Shooting Ranges In Allentown/Whitehall Area??

[krajus83]

The Ken at Shimerville is NOT the same Ken who works(ed) at the FL. The first and last time I ever went there he treated me like total shit. I did nothing to warrant any abuse at all. Didnt hit anything I wasnt suppose to, followed all the rules, ect. He just doesnt know how to treat people, plain and simple.

He told me right off the bat he was kicking me out if I hit the hanger. I never even got to say hello or introduce myself. I will NEVER give that place a dime of my money ever again.

I live 1/4 mile from Shimerville, and as mentioned if you dont mind smoke its much more laxed. Not to say the place isnt safe, but you wont get your face chewed off the second you walk in.

Ken is a great guy and helps me out whenever I need it. He even lets me shoot his cool toys too.

If anyone wants to ever go to Shimerville, shoot me a PM and we can set something up.

[Tetelestai]

Just to chime in about FL: I went yesterday for the first time, right around 12:30. First person on the range. The guy (didn't catch his name) was a bit odd, but nice enough, offered advice as I'm a new shooter, and can't say anything bad about the service I received. I'm sure the guy he was talking to on the phone would disagree, but nevertheless, not a bad place. $17.99 for their ammo (.40 S&W) which wasn't terrible (reloads shot fine for me).


Related: I'm looking for a gun club. FL was good, but at ~$15 an hour, I can only go 4 times before a membership at a gun club is paid for. I've read about the various clubs around here, I think I'm settled on Guthsville (unless anyone has a reason not to, or a great reason to join another club). I guess my question is, how involved do you need to be with the club? Basically, I want range access and not much more. Are the monthly meetings mandatory?

[Nullifidian]

Just to chime in about FL: I went yesterday for the first time, right around 12:30. First person on the range. The guy (didn't catch his name) was a bit odd, but nice enough, offered advice as I'm a new shooter, and can't say anything bad about the service I received. I'm sure the guy he was talking to on the phone would disagree, but nevertheless, not a bad place. $17.99 for their ammo (.40 S&W) which wasn't terrible (reloads shot fine for me).


Related: I'm looking for a gun club. FL was good, but at ~$15 an hour, I can only go 4 times before a membership at a gun club is paid for. I've read about the various clubs around here, I think I'm settled on Guthsville (unless anyone has a reason not to, or a great reason to join another club). I guess my question is, how involved do you need to be with the club? Basically, I want range access and not much more. Are the monthly meetings mandatory?

I personally joined Ontelaunee. $20 a year. They even have a pistol team you can shoot with that meets every Thursday. The only downside is also a plus; they have a ton of events. So if you are looking to shoot on a particular weekend, you need to check the calendar to make sure the ranges you want to use aren't shut down for a competition during the time you were planning on going. I say it's also a plus because having a ton of events means you have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of stuff you might otherwise not know about.

I competed in a Run and Gun competition a few months ago there and had an AMAZING time. Placed dead last in my division but it was incredibly fun. Before joining the club I never would have thought to try something like that. Learned a lot from the pistol team there.

[tonyfac]

Guthsville, I go there a few times a month, live 4 minutes away. meetings are not madatory. if you want to go and check it out, let me know and we can meet there.

Just to chime in about FL: I went yesterday for the first time, right around 12:30. First person on the range. The guy (didn't catch his name) was a bit odd, but nice enough, offered advice as I'm a new shooter, and can't say anything bad about the service I received. I'm sure the guy he was talking to on the phone would disagree, but nevertheless, not a bad place. $17.99 for their ammo (.40 S&W) which wasn't terrible (reloads shot fine for me).


Related: I'm looking for a gun club. FL was good, but at ~$15 an hour, I can only go 4 times before a membership at a gun club is paid for. I've read about the various clubs around here, I think I'm settled on Guthsville (unless anyone has a reason not to, or a great reason to join another club). I guess my question is, how involved do you need to be with the club? Basically, I want range access and not much more. Are the monthly meetings mandatory?

[krajus83]

Guthsville, I go there a few times a month, live 4 minutes away. meetings are not madatory. if you want to go and check it out, let me know and we can meet there.

Tony, We must be neighbors! Where abouts are you?

[tonyfac]

off blue barn rd. after you cross tilghman.

[OM18V]

Guthsville is a nice club. $60 first year, $30 thereafter. We had a cleanup weekend this year, only 20-30 people showed up. Mostly I'm at the blackpowder range.

Mike

[PennsyPlinker]

Guthsville is a nice club. $60 first year, $30 thereafter. We had a cleanup weekend this year, only 20-30 people showed up. Mostly I'm at the blackpowder range.

Mike

I would have been there had it not been for a business trip. I try to clean up the plinking range from time to time to keep it from turning into a dump. Were you at the BP range this past Monday, early afternoon?

[ungawa]

How low are you shooting?

You'd have to be shooting such that the bullet strikes less than 12" from the ground in the back. The range is about 45 feet long (the last marker is a 40 foot marker, not 50).

Let's say you are 6 feet tall. So that means in order to be yelled at for shooting too low, you'd have to have roughly 4 feet of bullet drop (figure 1 foot from your head to your gun vertically).

That means at 25 feet you are aiming at something 2 feet 3 inches lower than straight level with you. At 15 feet you're aiming at something 1 foot 4 inches lower than straight level.

So even if your target is 24" tall, you are still missing the target entirely if you are hitting the bottom of the backstop (12" up, 12" down). The only way you can be on target but hit the bottom of the backstop is if you are shooting from 10 feet or less and you're really tall.

You can't blame Firing Line for idiots that shoot stupidly there. We already established that they are sticklers for accuracy at Firing Line and when people do stupid things they get booted.

I think you took my post the wrong way. I love FL. I never said anybody yelled at me. And I certainly didn't blame FL for some of the shitheads in there, I mentioned the shitheads to defend FL's practice of keeping a close eye on people. They know me and don't bother with that.

At 15', with the large targets they sell, you can be on paper and hit the baffles. If you go below the center of the target, you are at risk. If you want to break out your trig on me, I'll bring my survey equipment next time I go so you get a proper basis for your claims - since you have not established a datum, throwing around a few measurements doesn't mean much. Or, you can meet me there, I'll put the target out, and see how low you are willing to shoot on it.

I don't just stand there with a pistol and shoot 2" groups at 15'. I draw different aim points on a single target and try to transition between them. I also shoot FA, where I have to count on 6" groups overall, plus a 6" safety factor, for 12". Which keeps me on one vertical aimpoint on the target - center of trap, not center of target. At different distances, that aimpoint is at different locations on the hanging target.

Those are the reasons I eye up the target vs. the trap before I start shooting. There are other indoor ranges where I have not had to do this. Usually they slope from the trap to the firing line. That's a small price to pay compared to the good people that have always worked there, the nice regulars I meet, and the fair rules they have for the range. It's a good place.

[OM18V]

I would have been there had it not been for a business trip. I try to clean up the plinking range from time to time to keep it from turning into a dump. Were you at the BP range this past Monday, early afternoon?

No. If the guy was wearing a cowboy hat, that was one of my shootin' buddies.

Mike