Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Anyone live out in Winchester, Front Royal area?

Do you like it? Is it a safe area?
Is it Gun friendly? Are there any good ranges nearby?

Winchester here, lived here most of my life. I'd say very gun friendly, pro-family. About as safe as you can get IMO. Things vary county by county, Frederick county (Winchester) being the more uppity of the two places you mentioned. Warren County (Front Royal) is more red-necky, in a good way, and more convenient commuting to DC if that is your plan. We're hoping to move to Shenandoah County soon, which seems to split the difference between the two. The further east you go, the more liberal the local govts.

Can't answer your question on gun ranges. Most people I know either belong to a hunt club or know someone with land. Heck, we shoot guns as part of our monthly men's prayer breakfast at church, it's that kind of place.

One caveat: several weeks ago the State Police, local police, ATF, and BATFE was doing a joint crackdown / dragnet thing on the local interstates for several days. I didn't like that at all. I'm of the opinion that in these times the best place to be is somewhere with the fewest people. Winchester is getting to busy for me.

The only place that I know is The Cove in Gore....10 miles West of Winchester. Where we had the Meet and Greet last August.

Front Royal/Strasburg here. I live in between the two (Warren County) at the head of Fort Valley. Been here for about 14 years and love it. I'm a mile north of the national forest. Not much in the way of problems out here. Pretty gun friendly. Closest range I know of is about 45 min and there are a couple more about 15 min further. I agree with Phantom, get to know someone with land. FR is growing pretty quickly - we have a Walmart, Lowes, Target, etc. Good places to eat and lots of churches from small to large. People are friendly, but there is always the bad apple or two. I steer clear of Winchester unless I have to go there. Too many morons (no offense Phantom). If it was me I'd stay outside town, although FR isn't bad. There is a plan in the works to build a 600 home subdivision over on the east side of town, but that is still a few years off. Probably better off on the west side if you want fewer people.

Theres that free range west of Harrisonburg in the National Forest. Not in the immediate neighborhood, but the price is right.

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My GF's dad lives in Winchester. We did some shooting in his back yard, last summer. He and his wife seem pretty happy there.

TacMom, if you move out there, let me know; you and my girl would likely have a ball in the kitchen!

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Thanks guys.

Husband is thinking about applying for a position he saw in Winchester. So we can live anywhere around that area. Front Royal, Shanandoah, I don't know the other areas. Housing prices we looked at were fantastic so far.

Think happy thoughts for us. He has a great job here, and is doing really well, the position just took his notice so we were talking about it.

I camped in Front Royal on the Shenandoah River. Absolutely beautiful and a very fun trip. Seemed like a nice area to live in very rural. We canoed the river although it was a little shallow at the time it did some good places to swim.

Used to go to Front Royal once a year in the spring to fish for smallmouth bass in the south fork of the Shenandoah. But something killed off all the bass a few years back, and we've not been lately. Seemed like a good old-fashioned small-to-middlin' sized town. Maybe a smidgeon of artsy-fartsy tourist-oriented folks running shops aimed at taking money from the Washington bureaucrats that show up on the weekends to raft and canoe down the river, but basically it was pretty much small-town Virginia, it seemed to me. At least, a redneck/hillbilly/country boy like me was fairly comfortable there. Of course, I spent most of my time there wading the Shenandoah, so I might have missed any hippy commune or infestation of metrosexuals or hipsters if they weren't between the river, the motel, a half-dozen restaurants, and the bait and tackle shops. The guy who owns the farm we fish on is a rock-solid good ole boy. Going back up there next month because word is the bass are back.

@dorminWS - THE SMALLIES ARE BACK! They still don't know what killed them, but they are back and I'm a happy boy!

http://www.shenvalleynow.com/index.php/ ... ious_kills

What killed off the fish was a old chemical factory upstream was shutdown years ago had buried chemical drums and they leaked. The gov (EPA) went in and cleaned it up. As for the winchester/ front royal area its ok. Some dc transplants in the area n more trickling in. The cops are ok but winchester LEOs tend to be azzhats. Ranges are few unless you know someone. Gunshops are few but locally owned. Housing prices you can haggle em down but make sure u get a darn good home inspection! Oh and avoid route 11 during rush hours.

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Just inside the town line of Front Royal here. Been here 13 years now since Fairfax got to be just nuts... West of the downtown close to the river, close to National Forest and easy commute location right off 66.

Everyone tells me the river is the best its been in 10 years... Got to get the boat ready for some smallies!

I use 340 Defense up in Rippon, WV its about a 40 min ride.

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This may help too - check out the blotter for Valley Counties/cities at the Northern Virginia Daily (NVD) http://www.nvdaily.com/911/