Indoor range friendly to odd ball handguns?

[DeadEyeDan]

I recently got back into shooting and am really enjoying my membership at the Weymouth Sportsman’s Club but was hoping to find someplace a bit less restrictive to shoot my odd ball guns. Weymouth has the following rules that I’m running into that make perfect sense mostly to protect the range Infrastructure.

Only Handguns, other then .22 Rifles

No handgun with a barrel longer the 8 inches

No handgun in a Rifle caliber

And no calibers more powerful then .44 Magnum

So I can’t shoot the following

Ruger Super Blackhawk in .454 Casull (Not shooting much due to recoil sensitivity)

Desert Eagle .50 AE (Not shooting much due to recoil recoil sensitivity)

Taurus 12 inch .17 HRM revolver (Over barrel length limit, but really can a 17 grain projectile really do any damage to a backstop?)

AMT Automag 3 in .30 Cal Carbine (Banned due to being a “Rifle” caliber, but out of a 6.5 inch barrel is really an equivalent to a .357 magnum.)

.45 LC/.410 Derringer

Any ideas, The Taurus and Automag are both very fun to shoot and nail drivers... would love to be able to shoot them every once in a while?

 

[Dennis in MA]

How is a 45LC derringer not OK? Just because it's bigger does NOT mean it's more powerful than a 44mag. In fact, I'd say about 95% of the 45LC rounds shot a year are SIGNIFICANTLY lower power than a 44mag. And even the hot ones are equivalent to a hot 44mag load.

 

[whacko]

I recently got back into shooting and am really enjoying my membership at the Weymouth Sportsman’s Club but was hoping to find someplace a bit less restrictive to shoot my odd ball guns. Weymouth has the following rules that I running running into that make perfect sense mostly to protect the range Infrastructure.

Only Handguns, other then .22 Rifles

No handgun with a barrel longer the 8 inches

No handgun in a Rifle caliber

And no calibers more powerful then .44 Magnum

So I can’t shoot the following

Ruger Super Blackhawk in .454 Casull (Not shooting much due to recoil sensitivity)

Desert Eagle .50 AE (Not shooting much due to recoil recoil sensitivity)

Taurus 12 inch .17 HRM revolver (Over barrel length limit, but really can a 17 grain projectile really do an damage to a backstop?)

AMT Automag 3 in .30 Cal Carbine (Banned due to being a “Rifle” caliber, but out of a 6.5 inch barrel is really an equivalent to a .357 magnum.)

.45 LC/.410 Derringer

Any ideas, The Taurus and Automag are both very fun to shoot and nail drivers... would love to be able to shoot them every once in a while?

Can't you just shoot them on the outdoor range?

 

[whacko]

How is a 45LC derringer not OK? Just because it's bigger does NOT mean it's more powerful than a 44mag. In fact, I'd say about 95% of the 45LC rounds shot a year are SIGNIFICANTLY lower power than a 44mag. And even the hot ones are equivalent to a hot 44mag load.

Maybe it's the 45 derringer loaded with 410 that's the problem? We don't allow handguns with shotshells indoors due to the pellets damaging the structures.

 

[M1911]

What's wrong with shooting them on an outdoor range?

 

[DeadEyeDan]

Can't you just shoot them on the outdoor range?

Well Weymouth doesn’t have an outdoor range and if I’m going to join a 2nd range I don’t really want to be at the mercy of the weather.

 

[whacko]

Well Weymouth doesn’t have an outdoor range and if I’m going to join a 2nd range I don’t really want to be at the mercy of the weather.

Didn't know they don't have an outdoor range. Most do.

FWIW the restrictions you have at Weymouth are about the same at my club....and many clubs. We go up to 44 mag indoor . No 17hmr indoors and no shotshells indoors. But we have an outdoor range.

 

[DeadEyeDan]

How is a 45LC derringer not OK? Just because it's bigger does NOT mean it's more powerful than a 44mag. In fact, I'd say about 95% of the 45LC rounds shot a year are SIGNIFICANTLY lower power than a 44mag. And even the hot ones are equivalent to a hot 44mag load.

Yes .45 LC is ok to shoot.

 

[M1911]

Magnums indoors are so darn loud. No thank you.

 

[FiremanBob]

As you wrote at first, the restrictions are there to protect the very expensive backstop and equipment. The only indoor range I know of that has looser rules is the NRA Home Range in Fairfax, VA which can take anything up to .50BMG.

