Might be moving down south

Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
662
Likes
74
Location
Natick, MA
Feedback: 5 / 0 / 0
Hey everyone,

This forum has been an invaluable asset to me over the years. I'm seriously thinking about moving to North Carolina from MA, does anyone know which of the NC or Carolina gun owners forums are the most active and closest in community to NES?

Also, if anyone knows any great ranges down there, I'd love to hear about them. I'm thinking of moving to the Raleigh-Durham area.

Thanks!
 
Hey everyone,

This forum has been an invaluable asset to me over the years. I'm seriously thinking about moving to North Carolina from MA, does anyone know which of the NC or Carolina gun owners forums are the most active and closest in community to NES?

Also, if anyone knows any great ranges down there, I'd love to hear about them. I'm thinking of moving to the Raleigh-Durham area.

Thanks!

Carolinafirearmsforum.com

I'm on it with the same handle.

I think one of the few long distance ranges in the region is up in that neck of the woods, but don't recall the name.

I'm barely into South Carolina and there are a decent number of ranges, but most are DNR public ranges limited to 100 yards.

Good luck. Wait until the first good snow to sell the snowblower, it'll bring the best price then.

Also, be so kind as to leave your pre-ban goodies with the buds you're leaving behind. You don't have to rake them over the coals because you can buy all new toys with standard capacity feeding trays. You can even buy guns that have the shoulder thingy that goes up.

[smile]

Now go log in and hit me up.
 
Carolinafirearmsforum.com

I'm on it with the same handle.

I think one of the few long distance ranges in the region is up in that neck of the woods, but don't recall the name.

I'm barely into South Carolina and there are a decent number of ranges, but most are DNR public ranges limited to 100 yards.

Good luck. Wait until the first good snow to sell the snowblower, it'll bring the best price then.

Also, be so kind as to leave your pre-ban goodies with the buds you're leaving behind. You don't have to rake them over the coals because you can buy all new toys with standard capacity feeding trays. You can even buy guns that have the shoulder thingy that goes up.

[smile]

Now go log in and hit me up.

Thanks! Signed up, waiting for admins to approve. I've already told my friends that I'll sell them my non-MA FFL-allowed stuff on eFA10s before I move and all my preban mags, etc. Like my gen4 glock and my ARs and not charge them the MA-tax since I'll be able to buy new replacements at normal prices. Not sure what I'll do with my tavor, it's got a brake welded on for MA compliance.

This would also solve my stripped lower problem, not sure if I'm allowed to build it out now in MA and really don't want to deal with that nonsense if they ever do decide to investigate my eFA10 after 7/20 on an AR.
 
I have never been there, but there is a 1K yard range.
http://frontlinedefenseusa.com/contact-us/

Yeah, that's the one. Thanks for covering for me. I was too lazy to look it up. They are also a training facility and many of the comments about their classes end in some variation of "I can't wait for the next class."

Here is a fantastic gun club in north east Georgia for only $120 a year.

http://www.elbertcogunclub.com

Are you a member or have you been there? I've already scheduled my range orientation. [grin]

I reached out to the email on their website and the range manager responded very promptly. They seem very hospitable to prospective new members. They have a 400 yard range but also hold 1,000 yard club matches every month. I'm looking forward to reaching out beyond 100 again. I do miss the 500 yard range at Sunset Mountain Fish and Game (Canterbury NH for those who are interested. I used to be a member and it's a great club!).
 
Just run and don't look back.

Advantages of the south
-gun rights
-beautiful women
-affordable living
-tons of outdoor activity
-hospitality

Yeah man just go. We understand.

im curious to where its affordable? Seems the wife and I could not find any place where our incomes would prove to better ourselves vs here in MA. Heck I laugh at what my job pays down there (up here also) Seems like no matter what we do we either have to down grade to a less desirable area or be to far from jobs to make it worth it... If we sold our house we would not be pocketing anything significant.
 
im curious to where its affordable? Seems the wife and I could not find any place where our incomes would prove to better ourselves vs here in MA. Heck I laugh at what my job pays down there (up here also) Seems like no matter what we do we either have to down grade to a less desirable area or be to far from jobs to make it worth it... If we sold our house we would not be pocketing anything significant.

