Range Fees

G

glh17

New member
Until recently I hadn't shoot very much at all (2 times and around 50 rounds) for 35 years. About 2 weeks ago I got a month membership at a local indoor shooting shooting range. Nice facility with 12 stations and targets up to 25 yds. Being retired, I'm able to go early and avoid weekends and peak times during the weekdays.

I'm pretty sure I'll go with an annual membership of $250 when my monthly runs out. The monthly fee is around $45 and the daily around $20. There are additional benefits with the annual membership, but other than the 8 free guest passes, nothing I'd be interested in.

Is the $250 annual fee about the norm?
 
I went to my sister's house for the Memorial Day holiday, on Sunday my Brother inlaw wanted to treat me to their local range.(Crestview Fl.)

The yearly fee is $50, with a daily fee for members of $15.
Non Members $30 per day.
It has restroom facilities, gun rentals, guns, ammo and target sales.

Outdoor ranges, from 7 yards to about 150.
Seems kinda high to me, the daily fee especially for non members.
Ammo was marked up, the guns not too bad, targets $1.50 and up.

I guess our local range has spoiled me, covered shooting benches, shooting ranges from 7 to 200 yds.
Only 3 miles from the house, $100 per year, and you get a key to the gate, anytime access.
BUT, no amenities, other than bathroom.

Now 15 miles from here, there is a facility that caters to the sporting clays and trap shooting crowd, Membership is $350 per year (last I heard, and that was 3 years ago), $10 per visit, and they have an A+ clubhouse, overlooking the stations, air conditioning, snack bar, and the "man cave" with padded leather chairs, mounts on the walls, fireplace, very upscale.

So, I guess it is what services you deem worth the amount you pay per year.

Since I go every saturday (the wife works on saturday) Free access is worth the $100 yearly. I can bring my own drinks.
and on cold mornings, we usually start a fire to chat around.

45 Bravo
 
Just checked and actually the annual membership fee is $275, not $250. The facility is open 9-9 M-Saturday and 12-6 Sunday. It does have a restroom and small gun shop. Membership does cover the wife (mine doesn't shoot) and family members under 21 (don't have any).

Thanks for the info. Looks like $275 is definitely on the high end. I'll see if there's another local range. This one is real convenient, about 5 miles from my house. Only other one I know of is a skeet, sporting clays, and trap range and it's a good 30-45 minutes away. No hand guns or rifles.

BTW, I live in Murfreesboro, TN just in case someone knows of a local range.
 
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With the price of gas these days, there's a lot to be said for close. Once you factor in the cost of an hour or more round trip to a place where the fees are lower, if you go more than a couple of times a year, $275 may look like a bargain.

The private club nearest me (still about an hour's round trip) has great facilities, but runs, last time I looked, over $300/year. By the time I add the gas, that's not in my budget... so I do my shooting at the gravel pit when I'm up north.
 
The indoor range where I shoot charges $350 for an annual membership, which includes me, my wife, and any children under 21. The hourly rate is $35/hour for non-members. And it's 20 miles/45 minutes away (one-way).

I would shoot at a nearby gravel pit with zero "amenities" in a heartbeat, if there were such a thing. But, alas, there isn't. For such a thing to even exist I would have to travel at least 75 or 100 miles, and then hope to get the land owner's permission.
 
Lifetime membership at my range is $20; you pay $10 for all-day use, one target included ... it's a nice range, covered benches, brass catchers, three pistol distances out to 25 yds, 200-yd rifle range and an area for shotgun practice ...
 
In all, I joined 3 ranges, all outdoor.

The first was a pretty rough facility with a couple pistol pits and an elevated rifle range out to 500 yards. It was $30/year if you worked 3 days on range cleanup or match service, or $130 without 3 days. It was the only range around.

The second was a better range. 100 yard rifle, 2 trap ranges, 5 stand, cowboy action shooting, indoor rimfire and pistol, nice, older clubhouse that had bathrooms, a large social area, bar, and short-order grill open on weekends. IIRC, it was $150.

My current range was a bit more, but for the money, I have a whole lot more in facility. 600 yard rifle range, 2-300 yard rifle ranges, 100 yard rifle range, 100 yard rimfire range, 7 pistol ranges, 3D archery range with elevated platform for shooting with ability to mount your hanging/climber stand on it, real restrooms with weather rooms on most ranges, nice main building with classroom, large social area, commercial kitchen, 2 additional large open buildings for reloading, hanging out during matches, RV hookups for large matches, and we are in the process of constructing another rimfire range and camping area to support local scout troops. The range offers almost every kind of competition imaginable as well as classes in most major areas (CCW, long range shooting, reloading, etc). In all, the range encompasses 650 acres. I paid a 1-time $250 vestment fee and pay annual dues of $250.