 

[drgrant]

As you wrote at first, the restrictions are there to protect the very expensive backstop and equipment. The only indoor range I know of that has looser rules is the NRA Home Range in Fairfax, VA which can take anything up to .50BMG.

Not sure if serious, lots of commercial indoor ranges will allow like most of what he wanted to do in his list. Most of the MA indoor club ranges, have these kinds of restrictions because there wasn't enough money or some fudds flinted on their upgrades, etc. Then again I understand why they flint, because a large portion of the member base doesn't care about anything beyond shooting .22, .38, 9mm, .40, .45 acp indoors. After you get away from those calibers interest level drops and the desire to spend more drops precipitously.

-Mike

 

[milktree]

If you're willing to drive up to Woburn, Mass Rifle's indoor range has no restrictions on any of those.

25 yards, any caliber or configuration other then .50BMG or shotguns with shot (slugs are OK)

 

[johnnylc3470]

I belong to MA Rifle in Woburn and they allow anything indoors, I believe .50BMG is the only no-no

 

[JRT]

As you wrote at first, the restrictions are there to protect the very expensive backstop and equipment. The only indoor range I know of that has looser rules is the NRA Home Range in Fairfax, VA which can take anything up to .50BMG.

Nah, every range in my city puts the limit at 50BMG. Nobody wants that shit going off indoors.

 

[teaser452]

Nah, every range in my city puts the limit at 50BMG. Nobody wants that shit going off indoors.

Yup. No amount of ear protection works indoors with that. Hella fun to shoot though!

 

[M1911]

Years back I took a carbine class at S&W Academy, indoors on their 100 yard range. Even doubling up on hearing protection (plugs under muffs), .223 rifles were loud. One of the students was using a Mini-30 (7.62x39) and that was downright painful. It was noticeably louder than the various M4geries.

 

[drgrant]

Nah, every range in my city puts the limit at 50BMG. Nobody wants that shit going off indoors.

I've experienced this in real life. You better be plugged and muffed.... When some numbskull pays for the Barett at Battlefield Vegas, the RO at least yells out a warning (I forget, might be FIRE IN THE HOLE or FIFTY CAL or something like that) before it's fired... you got about 2 seconds to put your hands on your muffs...

-Mike

 

[DeadEyeDan]

I

Nah, every range in my city puts the limit at 50BMG. Nobody wants that shit going off indoors.

I miss Philly, didn’t realize how lucky I was until I moved to Boston...

 

[JRT]

Years back I took a carbine class at S&W Academy, indoors on their 100 yard range. Even doubling up on hearing protection (plugs under muffs), .223 rifles were loud. One of the students was using a Mini-30 (7.62x39) and that was downright painful. It was noticeably louder than the various M4geries.

I shot a lot of IDPA there back in the day. The 100 yard range was very narrow, I could see it being very loud.

 

[M1911]

I shot a lot of IDPA there back in the day. The 100 yard range was very narrow, I could see it being very loud.

It was. We also used one of the shorter, wider ranges. That facility had the very wide public range at the far left. Then the next range to the right was relatively small. Then the second from the right was larger. We also used that second-from-the-right range. Rifles in that range were still painfully loud.

OT: it’s too bad S&W shut that down. We had some nice IDPA matches there. (Though don’t get me started about some of the officiating fiascos that occurred at the winter nationals...)

 

[DW357]

I recently got back into shooting and am really enjoying my membership at the Weymouth Sportsman’s Club but was hoping to find someplace a bit less restrictive to shoot my odd ball guns. Weymouth has the following rules that I’m running into that make perfect sense mostly to protect the range Infrastructure.

Only Handguns, other then .22 Rifles

No handgun with a barrel longer the 8 inches

No handgun in a Rifle caliber

And no calibers more powerful then .44 Magnum

So I can’t shoot the following

Ruger Super Blackhawk in .454 Casull (Not shooting much due to recoil sensitivity)

Desert Eagle .50 AE (Not shooting much due to recoil recoil sensitivity)

Taurus 12 inch .17 HRM revolver (Over barrel length limit, but really can a 17 grain projectile really do any damage to a backstop?)

AMT Automag 3 in .30 Cal Carbine (Banned due to being a “Rifle” caliber, but out of a 6.5 inch barrel is really an equivalent to a .357 magnum.)

.45 LC/.410 Derringer

Any ideas, The Taurus and Automag are both very fun to shoot and nail drivers... would love to be able to shoot them every once in a while?

My local club in Gloucester doesn't allow centerfire rifle calibers, can only shoot lead/plated/coated bullets (no jacketed), and no magnums.

