does anyone know of a club or a place where someone can go and shoot different cartridges? for istance, if you wanted to try several nitro express cartridges, is there a place that will let you shoot them (for a fee, of course)? it doesnt nessessarily have to be safari type cartridges, i would like to shoot some of the old "cowboy action' type ones, and ones like the 38 super, 348 winchester, etc. would like to try before i buy type deal. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

Some retail gun ranges, usually associates with a gun store, will "Rent" guns. And the one I am familiar with will gladly let you shoot any thing they have (no New guns). Provided you use/buy their ammo. They have a large selection of firearms to chose from.
Check around at gun shops in your area. Usually these people are very helpful.

muck

Muck-
the gun stores around us are pistol only (indoor ranges). they do rent used pistols, however, most of the staff are not helpful. was seeing if there was a business that 'rented" out guns in their range, like what you are talking about, some exoctics, like a 348 winchester per se, and you could buy their ammo and shoot them. thanks for the reply, if you come across anything else, let me know.

I wish you could move Out West-- like to Utah, Nevada, Arizona, et cetera. We love our guns and we use 'em, too. There is a 300-yard range 45 miles from me. It has 20 concrete shootin' benches (bring your own chair) for righties or lefties under roof, another 10 out in the sun for prone shootin' or use of your own shootin' table, another 20-position pistol range a few hundred feet away (I never visit it) and three shotgun pits down the road a bit. No charge to use any part of the facility. Best thing of all: NO RSO at any time. None. Never. Ever. You go there, you shoot. When you want to change targets, you just agree with the others there that it's target time. Never had a problem with anybody disagreeing. You can go downrange, change your targets and if you don't need to, you can clean your gun while others are downrange. I hate it when you are not allowed to even touch your gun while others are downrange. What a waste of valuable time. If my bolt is out and my cleaning rod is at work, why can I not touch my gun? Makes no sense to me. Cleaning a gun while the range is live uses up valuable shootin' time...

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
I wish you could move Out West-- like to Utah, Nevada, Arizona, et cetera. We love our guns and we use 'em, too. There is a 300-yard range 45 miles from me. It has 20 concrete shootin' benches (bring your own chair) for righties or lefties under roof, another 10 out in the sun for prone shootin' or use of your own shootin' table, another 20-position pistol range a few hundred feet away (I never visit it) and three shotgun pits down the road a bit. No charge to use any part of the facility. Best thing of all: NO RSO at any time. None. Never. Ever. You go there, you shoot. When you want to change targets, you just agree with the others there that it's target time. Never had a problem with anybody disagreeing. You can go downrange, change your targets and if you don't need to, you can clean your gun while others are downrange. I hate it when you are not allowed to even touch your gun while others are downrange. What a waste of valuable time. If my bolt is out and my cleaning rod is at work, why can I not touch my gun? Makes no sense to me. Cleaning a gun while the range is live uses up valuable shootin' time...

I agree,, its just that I dont trust random people that I dont know to be messin with there gun while I am walking down range. There are just too many fools out there.

Once I get to know the people that I am there with its not so bad but you must admit that there are some people you would not trust that much and it takes a while to trust people enough to know they wont do something stupid

No RO I wouldn't want to be within four miles of that situation.

I'd advise you to simply find a private citizen who owns some of the guns you want to try (maybe ask around at your local range, or your local gunsmith). Shooters are a Friendly and Helpful group. I frequently try another's guns while at the range, and let them shoot mine, give them fresh targets. Whatever I can do to help. If you want to shoot some cowboy action guns, go to a cowboy action shooting. I guarantee you that someone will put a gun in your hands. Same for the .38 super. Go to a pistol match. Great for meeting like minded folks anyway. Good luck.

As far as RO's go:
None of the ranges that I have ever shot at, and I've shot quite a bit at six or so different ranges, have a Range Officer on duty (and I like that fact). The one range I can remember shooting at with an RO was with my uncle when I was younger. It was he and I, one other shooter, and the RO. They had lots of PITA rules about when to go downrange. I think you could only go down range every Half Hour, no matter what. If you wanted to change targets sooner, tuff. Even if you were alone. Stupid. That range had a four page list of rules to follow. It was like something the Gov't would run.
A couple of the ranges that I've belonged to have a General Public Sight In Day for non-members, and on that specific weekend, we do monitor the range. You can imagine lots of Joe Q Publics coming out to shoot. I generally prefer the ranges out in the country a bit. I seldom have company, and then only one or two others. It's easy, you simply ask if they mind if you go down range, and vice versa. No problem. I watch the other shooters, and if one seems too green to be safe, I leave, or speak up about what they are doing. Simple.
That being said, in July, a friend and I went to the public range to do some tuning on another friend's rifle. In July, you never have company, due to the heat (south Louisiana). We got there early, and were heading out by 11 or so. By then, there were six or seven others out there. Most I've ever seen at that range at the same time. Barack is working some magic alright.

quote:

I wouldn't want to be within four miles of that situation.

