I went to Scotia today to try out my new (first, never owned a gun before) pistol. I've taken a basic pistol course and have also gone to the Altoona indoor range, so this was basically my third trip. I obtained a hunting license for the purpose of visiting this range.

25 yards is FAR for a beginner! I hit the target some, but I believe I completely missed the backer quite often, or was outside the target on a mess of old holes on the backer.

My question is: Can I take my own stand of some sort (say a big old cardboard box) and set it up much closer than 25 yards? Does anyone know if this is technically permitted at the range? I've heard that sometimes people get yelled at for small infractions of rules at this range. I made sure I only shot 6 rounds at a time. Hardly anybody was there when I was there. I had a good time though. It's really convenient to get there, but, yeah, 25 yards is a bit far for a new shooter.