Although indoor ranges typically are shorter, you get an air conditioned, indoor facility impervious to the effects of the outdoors. Depending on where you may live, and what you shoot, that alone might be worth the extra $.
 
I may have an outdoor option but not sure. It'd be on my wife's uncle (he's 86) land. He inherited his dad's place and leases some of the land to a guy who raises cattle and does a few things around the place. I know he wouldn't mind me shooting but I've got to investigate the place and make sure its safe. I'd hate to take down a cow or two.

If not, I'll just put my big boy pants on and pay the $275, although I might wait a while for this ammo situation to improve. Don't want to be paying fees when I have no ammo (or have to shoot with the expensive stuff).

Thanks to everyone for the information.
 
Comparing outdoor and indoor range prices seems odd. Outdoor ranges don't usually have well into the six figures invested in ventilation systems, nor do they have to maintain such.
 
The $275 fee seems in line with local indoor ranges here. My outdoor range yearly fee is about $200 with several venues. But it is almost 20 miles away. I've been tempted to join an indoor range just to cut travel time and cost
 
The conservation club I shoot at charges a very reasonable $40 per year with first time members paying $50. They issue a key and you come and go at your leisure. A great bargain.

The firing line was kind of primitive for most of the years I have been there (dirt "floor" and old wooden shooting tables) but 3 years ago they performed a significant upgrade , pouring concrete on the floor and concrete shooting benches.
 
Fees in my local area...

There are limited clubs/ranges in my metro area(a medium size city with a daytime population of approx 800,000).
A private club with multiple ranges/features runs approx $400.00 plus a mandated NRA membership. This is a yearly membership fee(dues).
There is a county run shooting complex & outdoor rec center about 45min from me that charges approx $79.00 for a 6mo pass. Day passes run about $10.00 USD. That range/shooting complex looks clean, safe & well managed but the travel required is a downer.
There is also a free National Park/state forest area near me with a "open firearms range". It's free & open during daytime hours but its in a remote area and has no park rangers/range safety officers on duty. :(
I'm not crazy about being in the deep woods if a group of IL nazis show up with class III MAC-10s or some drunk yo-yo starts to wave a 12ga pump shotgun around.
Laugh if you wish, but I've seen some hairy scenes on public firearm ranges.
 
The closest outdoor range to us is 8 miles away, in a state recreation area, run by the DNR. It's $11 annually for a permit to enter any of the state rec areas and $4 per adult(16 and over) for the whole day's use of the range. For us $8 for the four of us to do some shooting isn't bad. They have rifle, pistol, skeet, trap, archery and throwing weapons stations. When time permits we head to state game areas(45 minutes away) and shoot all day for free.
 
Prices here vary.
$50 outdoor range, but $10 per visit.
$200 outdoor range, free visits all year.
$250 indoor range, free visits all year.
Indoor ranges have more equipment to buy, ventilation, etc., but outdoor ranges need to have more real estate.
So there can be high cost to both, with real estate prices here.
I like to vary my shooting, and go to a different range every time. So I have gone to ranges all over all the western states, mostly on my motorcycle.
dc
 
I haven't done a survey of the ranges in this area, but here are a couple I know about.

Indoor range, 25yd pistol, 50yd rifle about 20 minutes from the house.
Non-member per visit charge: $16

Standard Membership annual fee: $100 Individual, $150 Family
Member per vist charge: $8 or $6 depending on if you take advantage of one of their pre-pay options.

Gold Membership annual fee: $360 Individual, $600 Family
Gold Member per visit charge: $0​

There's another indoor range about 10 minutes from the house with a similar arrangement in terms of memberships and fees but the maximum range is 15 yards and all of the fees are higher/not as good a deal.

Outdoor range, 25, 50, 100, 200 yd ranges, trap, skeet & 5 stand about 20 minutes from the house.
$135 annual membership fee (includes immediate family), no per visit fee--some fees apply for using the shotgun facilities.​

In this area, $275 for an annual membership to a decent indoor range with no additional per visit fee would be a good deal.
 
Prior to closing for repairs after a fire the range I used was $185 a year or $14 a visit. They had 3 month and 6 month memberships but I don't remember the price. The range I'm using at the moment is $15 per hour, the yearly membership is $250 a year, that puts over my limit so I won't be joining. I'm hoping the previous range will be open again soon, I will be going back there when they do.
 
I paid 250 a year, that includes unlimited rage time(Limited to 120 min if there is a wait)> Unlimited rentals, and a 5% discount on regular priced items throughout the year. It's just indoor archery and handguns, they have 20 stations.

It seems people balk at the price, but I believe it has paid for itself by now.
 
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