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North Attleboro - American Firearms School

I was there tonight with a friend of a friend that is a longtime member there.

I haven't fired a weapon in about 10 years. I had a good time. I was at the 25 yard range and thought it was decent. It was pretty clean, or much cleaner than other clubs I have shot at.

The ventilation system worked good as it wasn't smokey in there despite the place being pretty busy.

While I was mostly paying attention to what I was doing, I did not see anyone do anything stupid and there was constant supervision from the staff.

I finally got to shoot my rifle so it was good. I think I might go back next week and shoot my Glock to blow out the cobwebs.
 
I was in there this past week for the first, the guys behind the counter were pretty laid back, they had some ammo on the shelf, but I had found some at Dick’s. I walked in the range and there were maybe 4 or 5 other people in there that looked like they were having fun. I walked up to my lane and stapled my target up, and missed the part about mounting it below the line on the backing, newbie mistake I will admit. As I was in the booth loading mags, the RSO came over and barked something at me from like 4 feet away. When I turned and looked at him he repeated himself rather coarsely. Now I would understand if the guy was swamped, and corrected a dozen people on this mistake, the lack of a polite “hey buddy, lower your target a little”, but like I said it was for the most part empty. As I was shooting he was sweeping brass around me almost as if he wanted me to stop shooting and assist. Once I was done I threw away my trash, policed the brass in my area, because I had the whole back half to myself, and went to get my ID and be on my way. As I was at the counter the RSO that was in there with me was complaining about how people go there and pay for his instruction and not his housekeeping abilities with the intent of anyone in the store to hear him.

I don’t think I am going to go out of my way to go there, I am going to apply to the Taunton club, its not too much further out of my way, and actually on my way home from work.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.
 
They rent guns and sell ammo at AFS for use on their indoor range. No permits needed. I have been there on several occasions, and have seen people renting guns who look like gang bangers. Several years ago, I once watched one of these guys walk away from the firing line, load his gun, chamber it, and then walk back to the line to shoot it. No range officer in sight. When I complained about this at the front desk, the person on duty didn't seem very concerned. On the five or six times I have shot there, I have never seen a range officer supervising the range. I don't go there any more.
 
There are lots of different threads here about American Firearms School, so I just picked this one for my post. My wife and I went to AFS yesterday and took their Learn to Shoot program. We're both waiting for our LTCs, and AFS is one of the few places we've found where we can shoot while we're waiting. It has been years since I've shot, and I haven't had any formal training. My wife has only shot once or twice, and was very nervous around handguns. There were two other people in our class (a mother and son, neither of which had ever shot), and Jeff was our instructor. After about 30 minutes of classroom instruction on safety, handgun basics, stance, aiming, etc., we went into their small range in the back (2 lanes). About half-way through shooting, Jeff had to leave, and Eddie came in to take over instruction. I did pretty good my first 50 rounds; only about 5 outside the circle. The second 50, not so hot. My wife was just the opposite. She smoked me on the second 50, with only 4 outside the circles. You should have seen her grin. Later that night we were having dinner with one of her sisters and a niece, and the niece asked her, "So did you shoot well?" My wife said, "Umm, Yes!" Both Jeff and Eddie were great. We're both anxious to get our LTCs so that we can get our own handguns and keep practicing.
 
I have shot here a few times mid week around early afternoon and I have never seen more than 2 other shooters in there at a time. BUT... last Friday night i took my fiance there to teach her to shoot and DAMN! I thought I was in a day care I had to wait 25 minutes to get 1 lane because half the highschool was renting glocks and AK's didnt know what kind of ammo to use needed help loading, UGH i know its great to see more people getting into the sport but half them smelt of pot and it just ruined my shooting experience. it was at that point I knew I would never be purchasing a membership.
 
What a great place.

I went there today to try a few firearms and end up trying 4 pistols, a revolver, a shotgun and an AK. The guys there were helpful and informative.
As I was talking to one of the instructors, I asked him what he carried and his opinion of the firearms they rented. I Had tried the M&P 40C, P226 and glock 22. I liked the M&P but he said he recommends the P229, so I tried the P229 and as I was testing the rented firearm he comes out to the range to let me try his and WOW did I fall in love with it. The first shot at 4 yards was a 1/4 of dead center. WOW! This place is great and the people are too. I recommend to any first time shooter/buyer to definitely come here. This was the second time I've been here and both have been great experiences. Thanks to all of the staff at American Firearms School. I just can't wait for my license to come through.

