Any ranges in MD that don't suck?

[benton0311]

Does anybody know of any ranges in MD that don't absolutely blow? I live in Frederick, MD and I'm trying to find somewhere to shoot within an hour or so drive time. I've been to Cresap Rifle club which is so bad I refuse to even shoot there. The next closest place I've found is the Happ Baker Firearms Facility at the Carroll County landfill which is barely tolerable. Basically the only thing they allow is slow fire target shooting with pistols and seated benchrest rifle and that's it.

I'm former military, contractor, and now do high threat protection work for the gov and I just can't get range time any more. The only gov ranges I have access to are down in Virginia and on Quantico and are basically only available for scheduled training which is few and far between these days. I need a range that will at least let me do some practical shooting: rifle from the standing and kneeling, pistols from the holster, more than one shot per two seconds, speed reloads and preferably transitions.

[nicholst55]

I'd suggest looking for a private gun club in the area. Finding any place that will allow you to draw your handgun from the holster and then fire is nearly impossible in Maryland, unless you are an LEO. Everyone in the entire state has the mentality that unless you are an LEO, you are merely a criminal that has yet to be incarcerated.

I retired from the Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and only very reluctantly stayed in that sh**hole state. Gun friendly is NOT a phrase that I would use to describe Maryland!

[dblas]

Check out Berwyn Rod and Gun Club in Bowie, MD.

www.berwyn.org

We currently have a 50ft, 50yd, and 100yd outdoor, no open sky, baffled ranges.

We do allow holster draw and class 3 weapons after you have been certified to do so.

[Jmark]

Anne Arundel Fish and Game used to be decent many years ago when I lived in MD. I have no idea how it is now but from their website they may be worth a shot.

http://www.aafg.org/disciplines.html

[Flipz]

Maryland Small Arms Range is right next to Andrews Air Force Base. I go there all the time. They allow you to draw from a holster, fire as fast as you want to, and to bring your own ammo. It costs $15 for a lane and there is no hourly fee or limit. Stay and shoot as much as you want for $15. The only limitations there are that you cant fire rifle calibers (excluding .22lr) or any shotgun round over .410. Its really just an indoor pistol range.

Now, its not the cleanest of indoor ranges and it does have some less then desireable patrons, but overall its a good range. The only other downside is that there is almost always a wait for a lane.

Its funny because I live 5 mins from Gilberts Indoor Range in Rockville but will never go there again. At Gilberts, you cant draw from your holster, you cant fire as fast as you want, and you cant bring your own ammo. The people that work there are schmucks and the owner is basically ripping off every person that walks in the door with their overpriced ammo. They have a minimum of 1 week membership which really isnt a 1 week membership because it only allows you to go 3 days within a 7 day period. Its a nice range, its just run by not so nice people.

[dblas]

Maryland Small Arms Range is right next to Andrews Air Force Base. I go there all the time. They allow you to draw from a holster, fire as fast as you want to, and to bring your own ammo. It costs $15 for a lane and there is no hourly fee or limit. Stay and shoot as much as you want for $15. The only limitations there are that you cant fire rifle calibers (excluding .22lr) or any shotgun round over .410. Its really just an indoor pistol range.

Now, its not the cleanest of indoor ranges and it does have some less then desireable patrons, but overall its a good range. The only other downside is that there is almost always a wait for a lane.

Its funny because I live 5 mins from Gilberts Indoor Range in Rockville but will never go there again. At Gilberts, you cant draw from your holster, you cant fire as fast as you want, and you cant bring your own ammo. The people that work there are schmucks and the owner is basically ripping off every person that walks in the door with their overpriced ammo. They have a minimum of 1 week membership which really isnt a 1 week membership because it only allows you to go 3 days within a 7 day period. Its a nice range, its just run by not so nice people.

I won't ever go back to MD Small Arms after I had a guy in the lane next to me sweep me with a loaded weapon and his fu&%ing finger on the trigger. And the "range officer" didn't do s--t about it. If I need an indoor range, I go up to On Target by Ft. Meade.

