Massachusetts Rifle Association - Woburn, MA

Fixxah said:
Excuse my trolling on this. How about a few more cameras that catch the shooter and also the rails etc.? They would be in syns and it seems to me that the guessing game would be quite limited.
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I could be wrong, but I think it would be hard (i.e., expensive) to get cameras that are good enough that you can see an individual bullet impact on all the locations where folks are hitting with their errant rounds. I doubt you would be able to see a bullet hole in a baffle using a typical surveillance camera.
 
That's when I canceled my membership. If I, as a member, RSO, and experienced shooter, see a problem and have a solution, I just can't email it? Post it? Call it in? I have to type it up, with copies, to present it to the board?
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the "board" needs to flex their muscle! it makes them feel important for their titles as PRESIDENT etc...gives them a reason to get up in the morning
 
This is probably going to sound "elitist," and I really don't mean for it to, but I think a big part of the problem is that MRA seems to go out of their way to discourage experienced shooters from joining or participating.

Example: I'm a former Marine (expert rifle qualification on my DD-214,) current NRA certified instructor, certified armorer, and currently hold an NRA highpower "expert" rating. I still had to wait through the 6 month "probation" period and pass two separate range tests before I was even allowed to look at the outdoor rifle range. During that time I found two other ranges in the area that are a lot more accommodating. I don't remember the last time I was at MRA and at this point I don't really see any reason to renew my membership when it expires.

My advice to the board:
  1. Think about doing some stuff to encourage experienced shooters to join and stay. Maybe waive the "probation" period for people that hold an NRA highpower rating or have prior military experience. (The range test to verify that experience is fine, but why make us wait 6 months for the chance?) Also that kind of experience should be captured on the application form and the highpower committee (I assume there is one) should be reaching out to those members to get them involved in highpower matches. The training committee should be reaching out to instructors to help out with the classes. (More on classes in a sec.)
  2. Quality over quantity. There's no need to accept every yahoo that wants to join, and I've seen some real yahoos on the indoor range. (I'll just leave it at that.)
  3. You have a reputation, deserved or not, of being a major FUDD club. I've personally been there and heard one of your RSOs get all worked up because someone was shooting rapid fire in the indoor range. If you follow suggestion #2, rapid fire on the indoor range would not be a problem. (And stuff wouldn't be broken as often.)
  4. Put together some free or low cost training courses to help build the skill sets of the less experienced members. For example, another range in the area runs "intro to practical shooting" courses to give new shooters some experience in IDPA style shooting. Seems like a good idea.
 
jasons said:
This is probably going to sound "elitist," and I really don't mean for it to, but I think a big part of the problem is that MRA seems to go out of their way to discourage experienced shooters from joining or participating.

Example: I'm a former Marine (expert rifle qualification on my DD-214,) current NRA certified instructor, certified armorer, and currently hold an NRA highpower "expert" rating. I still had to wait through the 6 month "probation" period and pass two separate range tests before I was even allowed to look at the outdoor rifle range. During that time I found two other ranges in the area that are a lot more accommodating. I don't remember the last time I was at MRA and at this point I don't really see any reason to renew my membership when it expires.

My advice to the board:
  1. Think about doing some stuff to encourage experienced shooters to join and stay. Maybe waive the "probation" period for people that hold an NRA highpower rating or have prior military experience. (The range test to verify that experience is fine, but why make us wait 6 months for the chance?) Also that kind of experience should be captured on the application form and the highpower committee (I assume there is one) should be reaching out to those members to get them involved in highpower matches. The training committee should be reaching out to instructors to help out with the classes. (More on classes in a sec.)
  2. Quality over quantity. There's no need to accept every yahoo that wants to join, and I've seen some real yahoos on the indoor range. (I'll just leave it at that.)
  3. You have a reputation, deserved or not, of being a major FUDD club. I've personally been there and heard one of your RSOs get all worked up because someone was shooting rapid fire in the indoor range. If you follow suggestion #2, rapid fire on the indoor range would not be a problem. (And stuff wouldn't be broken as often.)
  4. Put together some free or low cost training courses to help build the skill sets of the less experienced members. For example, another range in the area runs "intro to practical shooting" courses to give new shooters some experience in IDPA style shooting. Seems like a good idea.
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I think that these are four quality suggestions. Hopefully they make it to the board as I'm pretty sure they will. I am a member, and do see alot of the things people have commented on,but also am one to speak up to the idiots doing stupid things.but i still enjoy the facility...
 
jasons said:
This is probably going to sound "elitist," and I really don't mean for it to, but I think a big part of the problem is that MRA seems to go out of their way to discourage experienced shooters from joining or participating.

