Checking out 2 clubs in Lancaster County

[jtkratzer]

I'm going to go check out Cocalico Sportsmen in Denver and New Holland Rifle and Pistol Club today and see what they're like. Hopefully some people will be there to talk to as it's nice today. I'd really like to see what the indoor facilities are like at NHRPC. Both clubs are about 20 minutes away according to Google Maps. Cocalico is about 9 miles away and NHFPC is about 12 miles away.

I'm taking take some notes on what I like/dislike and post them up when I get back later today.

[jtkratzer]

Cocalico Sportsmen:
Seemed like a nice club, not real big and nothing extra special, but adequate for $20/year. Seemed to have a little bit of everything...archery, no course or 3D, but plenty of targets to shoot at. As far as pistol, it was pretty minimal, but with a few hanging steel plates and a few places to hang paper, I guess it would do. It's set up for 25 yards and if you're the only one there, it sounds like it's ok to shoot closer.

When I pulled in, there were two guys shooting on the pistol range who then moved up to the upper rifle range. When I was leaving, there was a guy shooting a .40 S&W carbine on the pistol range.

The lower rifle range was closed as there was trap shooting going on. That seemed to be the most used part of the range today. There were around 8 guys there shooting.

The middle rifle range was open, but not being used.

The upper range had a couple benches and went out to 200 yards and the two guys that were on the pistol range when I got there had moved up to the rifle range.

All in all, not a very big club, but there were less than a dozen people were there for the half hour I was around the club.

I'll probably join for the $20 to have a place to do some pistol shooting and I'd love to get back into shooting clays.


New Holland Rifle and Pistol Club:
When I got there today, the gate was closed and locked, even though there were two guys shooting. Their rifle facilities are impressive with ranges going out to 600 yards. I was also impressed with the number of lanes and areas to shoot pistol outdoors. After seeing they had indoor pistol facilities, I was optimistic about having a place close by to do some shooting, but their indoor facilities are limited to rimfire only and no .17 HMR as the steel plate backstop is only 1/4" thick. Airguns and archery are allowed, but that's it. There goes my indoor pistol shooting in Lancaster County without looking at Manheim's club (limited to lead round nose only) and Millcreek Sportsman (indoor is only open for total of 4 hours per week). They have absolutely no archery facilities other than the rolling targets indoors. They are also very limited in their facilities for shooting clays, but again, it's New Holland RIFLE and PISTOL club, not archery or shotgun. A gentleman named Frank showed my wife and I around and was very nice and informative. Frank, if you're a member here, thanks for the tour.




So, I think what I'll end up doing is joining Cocalico Sportsmen for the number of options they offer for all around shooting sports and also join Palmyra Sportsmen for their great pistol and indoor facilities. I'm currently driving close to an hour to shoot indoor and paying $12/hour to do so plus turnpike tolls. Palmyra Sportsmen is not much closer in time, but it's fewer miles, no turnpike tolls, and no hourly rate to shoot.

I'm also considering joining Ephrata Bowmen as they are practically around the corner from where I live and they have 24/7 indoor access for archery as well.