Moving to MA in about a year from FL

[Asaltweapon]

Plenty of decent.
None "affordable".

Although that depends on your definition of "affordable".

If "affordable" to you is paying $700-850K for a home, then there are quite a few. If you are looking at $500K tops, and not a sh*t hole house that requires $200K in repairs, you are out of luck. You might be able to find a condo for $400-450, but that probably has a $600 HOA fee. There is a condo in Dedham near my place selling for $470 with an HOA of $1K. If I put $250K, I am still looking st a $2K mortgage + $1K HOA. Stupid!!!

I can buy a lot of services for 1000/mo. That’s insane.

 

[Mountain]

That is up north. I can't speak for that part of FL. It is a big State and I haven't been everywhere.

If you draw a line across Orlando, I have been almost everywhere south of it, both East and West Coast.

But I haven't been north.

Destin, Fort Walton, Orange Beach, etc. are like a different planet- a much nicer one.

 

[Dench]

No, but it means it could dissappear any day because it is private.

Again, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

You're talking like you're the authority on SWFL shooting. Stop it.

 

[Mountain]

I don't think local m@ssholes appreciate the density of clubs / ranges that we have here. In Tennessee I had to drive 20 minutes back in the day but that drive became minimum 35 minutes to my club with a 100 yd range. There was an indoor range in Nashville that was 15 minutes, but not my thing. 40 minutes to other outdoor ranges. My brother in Texas lives outside of Ft. Worth in mini-ranch central. He has to drive 30 minutes to the nearest outdoor rifle range. There's probably a dozen ranges/clubs within 30 minutes of me here in MA and 4 or 5 are within 15 minutes. A 40 minute radius probably has 30 clubs or so within it. I'd be surprised if there's another location on the planet with a higher density of clubs/ranges. Maybe there is, that would be a happy thing.

 

[paul73]

Listen man, I already give the government 25% of my paycheck. While I don’t like the government giving out handouts, I do want to see some sort of good done with my tax money. So far as I can see, my tax money just goes to the military and social security, which will probably be abolished by the time I’m old enough to use it anyway. Also Obamacare, which I don’t use. At least there is some sort of misguided attempt to do some good with my tax dollars.

And every American should be equally as armed as the government. Well trained militia and all. Too much power has been taken away from the citizenry already, disarming them further is a nail in the coffin.

It all got to point where whole system needs to change.
Feds expropriate 5 trillion every year in tax.
Military budget is mere 1.5 trillion.

Those jerks are lost in trillions counting and still just run into deficit and inflate debt no matter how much they take from people, it is never enough for those who always want more.

 

[Garys]

Friends just bought a place in Fort Meyers after leaving Milton. They didn't want to be on the east coast of Florida.

When my son lived in Baldwin County, AL we used to fly in and out of Pensacola when we could. We also went to ball games there and of course went to the Naval Aviation Museum. I told my wife that I could live in that area are if we ended up in Florida.

Redneck Riviera is nice if you're a southerner or good with southern culture. Actually a lot of tourists from the midwest come there so they don't have to deal with the east coast @ssholes in the other parts of Florida. But yeah- you need a boat / watercraft or like the beach.

.

 

[paul73]

I don't think local m@ssholes appreciate the density of clubs / ranges that we have here. In Tennessee I had to drive 20 minutes back in the day but that drive became minimum 35 minutes to my club with a 100 yd range. There was an indoor range in Nashville that was 15 minutes, but not my thing. 40 minutes to other outdoor ranges. My brother in Texas lives outside of Ft. Worth in mini-ranch central. He has to drive 30 minutes to the nearest outdoor rifle range. There's probably a dozen ranges/clubs within 30 minutes of me here in MA and 4 or 5 are within 15 minutes. A 40 minute radius probably has 30 clubs or so within it. I'd be surprised if there's another location on the planet with a higher density of clubs/ranges. Maybe there is, that would be a happy thing.

In Mo I never had to go to any range as manager at work had a 150acres property and we drank and shoot there as we saw fit disregarding all so all important safety measures.
He had good collection of machine guns, it was fun.

It is a telling sign when people are no longer allowed to shoot on a land they own and forced to drive somewhere else.

 

[bigred460]

Which map is that?

2020 Presidential.

 

[LakeTrout]

We can hate on MA, but gun ranges here are amazing.

