Harvard Sportsmen's Club

jayhitek said:
I've brought friends to the range and they've aimed at my bolts or wire harness that holds the plate (my steel targets not the clubs). And When I asked them what they were doing.. The would have a big smile on their face and would be like, "what? It's fun, whats the big deal!"
No shit a**h***. Now I'm the one that has to spend time remaking it at home.
I've also had other friends in the indoor range aiming at the clips that hold the targets to the cardboard for the same reason. "Umm.. Thanks.. Now we don't have clips to hold the targets.."
People are just dumb and ignorant. They never think ahead.
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I think I found your friends, if you are looking for them. They are at my club #1, busy playing tactical Tommy with buckshot and aiming for the target frame wood. Also they are putting clays on the target bases and shooting them with a .44. The bases are made from two 6x6's and other assorted wood and hardware, and I know it's a shock- they don't hold up to .44 magnum.

Please call your friends and tell them to come back to your range. [rofl]
 
Mountain said:
I think I found your friends, if you are looking for them. They are at my club #1, busy playing tactical Tommy with buckshot and aiming for the target frame wood. Also they are putting clays on the target bases and shooting them with a .44. The bases are made from two 6x6's and other assorted wood and hardware, and I know it's a shock- they don't hold up to .44 magnum.

Please call your friends and tell them to come back to your range. [rofl]
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Can't we send them all to their own range?
 
Once again, no steel at the 100 because some a**h*** shot it down. I'm sure it's accidental but there seem to be lots of accidents at the 100 and the board isn't inclined to do anything about it. It's a pain in the ass but I guess if I want to shoot steel, I'll have to bring my own.
 
gerrycaruso said:
Once again, no steel at the 100 because some a**h*** shot it down. I'm sure it's accidental but there seem to be lots of accidents at the 100 and the board isn't inclined to do anything about it. It's a pain in the ass but I guess if I want to shoot steel, I'll have to bring my own.
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Bringing your own steel targets is against the rules at HSC
 
gerrycaruso said:
Once again, no steel at the 100 because some a**h*** shot it down. I'm sure it's accidental but there seem to be lots of accidents at the 100 and the board isn't inclined to do anything about it. It's a pain in the ass but I guess if I want to shoot steel, I'll have to bring my own.
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i wasn't there in a long while now due to surviving omicron and subsequent cold weather - usually I would hang it back each time i was there... last time the issue was not with chains but with lack of bolts left to attach plates to chains. if anybody has a stash of good solid steel links for those plates - just bring it and leave in the bag by the shed.
there is no 'board' to look at any of this - it is literally 2 persons who are trying to keep it alive - mark does it when he can and i am trying to help too, when i can. in the fall and early winter i was there almost weekly, so it was up most of the time, not by itself.
anybody else is also more than welcome to step up, if the plate is laying on the ground.

PS. and, yes, there are a couple of a**h***s who do shoot at the links and bolts specifically, i saw it. especially when you see how the upper links are hit, where chain is attached to the rod.
but, it is what it is.
 
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LuvDog said:
what about in the pits?
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there are no 100yds long pits there to shoot a rifle with your targets.
in the 60yds pit you can setup your targets, but from what i recall steel was also not allowed due to possibility of ricochets and none of those pits have U shaped berms wrapping the possible steel location high enough to be 100% safe.
 
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also, mark sent request to the board for assistance on 100yds range improvements, including better steel setup and better stands like at the 200/300yds - what will happen with all that is yet to be seen.
 
I am so jealous I wish my eyes and aim were good enough to actually hit chain. I do only shoot iron sights but there is no way I could deliberately hit that chain. I'm happy to hit the steel!
 
67ray said:
Bringing your own steel targets is against the rules at HSC
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That’s a shame. But my club allows members to bring their own steel but it must be inspected by the club president and you’re given a small club business card with the steel description written on the back.
 
kalash said:
I'm not sure what anyone expects the BoD to do about this...
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You can't just sit around waiting for the board to do something. Find out why the rule exists (emailing El Presidente would be a good start); come up with a better plan and ask for time to address the board at the next meeting.

Hopkinton went from a "5 round max load slow shooting only" club to a well above average action shooting club during the time I have been a member. That did not happen because people sat around expecting the board to do something.
 
Rob Boudrie said:
You can't just sit around waiting for the board to do something. Find out why the rule exists (emailing El Presidente would be a good start); come up with a better plan and ask for time to address the board at the next meeting.

Hopkinton went from a "5 round max load slow shooting only" club to a well above average action shooting club during the time I have been a member. That did not happen because people sat around expecting the board to do something.
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I may piss bitch and moan about the Police presence at Hopkinton, but damn if I don’t love the place and people.
There’s going to be jerks at every club. Wether they’re shooting chains or leaving popped balloons all over the bays, it happens. The difference lies in the club members willing to bring some chain and put a plate back up, or pick up some extra trash and brass. I value being able to do a mag dump when I need to, or blast a bunch of clay pigeons into oblivion.

People suck, that’s not going to change. I’ve found great joy in focusing on the positive and attempting to make the range a better place every time I’m there.
 