You can use your own ammo there, and really no wait (unless a .gov is doing qualification shooting).

[<Mach1]

I had the pleasure of attending/participating in The 2011 Md Silencer Shoot held by MDShooters @ Berwyn on Sunday. Nice place & excellent folks.
MDShooters Forum is posting photos here.

[dblas]

I had the pleasure of attending/participating in The 2011 Md Silencer Shoot held by MDShooters @ Berwyn on Sunday. Nice place & excellent folks.
MDShooters Forum is posting photos here.

Unfortunately I missed that one, great comments about the shoot at the Berwyn club meeting tonight.

[rcpd34]

Have you tried Gilberts Indoor Range in Rockville?

[dblas]

Have you tried Gilberts Indoor Range in Rockville?

Unfortunately the PDR or Montgomery County requires you to be a "member" of any indoor range to use, plus the county requirement to use factory ammo.

[Flipz]

Maryland Small Arms Range is right next to Andrews Air Force Base. I go there all the time. They allow you to draw from a holster, fire as fast as you want to, and to bring your own ammo. It costs $15 for a lane and there is no hourly fee or limit. Stay and shoot as much as you want for $15. The only limitations there are that you cant fire rifle calibers (excluding .22lr) or any shotgun round over .410. Its really just an indoor pistol range.

Now, its not the cleanest of indoor ranges and it does have some less then desireable patrons, but overall its a good range. The only other downside is that there is almost always a wait for a lane.

Its funny because I live 5 mins from Gilberts Indoor Range in Rockville but will never go there again. At Gilberts, you cant draw from your holster, you cant fire as fast as you want, and you cant bring your own ammo. The people that work there are schmucks and the owner is basically ripping off every person that walks in the door with their overpriced ammo. They have a minimum of 1 week membership which really isnt a 1 week membership because it only allows you to go 3 days within a 7 day period. Its a nice range, its just run by not so nice people.

I won't ever go back to MD Small Arms after I had a guy in the lane next to me sweep me with a loaded weapon and his fu&%ing finger on the trigger. And the "range officer" didn't do s--t about it. If I need an indoor range, I go up to On Target by Ft. Meade.

You can use your own ammo there, and really no wait (unless a .gov is doing qualification shooting).

Unfortunately I cant say that your experience at MSAR is a rare one. The fact that anyone can walk up to the counter and rent a gun without ever taking a basic safety class is f*c*ed up. Its seems to be getting worse too. Once my MSAR membership expires I'll be joining the Issac Walton League. They have some nice ranges in the area and I wont have to deal with morons who should be in jail rather than shooting guns.

I just heard of another indoor range that actually gets good reviews. Its called FreeState. I plan on trying it out sometime soon.

[rcpd34]

Maryland Small Arms Range is right next to Andrews Air Force Base. I go there all the time. They allow you to draw from a holster, fire as fast as you want to, and to bring your own ammo. It costs $15 for a lane and there is no hourly fee or limit. Stay and shoot as much as you want for $15. The only limitations there are that you cant fire rifle calibers (excluding .22lr) or any shotgun round over .410. Its really just an indoor pistol range.

Now, its not the cleanest of indoor ranges and it does have some less then desireable patrons, but overall its a good range. The only other downside is that there is almost always a wait for a lane.

Its funny because I live 5 mins from Gilberts Indoor Range in Rockville but will never go there again. At Gilberts, you cant draw from your holster, you cant fire as fast as you want, and you cant bring your own ammo. The people that work there are schmucks and the owner is basically ripping off every person that walks in the door with their overpriced ammo. They have a minimum of 1 week membership which really isnt a 1 week membership because it only allows you to go 3 days within a 7 day period. Its a nice range, its just run by not so nice people.

I won't ever go back to MD Small Arms after I had a guy in the lane next to me sweep me with a loaded weapon and his fu&%ing finger on the trigger. And the "range officer" didn't do s--t about it. If I need an indoor range, I go up to On Target by Ft. Meade.