I’ve heard this more than once now, and I am wondering what makes them amazing? When I was in MA, it seemed that most of them heavily restricted what kind of targets you could shoot, how you could shoot (restricting rapid fire, drawing and shooting, etc.), and most of them didn’t have much in the way of longer ranges to shoot at either. Did they get better or was I just not aware of the ones that were better?

 

[Garys]

Having recently move from MA to Texas I can tell you that there are few private clubs down here and commercial ranges are expensive. OTOH, is you live outside of a city in the county, you can shoot on your own property. One county has enacted an ordinance that you must have a minimum of 10 acres in order to shoot on your property. From what I'm told it's pretty much ignored.

The club I joined down here has much better facilities than the club I belonged to in MA (Ames). What it doesn't have is a 300 yard range and it never will because of encroaching development. In fact, the club is paying a shit load of money to have "no blue sky" barriers put up because of complaints from people who weren't smart enough to check out the area before building.

Fortunately/unfortunately the club is built on a flood plain so no one will buy it to develop. The unfortunate part is that parts of the range flood fairly often.

At some point I might make enough friends who live outside a city to get invited to shoot on their land, but that's never a sure thing.

I’ve heard this more than once now, and I am wondering what makes them amazing? When I was in MA, it seemed that most of them heavily restricted what kind of targets you could shoot, how you could shoot (restricting rapid fire, drawing and shooting, etc.), and most of them didn’t have much in the way of longer ranges to shoot at either. Did they get better or was I just not aware of the ones that were better?

 

[Chevy 2 65]

Hey everyone! Been lurking for a while, just created an account.

Moving to MA in about a year, thinking I might grab some firearms that I won't have access to again. I already grabbed a glock 19, but was thinking about building out an AR with a pre-ban lower. When you look up the phrase "pre-ban" of course you only find the lowers with a high cost. I can't imagine all AR-15 lowers in Florida are that expensive if made before the AWB. Any ideas on how to find one for a reasonable cost?

Also, anything else you recommend grabbing while I still live here?


(PS. New to this site, i searched for list of rules before posting but couldn't find anything. My bad if I'm breaking any rules by asking.)

Don't do it. DO NOT MOVE HERE!!! You will loose your soul and cry for freedom.

 

[drgrant]

I’ve heard this more than once now, and I am wondering what makes them amazing? When I was in MA, it seemed that most of them heavily restricted what kind of targets you could shoot, how you could shoot (restricting rapid fire, drawing and shooting, etc.), and most of them didn’t have much in the way of longer ranges to shoot at either. Did they get better or was I just not aware of the ones that were better?

You're talking about urban cup shit... get out of the 95/93 loops and there are shit tons of ranges with either reasonable or no restrictions. A lot of them are "have to piss in the woods outside" clubs but there are tons with 0-300 yard ranges for minimal membership fees. I've literally lost track of the number of people I know from NES and elsewhere that have more than one membership so that they can just shuffle between these places as needed or as the situation dictates.

Getting over 300 yards is obviously difficult but that's going to be difficult pretty much anywhere that's relatively populated.

ETA: or to put it in these terms I could take a red marker and draw a cup shaped thing on Eastern Massachusetts and basically everything inside that cup is going to be garbage but outside of it, your fudd rate is going to drop to 50% or less.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

And yeah, it makes me sad to see everyone hate it so much, and to see what Massachusetts is turning into. Unfortunately I think the universities will keep it liberal forever.

It will be all the illegals that have been imported. They will get the right to vote locally, and municipally and we will be completely done in. I wouldn’t be shocked if they got the right to vote federally eventually.

Be aware that the monstrosity gun law that is going through committee is going to put a lot of new restrictions on assault weapons. There is a lot of info here and on GOAL about what is under consideration.

If I were in you shoes I would be looking for a Preban. They can be had out of state for reasonable money.

 

[meh]

has the best best selection of food

That one caught me off guard. There are far fewer options than what I was accustomed to in the DFW metroplex, and most of the lower-priced restaurant chains here manage to serve lower-quality results as compared to their counterparts in other places. It is not always so. You can get a lucky good meal or an unlucky bad one anywhere, but on average it is my experience. Massachusetts is the cook at home state.

 

[Hogie1]

I respect the opinion!

