Durham Pistol and Rifle Club

Jim D

Jim D

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Wasn't sure best place to put this. Anyone a member or used facility?
I put my name on waiting list to join. Website says it can be years before spot opens.
Looking for place to shoot AR without being hassled by range officer with over the top rules.
 
I've been a member for 10 years. Its a great club. Has a dedicated rifle range with targets from 100-300 yards, a general purpose range with targets at 50 and 100, a 22-only rimfire range, a bullseye pistol range, 3 short range pistol pits, and three open shooting pits with movable targets.

The waiting list is long, and has been since Obama was elected. We've raised the membership cap several times, but it hasn't shortened the wait time much.

We don't have assigned range officers at DPRC. Every member is expected to be a range officer of sorts. The members are responsible for insuring that they shoot in a safe manner, and that they don't damage club property or facilities.
 
NKD said:
It's a great club and well worth the wait.

Wish it had plate racks though. They took them out and that's a major bummer.
Click to expand...

Any ideas why they were removed?
Upkeep too costly or perceived safety or abuse issues?

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No one at that club shoots USPSA or practical style matches, so I imagine they got very little use.
sarcasm font
 
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I joined in 2007 when there were about 535 members and no waiting list. Now there are 1300 members and a waiting list of several years. I have been opposed to the increased membership, especially after we went past 1,000 but that is the minority opinion. I have never talked to an officer or board member who didn't want to continue increasing the membership. I must admit that the ranges have not seemed overcrowded in spite of the increase. I went out Tuesday 5 PMish and had the #1 range (50 and 100 yd) to myself. There were a few people on the rifle range (100/200/300) and someone was shooting a handgun out there somewhere. That is light usage considering it was 55 degrees with calm wind. We do have a problem with members damaging steel targets with steel ammo. The plate racks seem to come and go. I remember when there was a plate rack with a sign indicating it did not belong to the club but to an individual member.
 
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Slacker said:
Any ideas why they were removed?
Upkeep too costly or perceived safety or abuse issues?

sarcasm font
No one at that club shoots USPSA or practical style matches, so I imagine they got very little use.
sarcasm font
Click to expand...

I used them every single time I went, as did everyone I know!

They were pretty banged up with plates being dished, so richochets were a concern I guess. They do require to be maintained (as you well know having your own rack and steel). People also need to be educated on how to use them. People often stick paper targets well in front of them and unload mags, somehow failing to realize the bullets are going through the paper and beating up the plate racks! Hard to believe someone wouldn't understand this, but........ people sometimes don't think enough at a gun range.

But, IMO, if the rack is properly sited in front of a tall berm, like all steel, the angles the bullets leave the plates is not any different than any other piece of steel, and can be perfectly safe, as they are at every other range I have been to, including yours.
 
The reason the steel keeps coming down is without fail, some knucklehead will show up with AP ammo, and just have to 'test it out' by blowing a hole through one of the plates. According to the club email, someone did it again a few days ago. They get a week to pay for repairs or they're kicked out.

Most of the members are good folks who want to take care of range equipment, but there's a select few who think there's nothing funnier than damaging plate racks, target stands, etc.
 
RedneckFur said:
The reason the steel keeps coming down is without fail, some knucklehead will show up with AP ammo, and just have to 'test it out' by blowing a hole through one of the plates. According to the club email, someone did it again a few days ago. They get a week to pay for repairs or they're kicked out.

Most of the members are good folks who want to take care of range equipment, but there's a select few who think there's nothing funnier than damaging plate racks, target stands, etc.
Click to expand...

We are talking about plate racks on pistol range.

Edit: PM'd you too about other stuff!
 
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Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a long time before I could be a member.

Anyone used Triple Target Range in Sophia? I'm only 25 minutes from there.
 
For those on the waiting list, annually DPRC typically has 300+ people apply for membership. During the Obama years it was 400+ and right after Sandy Hook nearly 600. Annually there are only 60-70 membership slots available. From 2015-2016 DPRC added several hundred members and worked through the waiting list up to about late 2014. Doing the math, assuming a roughly 25% conversion of list to actual members, and you are at a 5-7 year wait.

@RedneckFur and @NKD : the stories I could tell you....:D
 
Slacker said:
Any ideas why they were removed?
Upkeep too costly or perceived safety or abuse issues?

sarcasm font
No one at that club shoots USPSA or practical style matches, so I imagine they got very little use.
sarcasm font
Click to expand...

