Clark Brothers

[ModelAUzi]

I went to Clark Brothers on Sat and had a great time. My 7 year old girl shot her .22 for the first time. The guy shooting next to us was very nice and let her shoot his .22 handgun. She loved it. Staff was real nice. I'll be going back again.

[bryanrheem]

What time did you go and how crowded was it?

Several reviews on here about Clark Brothers. Some good, some bad. I think it mostly depends on the RO working when you get there and who else is there. I've been there when there are a ton of kids running around the shotgun side unsupervised and it was a real problem, and I've been there when it's a great atmosphere of people talking and sharing firearms to shoot.

I go because of the 100 yard range, but I'm thinking of joining Quantico soon.

[scrubber3]

I like Clark brothers. Good people and they let you shoot pretty much anything...

[ModelAUzi]

I got there at about 9:10 AM. Unsupervised kids, sounds like crappy parents. When my daughter was shooting I was just about sitting on her. She had a great time and then wanted to go to the gun show.

[gregj]

The number one rule there is to never, ever, ever, touch a firearm during a cease fire - cased or not, doesnt matter. If you want to case up and leave, case it prior to the CF or wait until range is hot again. Easy rule to follow for most of us, but there's always someone that has to get called on it.

[Reca]

Where is Clark Brothers located?

[Taggure]

Off of 29 highway
http://clarkbrosguns.com/

[Reca]

Thank You!

[Taggure]

It is a good place to shoot and a nice drive as well down 29

[John1]

It's been about 6 months since I was last there, but I have always enjoyed shooting there. Yes the ammo is more costly, but I tend to use my 22lr handguns & rifle when I'm there. Lots of fun for $20.

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[Molfeens]

Went to Clark Brothers for the first time today. Very polite, attentive and friendly staff. Paid $2 more for a box of ammo than I can get it online. BUT I paid no range fee so for under $10 I shot 100 rounds of .22 outdoors. Not sure how crowded it gets during the weekend but they have assortment of ranges and berms, not fancy but the price and environment are just right.

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[rlbellco72]

I bought a gun at Clark Brothers last Sunday. The staff was friendly and very helpful. I asked about range fees and the salesperson said the only requirement for fees was that you buy your ammo and target from them and your free to use the range all day if you like. I will likely go back.

[jasonallen127]

My girlfriend and I regularly shoot at Clark Brothers, as it's the most reasonably cost-effective way to shoot on an outdoor backstop with my .22 rifle, my .357 magnum, and my Mosin Nagant. Busting clays with 12 gauge there is nice too.

You pay a premium on factory ammo there - $30 per box of .357 magnum ($15-20ish online), $20ish per box of 9mm ($12 at walmart, $9-10 online), $8 for a 100 round box of CCI Mini-Mag .22LR ($5-6 online), 12 gauge for $9 instead of the $7 it costs at Dick's Sporting Goods, and $10 for a 20 round brown-paper pack of corrosive 7.62x54R ($90 for 440 online)... but if you're shooting mostly .22, it's like paying $1 for an hour of range time. That said, their policy on reloaded ammo is that if you buy your reloading components there (which I do), bring your receipts for the powder and primers with you, and you can fire your reloads there. Buying my powder and primers locally from them saves me a ton of money on Hazmat shipping fees, and my .357 magnum rounds are $0.15 per round compared to their $0.65 per round factory ammo... so I'm totally fine with that all around! Their targets are cheap ($1 for 4 bullseye sight-in targets, $5 for a pack of 10 half-size silhouettes), and so are their clays ($13 for a box).

Generally, I shoot all 3 types of firearms while I'm there - pistol, rifle, shotgun - so I don't find that I ever have to wait to shoot. I just do pistol until a rifle lane opens, or rifle until the shotgun side has an opening, etc. People are very friendly, and if you're curious about a firearm, most people will offer to let you pop a few rounds with their gun. My girlfriend was watching this older gentleman fire his M16A2 style AR, and he offered to let her shoot it. She fired two shots, safetied it, and he said, "You still have another 18 rounds left in that mag! Get to work! hahaha" Very generous people there generally. I often let others fire my 1851 Navy revolver as it usually draws some spectators. I've introduced at least 15 people to black powder revolver shooting at Clark Brothers!

Only one very negative experience there, but it's not the range's fault, it could happen at any range - some guy spazzed out because another shooter hit his paper target at 50 yards. I get that it's frustrating to spend your time, and expensively priced ammo punching holes in paper to have someone print their shots on top of your nice grouping, but yelling and carrying on angrily at a gun range is not a good idea. Ever. Add to that the fact that he was holding his weapon when yelling cuss words and being pissed off? Kinda scary situation. Everyone had stopped shooting and was waiting to see what this dude was going to do next, and a lot of people were reaching for their carry piece. The range officer actually drew on the guy and told him to "calm down or get put down." They made the guy case his gear and leave, and told him to never come back to their range.