To counter: Massachusetts has a fantastic job market, the it is one of the safest places to live, actually has a working public transit system for eastern MA, has Cape Cod, has the best best selection of food, great schools both public and private, all for pretty much the same price as Florida.

Also, wages are low while cost of living is still high! At least you guys get somewhat compensated to live in expensive Massachusetts! Down here, they pay you dogshit and still charge insane prices.

Cost of living in Florida is damn close to Massachusetts, while having nothing of the things I mentioned above. Instead we have gang violence, high cost of living, lower wages, unbearable heat, traffic to match Boston,(with no transit) and significantly MORE illegal immigrants than Massachusetts does.

I mean just a few months ago some kids shot up a Walmart trying to kill someone and hit like 6 innocent people in the process like a mile away from my house. People get shot on the highway in road rage incidents all the time. 1/5 drivers here have no car insurance, which means it’s the highest auto insurance premiums in the country. Don’t even mention the home insurance.

Also, the police don’t even try to catch the bad guys around here. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate how “free” Florida is in some respects, but I can’t raise my kid here.

I appreciate your intel on FLA. We are heading south in 6 yrs when I can retire. FLA is on the list but the Carolina's are looking better as I gather more info.

 

[TG Pioneer]

OP, I’ll sell you my house south of Taunton for short money. Nice little town, one stop light, votes Republican, good PD… if you absolutely must move to Mass. it’s the only town I know that has all that.

 

[LakeTrout]

A lot of them are "have to piss in the woods outside" clubs but there are tons with 0-300 yard ranges for minimal membership fees.

This actually rang a bell. When I was in MA there was a club that was a 100 yard pit with no facilities but you can shoot whatever you wanted, at whatever you wanted, for dirt cheap. Seemed like the nicer clubs with better facilities had all of the restrictions. I didn’t find much in the way of ranges beyond 100 yards, and I lived in a red part of the state, if you could call it that.

It did seem like a lot more gun clubs in MA than free states, which seems odd. But in lots of free states people just shoot in their yards, and in areas of the town that are accepted as places for shooting, so maybe that is one reason there aren’t a lot of gun clubs. It seems ironic but maybe anti-2A states like MA actually have more or better gun club choices because it isn’t as acceptable to shoot on one’s own property and there aren’t as many public areas where shooting is welcomed or accepted.

 

[Woodsloafer]

This actually rang a bell. When I was in MA there was a club that was a 100 yard pit with no facilities but you can shoot whatever you wanted, at whatever you wanted, for dirt cheap. Seemed like the nicer clubs with better facilities had all of the restrictions. I didn’t find much in the way of ranges beyond 100 yards, and I lived in a red part of the state, if you could call it that.

It did seem like a lot more gun clubs in MA than free states, which seems odd. But in lots of free states people just shoot in their yards, and in areas of the town that are accepted as places for shooting, so maybe that is one reason there aren’t a lot of gun clubs. It seems ironic but maybe anti-2A states like MA actually have more or better gun club choices because it isn’t as acceptable to shoot on one’s own property and there aren’t as many public areas where shooting is welcomed or accepted.

Depends on where you are in MA, not sure about eastern MA but in my area of central MA nobody cares if you shoot on your on property. I have three ranges/clubs within 5-7 miles and I still just do all my shooting on my own property and never heard a peep of a complaint.

 

[jkelly1229]

Also, for you MBTA haters, I know it sucks. But at least it’s there. For the other 90% of the country, you’re stuck taking the bus if you want transit. I’ll take something over nothing

No the mbta is essentially nothing

Im not trying to be judgemental of your situation or w/e but if you're stuck using a bus in a city like tampa I'm not sure 35% is going to get you where you need to be financially to live near the boston area.

Otherwise i guess having a train is a thing but yeah. Like will you really use it?

 

[jkelly1229]

Florida s*cks a**.

Unless you own a boat, or are into some sort of ocean related sport, it s*cks a**. Gun ranges south of Tampa are a joke. The nice range near Tampa with over 1K yards just closed because it was on leased land. Lame AF

I can't speak for anything north of Tampa.

Dont lump the good part of florida with anything below orlando

 

[jkelly1229]

I can buy a lot of services for 1000/mo. That’s insane.

I think 1 k a year ?

 

[Broc]

I think 1 k a year ?

No. $1K/month.