This. Cost of living in W. Mass was lower than cost of living in WNC.

But shooting ranges? Deck, margarita, rifle, all right out the front door.
 
im curious to where its affordable? Seems the wife and I could not find any place where our incomes would prove to better ourselves vs here in MA. Heck I laugh at what my job pays down there (up here also) Seems like no matter what we do we either have to down grade to a less desirable area or be to far from jobs to make it worth it... If we sold our house we would not be pocketing anything significant.

I don't know man, maybe we're in different situations. I figure that not even counting a difference in my mortgage, I will save >$20k/year.

As far as jobs go, my wife has a super specialized set of skills, there are like 5 big players in her industry and all of them will let her work remotely, including her current employer. I work remotely for a cyber security start -up based in Virginia, they don't care where I live and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to replace it with another remote/similar role after this one in a few years or whenever I'm looking for a change. Also, Raleigh-Durham is appealing because there are tons of tech jobs there if I decide I don't want to work remotely any longer. So, I expect we'll keep our Boston-level salaries for the foreseeable future, and even with NC-level salaries, we'll be able to maintain at least the same standard of living we have here.

As far as cost of living - I can buy the same house I have in MA, with more land, in the best Raleigh-Durham suburbs and use the difference to purchase a 2016 Lamborghini Huracán LP 600-4. Daycare, the exact same national chain my son is currently in, is $1k cheaper/month than here. And property taxes should save me about $9k/year. After including mortgage differences, I'm looking at an estimated $50k/year savings.
 
I also joined CarolinaFirearmsForum, and won the September new member gift!

I'm almost done moving here. I bought in Morehead City on the crystal coast (southern end of the Outer Banks). Couldn't be happier with our decision. I got a newer, bigger, nicer house for $100k less than my house in MA, with taxes that are a THIRD.

After three trips down with my enclosed cargo trailer with most of our 'stuff' and this trip towing the boat down, I'll have one more trip with a Penske truck with our actual furniture.

I also sold an AR lower to a MA friend before I left.

Any questions, let me know! Good luck in your search.

Edit to say I work in tech, from a home office. I get paid the exact same wherever I live, so why not live where the cost to do so is lower, the weather is warmer, there's access to beaches and boating, etc.? I'm 20 minutes from Carteret County Speedway so I've got a nascar hometrack. Hospital is three miles away. Every store, restaurant, or service is within a few minutes.

One thing I like about NC is the tax situation. Yes there's income tax. There's both a state and county sales tax that combine to equal MA sales tax. But Carteret County has a LOT of vacation rental homes and tourists who visit. So they spend their money in the county which gets the tax revenue, and then the people go HOME and take their kids with them. It's a revenue-positive cashflow for the county schools and such. Definitely offsets the property taxes to keep them low. Great system.
 
Last edited:
I also joined CarolinaFirearmsForum, and won the September new member gift!

I'm almost done moving here. I bought in Morehead City on the crystal coast (southern end of the Outer Banks). Couldn't be happier with our decision. I got a newer, bigger, nicer house for $100k less than my house in MA, with taxes that are a THIRD.

After three trips down with my enclosed cargo trailer with most of our 'stuff' and this trip towing the boat down, I'll have one more trip with a Penske truck with our actual furniture.

I also sold an AR lower to a MA friend before I left.

Any questions, let me know! Good luck in your search.

Edit to say I work in tech, from a home office. I get paid the exact same wherever I live, so why not live where the cost to do so is lower, the weather is warmer, there's access to beaches and boating, etc.? I'm 20 minutes from Carteret County Speedway so I've got a nascar hometrack. Hospital is three miles away. Every store, restaurant, or service is within a few minutes.

One thing I like about NC is the tax situation. Yes there's income tax. There's both a state and county sales tax that combine to equal MA sales tax. But Carteret County has a LOT of vacation rental homes and tourists who visit. So they spend their money in the county which gets the tax revenue, and then the people go HOME and take their kids with them. It's a revenue-positive cashflow for the county schools and such. Definitely offsets the property taxes to keep them low. Great system.

