Indoor pistol range at Ontelaunee

[JDshoots]

Is the club house open for members when no events are going on inside to say use the indoor range or do you need a key or is it only for special events?

It is only open for events and the Thursday night crowd. You need to have a board member with you down there. Thursdays Board members are present. You can not get in the club house at all unless there is an event since there would be no club house left, if it were open. You always hear about damage and general mischief at the outdoor ranges, I could only imagine what would be left of that building if it were open. On Saturdays, trap shooters are there, and you can get in the clubhouse at that point, but you can not use the indoor range. Only Thursday evenings in the winter. In spring the Pistol guys move outside, and on Thursdays they can be found in the outdoor ranges. At that point again, there are trap shooters there on Thursday evenings from 5-10pm, so again it’s open, but no shooting in the indoor range.

The new outdoor pits are as mentioned for sanctioned events also. The lack of target holds tends to find shooters aiming at rocks in the backstop and that causes isolated damage, and higher chance of ricochet. So only ranges with target holders are open for general use.

Best way to learn more, is come out to one of the events or on a Thursday night.

http://www.ontelaunee.org/2010%20Sch...f%20Events.htm

[imashooter2]

So pretty much like Guthsville, they might as well not have an indoor range as far as the general membership is concerned.

Oh well, what can you expect for fifteen clams?

[JDshoots]

So pretty much like Guthsville, they might as well not have an indoor range as far as the general membership is concerned.

Oh well, what can you expect for fifteen clams?

Three things come to mind.

That thought would make an interesting social experiment. Change the membership and make it $2500 a year and see if the property is treated with respect. I wonder if people who pay more for the privilege, would they treat it any better? Then again if 4500 members paid that money they there would be staff:) Well, and there wouldn't be 4500 members. Seems the free PGC ranges are treated very very poorly and they have officers watching them.

General disrespect, the public can care less. If the public knew the building was open, there would be nothing left in the kitchen, the pipes and wire would be stripped for scrap and the moose mount would be gone.

Volunteerism. I am sure if you became a regular participant in the club happenings they would let you open the range for general use. You just have to sit there all day to keep the vandals away, and keep order on the firing line. I know that’s what happened at Gunthsville. Not the general order or vandalism, that we know would occur. But they had one guy volunteer and sat there Saturday after Saturday some days seeing no one shoot but himself. After a while, with no help or support, he just gave up. It is difficult to find the time to help run a club, I know I have little time. But that is the main reason it’s not open, not for lack of interest, just lack of help. I know the main reason Ontelaunee has no skeet fields is because they have no one interested in running them.

It’s unfortunate you can’t leave the door open or the key under the mat, but that is a reality these days. Even a church has to close the doors.

[imashooter2]

I wasn't being bitter. That was an honest comment. What can you expect for $15 dues?

[Nullifidian]

I was just going to post the same thing about the indoor range being closed when the clubhouse is closed.

I asked last night and that's what they told me.


If you have time on Thursdays, I HIGHLY recommend you come by. Last night was silhouette shooting (B-27 FBI targets). 2 sets of targets, 4 total, each set contained a top and a bottom target. First set from 25 feet, second set from 50 feet. Use any pistol you want.

It's been a while since I shot my GP100; I forgot how fun and accurate it is.

If any of you want to learn from the best, Thursday evening is your opportunity. The team has some of the best shooters around. One of our guys beat Jerry Miculek in 4 out of 9 stages at a comp (I forget if it was ICORE or IDPA) fairly recently. He used to shoot enhanced revolver with Jerry, but has more recently switched to stock and is now typically number 1 in the stock revolver category.

On the other end of the spectrum we have total beginners and purely recreational shooters as well. So no matter your skill level or frequency of participation, you're welcome to come by and shoot.

[imashooter2]

I'd love to, but I'm just off the Philly airport. No way I can make the scene after work. I shoot the R&G and ICORE matches in the summer and pop up there 3-6 times a year on days off from work.

[JDshoots]

I wasn't being bitter. That was an honest comment. What can you expect for $15 dues?

I hear ya. I honestly think it would be interesting to see if increasing the amount paid would correlate to an increase in respect.

I'd love to, but I'm just off the Philly airport. No way I can make the scene after work. I shoot the R&G and ICORE matches in the summer and pop up there 3-6 times a year on days off from work.

Wow, I would not be driving up here that often with the ride you have. I am 20 minutes away and I still have only used the basement range once.

See ya at the next Run and Gun, they managed to get three in the schedual this year.

[PennsyPlinker]

So pretty much like Guthsville, they might as well not have an indoor range as far as the general membership is concerned.

Oh well, what can you expect for fifteen clams?

I asked about the indoor range at Guthsville when I joined last year. Apparently people were squawking about it not being open for people to just come and shoot. So they got some volunteers to man the place to make sure people didn't trash it, or shoot holes in the wrong places - and then no one came.

Last fall I participated in an IDPA class there, and I believe they are starting up a small bore rifle class now. So you can shoot there, at least by participating in some of the classes. Whether or not it will be open for general shooting depends on who is willing to put the time in to supervise it, and if the board is willing to go along with it. I am not an official of any kind, just an enthusiastic member.

[imashooter2]

I asked about the indoor range at Guthsville when I joined last year. Apparently people were squawking about it not being open for people to just come and shoot. So they got some volunteers to man the place to make sure people didn't trash it, or shoot holes in the wrong places - and then no one came.

Last fall I participated in an IDPA class there, and I believe they are starting up a small bore rifle class now. So you can shoot there, at least by participating in some of the classes. Whether or not it will be open for general shooting depends on who is willing to put the time in to supervise it, and if the board is willing to go along with it. I am not an official of any kind, just an enthusiastic member.

I shot on the Guthsville indoor range when Eric Bud was holding January and February USPSA matches there in 2007/2008. It's a nice facility and a shame it doesn't get utilized more. I completely understand that you can't just leave the clubhouse and range open and unattended.

[imashooter2]

I hear ya. I honestly think it would be interesting to see if increasing the amount paid would correlate to an increase in respect.

DCF&S has dues of $125 a year and they have considerably more members than Ontelaunee. For that money, there is a live on site caretaker and the club house is staffed. We still get the occasional yahoo shooting up the supports and such, but not much. Not sure how that kind of dues increase would play in New Tripoli. I suspect poorly for the first year at least. Maybe after that, the availability of an indoor range would be a draw. It would be a hell of a chance for the club to take.

Wow, I would not be driving up here that often with the ride you have. I am 20 minutes away and I still have only used the basement range once.

See ya at the next Run and Gun, they managed to get three in the schedual this year.

DCF&S is a bullseye and benchrest club. The rules are slowly changing, but I suspect it will still be a bullseye and benchrest club when I'm gone. Ontelaunee lets me shoot full magazines and they have ranges to 300 yards where DCF&S stops at 100. My regular shooting partner and I will take a day off, clean out the safe and spend a long day a few times a year. As for the matches, ICORE is my favorite game and Ontelaunee is the only place to get it. The R&G is a lot of fun too. I used to drive up to Guthsville and Topton for USPSA, but now I hit Kennett Square instead. Half the distance and no tolls.