Hi I'm looking to join a Gun club and this one seems a good choice since it's really close to where i live, anyone out there a member that can share some more info about the club (outdoor range distance) and how the club is overall?
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Stoughton Fish and Game
- Thread starter DarkRyu
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Come down the street and check out Massapoag on the Sharon / Canton line. Right at Cobbs corner. This Sunday we have a registered skeet shoot going on so it will be busy but if you come by Saturday I can show you around. Ill be there practicing for Sunday. Just walk in the skeet / trap house (the lower building )and ask around. Someone will help you out if I'm out shooting. Any questions just inbox me.
http://www.massapoagsportsmensclub.com/
http://www.massapoagsportsmensclub.com/
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Stoughton F&G is "interesting". 38 years ago I called there on a Sunday morning, asked the person who answered the phone if anyone there could give me any info about the club and how to join. His answer was Nobody here can help you and hung up. In 1998 I repeated this action, rinse and repeat . . . must have reached the same guy! ![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
So I looked elsewhere and never looked back.
Take a trip over to Holbrook Sportsmen's Club and Braintree Rifle & Pistol, both close by Randolph. See if what they offer suits your needs. You'll find friendly and helpful people at both clubs.
So I looked elsewhere and never looked back.Take a trip over to Holbrook Sportsmen's Club and Braintree Rifle & Pistol, both close by Randolph. See if what they offer suits your needs. You'll find friendly and helpful people at both clubs.
I had a similar situation with Stoughton and I grew up there. I called and they said I had to come to a meeting and get someone to sponsor me. I went to the meeting and they wouldn't let me in the door because I wasn't a member....I never met anyone who was a member...I think it may be a cult...
LTCRN
NES Member
No, it's not a cult. I'm not a member, but have been there as a guest. No animal sacrifices going on there from what I saw. The members and their guests that I have met there are just like any other people you'll meet at any other range that require a sponsorship to get in.
Michele
NES Member
^^^ X2. I'm in Randolph and looked at the others in the area. Massapoag has a smaller membership and suits me better buy ymmv.
No high powered rifles though so if that's something you need yes, look at Holbrook or Braintree.
I have been with a friend, who's dad is a member.
Plenty of parking. I've never set foot in the clubhouse/indoor range. The only outdoor range I shot at was relatively small (5 'lanes' max it looks like). You can setup targets at 10, 25, 50, and 100 yards. The left of this range is more geared towards pistol. They have sand/dirt berms setup with wooden target holders (the targets are kept at the firing line, but the way the holders are setup you can take a stand, put your target on, and slide it into the holder behind the berm). The range itself has a very large hill at the end of it, I think maybe 120 yards. Its not terrible. My ONLY complaint I had was one time I went there was a guy there who was shooting from way behind the firing line while practicing his draw from holster. I stood way back until he was done/left.
Plenty of parking. I've never set foot in the clubhouse/indoor range. The only outdoor range I shot at was relatively small (5 'lanes' max it looks like). You can setup targets at 10, 25, 50, and 100 yards. The left of this range is more geared towards pistol. They have sand/dirt berms setup with wooden target holders (the targets are kept at the firing line, but the way the holders are setup you can take a stand, put your target on, and slide it into the holder behind the berm). The range itself has a very large hill at the end of it, I think maybe 120 yards. Its not terrible. My ONLY complaint I had was one time I went there was a guy there who was shooting from way behind the firing line while practicing his draw from holster. I stood way back until he was done/left.
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I took a look at Massapoag >30 years ago, seemed to be a "fat cat's" club for very serious skeet/trap shooters. As a Newbie to shooting, I was told that they weren't geared to new shooters on skeet/trap as that would slow their line down. Maybe things have changed over the years, I don't know.
I did take a NRA Home Firearms Responsibility course (pre-cursor to NRA Home Firearm Safety taught today) back ~1978 there (only club in region that seemed to run a course back then as it wasn't required for permits) and we also shot rifle and pistol (.22 only) as part of the class. The indoor range seemed to be very tiny and the outdoor range was small and very limited.
