will get more money up front. We can even set up reservations which charge their account for the time they book. If they show up late, too bad. My thought is to set up a card type system that they insert to turn on the target carrier and lights for the stall.

I haven't heard of Henry's, but Homestead is a bit south for me. Besides, I don't like being shot at. I also don't like being at unsupervised ranges. I don't want to worry about getting shot in the back.
 
As for amenities, we are thinking about offering force on force traiing with Airsoft. A couple of ideas I had was renting a high speed camera and having a "wet" area for people to blow stuff up and film it at high speed. I know high speed cams aren't cheap, but I think it would be a cool feature. We can offer specials on it to maximize its usage.

One other thought is projected targets. There are a few systems out there that actually track where the shots go. I want to have fun activities such as bowling pin matches and speed matches. If possible, I want to have 2 seperate sections so we can do the traditional range and the other stuff at the same time. Range safety is always the top priority so it is best to keep that stuff isolated.
 
You lost me. You want to indulge in all sorts of gee-whiz gadgetry but you appear unwilling to entertain the idea of installing either a contemporary bullet trap backstop OR a state-of-the-art ventilation/exhaust system.

Sorry to be playing the Dutch uncle role, but IMHO your priorities are all messed up.
 
You lost me. You want to indulge in all sorts of gee-whiz gadgetry but you appear unwilling to entertain the idea of installing either a contemporary bullet trap backstop OR a state-of-the-art ventilation/exhaust system.

Sorry to be playing the Dutch uncle role, but IMHO your priorities are all messed up.
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I never said I wouldn't entertain the idea traditional backstops or HVAC systems. I just thought my idea was innovative and possibly more efficient. If conventional bullet traps are as effective and cost efficent, then we will go that route. We have already spoken with HVAC providers for the range. I was trying to be innovative again since the energy costs will be pretty high. We have a cooling tower on a commercial building we own, but I can see there being some serious restrictions of running the contaminated water through there. My initial thought was that the heavier particals would sink to the bottom.

I am ready to go fully conventional with this range, but I wanted to offer unique features that would draw in additional people. As gun enthusiasts, we enjoy the sport of shooting. I want to create something that appeals to the general population and draws in new shooters.
 
Constantine said:
Well that escalated quickly.
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I have no issues with honest feedback. I believe that Aguila may have read into some things more than he should have, but that is fine with me. I can get scatter brained sometimes so a reality check is welcome. If this makes sense financially, we are more than ready to do it.
 
I can't say enough good things about my range. You pay yearly for complete access. We can go as much as we want for free. We get guest passes (each guest can come 3 times before having to pay, I think). We joined shortly after the Newtown incident and managed to beat the ban panic by a week or so and now their membership list is full and they have a waiting list 3-6 months long. They also sell ammo at a reasonable enough price when they have it (it goes to members only, I believe). They also offer CCW classes, NRA first steps classes etc. as well as private tutoring, 3 different private marksmanship instructors on hand (civilian, law enforcement, and military backgrounds) and they teach advanced tactics classes like house defense, exiting/defending a vehicle, etc. The owner told me about one course where he has the students use red dot scopes with the lens cap on and makes them superimpose it over the target. But anyways these are some of the things I love about my range that make me feel the atmosphere, not just a place to go shoot at paper. Maybe there's something you can take away from that but I don't see it bringing in as much money as an hourly range fee at first.
 
Thanks for the ideas dakota!

My idea is to offer memberships as well which can be monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and anually. I will have to figure out how many memberships to allow so I don't over-sell the range. I am pretty sure that I will do fixed hours though since it allows me to control the usage a little better. I will offer discounted rates above the included membership hours.

I like the idea of discounted ammo for members. We can basically set up a fixed discount for members or even membership levels. A bronze membership can include 5 hours of range time and a 5% discount on ammo, targets, and accesories. A silver membership could include 10 hours of range time, a bring a friend pass, and a 10% discount. A gold membership could offer 15 or 20 hours of range time along with the same level of discount and 2 bring a friend passes. We could set up a platinum membership that allows for unlimited range time and a 25% discount. We can probably set up certain discounts for buying longer memberships.

We are looking to partner up with some local reloading companies so we can have ammo. I plan on having a grate type system that collects the brass. If the guest wishes to save their brass, we will provide something to cover the grates. I am thinking about having a converyer type system that collects all of the brass on one side. That way, you will not be standing all over your brass when you shoot.
 
I've read that a range with female friendly facilities can increase business by 20%. Also, to do quality training means the instructors must be of quality. With no offense, is such a staff available? Good FOF takes planning. There are some good instructor courses out there.

I'm also not big on being hit on for a big get membership push when I go in. I shoot different things and competition is important. Thus, I'm not going to tie up several hundred dollars in one. It's like a gym contract. I'd rather pay a reasonable drop-in fee. Static ranges are fun but one quickly can outgrow them. Can you conceive of indoor competitions.

About back stops - conside the ceiling. I took my daughter shooting at an indoor range and she pointed to the ceiling above us. Swiss cheese.
 