Thanks Again,
Tilsnow[dance][cheers]
 
I am a member there because you can shoot rifle indoors and there are no minimum target distances. If it weren't for that I wouldn't step foot in the place, as a few people have already stated they get alot of the "gangbanger" looking people in there. The last few times I have been (and I go weekdays usually in the late AM) there is invariably a small group of 2 or 3 18 year olds with the saggy pants laughing and screwing around while doing mag dump after mag dump. It would seem to me that it would only be a matter of time before one of these idiots lights a round off someplace other than downrange. The place is always pretty crowded as well.
 
Went in and used their range for the fist time today. It was dead when i got there at 4 but by 5 there where a half dozen people...still not crowded. Put about 150 rounds down range and called it day. I'll definitly go back, they kind of have the market cornered on public indoor ranges.
 
I went to AFS a few weeks ago.. I was lookin' for a 'public option' range and found it at AFS.. I hadn't fired my new (to me) Glock 27 yet and was itchin' to do so.. I got there around 1900 and found the place to be about at 75% capacity.. Overall good experience, the range officer was chatting with someone way on the other side where I was the whole time i was there.. I did make it a point to notice how folks were acting / shooting on either side of my lane.. as they were of me as well.. Overall, a good experience there.. I'll be back, but i don't see the benefit of becoming a member there...
 
DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.....Place is not worth it...way to expensive to become a member. I am not a beginner shooter but have been there 3 times already in fact just the other night. Past 2 times were not pleasant....some of there staff there have no personality or think they know it all......i hate people like that why be an instructor if you are going to act like MR know it all....."Jeff Marshall"....that guy is an idiot, i hope he reads this i dont care. He approaches people an immediately has something to say about what they are doing wrong in his eye.....even seasoned shooters....what a joke he is.....PLEASE.....dont give advise to people that dont ask for it. Its funny cause when i was waiting in the fancy room they have i was listening in on "this piece of work" when he had a couple of people in a room he was teaching, that dude was like bragging in shit how good he was at shooting an AR15.....to this kid.......i was like come on enough of the talking buddy. The guy does not know jack shit.....they should fire him.

As for the other guy there old "Henri Chouinard"....get a sense of humor.......tried to be friendly with this guy and he has no sense of humor at all.

FYI i Chose to put the names of the staff in this thread to let others know about these people as my experience i had with them as well as other people i know that have been there too, so you will be aware of the kind of people they have working there......i really hope they read this too.......because i would say it to there face. I am not trying to be a smart ass just putting my two cents in about the place.......Please dont waste your money becoming a member there. Its just a last resort for me for now so i go once a month and shoot at my club with my smaller cal. firearms. I really dont like going there.

They also should not have young punk kids shooting there that joke around in the firing line, there where a few the other night, i really felt uncomfortable shooting near them, its only a matter of time when people like that end up shooting someone by accident....i hope to god it never happens.

They should not let people with out an LTC shoot unless someone is near them that has experience show them, and no one was around them....whats wrong with that picture?........


PLEASE BE ADVISED GOING THERE!! [rules]


[coffee]
 
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Went there a couple years ago, before I got my license. I wasn't new to guns, just wasn't licensed at the time. I actually was trained at 14 years old by the local police dept, so I know how to safely handle all firearms. There was an old skinny guy there playing R.O. that was a total D.H. And the last time I went there I had to actually tell an Asian man, that was there with his early 20's daughter, to keep barrel pointed down range twice. Place is an accident waiting to happen IMHO.
 
I think if they remained a public range but did away with the rental guns the place would improve, or it would at least thin the douchebag heard down a bit.
 
My son and I got our training there with Henry. He was a great instructor. He's very patient, does have a sense of humor, explains things well and made it a very pleasant day. I'd go back and take a class with Henry in a heartbeat.

Best,

Rich


Tomeb said:
DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.....