Example: I'm a former Marine (expert rifle qualification on my DD-214,) current NRA certified instructor, certified armorer, and currently hold an NRA highpower "expert" rating. I still had to wait through the 6 month "probation" period and pass two separate range tests before I was even allowed to look at the outdoor rifle range. During that time I found two other ranges in the area that are a lot more accommodating. I don't remember the last time I was at MRA and at this point I don't really see any reason to renew my membership when it expires.

My advice to the board:
  1. Think about doing some stuff to encourage experienced shooters to join and stay. Maybe waive the "probation" period for people that hold an NRA highpower rating or have prior military experience. (The range test to verify that experience is fine, but why make us wait 6 months for the chance?) Also that kind of experience should be captured on the application form and the highpower committee (I assume there is one) should be reaching out to those members to get them involved in highpower matches. The training committee should be reaching out to instructors to help out with the classes. (More on classes in a sec.)
  2. Quality over quantity. There's no need to accept every yahoo that wants to join, and I've seen some real yahoos on the indoor range. (I'll just leave it at that.)
  3. You have a reputation, deserved or not, of being a major FUDD club. I've personally been there and heard one of your RSOs get all worked up because someone was shooting rapid fire in the indoor range. If you follow suggestion #2, rapid fire on the indoor range would not be a problem. (And stuff wouldn't be broken as often.)
  4. Put together some free or low cost training courses to help build the skill sets of the less experienced members. For example, another range in the area runs "intro to practical shooting" courses to give new shooters some experience in IDPA style shooting. Seems like a good idea.
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place is 10 minutes from me and i didn't re - up either.
 
place is 10 minutes from me and i didn't re - up either.
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seems to be the trend!

jasons i totally agree with you...i regret sending countless people there...all of my friends that i have sent there i'll take to hsc with me because i know they are all going to let their memberships lapse this year as well
 
it will be open saturday morning the contractors are just doing testing and balancing at this point and all looks great
 
SSDD @ MRA.

so let me see if anything has changed.

1. you pay to be a member and get restricted to the .22LR (Standard Velocity) range and the Loeb range. The Loeb range is broken or being repaired at least 50% of the time you try to shoot.

2. you voice opinion to the BOD. *crickets*

this was the same MRA from 3 years ago. at this point, I think a REFUND would be in order. but they got ya'll by the balls....

they don't want to fix the problem because that's their crutch to keep, implement and selectively enforce the FUDDness of the club.
 
Reading some of the recent comments about MRA, as a PAST President and active shooter I would like to chime in.
The MRA has spent a great deal of money in security and cameras; it is probably the best system at any club around here. However, as M1911 has said, cameras don’t show where the bullets are going. That takes a lot of leg work to figure out if someone IS doing intentional damage to range or other facilities. It takes very active members to watch over the ranges and when damage is found, they CAN track down the offenders.
The RULES at MRA have become overwhelming, changes to rules happen in some cases, without keeping up with all the various posting around the club….how can the membership of close to 2000 be kept informed…worse yet, as a whole…they don’t want to be informed…they just want to slam 100rnds through there pistol or rifle and go home. Sorry to say but in my opinion, that’s the profile of the average member, and not just at MRA.
Here is where the problem lies, the rules are made to accommodate the lowest common denominator…you have a problem on a range and the next thing you know there is a rule telling you can’t do that (mostly because something had happened)…kinda like the shoe bomber….now everybody has to take off your shoes at the airport. The more the membership increases, the more chances of someone doing a dumb thing…then more rules…more cameras… more money for the cameras… more members to pay for cameras….it’s a circle.
You can join the MRA pretty easy…a few years ago, you could pay your money and become a member in less than 24hrs, that has got a little more difficult….but I’m sure they still take in 10-15 new members every month.
The general outline by Jasons is good…but the problem is the directors are mostly made up of non-shooters, only about 1/3 of them shoot, 1/3 instructs and the last 1/3 hasn’t fired a gun in some time. Therefore, the club is run by people who (mostly) don’t participate in the sport…or don’t even qualify as the “average member”. It becomes a problem of, those who understand the least, are making the rules, which once again are reactionary.
Until the membership is slowed down or even stopped it will be a difficult place to shoot.
MRA has a forum. It was to ask questions, discuss ideas and create debate…but unfortunately that has been watched by big brother and any critical comments are removed post haste….so unless you have something rosey to say, doesn’t bother.
The club is run by the board; the members don’t get to vote. The members can only vote for directors (once a year). The potential problem is with this system is, a few people can call all the shots at the club…it only takes half the board to do almost anything, given the right (or wrong) circumstances it can have a huge affect on the very existence and purpose of the club.
Lastly, competitive shooting at MRA is way down….very few participate in any form….that’s the core of all gun clubs….that’s the bond in the core membership….it is diminishing fast.
 
