Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

If so where do you shoot? I'm an pretty green to the scene and would love to associate with other enthusiasts. Also there is a new range opening up in February, supposively the largest in the nation?

I'm here in the Near West End....I shoot on our training range in Doswell.

I live in Short Pump and work downtown. I used to be a member at Blackcreek, but that was when I lived in Glen Allen. It was about a 20-minute trip then. Now it's more like 45 minutes or more, and I have a lot of projects going on around the house and boat and such. I wasn't getting out there often enough to make it worthwhile, so I let my membership expire.

I really do need to get out to the range - I actually have two handguns I have yet to fire.

I am looking forward to the new range on West Broad - that will be only about 15 minutes from my house.

I live in the West End as well. I have been traveling the 10-15 minute trip to Dominon. Not the best place ever. However I wouldn't oppose to traveling further to different ranges. If anyone would like to get together sometime and go shooting let me know and we can set something up.

I live out by Broad and Glenside Drive, I usually shoot on private land but that might chance when the new range opens across from willow lawn.

MWhiteDesigns wrote:I live in the West End as well. I have been traveling the 10-15 minute trip to Dominon. Not the best place ever. However I wouldn't oppose to traveling further to different ranges. If anyone would like to get together sometime and go shooting let me know and we can set something up.

Dominion is a bit of a dump - and expensive - and limited. You can't shoot anything above handguns (do they allow .22 rimfire?) and they make you buy their ammo. It's also not convenient for me.

I haven't gone to Dominion in a few years.

We should have a get-together - particularly if somebody has a place we can all go shoot!

TenchCoxe wrote:

MWhiteDesigns wrote:I live in the West End as well. I have been traveling the 10-15 minute trip to Dominon. Not the best place ever. However I wouldn't oppose to traveling further to different ranges. If anyone would like to get together sometime and go shooting let me know and we can set something up.

Dominion is a bit of a dump - and expensive - and limited. You can't shoot anything above handguns (do they allow .22 rimfire?) and they make you buy their ammo. It's also not convenient for me.

I haven't gone to Dominion in a few years.

We should have a get-together - particularly if somebody has a place we can all go shoot!

A bit of a dump is an understatement. I only go there because I am relatively green to the scene and I have no private land or know of any other places to go. You can now shoot other firearms besides handguns. They do allow rimfire rounds and they also allow 5.56/223 rifles too. However its $25 for 20 rounds. They also have multiple gun rentals available, many of which are 5.56/223. But I'm sure those haven't been broken down and cleaned in god knows how long.

I'm in the West End as well. I generally do to Ft. Lee or Amelia for long gun and Ft. Lee and The Smoking Gun for handgun. Looking forward to seeing what Colonial has to offer as that will only be a 10 minute drive.

MWhiteDesigns wrote:

TenchCoxe wrote:

MWhiteDesigns wrote:I live in the West End as well. I have been traveling the 10-15 minute trip to Dominon. Not the best place ever. However I wouldn't oppose to traveling further to different ranges. If anyone would like to get together sometime and go shooting let me know and we can set something up.

Dominion is a bit of a dump - and expensive - and limited. You can't shoot anything above handguns (do they allow .22 rimfire?) and they make you buy their ammo. It's also not convenient for me.

I haven't gone to Dominion in a few years.

We should have a get-together - particularly if somebody has a place we can all go shoot!

A bit of a dump is an understatement. I only go there because I am relatively green to the scene and I have no private land or know of any other places to go. You can now shoot other firearms besides handguns. They do allow rimfire rounds and they also allow 5.56/223 rifles too. However its $25 for 20 rounds. They also have multiple gun rentals available, many of which are 5.56/223. But I'm sure those haven't been broken down and cleaned in god knows how long.

The rentals are pretty dirty. I always come away impress with a rental gun if it runs %100. I think "Wow must be a tough gun!". All criticisms to the range itself aside their staff members have always been really friendly and they don't have a lot of dumb rules on rapid fire and such.

TenchCoxe wrote:Dominion... (do they allow .22 rimfire?)

They do allow .22, shot both from handguns and rifles. They also allow shotguns, although I've only seen one on the range there once.
I agree with others that they can be a bit pricey and the place could be better aesthetically. But I have taken my kids there to shoot .22 and gotten out of there relatively cheaply. They've even waived the range fee for the kids before, too. Good customer service goes a long way to making it not quite so bad.