Even though BR&P has 5K members most are "paper members" that pay and never show up after their first few trips after joining up. I was RO last Saturday, really nice day. CMP Match on the rifle range and NOBODY on the pistol range (outdoor) until ~12:30PM. From that time to 3PM (end of my shift) we probably had 20 shooters show up total, usually 5-8 at a time (member with 1-3 guests - I don't bust people on the guest policy). If it got crowded (it didn't) I would have had the member use only one lane for himself/guest so that members weren't waiting (never saw this happen in 15 years). Club meetings draw ~50 members/meeting even though we serve a free dinner. In the new clubhouse there were 5-6 people sitting around having coffee and chatting, ~5 people on the new indoor range (15 lanes). [Before Mansfield F&G building collapse, we also got 40-50 members/meeting and we charged $5 for dinner, only ~300 club members then. When I was a member of Ames (~300 members) even with free dinner, ~40-50 people per meeting. Do you see a trend here?]
My recommendation is not to be scared off by club membership or even sponsor rules. Check out what each club has to offer (check websites first) to find out if it meshes with your desires and then pay a visit to each one (Sunday mornings seem to work best), take a tour, feel out the people you meet and choose whichever club suits your needs. Over the years I've scoped out clubs from Westwood/Norwood to Taunton/Attleboro to Braintree/Holbrook before making decisions. Many I visited strictly online, then physically visited those of interest afterwards.
The guest policy at BRP has always just rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that they want paying members, as would any business. But the people I am usually bringing to the range are friends who belong to other ranges already and we're just rotating at who's range we're shooting at that weekend. Inside the course of the month, if I do that, and say want to bring someone interested in getting into firearms, I have to get permission to do that. Just never sat right with me. I've always abided by the rule of 1 guest per month just because I couldn't be bothered to ask permission to have more and I didn't want to be a dick in bringing people in and having actual members not be able to utilize the range.
That being said, most of the time when I am there, even in warmer weather, there aren't a lot of people using the pistol or rifle ranges.
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Short of one particular RO (who will send you home, but he's easy to avoid-the RO roster is posted at the clubhouse), the rest of us do not hassle members bringing guests. If busy we will invoke the rule 1 member = 1 lane, but in 15 years I've never had to do this. We do want you to supervise your guest, but if it becomes apparent that the guest is a safe shooter, hitting the target you won't hear a peep out of me (or most of the ROs). Getting permission is simple, Email to CRO, he always approves and bring his response with you in case you are challenged (actually easier to avoid said "problem RO") . . . I've never asked to see the Email and since "direct family members" are exempt from the 1 guest rule, I just never bother to ask. NOBODY enforces the 1x/month either as we have no mechanism to do so. Nobody really pushes people to join, BR&P does NOT "need" new members!
Other clubs are more onerous (intentional or not): Mansfield F&G has a rule where the same person (if non-family) can only be a guest 2 or 3x/year (I forget which and too lazy to look right now). IIRC Ames was 2x per lifetime for non-family!! I'm not aware of enforcement efforts at either club wrt this particular anomaly.
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There are numerous things allowed that are NOT in the current rulebook. IIRC the words in the book haven't been changed since ~2007, just reprinted. We discuss issues at our RO meetings and after investigation (if felt necessary) the CRO advises the ROs that certain things are allowed. I bought some clay bird holders at a gun show and showed it to the CRO . . . we now have permission to use these on the outdoor ranges. Others have raised questions about use of shotguns on the rifle range and some relaxation of rules have been implemented there as well. The direct family member thing has been discussed a few times and clarified verbally, not reflected in written rules however.
The only way to know what changes over time is to come to meetings or raise a question to be addressed by the BOD or CRO. Therefore, ~4950 members have no clue about these changes. Keep in mind, I'm just a member who volunteers time as an RO and attends every meeting he can. I am not a BOD member or officer (never will be either) and have no say in how things are run other than expressing one man's opinion to those in charge on rare occasion. I haven't participated in a New Member Orientation in 14 years (I did help out my first year as a member as I was also the Legislative Chmn) so I have no idea if/what exceptions to the printed rule book (and online version) are discussed with new members.
I have always worried that someone checked the guest book for violators.
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Nope, not even "Super RO" who likes to send everyone home!
Are those the corrugated plastic ones that hold six birds? Tell me what's approved and I'll go buy some right now.
Check out Holbrook I have been a member for 35 years.
Here is a small clip you can look at to see what kind of shooting goes on, it's a very active club.
You can also check out the website
Good luck in your search.
https://hsc1.wildapricot.org/Aboutus
Here is a small clip you can look at to see what kind of shooting goes on, it's a very active club.
You can also check out the website
Good luck in your search.
https://hsc1.wildapricot.org/Aboutus
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Yes it is. Just be aware that most ROs don't know this, only those present at the meeting where I brought it in and we discussed it. If questioned, have them call Joe (CRO). You probably have to bring your own target frames for them or an electric screw gun/screws otherwise.