 

[jkelly1229]

I appreciate your intel on FLA. We are heading south in 6 yrs when I can retire. FLA is on the list but the Carolina's are looking better as I gather more info.

Hes on crack the cost of living is not close unless you want to retire to very very south florida.

The state is exponentially cheaper if you just ignore the keys and miami

 

[jkelly1229]

No. $1K/month.

Thats interesting lol

 

[Broc]

I’ve heard this more than once now, and I am wondering what makes them amazing? When I was in MA, it seemed that most of them heavily restricted what kind of targets you could shoot, how you could shoot (restricting rapid fire, drawing and shooting, etc.), and most of them didn’t have much in the way of longer ranges to shoot at either. Did they get better or was I just not aware of the ones that were better?

Have you been to Florida ranges?

You are lucky if you can find anything over 50 yards that doesn't require a monthly membership + booking time.

I would take shooting at only paper (boring) but laid back with a yearly fee over any of that FL junk.

As far as drawing, I am lucky that 2 of the 4 clubs I belong to have action pits that allow drawing and walking around as well as setting up my own targets. But I don't blame most clubs for not allowing it, have you seen the idiots that show up?

 

[Broc]

The club I joined down here has much better facilities than the club I belonged to in MA (Ames).

I go to a club to shoot, not to sit in the club house and talk to the same 5 old dudes that hang out every weekend.

Give me a place to shoot with ZERO facilities and I will be happy.

In fact, one the clubs I belong to that has 100, 200, 300 yards and action pits has ZERO facilities. I also pay $70/year and it is f*cking awesome.

 

[LakeTrout]

Have you been to Florida ranges?

You are lucky if you can find anything over 50 yards that doesn't require a monthly membership + booking time.

I would take shooting at only paper (boring) but laid back with a yearly fee over any of that FL junk.

As far as drawing, I am lucky that 2 of the 4 clubs I belong to have action pits that allow drawing and walking around as well as setting up my own targets. But I don't blame most clubs for not allowing it, have you seen the idiots that show up?

I have not been to any Florida ranges. That sounds miserable and it’s just another reason why I have zero desire to ever spend time in Florida.

I’ve seen a lot of idiotic things at the range too. But I still think I would pass on a membership to one that had too many restrictions on how you can shoot or what you can shoot at. I understand their reasons, but that club wouldn’t be for me.

 

[Broc]

I have not been to any Florida ranges. That sounds miserable and it’s just another reason why I have zero desire to ever spend time in Florida.

I’ve seen a lot of idiotic things at the range too. But I still think I would pass on a membership to one that had too many restrictions on how you can shoot or what you can shoot at. I understand their reasons, but that club wouldn’t be for me.

Most clubs, except for maybe 4 or 5 in MA are not strict around how people can shoot. The rules are there in case you are being an idiot. They are usually very strict on drawing from holster, but that is because people are morons.

It is easy to avoid those 4 or 5 ranges in MA.

 

[Lank]

A raucous caucus!

Norfolk, leafy and libtarded

 

[TrashcanDan]

I don't think local m@ssholes appreciate the density of clubs / ranges that we have here. In Tennessee I had to drive 20 minutes back in the day but that drive became minimum 35 minutes to my club with a 100 yd range. There was an indoor range in Nashville that was 15 minutes, but not my thing. 40 minutes to other outdoor ranges. My brother in Texas lives outside of Ft. Worth in mini-ranch central. He has to drive 30 minutes to the nearest outdoor rifle range. There's probably a dozen ranges/clubs within 30 minutes of me here in MA and 4 or 5 are within 15 minutes. A 40 minute radius probably has 30 clubs or so within it. I'd be surprised if there's another location on the planet with a higher density of clubs/ranges. Maybe there is, that would be a happy thing.

No clubs around here brotherman.
Tryin to find a match on practiscore usually involves a haul. Its not like driving from West Bridgewater to a Walls of Steel shoot. Its like driving from W.B. to Nashua or something.
Its a gun range desert down here.

Had a membership at this place for a year. Drive was at least an hour. Down one mountain, up another. Passed on the renewal.
Shot a match in Crossville a few weeks ago. Hour and 20 minute drive. Nice club, distance is too much.
2 or 3 indoor ranges in Chattanooga. Nothin more than 50 ft. Not my thing either.
Pretty sure everyone close to me uses their backyard. Might have to meander towards the gunfire.