If you were to move to a place in the US that had lots of wide-open space to shoot, you'd soon begin to think differently. RSOs have aplace. But as for me, I prefer to shoot out in the desert or at the range with all the good things and no RSO. I'll be there on Friday with a friend to piss away a bunch of .38Special ammo.

I don't go anywhere were some a-hole is playing with his firearm when I'm putting up targets down range. Cleaning or not! Do that to me on any range I'm on ..... and I'll become the range RSO! And I'll send you packing!

I wouldn't want to shoot with somebody who objects to an rso supervised range. Range safety rules have been learned by experience. Any one who objects to having someone there on the range to inform new shooters of safety rules, and make sure experienced shooters don't slack up a little is probably unsafe their self.

I don't agree with that. Nobody is proposing that Safety not be a concern, or that safety rules go out the window. I just don't like a grumpy old Nazi telling me what I can and can't do every second I'm out trying to relax and enjoy myself. Should a cop be assigned to follow me when I travel the back roads, just in case I don't drive safely? Furthermore, at least here, I don't know of a single range with an RSO. You guys that don't want to shoot without one would shoot a lot less, and drive a lot more. None of the outdoor ranges are busy enough to justify a person there all the time. I can think of maybe three in the whole state. Not to say that there aren't more, but I know of at least six that don't have one. Most of the guys who regularly shoot at ranges know what the hell they are doing. Most of the time at the range, you are alone or maybe one other person is there anyway. I don't see the problem, and I can't think of ever hearing of any "situations" occurring that caused someone to be hurt that would have been avoided by having an RSO.
I'm not saying that they are all bad, but the one I have had experience with was a major pain in the ass and was all about exercising his authority, like not letting you go downrange until he said it was "time", even if you and he were the only ones there.
I think that the vast majority of the gun owning public are responsible citizens who can be trusted. Maybe that's just me....

BANG ... and it's all over.

Just like that.

That thought process is why not even your police are armed.

One moment of not paying attention while driving could kill a dozen. Should we all have a safety officer riding along with us.

Again, if it is sooooooo dangerous to have guns and no safety officer present, then where are all the accidents at rifle ranges to back up your assertion?

That's a very worthy point.
The range I shoot at has no range officer: there's never been a accident there in something like 40 years.
The folks on the line seem able to police each other, without making a production out of it.

My club range is 15 miles from Seattle and is situated in a metropolitan area of 1+ million hooman beans. The public is welcome, for a fee, at any time. A lot of the visitors are not well versed in safety. It's not uncommon to see muzzles swinging around plus other careless behavior. A lot of these folks are twenty-something males with cheap semi-autos and an excess of attitude. Our RO is a Goth chick with a damned sharp tongue when needed. I'm glad to have her there.

I am an director and treasurer for a 460 man club. Upon joining our club you are sat down and review our club rules and range rules. We have no RSO unless their is a sanctioned shoot going on. When you have so many members, you do not know everyones safety awareness on fire arms. We police ourselves as good members and every incident that gets reported gets reviewed. For the safety of all we enforce these rules for the well being of all. No handling guns and actions open when people are down range. At a gun range the only place to safely point a firearm is down range so when folks are on it ,no touch. There is all kind of stupid folks out there that don't even know when the firearm is loaded and you want them behind you fudging with it. Just about all shooting accidents happen with a supposedly unloaded gun. We usually have anywhere from 100 to 150 people on our waiting list to join so our rules must not be to offensive. I have seen to much crap at the public ranges to stay clear. A friend of mine was at the public range on day and some uptown homeboys where with one standing down range with a pepsi bottle extended in his hand and his buddy shooting at it with a sideways nine. He left and said they where cleansing the gene pool. I don't want jerks like that messing on the line behind me.