Newbie, Interested in Visiting a Range Near State College

[drleospaceman]

Hi Everyone,

My girlfriend wants to own a gun when she graduates college. However, she has never actually shot one, and neither have I. She is visiting me this weekend and I'd like to bring her to a range to get some experience with a firearm so she can know the important in's and out's of owning one.

A few questions: I am a Penn State student, is there a range in State College? Will I have to pay to use the facilities/how much? Can I rent a gun for the afternoon to use just for the range? Would I have to purchase ammunition?

Any other information that I should know, being that I don't know anything in the first place, would be welcome.

Thanks

[bripsu]

Hi Everyone,

My girlfriend wants to own a gun when she graduates college. However, she has never actually shot one, and neither have I. She is visiting me this weekend and I'd like to bring her to a range to get some experience with a firearm so she can know the important in's and out's of owning one.

A few questions: I am a Penn State student, is there a range in State College? Will I have to pay to use the facilities/how much? Can I rent a gun for the afternoon to use just for the range? Would I have to purchase ammunition?

Any other information that I should know, being that I don't know anything in the first place, would be welcome.

Thanks

Hello and welcome!

Depending on where she is coming from, you may be better off visiting her as the public state range in the State College area does not rent. In Pittsburgh there is Anthony Arms and Philadelphia has Classic Pistol and others. I'm not sure if any of them offer instruction for newbies.

If you search this forum, you'll find a lot of people asking similar questions like yours. The general response is going to be to determine what does she want the pistol for? Target shooting versus home defense versus concealed carry will result in some very different pistols.

Its my opinion that you guys save your rental fees and start off with a .22lr pistol like a Ruger Mark II Target. You can find them used on here for around $300. If you decide its not for you, you can easily recoup your money on such a popular model.

A 22 has very low recoil so you'll have an easier time getting the feel for it and start off more accurate. The .22lr ammo is also only ~$17 for 500 fdrounds whereas you'd get 50 rounds of .45ACP for the same price! Now you can practice all day long without breaking the bank. You'll find that most pistol owners have a 22 in their collection no matter how much range time they have. Stance, breathing, trigger pull, follow-up control, it all comes with lots and lots of practice.

Another good idea as a beginner would be to sign up for a basic firearms course. One of the more popular local trainers is Randy L. Smith.
http://www.pistoltraining.com/html/courses.html

Once you've sent a thousand rounds downrange, you'll be ready to decide if you want something for concealed/purse carry like a .38spl snubby revolver or a .380ACP semi-auto. If home defense is the primary function, a 20GA shotgun would actually be my first choice for my wife. But a high-capacity semi-auto pistol like a Glock, S&W M&P, or Springfield XD in 9mm, .40S&W, or .45ACP are all popular entry level in this category and a lot more fun at the range than the small concealed carry pistols.

[PA452]

IM sent. I'd be willing to take you guys out this weekend, run you though the standard safety and firing basics, and let you try a few options out.

[Mity2]

im also willing to let you two try out few of mine so long as if your going out to Scotia this sunday afternoon.

I can always use some reason to get out there

[nguyene2]

Does Scotia Range open right now especially with snow?

[PA452]

Does Scotia Range open right now especially with snow?

The auxiliaries are open as always. I believe the gated portion is closed on the weekends, not sure about during the week.

Best to take your own target stand though if you want to use the auxiliaries. Right now there is one at the handgun range, one at the 60 yard rifle, and one at the 110 rifle. If other people are shooting, you're out of luck without a target stand.

[Mity2]

If other people are shooting, you're out of luck without a target stand.

Ofcourse, you bring your own target stand as I do, you'll get the real nasty looks walking by the hurd of unprepared college punks waiting with thumb up their asses for the one half destroyed target stand to open up...

[PA452]

Ofcourse, you bring your own target stand as I do, you'll get the real nasty looks walking by the hurd of unprepared college punks waiting with thumb up their asses for the one half destroyed target stand to open up...

You just have to go when the weather is bad, then there's no one there.

Last Saturday there were people at both the rifle and pistol ranges on arrival. Ironically though the people on the pistol range all had rifles, and the people on the rifle range were way down there shooting pistols. Fortunately the rifle people packed up about ten minutes after arriving and we had the pistol range the rest of the time.

I didn't have a serious target stand with me, but I brought a cardboard box to post targets just in case.

[Neomonk21]

You just have to go when the weather is bad, then there's no one there.

Last Saturday there were people at both the rifle and pistol ranges on arrival. Ironically though the people on the pistol range all had rifles, and the people on the rifle range were way down there shooting pistols. Fortunately the rifle people packed up about ten minutes after arriving and we had the pistol range the rest of the time.

I didn't have a serious target stand with me, but I brought a cardboard box to post targets just in case.

Was this around 3pm in the afternoon? If so, I was one of the guys on the rifle range shooting pistols. When we arrived, there was already a guy in the pistol bay and only one target. The rifle bay was empty and it had two stands so we decided to just go up there and shoot. I knew as soon as we started someone would come along with a rifle. My goal for the day was to test out my new magazine and I accomplished that so I was happy.

[PA452]

Was this around 3pm in the afternoon? If so, I was one of the guys on the rifle range shooting pistols. When we arrived, there was already a guy in the pistol bay and only one target. The rifle bay was empty and it had two stands so we decided to just go up there and shoot. I knew as soon as we started someone would come along with a rifle. My goal for the day was to test out my new magazine and I accomplished that so I was happy.

I think we were there earlier and probably gone by 3pm.