We went down a few weekends ago to look at areas and meet realtors. We're pretty excited, looks like we'll get a bigger/newer house for $300k less, and taxes will be about a third as well. Selling all my guns up here to friends, especially now that they're talking about banning F2F transfers.
 
I've found firearm forums are a lot less busy than this one down here. Since most of the posts are about which body cavity they are going to violate next on this forum, there are simply less things to post about. I still come here for the entertainment value.

There is one thread about going into New Orleans, which has some restrictions. The rest are who is the best to buy 'x product' from. From Class 3 stuff to just prices.
 
We are looking down there now and in most cases the property tax savings are significant. I pay 4k up here for a modest house and a bigger house down there is 1/3 of that or less. That puts 2-3k in my pocket a year. I really havent looked at income tax yet. We are not 100 percent sure where we want to be. Tax wise SC is cheaper, job wise NC is better.

Energy in most areas is cheaper, per kw/hr, you can get by with nearly zero heat bill if you burn wood off your own land. No vehicle inspections, less red tape. Obviusly the weather is better, the political climate better and the gun freedom better.

I will likely build myself its so much easier down there.

Keep the thread alive and let us know how it works out for u.
 
I bought in Morehead City on the crystal coast (southern end of the Outer Banks). Couldn't be happier with our decision. I got a newer, bigger, nicer house for $100k less than my house in MA, with taxes that are a THIRD.

Any good campground marinas to check out the fishing?
 
Carolinafirearmsforum.com

I'm on it with the same handle.

I think one of the few long distance ranges in the region is up in that neck of the woods, but don't recall the name.

I'm barely into South Carolina and there are a decent number of ranges, but most are DNR public ranges limited to 100 yards.

Good luck. Wait until the first good snow to sell the snowblower, it'll bring the best price then.

Also, be so kind as to leave your pre-ban goodies with the buds you're leaving behind. You don't have to rake them over the coals because you can buy all new toys with standard capacity feeding trays. You can even buy guns that have the shoulder thingy that goes up.

[smile]

Now go log in and hit me up.
Same here. Same handle on both. Fellow MA escapee. Living in K'ville now.
 
We are looking down there now and in most cases the property tax savings are significant. I pay 4k up here for a modest house and a bigger house down there is 1/3 of that or less. That puts 2-3k in my pocket a year. I really havent looked at income tax yet. We are not 100 percent sure where we want to be. Tax wise SC is cheaper, job wise NC is better.

Energy in most areas is cheaper, per kw/hr, you can get by with nearly zero heat bill if you burn wood off your own land. No vehicle inspections, less red tape. Obviusly the weather is better, the political climate better and the gun freedom better.

I will likely build myself its so much easier down there.

Keep the thread alive and let us know how it works out for u.
Re: electric. When we lived in Lowell we had a 1700sqf home with oil heat, gas hot water. And yet out electric bill ran over $150 a month.
In NC we have central AC/electric heat, electric hot water heater and the bill is $138/month with a 2800sqf home.
Our mortgage plus escrow is <14% of take home. But in MA these days it would be closer to 35% if we could find something we could afford.
In NC, we could afford my wife not working. But not in MA.
 
I keep hunting. REsearch triangle park. Any gig I can get.

Edit.. Just applied to three more jobs because of this thread.. Many thanks
 
Last edited:
We are looking down there now and in most cases the property tax savings are significant. I pay 4k up here for a modest house and a bigger house down there is 1/3 of that or less.

NH
- income tax = 0%
- sales tax = 0%
- property tax = $6,300 for 1,800 square feet on 0.72 acres

SC
- income tax = 7%
- sales tax = 7%
- property tax = $750 for 2,400 square feet on 1.12 acres

Wages are generally lower, fuel much lower, groceries somewhat higher, real estate a whole lot lower.

It all comes out in the wash.
 
Back
Top Bottom