The plate racks were very old and beat up. They could (and did many times) ricochet bullets off the range instead of into the ground. There was just too much steel angled to deflect bullets some direction other than down, and even the steel that was angled down properly was beat up and chipped enough that it didn't reliably deflect down instead of splashing.

I have shot those plate racks with pistol and bird shot many hundreds of times myself, and I am sorry they are gone, but they were past their useful safe lifetime. We are looking into comparable targets that are safer as well.

There is still a lot of steel on some of the ranges.

The waiting list is around 3 years I believe.
 
JimP42 said:
The plate racks were very old and beat up. They could (and did many times) ricochet bullets off the range instead of into the ground. There was just too much steel angled to deflect bullets some direction other than down, and even the steel that was angled down properly was beat up and chipped enough that it didn't reliably deflect down instead of splashing.

I have shot those plate racks with pistol and bird shot many hundreds of times myself, and I am sorry they are gone, but they were past their useful safe lifetime. We are looking into comparable targets that are safer as well.

There is still a lot of steel on some of the ranges.

The waiting list is around 3 years I believe.
Click to expand...

Are the non serviceable racks for sale?
 
I joined the waiting list in July of 2014. I got the invite April of 2017.
It's worth the wait and worth the money.
Put your name on the waiting list and forget about it.
One day you get an email.
 
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JimP42 said:
The plate racks were very old and beat up. They could (and did many times) ricochet bullets off the range instead of into the ground. There was just too much steel angled to deflect bullets some direction other than down, and even the steel that was angled down properly was beat up and chipped enough that it didn't reliably deflect down instead of splashing.

I have shot those plate racks with pistol and bird shot many hundreds of times myself, and I am sorry they are gone, but they were past their useful safe lifetime. We are looking into comparable targets that are safer as well.

There is still a lot of steel on some of the ranges.
Click to expand...

Any updates? Havent seen any replacements or alternatives. Been ten months now. Just curious if this has fallen off the radar?

Those plates racks have all been serviced/refurbished and are now in someone else’s range being put to good use, btw.
 
It isn’t at the top of the list but it is on the list. Could be something as simple as 6 swinging plates in a row hanging from one bar. You’d have to call hits but not have to reset. I will bring it up again.
 
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Jim D said:
Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a long time before I could be a member.

Anyone used Triple Target Range in Sophia? I'm only 25 minutes from there.
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I go to triple target range often since it is close to me and relatively cheap. 10 an hour for non members, 6 an hour for members and membership is 75 a year. Of course that means it does not have all the bells and whistles of most private clubs. Rifle range has target stands at 75, 85, 100 & 125. Shotgun range has a couple throwers. Pistol range has some close in target holders and a few further away. If you go during the week it is never busy. Weekends can be busier but never had an issue getting a lane. No RSO's though owner will bark at you if you are shooting AR'S to fast.
Good place for the money
Hit me up, I'd go with you..
 
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It’s a shame what happened to the plate racks. Someone (or someone’s..) with an AK (7.62 diameter holes) damaged the hell out of them.

The legs were shot into Swiss cheese, the angle braces were all shot off, and they even shot at the fingers that reset the plates - gouging them badly and preventing them from operating properly. This was intentional, because the damage is not what would be normally experienced when shooting them. Because the reset fingers are behind by the plates, they had to shoot at the rack from an angle in front of it to even be able to see them. The nature of the damage was not from ricochets either - it was from direct hits.

Not to mention that many of the steel plates themselves were badly gouged from rifle ammo.

Paying a commercial welding and fabrication shop to repair them would have cost a significant amount.

Such as shame.
 
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It's the morons in this world that ruin it for everybody.
I hope they are just as fun loving in their final resting place.
Somehow I doubt it.
Good.
 
Amps13,
Thanks for following up on Triple Target.
I've went there 4 times since March. Definitely my favorite place. Plenty of room. No crazy rules. Everyone has been sensible since you are your own RSO.
Jim
 
I'm not a member there but do attend rifle matches. One of the matches had schards from a nearby berm outfalling into our area, enough to get the attention of the match director.

Durham is a very good place to shoot a match, nice folks. All the members I've met are very safety conscious.
 
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