Needless to say, I never shoot indoors. Only time is when I want to test some 9mm or 38 reloads late at night.

I also don't trust the old ventilation and don't want to breath in large amounts of lead and get large amounts of lead all over my clothing/shoes etc.

 

[JRT]

It was. We also used one of the shorter, wider ranges. That facility had the very wide public range at the far left. Then the next range to the right was relatively small. Then the second from the right was larger. We also used that second-from-the-right range. Rifles in that range were still painfully loud.

OT: it’s too bad S&W shut that down. We had some nice IDPA matches there. (Though don’t get me started about some of the officiating fiascos that occurred at the winter nationals...)

I RO'ed the one where you had to take a revolver off your dead buddy and finish the round. I don't think I f'ed up lol. Those were the best tho, I shot the weekly matches and the club was really good.

 

[M1911]

I RO'ed the one where you had to take a revolver off your dead buddy and finish the round. I don't think I f'ed up lol. Those were the best tho, I shot the weekly matches and the club was really good.

I never SOed at S&W. I did elsewhere and remember one particularly egregious screw up that I did as an SO. That convinced me that I shouldn’t be an SO or RO anymore.

 

[rep308]

I belong to a range that allows .357 Sig, and prohibits .357 S&W. No amount of ballistic or reloading documentation would convince The Powers That Be that both cartridges have the same power and same impact on the indoor range.

 

[meh]

I stopped wanting to shoot my rifles and more powerful handguns indoors after I got access to an outdoor range. Indoors I can only shoot paper. If all it's going to do is punch through some paper at short range, I might as well be practicing SD fundamentals or bullseye-type shooting, one or the other. Don't need hunting calibers for that.

 

[DW357]

I belong to a range that allows .357 Sig, and prohibits .357 S&W. No amount of ballistic or reloading documentation would convince The Powers That Be that both cartridges have the same power and same impact on the indoor range.

The 357 S&W?! that shoots through schools doesn't it?.....

 

[M1911]

I belong to a range that allows .357 Sig, and prohibits .357 S&W. No amount of ballistic or reloading documentation would convince The Powers That Be that both cartridges have the same power and same impact on the indoor range.

Now that is definitely inconsistent. When I worked on range rules at a club, we wrestled with language in order to ban both .357 Mag AND .357 Sig fro our indoor range. We were mostly concerned about noise and considered both to be equally objectionable indoors.

 

[greencobra]

I miss Philly, didn’t realize how lucky I was until I moved to Boston...

a lot of people here belong to more than one club. there are tons of clubs in eastern mass that have both indoor/outdoor ranges and allow you to shoot pretty much anything outside. you sound like a newb to shooting. why did you join weymouth if you can't shoot what you own? gotta do the homework. when i moved to colorado that's what i did, research. i joined two clubs before i had my apartment. one strictly trap & skeet and the other out in the county, so desolate i could roll in with a tank 24/7 and no one would care. in fact i got off work at 4am and was at my club by 5am shooting outside pretty much every morning...as long as the sun was up and it rises early in the summer. gotta look around and choose which club fits your needs.

 

[Asaltweapon]

I was on a pistol committee at Concord and at the time the range backstop just couldn't take the punishment. We also wrote the rules so that stupid people could understand them. It was easier to say no magnums, no rifles other than .22 rimfire and no rifle calibers than it was to create a list of allowed versus not allowed. More than once rifle brass was still found on the floor.

I've been gone for a long time and the range was rebuilt after I left but I have no idea was the rules are and I frankly don't care. It's a lot easier to belong to Harvard and Acton. I need to get off my ass and rejoin Big Pine in Maine.

 

[DeadEyeDan]

a lot of people here belong to more than one club. there are tons of clubs in eastern mass that have both indoor/outdoor ranges and allow you to shoot pretty much anything outside. you sound like a newb to shooting. why did you join weymouth if you can't shoot what you own? gotta do the homework. when i moved to colorado that's what i did, research. i joined two clubs before i had my apartment. one strictly trap & skeet and the other out in the county, so desolate i could roll in with a tank 24/7 and no one would care. in fact i got off work at 4am and was at my club by 5am shooting outside pretty much every morning...as long as the sun was up and it rises early in the summer. gotta look around and choose which club fits your needs.

Nope, I’ve been shooting since I was around 10, just gave it up for about 9 year when I had kids then moved to Boston from PA, most of my guns are fine, but some I need to leave in PA and some I cant shoot at Weymouth... it and Braintree are the closest two ranges to me other the Boston Rod and Gun.