Nice day for shooting in Maine!

P

Picher

New member
Three of us went to Capitol City R&P range (we're members) yesterday and conditions were almost perfect!!! It was overcast, temp about 60, and a slight wind going downrange. There wasn't another soul on any of the five ranges!! I thought we'd died and gone to shooters' heaven!

We shot at 100 yards to check zero, then shot at a couple of the club's gongs and my swingers set at 200 meters (longest range there). We were shooting .223 Rem and .243 Win bolt-actions from the benches.

My 2 swingers were a smallish gopher and a larger double spinner that was supposed to be guaranteed for cartridges up to .30-06 at 200 yards. Well, the spinning portion did okay, but one of the supports couldn't take a .243 in the swivel portion of the folding target. I suspected that would be the case, but the thing was relatively new, costing about $35, so it's disappointing.

Otherwise, we shot up some old batches of ammo and had a great time. Groups were okay, but mainly just checking POIs; not serious group shooting.
 
You wouldn't happen to know of any places to shoot around Ellsworth would you? My buddy has a place up in Sorrento that we go to a couple times a year and would love to find a place to shoot. We have contemplated just going for a hike and finding a berm to shoot at but don't know how well it would turn out. Beautiful state though, I plan to retire up that way, although that wont be for a loooong while.

By the way if you are looking for some targets to hold up to some abuse I got some from www.shootsteel.com

They have AR500 steel targets of various thickness and sizes that can take abuse from high powered rifle rounds.
 
This is part of a list of shooting ranges in Maine I got by Googling "Shooting Ranges in Maine". Other places to check are gun shops and police departments in the area.

•E Brook Fish and Game, Franklin ME 04634
•Freehold Lodge Club Omega Dev Group, Perry ME 04667
•Hampden Rifle & Pistol Club, Hampden ME 04444
•Passamquiddy Rifle Range, Eastport ME 04631
•Penobscot Bay Rod and Gun, Bucksport ME 04416
•Pleasant River Fish and Game, Columbia ME 04623
•Princeton Rod & Gun Club, Princeton ME 04668

BTW, I checked out the targets you suggested. They're apparently quite good and expensive; probably better geared to competition/club ranges.

JP
 
Unfortunately it looks like most if not all of those require a yearly membership and are not public ranges which is the problem I have had finding a place to shoot up there. As far as the AR500 steel plates on that site they have some pretty affordable plates if you look at the smaller 8" ones.
 
Maine is freakin' beautiful all year round.

Heck. I was stranded in Portland this last winter because of snow and still managed to have a good time.

Kudos to Allagash Beer and plenty of lobster to keep me happy.
 
Capitol City R&P is a great range and quite affordable, considering what it has to offer. The annual dues are $50 for under 65, $30 for over. (There's a charge for using the indoor range to help pay for fuel.)

Cost is less than most ranges that offer similar facilities, due to the range rentals to various law enforcement organizations, etc. I've been a member since about 1965, and was a match director for several years.
 
Don't forget Lincoln County Rifle Club in Damariscotta. 300 yd covered multi position range and much,much more. Check it out on a weekend when there's a lot of activity. Someone is always willing to show you around. Check out the web site.
 
I've shot at the Lincoln County range many times when I was into IHMSA metallic silhouette.

The last time I shot there was almost 20 years ago, when I subbed for a guy from the Boothbay team at an annual inter-club rivalry match. It was a cool match, involving shotgun, handgun silhouettes, military benchrest, centerfire benchrest, and black powder.

I won the "factory-sight" military benchrest at 100 yards with a borrowed Swede Mauser and the guy's paper-patched cast bullets. Group size was about 1 1/8", as I recall. I used a black target patch with a small hole in it, glued to my glasses, to sharpen up the sight picture.

My .22-250 Rem 700 won the 200 yard match, used by my friend. I had a better group going, but over-estimated the wind on the last of five shots and blew one out of a very nice group.

It was a really fun outing!
 
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