New Long Distance Rifle Range

[John C.]

Not sure what the current status of Granby is (500 yard range open). But, having recently relocated to Catskill Mountains of New York from Boston suburbs, I thought I'd post some info. about a new range that opened last year - Sheepdog Warrior.

First, the bad news:

(i) Although I've encountered people from MA and CT, it is a hike for your guys. Depending on where you're coming from you are looking at a 3-4 hour drive from Eastern Mass.

(ii) It is a private range (not a Club) so the cost is $30 per hour or $1,000 per year But they do give you 15-20 minutes to set up and usually round down if you are there a little over an hour/2 hrs., etc.

Now the good news:

(i) Multiple ranges for pistol/AR, etc.

(ii) The main range has steel targets set from 100 to 1000 yards at various intervals. Lots of different kind of steel, some reactive, some 1-2 MOA targets, some larger targets. But bring your rangefinders, the distances are not marked and can be deceptive.

(iii) Everything is very well maintained and well thought out. Steel always seems freshly painted, so you can see hits. Targets are predominately white and set against a dark dirt background (berm), so they are easy to see. Also, generally pretty easy to see your misses, since they will kick up some dirt. The owner is very friendly, seems like a good guy and is genuinely interested in getting feedback from shooters and insuring you had a good experience. Also, the place is never crowded (although I've only been on weekdays) and they have plenty of shooting benches. They also have various barricades, etc. set up for you PRS guys and have started to host matches.

I believe this place just opened last year and the owner has invested a bunch of money into making it nice. Would be great to see this become a success, since there are so few places in the northeast that you can really shoot out to 1000 yards.

 

[frenchman]

Looks really good, and I'm glad there's people investing in those kind of things. But.... Here's the thing: it's in NY. No way, no how, under no circumstances, will I take any guns to that state. Like, at all, ever.

 

[Broc]

When Granby had issues with the town, they shot a match or two there. Everyone says it is very nice...but $30/hr. Damn.

I am a member of Granby, their website is updated. Great guys.

 

[John C.]

I hear you frenchman. I'm living in NY temporarily and only brought two bolt guns into the state. All other rifles and handguns (and I have a lot of them) are elsewhere and will be retrieved when I move out west in @ 9 months. But if you want to go there to shoot out to 800 or 1000 yards, you're really better served by a decent bolt gun; and even in NY you can't get in trouble for that can you?

Broccoli, I do wish they'd lower their prices a little. I generally go there 2-4 times a month. Would go there more often if it cost less. In fact, I'd even be willing to drop $5-600 on a yearly membership, in which case I'd go all the time. But $1,000 is too much, particularly since last year they closed the range down for 3-4 months during the winter.

However, no one ever said long range shooting was cheap. I'm just starting out, so I haven't dropped a ton of money on super high end optics or a state of the art rifle. But between the scope, bipod, a couple of bags, match ammo, and my latest acquisition - a decent rangefinder, I've still dropped bunch of cash. Ultimately, if I want to improve at long range shooting I've realized I have to actually shoot beyond 1-200 yards.

 

[Broc]

I agree on cost of long range shooting...but I wont spend $300/shooting session on top of all the other costs...when I have Granby.

I go to the range for 8-10 hrs with the sharps.