Bottom line:
Likes:
-Generally friendly and generous shooters
-Atmosphere of safety, attentive range officer
-No fee or time limit for range use
-Most ammo I fire is *reasonably* priced at this range considering no range fee
-Rifle side has 25, 50, and 100 yard berms, and that allows you to practice transitioning between targets
-They issue friendly warnings if you are doing something against the rules, and promptly step in if something is unsafe.
-They'll lend you a spotting scope, offer free shooting advice to new shooters on grip, stance, trigger technique, etc, and they will help you sight in a rifle if you ask 'em nicely.

No Likes:
-Clark Brothers is far from where I live (Alexandria VA)
-The shotgun side is often crowded and there are only two clay throwers
-Though everything is marked up a little bit, some of their factory ammo is marked up way too steep (9mm is almost double normal price!)
-Slow Fire target rules... this range is not tactical shooting friendly. No double-tapping here! They'll give you some leeway on the pistol side for firing more than once every two seconds, but no mag dumps, no holster draws, and if you own an automatic weapon (which would get VERY expensive to shoot here with the marked up ammo), they will allow semi automatic fire only.
-They do not allow you to fire your rifle from prone, kneeling, or standing. You must be seated on their benches.


Things they could improve:
-big outdoor fans in the summer like the ones you'd see a beach bar (it gets HOT, even in the shade)
-more reasonable pricing on 9mm
-allow draw & fire practice on the pistol range, and allow for fast controlled fire at least on the pistol range for qualified/credentialed shooters (military, former military, police, CHP holders)
-allow standing, kneeling, prone on the rifle side

When I go to this range, I make a day of it since it's a 90 minute drive from home. In a day, my girlfriend and I usually shoot 300-500 rounds of .22 here, 150 rounds of .357, and 40-60 rounds of 7.62x54r, and a box or two of 12 ga. Sometimes we'll shoot 9mm here, but not often due to the outrageous pricing on it. We usually stop at Red, Hot, and Blue for some BBQ on the way home up Route 29. I rate this range a 7/10.

[raiderfan]

I have bought two weapons from the guys out there and shoot there regularly. Never had any issues but it does get crowded on the weekends. Try for Monday-Thursday, seems to be a little slower. Only place around so understandably it gets crowded. You do need to watch others, some are new to shooting or don't take the time to make sure their 223 shells aren't nailing you in the head while looking down your scope. Its small so everyone needs to be sure the guy next to him/her is doing what they should be.

[ZachRU]

Last time I was there it was to buy a scope for my muzzleloader. They installed the mounts and scope for free and I had a great time sighting it in on the range. Very friendly people and a lot more enjoyable then indoor ranges.

[Doyle]

I use Clark Brothers exclusively at this point. For the most part it has been a positive experience. Everything mentioned before in this thread is right on. Because I do a lot of reloading I usually am testing loads. Because of the sometimes crowed conditions it is hard for me to concentrate on testing the reloads sometimes because I am trying to rush through so I can clear the lane for the next shooter. No I don't buy my reloading supplies from them to far away. So I generally get some type of ammo that I can use just to be legal to use the range. The ammo is a little bit high in some cases but a small price to pay for use of the range. A lot of times I am firing obscure calibers and if they do not have that particular ammo they will give you the go ahead to use rounds you have brought with you. All the times there shooting I have never had anyone question if I had bought ammo from them or not. But I always make sure to buy something so I can put the little brown bag on the shooting stand as proof that I am a customer.

The only negative I have had was when I finished on the rifle side and was walking out to return my Sprg. 03-A3 to the car as a began to walk out I noticed there was an open lane on the pistol side. Since I was going to use the pistol side I moved up into that are to stake a claim on the spot. Well because I had carried a rifle onto the pistol side you would have thought that I had killed the first born of the range officer. A bit of an over reaction on his part but I understand he has to deal with a lot of dopes so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. In general a good place to go but try to avoid the weekends if possible.

[thekinetic]

I don't like that place, they're real A-holes. One of the few times I went there was when I was a teen, I was sighting in my .22's scope and the range master had the nerve to tell me how to shoot. Well I promptly put away my .22 and brought out my 50cal muzzle loader and blasted the crap out of one of their sand bags. Gave that smart mouthed range master a sideways sly smile and then took out my .22 again.

Rule number one as a gun owner do not, I repeat DO NOT, tell me how to shoot my own gun. If I'm not doing anything stupid or dangerous then shut up. You can advise but do not order me around or accidents can happen!

You learn that real quick on a construction site and I hope he did too.

I'm never trying to be arse but he just pushed my arse hole button.

[KaosDad]

Maybe I'll need to go back. The last time I was there (15+ years ago) folks were VERY rude.

Times & people change!

[thekinetic]

You're right KaosDad, so perhaps they've changed. But I won't be shooting at their rifle/pistol range because one they don't allow rapid fire and two I always get seated next to the guy using a big bore rifle. I kid you not I got sat next to a guy with a barret, it made my ears ring through ear plugs and phones at the same time. Not to mention the fact the pressure coming off that gun will rattle your bones! O_O

But I do like their shotgun range and have been sort of looking at a double barrel!

[GeneFrenkle]

Worse than getting hit with brass from a mini-14?

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