First trip to Guthsville Rod and Gun Club

[yeager484]

After shooting in the privacy of single-lane indoor ranges long enough that I'm comfortable with my accuracy and handling skills, I went out to Guthsville with a friend who is a member today.

It's a lot closer to my house than where I've been going, so that's a huge plus.

There was a lady who arrived in the guest sign-in area while I was filling out my paperwork. She made small talk with my member friend while I filled out my form, nice lady, don't remember her name though.

We stopped at the first range we saw that was empty and set up shop. Each of the three guns we brought had about 75 shots fired, we rotated who shot which gun so we could all try each model (Glock 19, Glock 21 and S&W M&P40).

We were "ID checked" (guest cards/member card) by a guy named Dave, who we made small talk with for a while. He talked about how he's a Range Safety Officer for the club and voted for the first time in the recent elections after some 47 years of membership. He made some jokes, and all in all was a pretty nice guy.

Checked out the other pistol and rifle ranges, the plinking range (which was full at the time, by the time we fired the rest of our ammo and walked back the plinking range had plenty of open benches...dang).

There were several people who were grouped up shooting together. I can't say the people weren't friendly or conversational since I stuck with my own group just as much as they stuck with theirs. I'll be sure to try to strike up conversations with people once I'm not walking around with a neon green guest tag paper clipped to my pocket.

All in all, I had a great time and I'm fairly certain I'll be getting a membership in January. I've already made plans to go there again this week with the member I accompanied today.

Thanks for the advice those of you who've previously suggested Guths, it was a fun trip!

[IntenseImage]

Glad you liked the range ... Im sure I will see you there at some point!

I promise that I wont say no to your new member vote-in in Jan

[PennsyPlinker]

I'm pretty sure you can sign up as a member now, and it will be good for all next year. I won't swear to that, but that is how it used to be. I signed up this time of year with that understanding a number of years ago, and when I received my card, it said that my membership expired on Dec 31 of the current year. I was assured that I would get another card for the following year, which I did.

[joelitespeed]

They have suspended new members while the elections/renewals are going on. Next safety tour and new member vote in January.

Joe

[BLOWRY1911]

They have suspended new members while the elections/renewals are going on. Next safety tour and new member vote in January.

Joe

i will keep this in mind, i plan on joining a local gun club this January. i live in Quakertown so its a little far, but my coworker is a member at Guthsville and highly recommends it.

[LovemyGunsM4]

The facilities at Guthsville are pretty good...many different available ranges. However the guy you mentioned "Dale" has been an extreme nuisance to my friends and I every time we go...

Last time I was there dialing in a new AR (with ear & eyes both on) & I suddenly have somebody tapping my shoulder while I'm shooting. It turns out this "Dale" fella felt the need to check my membership card while I was squeezing off rounds?!?!

Startled the hell out of me as I was focused on my shot placement & breathing...I kept my mouth shut despite my inner desires to question his approach & patiently showed him my membership card.

Other then that...other members tend to be nice, open to conversation & take care of the place.

[PennsyPlinker]

The facilities at Guthsville are pretty good...many different available ranges. However the guy you mentioned "Dale" has been an extreme nuisance to my friends and I every time we go...

Last time I was there dialing in a new AR (with ear & eyes both on) & I suddenly have somebody tapping my shoulder while I'm shooting. It turns out this "Dale" fella felt the need to check my membership card while I was squeezing off rounds?!?!

Startled the hell out of me as I was focused on my shot placement & breathing...I kept my mouth shut despite my inner desires to question his approach & patiently showed him my membership card.

Other then that...other members tend to be nice, open to conversation & take care of the place.

Did you speak to him about that directly, or are you just complaining about him here? I am not defending him or his actions. I am just saying that if you have a problem with the way he acted, I would hope you expressed that to him instead of just coming here to complain to the world at large.

[RichG]

Dale is a good guy. Just are alot of non members that try to use ranges. Am glad he checks on people.

[PennsyPlinker]

Dale is a good guy. Just are alot of non members that try to use ranges. Am glad he checks on people.

I was going to say that as well, but was waiting to hear from the complainer. I see Dale just about every time I am there, and he is a pretty good guy. One of his big concerns is keeping the club alive, and that is hard to do with some of the idiots who join up.

It was not all that long ago that a person could bring in whoever he (or she) wanted, for $5.00 a person. Then some idiot joined up, and brought in ELEVEN PEOPLE who were not members. They were all over the place, with no supervision. So now we have restrictions. And, if the guests are not immediate family, the price is $10.00 a person, not $5.00. This does not even mention the people who come once, and "neglect" to fill in the date of their guest pass, so they can use it over and over.

The club is private property. They do the best they can to make it attractive and fun, but there are always selfish people who will take advantage of it, like the board and other members are just a bunch of buffoons who don't know any better. Then the rest of us get clamped down on because of stupidity. I have no problem with people being checked out. But if a person has a problem with the way he was checked out, then he needs to address it with the person who did the checking, not the rest of the world on the internet.

[RichG]

Totally agree with you. Have been a member for 25yrs.
Am glad there is a good place to shoot so close to home.