Tinkermatic said:
I may piss bitch and moan about the Police presence at Hopkinton, but damn if I don’t love the place and people.
There’s going to be jerks at every club. Wether they’re shooting chains or leaving popped balloons all over the bays, it happens. The difference lies in the club members willing to bring some chain and put a plate back up, or pick up some extra trash and brass. I value being able to do a mag dump when I need to, or blast a bunch of clay pigeons into oblivion.

People suck, that’s not going to change. I’ve found great joy in focusing on the positive and attempting to make the range a better place every time I’m there.
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I hope you are referring to the weekday range rentals when you refer "police presence" and not something else.

Those are paid rentals, and are scheduled during the week. They generally take up ranges 4/5 (i.e., the best ones) in the pistol ranges. It's a balancing act between revenue and loss of member range time. Don't like the balance? Run for the board, but first take a deep dive into the club finances to see what you would cut to make up for the revenue decrease.
 
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Rob Boudrie said:
I hope you are referring to range use when you use the term "police presence" and not something else.
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Yes! Crap, as you know and for others’ benefit, there is not just random police roaming HSA. I should have clarified. Multiple departments use the bays for training and qualifications. The few I’ve talked with have all been very nice and they certainly know how to throw a cookout.
From what I understand, they do pay for using the club and while I may bitch about it, their presence gives the club just that much more staying power.

Edit- to your edit, we seem to be on the same page Rob.
 
Rob Boudrie said:
I hope you are referring to the weekday range rentals when you refer "police presence" and not something else.

Those are paid rentals, and are scheduled during the week. They generally take up ranges 4/5 (i.e., the best ones) in the pistol ranges. It's a balancing act between revenue and loss of member range time. Don't like the balance? Run for the board, but first take a deep dive into the club finances to see what you would cut to make up for the revenue decrease.
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If you are familiar with club finances, the club does not need the small amount of revenue that comes from police rentals.

It’s been a few years since I did a detail review of this but there had been 7 or 8 departments renting a range or two for 8 to 10 days ( a week or two) both spring and fall.

Some of these PDs are in gun free zones (university) some are red towns. They are not local PDs. I’m not sure why the club continues to do this. It is certainly not in club charter of conservation and youth education. Nothing good can come from it.

So while I am in favor of individual officers being members ( they make great members) the club should extract themselves from rentals to Police departments in my opinion.
 
northny said:
So while I am in favor of individual officers being members ( they make great members) the club should extract themselves from rentals to Police departments in my opinion.
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I am familiar with the membership revenue, but not so much the other sources. I know the recent big expense was new poles and lights on the skeet ranges - old telephone poles in the ground replaced with steel poles bolted to cement footings (tens of $K), and is probably delaying some of the other big projects on the list. This replaces the old telephone poles stuck in dirt the club got many decades of service out of. We had a total failure of a pole on one on the trap ranges, and those were replaced at considerable expense.

The calendar is on hsasports.com and includes all of 2021. I took a quick glance and there were 32 weekday rentals of various subsets of the pistol pits. Many did block out all 3 of the best pistol ranges (the three big ones after the parking area between ranges 1-2 and 4-6). I don't have a feel for the numbers since I don't know if it is priced per-pit or not. If it is per-pit, we are talking some real money.

I would fully support not renting the range to the Brookline PD if they were to ask.

I would have suggested you show up to a meeting to raise your concerns to the board but it appears you have escaped to the keystone state (congrats)..
 
gerrycaruso said:
Once again, no steel at the 100 because some a**h*** shot it down. I'm sure it's accidental but there seem to be lots of accidents at the 100 and the board isn't inclined to do anything about it. It's a pain in the ass but I guess if I want to shoot steel, I'll have to bring my own.
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oooh geez there's a really easy solution fellas!! y'all gotta buzz me directly when sh@t is broken so I can come fix it I don't get there as often as I would like. .
If anyone wants to help, I am going to do a bunch of improvements for the 100yd range in the spring.
1. clean and widen the backstop
2. rebuild all the target stands to be like the 200/300 so they last longer. (hopefully people won't shoot the posts to death) .
3. rebuild the steel rack
4. clean the brush on the right side of the range to make room for the last table so we can use them all.

I am one person doing most of this stuff alone on my own limited free time with intermittent help, so letting em know directly if something is broken is the least you could do or you could help out.
 
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paul73 said:
also, mark sent request to the board for assistance on 100yds range improvements, including better steel setup and better stands like at the 200/300yds - what will happen with all that is yet to be seen.
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Paul, that request is to just notify them that we are going to do the work and let the grounds guys know we'll be scheduling Tiny to do some work. I will set a definite date closer to the spring time so we can hopefully gather some volunteers.
 
msvasquez said:
Paul, that request is to just notify them that we are going to do the work and let the grounds guys know we'll be scheduling Tiny to do some work. I will set a definite date closer to the spring time so we can hopefully gather some volunteers.
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well, i am back to normal 100% now, so, anytime you need help - i am available.
 
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