Indoor Range in the Greater Reading area?

[semperfi]

To answer your questions (in my humble opinion of course):

I sincerely believe that gun owners would use a private indoor facility if it were available. This winter has kept many of us from utilizing our club pistol ranges as they are covered in snow.

If the range was centrally located in Berks, I think the demand would definitely be there. I hardly ever saw anybody buying a gun at Gun Gallery, but the range always had people utilizing it.

I would be interested in joining a club, though that would not likely produce enough profit to keep a range open with liability insurance and likely state/local taxes. The range would need to be clean and modern and allow some sort of lane rental to be profitable.

If I was opening a range, I would look into what requirements the local/state police force have for their ranges. I could see the most range use coming from law enforcement types and contest shooters. I'm sure that whatever they use would be fine by me.

Accomplishing training courses could be a huge deal. My local range had a class last summer and I took my wife. The class was full and others wanted in. Many of my friends would like to get their wife in one, but they don't want to drive too far.

Finally, you are right that it would be a "Huge" investment in the local economy. But look on the bright side, commercial real estate has never been less expensive. Cities are trying to get new business, though I admit anything related to guns might draw some publicity (unwanted or not). I own a business and would be happy to talk further.

[xotech]

I don't know if this new outdoor range ever happened, but there's a lot of info in this RFP that you might find useful or just interesting.

http://www.readingpa.gov/documents/r...ring_range.pdf

Has the indoor police range at the Reading Airport been closed now?

I went to French Creek Outfitters a few years ago, but found the ventilation inadequate. I never did like Gun Gallery, mainly because of my experiences with the staff that was working there. So I just dress for hunting, and shoot at one of the outside ranges in the area. (Oley, MASA or Perry.)

[learn2shoot]

Thanks so much for the link to the rfp and all of the feedback. It's all very helpful in the consideration process.

Yes, the range at the Reading Airport is now closed. The Reading Police are now using another outdoor range facility for qualifications.

Please keep the feedback coming. Thanks much.

[JohnXD]

I would love to see a decent indoor range in the Reading area, and would be willing to buy a membership. FCO seems to be the closest one right now, and it's a 40 minute drive. That's not an option most of the time. I will agree that it would need to be in one of the better areas of the city or outskirts however. If you sold ammo at the range, that might be a plus, but please don't prohibit ammo purchased elsewhere. That seems to turn a lot of people off to certain indoor ranges. A selection of rental guns would be a good decision if you do open a range. That helps us introduce new shooters to the sport which is necessary to keep such a business up and running. Friendly and helpfull range officers and staff are also really important. An overbearing range Nazi can scare off the nubies real quick. The RO needs to keep a close eye on whats going on, and correct any unsafe behavior/ practices, but at the same time be friendly about it. That would obviously not apply to thugs and "gangstas". I've seen them removed before at FCO, and I felt a lot safer as a result. There's a definite judgement call required there. I hope you can pull this off, because we really do need an indoor range around here. There is a lot of interest from the locals. Good luck!

[xotech]

http://forum.pafoa.org/shops-20/8532...te-page-8.html

Looks like the Gun Gallery location may be opening with new owners under a new name, Stony Creek Outfitters.

http://forum.pafoa.org/shops-20/8532...te-page-4.html

http://www.stonycreekoutfitters.com/

The re-opening is set for April 4th.

Membership details:

http://forum.pafoa.org/attachment.ph...2&d=1268836906

[Ontarget]

So now the question is - do we really need more than 1 indoor range in the Reading area?

[billamj]

So now the question is - do we really need more than 1 indoor range in the Reading area?

Why would we only need 1 indoor range in the Reading area? I live down in Douglassville and Mt. Penn is a quick trip for me but what about the folks over near Temple? Some people would consider the Hamburg area part of the Reading area, do the folks over there not deserve an indoor range? The same question can be asked about those who live near Denver. So I ask you, do we really need only 1 indoor range in the Reading area?

ETA: IMNSHO the answer to my rhetorical question is a resounding NO! We need several more indoor ranges, we have a huge community of shooters in the Reading area.

[yldwill]

NO! We need more than one.

[Dragracer_Art]

I'd be happy to see more indoor ranges in the area, even if it did compete with my range. Competition is good for business... as it keeps business owners honest and on their toes.

The April 1st opening date was posted before I looked at a calender... I might push it off to the 4th instead. I will have extra people on hand to help with the range if we do it that Sunday.

One benefit to having a cool guy like me in charge of a gun range is... I'm flexible.
If a group or organization... or even an individual wants to rent the range after hours for their own private use, I'd be fine with that. Anything is possible... and I'm open to new ideas or suggestions.

EDIT TO ADD: Just realized the 4th is Easter Sunday... so that probably won't work either. lol

I think once I have carpet in the range... maybe we can start getting some shooters in to try it out. Carpet should be in sometime next week... I will advise as soon as we are ready for the stampede. lol

[sk8r101all]

Is OC ok in your store, when it opens?