charliet said:
Reading some of the recent comments about MRA, as a PAST President and active shooter I would like to chime in.
The MRA has spent a great deal of money in security and cameras; it is probably the best system at any club around here. However, as M1911 has said, cameras don’t show where the bullets are going. That takes a lot of leg work to figure out if someone IS doing intentional damage to range or other facilities. It takes very active members to watch over the ranges and when damage is found, they CAN track down the offenders.
The RULES at MRA have become overwhelming, changes to rules happen in some cases, without keeping up with all the various posting around the club….how can the membership of close to 2000 be kept informed…worse yet, as a whole…they don’t want to be informed…they just want to slam 100rnds through there pistol or rifle and go home. Sorry to say but in my opinion, that’s the profile of the average member, and not just at MRA.
Here is where the problem lies, the rules are made to accommodate the lowest common denominator…you have a problem on a range and the next thing you know there is a rule telling you can’t do that (mostly because something had happened)…kinda like the shoe bomber….now everybody has to take off your shoes at the airport. The more the membership increases, the more chances of someone doing a dumb thing…then more rules…more cameras… more money for the cameras… more members to pay for cameras….it’s a circle.
You can join the MRA pretty easy…a few years ago, you could pay your money and become a member in less than 24hrs, that has got a little more difficult….but I’m sure they still take in 10-15 new members every month.
The general outline by Jasons is good…but the problem is the directors are mostly made up of non-shooters, only about 1/3 of them shoot, 1/3 instructs and the last 1/3 hasn’t fired a gun in some time. Therefore, the club is run by people who (mostly) don’t participate in the sport…or don’t even qualify as the “average member”. It becomes a problem of, those who understand the least, are making the rules, which once again are reactionary.
Until the membership is slowed down or even stopped it will be a difficult place to shoot.
MRA has a forum. It was to ask questions, discuss ideas and create debate…but unfortunately that has been watched by big brother and any critical comments are removed post haste….so unless you have something rosey to say, doesn’t bother.
The club is run by the board; the members don’t get to vote. The members can only vote for directors (once a year). The potential problem is with this system is, a few people can call all the shots at the club…it only takes half the board to do almost anything, given the right (or wrong) circumstances it can have a huge affect on the very existence and purpose of the club.
Lastly, competitive shooting at MRA is way down….very few participate in any form….that’s the core of all gun clubs….that’s the bond in the core membership….it is diminishing fast.
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And this is the core of why I let my membership lapse.
 
Charlie doesn't post here a lot (quality over quantity) and some people may not know him. I've had the privilege to shoot on the same firing line as Charlie at quite a few competitions and I can tell you that there are VERY few people who know more about the sport of shooting than he does. When he speaks I listen and in my opinion others should too.

I also want to make it clear that I'm not in any way trying to "bash" MRA, it's members (I am one,) or it's board. I've met some really good people at MRA and I think the club has great history and great potential. The suggestions that I offered were based on my own personal observations only and may not be "par for the course" as far as other members are concerned.
 
jgsm27 said:
it will be open saturday morning the contractors are just doing testing and balancing at this point and all looks great
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any particular time? I was planning on going early in the AM and am hoping it will be open by then
 
The range should be open at Midnight tonight. One of the directors is going over around 7 tonight to take down the range closed signs. If you signed up for our eblast system you should get a email. If you are not you can sign up at http://www.massrifle.com/EBlast.htm.

The operation of the system is a single on/off switch. When you enter the Loeb range from the door in the hall near the Pope range there is the light switch for the lights in the back of the range. Next to the switch is a red push button. Simply push the button and the system and lights down range will come on. It takes about 90 seconds for everything to spin up. When you are done simply hit the button again and the system will shut off. The button is lit so it will glow red when it is on.

I hope everyone likes the system. It should be a great improvement over the old one.
 
Massman said:
What the MRA needs is a larger, more vocal group of members who will voice their opinions at BOD meetings, annual meetings, ect. Change occurs from within. Being a member for over ten years, and a BOD member for almost 6 years, the club has come a long way. Now with the membership growing, and becoming more diverse, the club as a whole, not just the BOD, needs to look to the future.
Unlike other members who disagree with my opinions, I will continue to voice my opinions, by whatever means are available, regardless if they are accepted by all or some.

I would like to thank Derek for providing a forum where people can exchange ideas, opinions, stories, and a general love of our 2nd amendment rights. I hope to be a more active participant in the NES community.
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I think what the club needs is a BoD who actually cares what the membership thinks and listens to their opinions regardless of the format in which they're offered. It also needs a forum moderator that allows for differing opinions, and doesn't filter out the issues of it's membership that the moderator disagrees with.

I know of at least one Board member who is trying to do this. I wish him the best of luck, and hope to meet with him soon to discuss issues that I personally have had, in hopes that he can avoid others from having the same frustration.
 
Massman said:
What the MRA needs is a larger, more vocal group of members who will voice their opinions at BOD meetings, annual meetings, ect.
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Thats what you may think, but in reality your club has already scared a large number of people away who would be very helpful due to the lack of interest for input in the past from your BoD.
 

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