I've experienced nothing but friendly and professional customer service. I brought a Benelli M4 there last week with no questions. They state ammo over 1000ft per second isn't allowed, however the Federal ammo I purchased from them stated speeds in excess of 1000ft and they also carry 556 and 223. Of course it could be better asthetically, however I give a good chance that if you have to use in self defense, I would probably say it would be at night or at a time in which the lighting conditions were poor. However for some practice, I would like to be able to see my target.

I live in Glen Allen but I have not been to the gun range yet. I understand that the closest one is Dominion and I have seen some so-so reviews on it. I have a friend with a lot of land who lives in Ladysmith so I head there when I want to shoot.

If you live in Glen Allen, you've also got Blackcreek Shooters Association, out in Cold Harbor. I used to be a member, but I let my membership expire, because after we moved to Short Pump, I ended up not going often enough to make the membership worth keeping.

Depending on where in Glen Allen you are, it would be no farther than Dominion, and the ranges are better - although they are outdoors. But they have a handgun-only range that goes up to 25 yards; a 25 yard handgun/shotgun/rifle range; a 50-yard rifle range and a 100-yard rifle range. They also have a trap shooting and they do defensive IDPA and western-style shooting competitions every month. And they have no limit on what you can shoot. Full auto? Yup. .50 BMG? Yup.

I'm in Dinwiddie next to Petersburg. I make the trip to Blackcreek during the week when it's not very crowded. Can shoot most anything at paper targets.

I'm in Short Pump - I shoot at Dominion. No question the range could use some work, but their nice and usually hook me up a little some I'm not complaining. If I've got a ton of ammo to dump I'll make the drive to the Smoking Gun, but if I shoot less than 4 boxes the math doesn't work after you figure in the high lane rental and round trip to Col Heights and back. I'm iffy on the opening of CSA, seems like there all about draining the wallet from the get-go. I'd like to have more info on the "Range Safety Briefing" I've heard it's going to be more of a class, and not a free one. Hopefully that's not the case. If it is, a CHP should override that.

Paliden wrote:.... I make the trip to Blackcreek during the week when it's not very crowded. ...

So, how crowded is Blackcreek on weekends? Does the attendance change during the seasons (ie more in early fall before deer season)?

Are Fridays good days?

Thinking of joining. I'm in Glen Allen and I've only been to Ft Lee (which is only Sundays)...

You have to be a member to be able to shoot at Black Creek or go with a member. To become a member, you have to be a member or become one of the NRA. Then you have to go to the safety brefings that are only given on certain days in January and fill out the forms and then pay your dues. I think that this year, 2012, the safety brefings are given on Friday afternoons at 2:00 PM only in January. The safety brefing takes about two to three hours, going to each one of the ranges and going over all of the rules. You can get a weekday only membership for less money, weekends can be busy at times. But you bring your own ammo and you can buy targets there or use your own.

Hilemark wrote:Then you have to go to the safety brefings that are only given on certain days in January and fill out the forms and then pay your dues. I think that this year, 2012, the safety brefings are given on Friday afternoons at 2:00 PM only in January. The safety brefing takes about two to three hours, going to each one of the ranges and going over all of the rules.

Wow, that must be a more recent development with the past few years. When I became a member, the father of the father-son team who runs the place (or did when I was a member) handed me a piece of paper with the range rules on it, walked me around the ranges and told me everything he wanted to make sure I was aware of, and that was it. It took maybe an hour total.

I got yelled at once by the son (who I have to admit is a little scary - I'm not convinced he is fully "all there", if you know what I mean). My buddy and I were shooting his AR-15 and I was doing a little "rocking and rolling" - shooting maybe 2 rounds/second, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow - when all of a sudden this guy comes running over and yells, "HEY! SLOW IT DOWN!"

They also limit your targets to paper or cardboard only, and they have to fit on the backer board - you can't have a target on the ground in front of the backer board or sticking above the backer board, and it can't be anything other than paper or cardboard. At some point in the past, they had a problem, evidently, with someone shooting over the berm or with a ricochet or something.

I am in the Goochland/ Short Pump area, anyone want to get together to B/S, let me know

I live in N. Chesterfield, anyone going to Ft Lee for the meet and greet? 14th?