New Range planning in the NOVA area

[RO73]

Hello everyone,

My friend and I have been discussing opening up an outdoor range in the NOVA area for quite some time. We both have extensive backgrounds in Firearms and training. I am a business guy and he is in Federal Law enforcement. We have done quite a bit of research on acquiring real estate, insurance policies, FFLs, Legal matters, and the funds required. After a year and a half of planning, we are now at the stage of asking fellow shooters what they would like to see from an outdoor range. The reason we wanted to do this is because of a lack of quality outdoor ranges in the NOVA area. We feel that we could do better than what's currently available to the shooting community.
Having said that, my questions to you all are:

1. We are planning on a 50, 100, and 200 yard rifle range. Would this suit your needs?
2. We are also planning a Pistol range up to 25 yards. Would this suit your needs?
3. Should this range be available to the public for an hourly fee, or would you pay for a yearly membership to keep it members only and keep out the riff raff?
4. We plan on having a Gun shop/FFL. What do you want from your FFL that you're not currently getting?

I would appreciate any feedback you can give us as this has been a lifelong dream for us. We would like to do this right from the get-go and know we can't do it without you. Please give us any advice we could use to make this successful for us and our families. We will be investing everything we have worked for into this and the more feedback we get, the better we can provide a safe and fun environment for all shooters.

I thank you in advance for your input.

[Trotter]

"We are planning on a 50, 100, and 200 yard rifle range. Would this suit your needs?"
200 Yards Rifle would be Great.
25 yards Pistol would be nice also
"or would you pay for a yearly membership to keep it members only and keep out the riff raff?"
Depends on where it is . We belong to Fairfax Rod & Gun Club (Great Range) but with the way it's growing around here now we hardly ever go there. Just takes to long to get there. Joined the NRA range because it's 10 min away. Just have to be able to go during the day during the week.
The one in Lorton ... Oh well I'll leave it at that.
The Blue one in Chantilly is not any better. Owner is a Big Obama Supporters. Never set my foot in there.
There is a need for a Professionally Run Range without spending an hour getting there. Good luck finding Property in Fairfax Co..

[RO73]

Thank you very much for your feedback. Let me make one thing clear....I am NOT an Obama supporter so if that will make me and my possible future range unpopular, maybe I should scrap this whole plan
As far as the property is concerned, that is not a problem as I already own the property in question. The problem will be zoning etc. We are already working with county officials to figure out all the nuances associated with it. My reason for this thread is to try to gauge interest and get feedback from shooters. I want to make sure that if we follow through with this, we give you the best possible venue to enjoy the hobby we all love to the fullest extent. We want to provide a safe, family friendly outdoor range that can suit everyone. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to reply and I hope many more will chime in.

[bryanrheem]

I would be very happy with those distances for both rifle and pistol. Decent bench rests would be key for rifle or the flexibility to shoot prone.

I would be willing to pay a membership fee but it depends on the actual price of membership. It would be nice if there were also classes offered.

I would love to see an outdoor range soon!

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[DryBones]

And a snack bar with free wifi!

[string6guru]

Rifle ranges, pistol ranges, and how about shoot and move scenarios? Perhaps you could have the option for public hourly use in select areas and full access for yearly club members with other perks.
My $.02

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[Jakeiscrazy]

Well I don't really live up there and I wouldn't be a customer very often(unless we had a meet and greet ) but I really hate to see ranges with rules like: No rapid fire, only shooting from a bench, ect. I think everyone else hates that to.

[jdonovan]

1. We are planning on a 50, 100, and 200 yard rifle range. Would this suit your needs?
2. We are also planning a Pistol range up to 25 yards. Would this suit your needs?

yes, yes

3. Should this range be available to the public for an hourly fee, or would you pay for a yearly membership to keep it members only and keep out the riff raff?

Both.
You keep the rif-raf away with active RSO's who manage a safe range, and manage to straddle the line of being firm, without being an jerk about it.

4. We plan on having a Gun shop/FFL. What do you want from your FFL that you're not currently getting?

Decent stock of title II items, and title II transfers at reasonable fees.

Please give us any advice we could use to make this successful for us and our families.

Static, slow-fire, expensive ammo, staffed by pecker-heads, or completely unsupervised free-for-all, ranges are easy to find. Try for something different and you'll have my interest.

Keep range bays to reasonable size so we don't have great differences in shooters wanting to wait to change targets.

Even tho it will be outdoor you may want target carriers on some of the pistol ranges as it will allow people to work at their own pace, and you'll put more customers per day per lane.

Give me a pistol bay with a bunch of steel targets. Think old-tyme shooting gallery but built for adults.

Allow:
black powder/muzzleloaders
rapid fire/rapid reload
multi-projectile ammo (buck shot, fine shot) fired horizontally
Drawing from holster that is at, or forward of the 3-o'clock position
transitions from long gun to pistol

[Taggure]

1. We are planning on a 50, 100, and 200 yard rifle range. Would this suit your needs?
2. We are also planning a Pistol range up to 25 yards. Would this suit your needs?
3. Should this range be available to the public for an hourly fee, or would you pay for a yearly membership to keep it members only and keep out the riff raff?
4. We plan on having a Gun shop/FFL. What do you want from your FFL that you're not currently getting?

1. The range distance for Rifle sounds good Very few ranges in NOVA are above 100yds, so yes 200yds is great.
2. Pistol range sounds great.
3. I would be open to either way although I would prefer membership, but you will probably make your money on the hourly rentals.
4. This sounds great just keep the FFL fees reasonable

What county are you looking to build this range in?
What type of classes are you looking to teach?
Will you be having competitions? If so what types?

I would like to see an area for both black powder rifle and pistol.
I know that there are a few of us that have Cowboy Single Action 6 shooters and one day a month that we could shoot with them strapped to our hips against metal knockdown targets would be great.