The South Florida Shooting Club up the road in Palm City has a various-level membership:

http://stuartshootingclub.com/?page_id=14

This is an outdoor sporting clays club, but you can see how their offerings go up with the higher level membership

One thing - if you sell memberships but are also open to drop-ins, members should get firing line priority, possibly using a reservation system. I would be ticked if I was a dues-paying member and non-members were able to shoot and I wasn't
 
BigDinFL said:
One thing - if you sell memberships but are also open to drop-ins, members should get firing line priority, possibly using a reservation system. I would be ticked if I was a dues-paying member and non-members were able to shoot and I wasn't
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I feel exactly the opposite. The range where I shoot has annual and six-month memberships, and is also open to the general public on a by-the-hour basis. I don't mind if the place is full when I get there, and I don't mind my name being placed on the same waiting list as the non-members. Among other things, I want the place to stay in business. If the owner boots an hourly shooter to give me priority, he doesn't make any extra money from me (except a buck for the target I'll buy -- if I didn't bring my own). If I'm willing to wait for a naturally-occurring opening, the owner gets the full benefit of the hourly shooters, which helps to ensure that the range will stay in business.

Besides, shooting is only part of the experience. I go as much to hang out and chew the fat as I do to shoot. The range is 45 minutes to an hour from my house (one way), depending on traffic. There have been times when I've driven over and spent so much time jawing that I just never got around to shooting -- and NOT because the place was booked up. In fact, with ten active lanes it rarely IS booked up, unless an instructor has reserved half the range for a class, and on Saturdays and Sundays. During the week, it's almost unheard of to have to wait for an open lane.
 
Wow BigDin! The membership fees are insane! I don't think we would be anywhere near that range (pun intended)!

As I mentioned, I plan on having a reservation system in place. If they don't show up or show up late,it goes against their allotted hours. For platinum level members, we might have to set maximum blocks. While memberships will certainly help us recoup our investment more quickly, I want to make the range welcoming to walk-ins.

Thank you Glenn for the suggestion. We will probably have to do some kind of ladies night to attract more female shooters. The clean bathroom comment makes a lot of sense too.

Please keep the comments coming!
 
Also, in the area of Palm City (Stuart), is a new shooting range that is state of the art. It actually has a 75 yard lane about 8 lanes total. What is interesting is they sell at 19 a hour for the lane (2 people max) BUT if you rent a gun it's 10 dollars a hour and you can switch a gun during that hour for no cost. Whether it's a SR9 or a S&W 15 you can switch it on the fly, which I believe generates some additional ammo purchasing (Their ammo is just over Walmart pricing) as they even have a Desert Eagle and a Casull. :P They also have some comfy couches behind bulletproof/soundproof glass surveying the range and you can switch people as long as you keep 2 to the lane. What's nice so they generate even more business is they leased out a space to a gunshop, essentially getting the benefit of "I want to shoot my new gun now" without the additional overhead.

Lotus Gunworks in Jensen also is opening a new range in two weeks with a long range (not sure 75 yard or 100) on bottom and a second story with 25 yard lanes. Given the heights they actually listed it as a mezzanine keeping it from being a 2 story building and also making it handicap accessible only to the bottom floor. Not sure on pricing as of yet.

Either way, when you open up I'll be sure to make the trip to check it out. :)


EDIT: Forgot to mention, the new gunrange in stuart does not allow steel core, armor piercing or any sort of incendiary ammo. However, they check all the round types that go into the range, if a magnet they have attaches to it they will not allow it. So any TULA with steel jackets sometimes will not pass.

Did some looking, this is pretty interesting read as far as their bullet trap at Lotus.


http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...s-gunworks-boasts-worlds-biggest-bullet-trap/
 
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BlueEyeVisage,

Funny that the article mentions Action Target since that is what my partner showed me the other day. I guess there is no need for me to recreate the wheel! Broward has so many ranges, but Dade county is so under-served.

The range in Palm City sounds interesting. Is it the Stuart Shooting Center? We plan on hitting a bunch of different ranges to get ideas but Stuart is a bit of a haul. 8 lanes sounds way too small to me though. (Stuart Shooting Center listed it at 10 stalls) I imagine there would be a lot of waiting. At $19 an hour, they max out at $190 an hour in lane rental. If they charge just a little more than Walmart, they probably only make a couple of bucks each box they sell. Lets say that brought it up to $25 per hour per revenue and they operated at full capacity. That would be $250/hour x 10(?) hours = $2500/ day max unless they sold guns and incidentals. In reality, I imagine a range would be hard pressed to be occupied more than 65% of the time (total number of lanes x total hours of operation/ amount of lane hours rented). That would be $1625/day or just under $600K a year.

Lotus Gunworks sounds pretty cool. We may have to make a trip up after all! I'll message you if we go up. It would be great to meet fellow TFLers in person?

Thanks for the encouragement!
 
I'm going to make some assumptions here since I need to "test" the feasibility of or business plan. I would loveh some input from people who work at or have worked at a range.

Proposed operating hours: 10 am to 10 pm 7 days a week

Weekday Daytime: 10 am - 6:00 pm (8 hours) Operate at 50% capacity
Weekday Night Time: (Monday - Thursday) 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm @ 85%
Weekend: Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday @ 95% 10:00 am - 10:00 pm

If we can meet those percentages, the range would be operating at just over 70% of total rentable time.

Fixed costs: Rent, Interest, Permits, Insurance, Monthly Maintenance

Variable costs: HVAC, Labor, Utilities

I am sure the operating cost of the HVAC will be insane since we need to use 100% fresh air.

I estimate we will need 3 employees on average to run the range. We will need at least 3 - 4 range safety officers to cover all of the hours ($12 - $15/hr?). We will need 8 - 10 employees to cover the front counter ($8 - $10/hr). We will need a GM and an AM to cover all of the hours.

I know I am missing a ton of things so please fill in the blanks guys!
 
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