As for the other guy there old "Henri Chouinard"....get a sense of humor.......tried to be friendly with this guy and he has no sense of humor at all.
Click to expand...
 
i recently took their learn to shoot program and I also had Henry good guy showed what i needed to know and left me alone to relax and get into a grove. i look forward to going back and renting a few different pistols so i can figure out what to buy! when i went weekday evening place was maybe half full so not bad! would recommend for a newbie such as myself! i am signed up for mass basic at mass firearms so i will be able to compare those two soon!
 
gasaman said:
Went there a couple years ago, before I got my license. I wasn't new to guns, just wasn't licensed at the time. I actually was trained at 14 years old by the local police dept, so I know how to safely handle all firearms. There was an old skinny guy there playing R.O. that was a total D.H. And the last time I went there I had to actually tell an Asian man, that was there with his early 20's daughter, to keep barrel pointed down range twice. Place is an accident waiting to happen IMHO.
Click to expand...

They did have any accident, last July:

http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/105679-AFS-accident
 
There is one guy there who is really cool. All others i could care for. Nice place, but they sling some mis-information. I took my safety course there and got a lot of false info regarding laws. I will shoot there on occasion and may still take a couple of courses there depending on who runs it but i'll not be applying for membership there.
 
richc said:
My son and I got our training there with Henry. He was a great instructor. He's very patient, does have a sense of humor, explains things well and made it a very pleasant day. I'd go back and take a class with Henry in a heartbeat.

Best,

Rich
Click to expand...

I took my Basic Pistol course with him, and I was not that impressed with his knowledge of firearms laws or answering questions without it seeming like a chore.
 
Tomeb said:
DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.....Place is not worth it...way to expensive to become a member. I am not a beginner shooter but have been there 3 times already in fact just the other night. Past 2 times were not pleasant....some of there staff there have no personality or think they know it all......i hate people like that why be an instructor if you are going to act like MR know it all....."Jeff Marshall"....that guy is an idiot, i hope he reads this i dont care. He approaches people an immediately has something to say about what they are doing wrong in his eye.....even seasoned shooters....what a joke he is.....PLEASE.....dont give advise to people that dont ask for it. Its funny cause when i was waiting in the fancy room they have i was listening in on "this piece of work" when he had a couple of people in a room he was teaching, that dude was like bragging in shit how good he was at shooting an AR15.....to this kid.......i was like come on enough of the talking buddy. The guy does not know jack shit.....they should fire him.

As for the other guy there old "Henri Chouinard"....get a sense of humor.......tried to be friendly with this guy and he has no sense of humor at all.

FYI i Chose to put the names of the staff in this thread to let others know about these people as my experience i had with them as well as other people i know that have been there too, so you will be aware of the kind of people they have working there......i really hope they read this too.......because i would say it to there face. I am not trying to be a smart ass just putting my two cents in about the place.......Please dont waste your money becoming a member there. Its just a last resort for me for now so i go once a month and shoot at my club with my smaller cal. firearms. I really dont like going there.

They also should not have young punk kids shooting there that joke around in the firing line, there where a few the other night, i really felt uncomfortable shooting near them, its only a matter of time when people like that end up shooting someone by accident....i hope to god it never happens.

They should not let people with out an LTC shoot unless someone is near them that has experience show them, and no one was around them....whats wrong with that picture?........


PLEASE BE ADVISED GOING THERE!! [rules]


[coffee]
Click to expand...

I actually have to agree with you on a lot of this stuff. I got my membership because I do not have my LTC yet and I wanted a place where I can rent and figure out what I want to buy. I did take the learn to shoot class which I enjoyed and helped. I opted to take my 101 class to get my LTC at the Sig Sauer Academy. I've also signed up for other courses and enjoy it. I opted to go there because there staff has a lot more experiance than the ones at AFS.

I'm a newbie but I know i'm very safe and I take it seriously. Since i've been there i have seen some people that mad me nervous. I will not be renewing my memebership there once I get my LTC and probably try to get a memebership at Harvard. Regardless if you dont have an LTC this is your best option for the simple fact of renting a firearm.
 