[38superfan]

Use of steel targets and the opportunity to shoot NFA items would be nice. It doesn't have to be constant full auto, but suppressors can help keep the neighbors happy. Maybe have the occasional full auto shoot.

[jasonallen127]

Things I would love to see at a range within a 90 minute drive of where I live (Alexandria VA), but haven't found yet (drawing on the positives of existing NoVA region ranges I've been to):
-200 yard (or more) outdoor rifle backstop (like Clark Brothers, but longer, or like Quantico) with target stands, and maybe a few steel plates or gongs!
-Move & shoot pistol course for practical shooting that isn't astronomically priced or restricted to only LE
-draw from holster, rapid fire allowed (like at Blue Ridge - valuable practice for CCW)
-professional atmosphere (like at Blue Ridge Arsenal and NRA)
-Targets and ammo sold on site for reasonable prices
-affordable memberships and reasonable cost hourly rates for non-members
-rifle rentals that are select fire
-opportunity to use personally owned bump fire stocks and NFA items (suppressors, select fire weapons, AOWs like SBRs and SBSs)

For FFL services - Will you have space for on-site storage of NFA items? I know some places (the place in Lorton) won't serve NFA items due to the long storage on site of suppressors, AOWs, and Title 2 firearms. Not a huge deal for me (not items I'm that interested in), but for some, that might be a good service to offer.

Keep us posted!

[RO73]

Wow. Thank you very much everyone. You all brought up some things we didn't think of. I truly appreciate each of you taking the time to respond.
As soon as we can get the county to give us the information we need to file (If they allow it), we will start requesting bids from different contractors to get the ball rolling. From our estimates, it would probably take another year if all goes well. I will keep you all posted and we can hopefully give you some good news.

[widefat]

Allow drawing from holster
Sponsor/run IDPA and USPSA matches
3-gun match?

[jdonovan]

catch 22 on matches/organized shoots.

They mostly happen on weekends, and most people have free time on the weekends.

There are several ranges that run enough competitions that its hard for the membership to use the range on summer weekends, so people are not staying members. So they have to run more competitions to make up for the lost membership money... vicious circle.

If you are going to run matches, try to have multiple ranges so walk-ups can still have a chance to use a facility that isn't being used by the match.

[GeneFrenkle]

You may wish to have a mindset of building a community with the resources of a range and shop. Encourage hanging out, classes, friendly competition, maybe work with a nearby restaurant to have discounts for members. Also, make sure folks contribute to their "community" so there is a vested interest, and not just by buying stuff.

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[PeterK]

Nothing to add, really, but I'm following with interest.

The three things that appeal to me:

1) 200 yd+
2) Allow shotgun patterning
3) IDPA

[gunderwood]

1. We are planning on a 50, 100, and 200 yard rifle range. Would this suit your needs?
2. We are also planning a Pistol range up to 25 yards. Would this suit your needs?
3. Should this range be available to the public for an hourly fee, or would you pay for a yearly membership to keep it members only and keep out the riff raff?
4. We plan on having a Gun shop/FFL. What do you want from your FFL that you're not currently getting?

1. Yes. Unless you are planing to go much, much further, but PeacemakerNational already has that. One of the things I really like about outdoor ranges is the more relaxed pace and ability to set up a chromo to test reloads. I don't need a long range for testing reloads.

2. Yes, but I'm more interested in tactical shooting like IDPA. Personally, I like how Peacemaker National has multiple 25yard bays with large berms on three sides. Allows for much better shooting stages than indoor ranges (3 sides vice 1) and also allows for tactical rifle shooting as well.

3. If you have tactical shooting areas, I'd suggest membership only for those and only after demonstrating competence/safety. Steel is really nice too. A basic public area is nice as well, particularly for guests. Pricing is all important.

4. Nothing really.

IMHO, there already are some outdoor shotgun ranges, so I would focus on other types of shooting.

[Swampman]

We could always use another range in NOVA. In answer to your questions:
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Private
4. Don't know about that one. Don't buy guns from FFL dealers anymore because of the paperwork. I'm all private sales.

Wouldn't mind seeing a snackbar and wifi. My really big question is location. Living in NW Warren County, I'd like to see a range in northern PW or even Fauquier. But don't rule out Warren County either!

[Chasbo00]

1. Yes. Unless you are planing to go much, much further, but PeacemakerNational already has that. One of the things I really like about outdoor ranges is the more relaxed pace and ability to set up a chromo to test reloads. I don't need a long range for testing reloads.

2. Yes, but I'm more interested in tactical shooting like IDPA. Personally, I like how Peacemaker National has multiple 25yard bays with large berms on three sides. Allows for much better shooting stages than indoor ranges (3 sides vice 1) and also allows for tactical rifle shooting as well.

3. If you have tactical shooting areas, I'd suggest membership only for those and only after demonstrating competence/safety. Steel is really nice too. A basic public area is nice as well, particularly for guests. Pricing is all important.

IMHO, there already are some outdoor shotgun ranges, so I would focus on other types of shooting.

I'm with gunderwood. A few 25 yard bays and a couple of 50 yard bays (with high berms on three sides) would be ideal. Currently, tactical and competition shooters don't really have a place to shoot in NOVA where they can practice shooting on the move, engaging multiple targets and similar drills. About the only opportunity in NOVA today to do these type things is to shoot an IDPA or similar type match at Fairfax Rod and Gun (near impossible for a non-member to get a slot as members have priority and slots are limited), Blue Ridge Arsenal or the NRA range.

I would pay a premium for such a range in NOVA and I'm sure there are plenty of others who would as well.

[milspecnsn]

Allow drawing from holster
Sponsor/run IDPA and USPSA matches
3-gun match?

Yes! For 3 Gun