You can use your own ammo there, and really no wait (unless a .gov is doing qualification shooting).

Unfortunately I cant say that your experience at MSAR is a rare one. The fact that anyone can walk up to the counter and rent a gun without ever taking a basic safety class is f*c*ed up. Its seems to be getting worse too. Once my MSAR membership expires I'll be joining the Issac Walton League. They have some nice ranges in the area and I wont have to deal with morons who should be in jail rather than shooting guns.

I just heard of another indoor range that actually gets good reviews. Its called FreeState. I plan on trying it out sometime soon.

MoCo also requires the ammo purchase too. I've drawn/fired from holster and fired as fast as I wanted to including full auto at Gilberts without issue. Not sure why you had a problem. Where is this Freestate range?

[Baltiwarcopper]

Yes. Freestate Gun Range in Whitemarsh. Clean indoor range run by leo's that aren't assholes. It's only 25yds but they let you shoot .223/5.56 and 7.62x39 and don't have a problem with full auto or other class 3 stuff. Not sure about holster/transition work but check them out sometime. Web page is freestategunrange.com
Both times I went were pleasant. The only negative thing I have to say is they don't allow any steel cored ammo.

[Frank Castle]

I am still looking myself. So far NRA HQ Range was very nice- a little wait on the weekends and you can get bummped off a lane if its busy after an hour. Rapid OK. Rifles of all types under 50 cal. Slug only on shotguns.

Still looking for a decent outdoor range at a reasonable cost.

[dblas]

Freestate is probably the best indoor range I have been to.

Elk Neck State Park has an outdoor range, but it has been a while since I have been up there, so unsure on the holster draw issue.

DB

[Flipz]

Maryland Small Arms Range will be moving to their new facility by the end of the month. They will actually be moving most of their retail products over to the new location beginning December 17th. They plan to begin range operations by the end of the month at the new location. Until then the current location will still be in operation.

The new location is said to have 14 handgun lanes and 10 rifle lanes. The handgun lanes will be 25 yards, while the rifle lanes will be 50 yards.

[Tood]

You should consider rolling out to WV. 45 minutes from Frederick to Tango Down and just a bit longer to Peacemaker.


http://www.tangodownrange.com/
http://peacemakernational.com/

[Flipz]

MSAR's new range is NICE! They have ten 50yd indoor rifles lanes and fourteen 25yd indoor handgun lanes. The air system is unbelievable. You barely ever even smell gunpowder. The lighting is very nice. Anything up to 50cal for the rifle lanes, but no tracer or penetrator rounds ofcourse. Its $20 per lane per day. There is no hourly limit or hourly charge. The target controllers are digital and give you a real readout of distance. Very nice stuff.

[lilfuzzybuny]

Delmarva sporting clays.... sectioned off and covered 25 yard pistol, 50yard 100 yard 200 yard and 300 yard covered rifle range with loaner lead sleds and spotting scopes (they're super cheapo beat up ncstar spotters, better bring your own but they're there if you need them) rentals and no retarded rules like 1 shot per second or only 3 rounds in the gun. just common sense safety and common courtesy target changes. its on the eastern shore and easy to find (I call it easy when my gps gets me there the first time) I highly recommend going during the week day. hardly anyone there, owner's friendly too.

[dblas]

Just an update, The Machine Gun Nest just recently opened as well as Heritage Gun Range, both in Frederick.

[dblas]

Just an update, The Machine Gun Nest just recently opened as well as Heritage Gun Range, both in Frederick.

Just an update, the Machinegun Nest, while not as polished as Heritage, imho is the better location.

[Frank Castle]

DelMarVa shooting clays is fantastic. Its a drive but a very fun, all day for $20

[dblas]

If you are a member of Maryland Shall Issue (MSI), that membership gets you the ability to get a range badge at Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore (AGC) in Marriotsville.

58 handgun (50 yard lanes)
100 - 100 yard lanes
12 - 200 yard lans
8 actions shooting pits
2 trap/skeet positions
archery range.

Range badge is $220/year + $25 MSI membership.