I just made my maden trip to the state range on Patla Rd. Talk about disapointed. It takes a lot of effort to take 3 months to take something from fair to bad.
For those who have never been there
There used to be 3 sections now ther are only 2.
the first range located to the right (sight in/ Pistol).
the old set up had 2 banks of targets one at 25 yards and the other was at i think 12 or 15 yards. now both banks are at 25 yards.
The new distance discourages new pistol shooters.
Also the bank of targets that have been moved no longer lign up the the table that is mounted in the ground for the shooters use. The target s are offset by about 6-8 feet (or 2 or 3 lanes).
Moving to the left.
The main rifle range.
the 2 remaining ranges have been consolidated.
the range furthest to the left used to have handicaped parking has been eliminated. the left entrance is now the entrance to a ramp that goes to the main rifle area. formerly you could park 2 or 3 cars in the handicaped area now you can park one in a parking space and any others would be on the ramp. In the main rifle range there are 3 banks of targets. I am guessing 100, 75 and 50 yards. There are seat /tables like there were before. However ther are at leat 2 tables that have no seats on either side. I am assuming they are for handicaped access. These tables are basicly usless unless you are in a wheelchair or bring you own chair. There are only about 14 lanes and 4 are minimaly useful due to the lack of seats. I am not against making things handicapped accessable. However, I think another layout may have been more useful. 4 handicaped shooting spots but only 1 parking space? what about if we just put backs on all the seats and then the seats could be used by everyone.
there are also now some concrete pads around the tables at the rifle side which I am guessing is also to help with the ADA compliance.
There is no concrete in the pistol/ sight in area where it would be very helpful to assist with picking up your brass.
Again, I am in now way downing people with disabalities. I think making shooting more accessible to everyone is great. The more suporters the better.
My point is that this seems to be little improvement. It took a LONG time and it seems some things changed for the worse not the better.
Last i checked the PaGC website is still listing the opening date of the Bear Creek as a late October, do they mean late October 2009? The range there was small and poorly equiped before it closed. There were no dedicated pistol lanes there before so I assume there wil not be one now.
Also, I thought they were adding covered pavilions over the shooting positions.
In closing I was EXTREMELY disapointed.
