French Creek Outfitters - Phoenixville PA (chester co/montco area)

[Dirty_Pete]

Hi guys,

Just got back from my first trip to French Creek Outfitters. I wanted to comment on the range and share my experience, as I have seen a bit of posts about them that are somewhat negative and I wanted to give my opinion on it.

Store itself

The store is pretty darn large for a hunting/fishing shop. I was very impressed walking in by how big the place was. They easily had 3 people behind all the counters I looked at (gun, archery counters) -- I'd imagine there's a fishing counter that had at least one employee.

The layout is pretty nice, I enjoyed just browsing around all of the stuff.

Prices

This place is expensive! I spent $65ish for 100 rounds of winchester .357 sig.

I also picked up some eye protection (Silencio brand) for $11

I bought a Bulldog range case that set me back about $35 (tossed the receipt so can't say for sure)

Range time for 1 hour is $12, not too bad.

Demeanor/Attitude

This is something I know a lot of people have commented on. I can see where a lot of people might be put out by the "lecture" given to new shooters, but if you stop and think about it, they have to worry about their facilities and safety of their guests. I found the guy to be stern but not confrontational, he seemed to be a nice guy.

If you carry concealed into the range, you just have to show that your gun is empty when you're done shooting to the range officer, and then when they see it you're free to reload and reholster. No problems there. Let the guy know beforehand you're carrying and you'll have no issues. He said they were concerned about people waking through the store with guns in an unknown state (he said they had a guy walk out a while ago with a gun from the range, and then said "it's unloaded, see?" and rack the slide and a live round ejected, so they're pretty strict on their no open firearms as a result of that.

All I can say is, read their rules and honor their requests about target distances and not removing loaded pistols from the lane, and they'll not have issue with you as long as you're following the basic safety rules.

Wait Time

If you go on a weekend, prepare to wait. I had to wait about an hour and fifteen minutes for a lane to open. I overheard the guy at the desk say that tuesday and wednesdays are slower.

Friday nights are date night, if you bring your wife/date, they don't pay. I think he also said that Wednesday nights are ladies night, range is $1 an hour for the ladies. Obviously they're trying to get more women to shoot there. I have to say, there were more women there than I'm used to seeing at CP, but FCO is more of a shopping-center area than CP, so it could be browsers who say "hey, that'd be fun..."

Actual range quality

FCO has automated target retrieval like most indoor ranges in the area. They have wooden side-tables for each lane which is a nice addition. The range did not seem like it had as much filtration/forward air movement as Classic Pistol, but I wasn't getting smoked out or anything. You can only shoot pistol, which made me a lil sad for the AR-15, but hey, not everyone can afford indoor rifle backstops.


I'm not sure what else anyone might want me to cover about the place, I'll edit and add sections if anyone thinks I missed a topic that would be good.

Pete

[thirtyonebravo]

but hey, not everyone can afford indoor rifle backstops.

you'd think they could, with the prices of their ammo.

seriously though, there's always selling frangible rounds there for that purpose.

As I recall when I did a transfer of a Sig P220 there, and went to buy a box to test it out with, they wanted something like $25-28 for a box of .45 (about a year ago?)
Their transfer price was pretty reasonable, $30 I think it was for PICS and paperwork.

[Ramtuff]

Do you have to buy their ammo or can you bring your own?

[JayBell]

I havent been back since the douchebag behind the counter told me that I couldn't shoot my M16 in 9mm there until they "test fired the weapon to make sure its functioning properly"....I said "What?" douchebag said "the first mag is ours", with a smirk on his face.

I just said "fuck you" and left...

If the had asked me to try it after I shot a bit, instead of making something up, I would have let him shoot it...

lost customer forever.

[jtkratzer]

I never had a problem there. That is the first and only indoor range I've ever shot at. I've never had to wait and I've been there in the evening during the week and on a Saturday. The last I was there was 12/31/07 early afternoon. There were two lanes open. I've only gone once by myself, the wife usually goes and shoots as well. We've always shared a lane and taken turns shooting. One loads a mag for whatever gun he/she wants to shoot while the other is shooting. We only pay for one lane as we share a lane but both shoot and bring multiple guns.

I can't comment on the pistol only because I've seen guys in there with shotguns. The last time I was there, someone was shooting something in 9mm on full auto.

I was only "lectured" as in had the rules of the range explained to me the first time I was there when I filled out the paper work. Otherwise, everyone seemed friendly. I think their gun prices were a little high, but when you compare online, everyone's prices are high.

They also allow you to rent anything in their used cabinet for $10/hour so if you're looking to try something out before buying, give them a call to see if they have it. Those used guns look like they're rarely cleaned and since they're available to the public to rent, I would never buy one. I always bring my own ammo so I can't comment on those prices.

Anyway, I don't have anything to compare it to, but the only other indoor ranges I know of that are within an hour drive either require a membership or require you to buy your ammo there which includes getting raped in the butt with the price you pay.

So, if I'm going to drive to a public place to shoot indoors, I'm going to French Creek.

[JLBIII]

I'll try to answer some of the comments here.

Thanks to the OP for the remarks. We do try to keep the range safe while you are having fun shooting. Since it is an open range, we do not know the firearm experience of a lot of people. We have everyone's safety in mind, first, last and always. Last week I had an alleged "firearm instructor" point the muzzle of a gun at me. We do have regular shooters and yearly memberships are available. Tue. is ladies day where they shoot for $1 hr.

During the weekend there may be wait times but they are usually 15 minutes or less. However they can be longer like the OP stated. We've been averaging between 80 & 100 people per day. Replacement parts came in and all lanes are now open, so the wait times should be shorter.

Our current ammo prices for 50rds. of CCI Blazer Brass are: 10.99 for 9mm; 16.49 for 40 and 16.99 for 45.

We allow you to use your own ammo provided it is brass cased but we continually find steel and aluminum cases in the range.

We've talked about allowing fragible ammo in AR's but we are not sure that someone won't shoot M855 or SS109 ammo in there. Last month we had two separate instances where someone used a .243 and a 30-30 rifle on the range until we told them to "Cease Fire". One gentleman was polite about it and the other copped an attitude.

We do allow Class III firearms with proper documantationt to be used on the range. I'm not sure who the RO was who said we need to fire the first mag. I've had all positive experiences with our Class III shooters. Last week we did have one shooter put in a Beta mag and proceed to fire until it was empty. He did not realize he put 32 hits on the overhead baffles.

While we can't please everyone, we do try to make your shooting time safe and enjoyable for all. Please keep the comments coming.

JB

[Dirty_Pete]

Thanks to the OP for the remarks. ... Tue. is ladies day where they shoot for $1 hr.

We've talked about allowing fragible ammo in AR's but we are not sure that someone won't shoot M855 or SS109 ammo in there.

JB

JB,

Thanks for the clarification on it being Tuesday for ladies day -- I said Wednesday in the original post.

I'd love to have an indoor range to work on my AR accuracy, I'm fine with using frangibles if that's what it has to be -- you have the closest quality indoor range to me.

Pete

[jtkratzer]

Tell whoever necessary to open a range in Lancaster County.

[Ramtuff]

JB,
Thanks for posting. Currently, I drive all the way down to Targetmaster, and although I like their facilities and I've never had a problem with their staff, I would like to find a place a bit closer to home. I hate dealing with that 202 traffic. Maybe I'll swing by your place in the next week or two and check it out.

[Headhunter 13]

I shoot there on Sunday with 2 other Forum members (TcRoc and JKroner) and enjoyed trhe range and the guys behind the range counter and sales counter were real good guys. Thanks