How should you find out about local shooting ranges in a new area?
Sometimes people move to a new area or go hunting far from home. What standard methods and techniques should a person use to find out where they can shoot or sight in firearms?
I'm looking for things to try if a basic web search fails to turn up something that fits your criteria for whatever reason. Answers involving specific web resources are acceptable, but I'm looking for more than lmgtfy.com style answers.
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You could visit your local police department and ask if they can recommend a public range. This is somewhat more likely to get you a range that caters to handguns than rifles, but it's worth a try.
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Often, public versions of these ranges are also operated/regulated by the same agency that regulates hunting/fishing/game harvest in the area. When I moved from Alaska to Michigan, I found that while Michigan only has a few public shooting ranges operated by the state (5 perhaps?, and none in my area), they do provide a listing of private shooting ranges in state on the DNR's (Department of Natural Resources) website.
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Often times it makes sense to ask the locals by asking at gun shops or outdoor gear shops like for example Sportsman's Warehouse or Cabela's.
The other good resource would be the managers of public land in the area, sometimes the BLM or Forest service will have designated areas and sometimes areas will be closed to shooting during certain times of the year.
I have also seen in Nevada where towns will have a designated free public shooting range.
What you are basically looking for is a place with,
- Good backstop to keep the bullets from going way past the target
- Out of the wind to make it easier to sight in .
- Decently flat
- Not in an area where people/animals are likely to wander between you and the target.
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