I've shot here on several occasions. While I, personally, haven't witnessed any of the unsafe conditions mentioned about, I can see how they'd occur. There seems to be a good number of individuals there for a good time rather than practice - Not a bad thing, but they don't seem to always "get" the proper procedure WRT safe handling (Or know that you need to borrow or bring your own eyes and ears)

As for the staff, I've had good experiences and some meh experiences. Focusing on the positives, I took a course with Jeff (The Learn to Shoot course) and he was wonderful. For someone who hadn't ever shot a gun before, his teaching style was really good - Clear, patient, gave practical and easy to understand advice. There was a young (early/mid-20s?) kid there working as a SO on the range a few weeks ago (He told me he moonlights as one of those Reenactor Tour Guides in Downtown Boston. I got a kick out of that!) Really standup guy - Gave me some instruction gratis, which I appreciated.

That being said, I do not believe I'll be joining. The price point is pretty high. I feel like I can get more "value" joining Braintree or Harvard.

AM
 
I stopped in there today for a few minutes because the job took me right past their front door.
I checked out the store area and looked at the selection of guns for sale and rent.
No, I didn't check out the range area but I did see quite few vehicles belonging to Homeland Security in the parking lot.
I chatted with the assistant manager a bit and told him about NES, he said he had never heard of us.
He pulled it up on his computer and I told him to check out the reviews of AFS from our members.
Since I myself didn't actually read this thread before tonight, I didn't know how many negative posts were written.
I wonder how he felt about the comments after he read them. [laugh]
 
I'm a North Shore kid, so I haven't had much of an opportunity to check out AFS before yesterday, when I was down that way picking up a shotgun from the classifieds. I had brought a couple of firearms to shoot in addition to the shotgun. The store area was spacious and organized and awe inspiring :) After a brief chat with the person at the counter, I grabbed my gear and went on into the range. Check In/Check Out was easy and smooth, and I suspect that because it was a Friday evening, it was less than busy, but I loved it!

If I'm down that way again, I would absolutely stop in for some range time at AFS.
 
Recently I have been down south - and boy o boy... I was amazed, the public ranges there offer GREAT DISCOUNTS for women - So there have been many instances where I have ladies, whom I would love to take out shooting - but I dont want to waste $$$ when all they ***MIGHT**** do is shoot a couple of rounds and call it a day!

I would like to see AFS and in general more public ranges promote female participation - but with that ofcourse.... some safety requirements. I absolutely get disgusted when guys give a girl a weapon, and then make fun of something poor girl was not expecting :(
 
AG6329 said:
Recently I have been down south - and boy o boy... I was amazed, the public ranges there offer GREAT DISCOUNTS for women - So there have been many instances where I have ladies, whom I would love to take out shooting - but I dont want to waste $$$ when all they ***MIGHT**** do is shoot a couple of rounds and call it a day!

I would like to see AFS and in general more public ranges promote female participation - but with that ofcourse.... some safety requirements. I absolutely get disgusted when guys give a girl a weapon, and then make fun of something poor girl was not expecting :(
Click to expand...

Although I do not know the details, I know that Manchester Firing Line has been offering special deals and evenings to women for as long as I've known about the place. Check their website. Manchester Firing Line Range, LLC.
 
great place i been a member for a while its clean, the ventilation system is great and if its cold out heats on, hot out a/c is on and you can rent other firearms befor you make ur next purchase everyone has there own opinion weather they like it or not. its just how it is
 
I've been there a few times with work qualifying. We usually rent it out early weekend mornings so we don't interfere. It's not a bad range. I never talked with staff so I can't comment on that.
 
AG6329 said:
Recently I have been down south - and boy o boy... I was amazed, the public ranges there offer GREAT DISCOUNTS for women - So there have been many instances where I have ladies, whom I would love to take out shooting - but I dont want to waste $$$ when all they ***MIGHT**** do is shoot a couple of rounds and call it a day!

I would like to see AFS and in general more public ranges promote female participation - but with that ofcourse.... some safety requirements. I absolutely get disgusted when guys give a girl a weapon, and then make fun of something poor girl was not expecting :(
Click to expand...


Tuesdays are Ladies' Days at AFS - free range time for women.
 
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