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I know Quail Creek has been bashed soundly on this board but I thought I would give them a shout out after a great afternoon there.

I had stopped shooting there, not because of a bad experience, but because I couldn't shoot FMJ's there and that was what I was loading all my WWII rifles with. So I switched to Elm Fork so I could burn through my FMJ's on their 50yd line. After a not shooting there for a year and reading all the bad press I was a little leery although I had never personally had a bad time there. Elm Fork won't let me shoot my WWII irons on their 100yd line so back to Quail Creek I went. Range was fairly quiet, in fact deserted when I got there around 1:30pm. A couple people showed up and joined me on the 100yd line and just about everyone else who showed up were on the pistol line.

RO's were great!!! Polite, friendly and quite helpful with one of the other shooters who was kinda new (but old, go figure). I shot my Enfield No4MKI to my hearts content. I've switched to a 150gr Speer Spitzer which performed great. Remember, its an old battle axe so its going to be minute of man. I shot about 75 rounds and managed an actual group more or less. Its certainly no tack driver but a really heavy hitting plinker that is accurate enough to be fun. It will definately put the shot where you point it but I only have the crude flip battle sight on it so its a little difficult to "point" correctly. Need to install the correct micrometer peep on it someday and see how it does.

Anyway...good day at Quail Creek. Thought they should get some credit.

I shoot at QC on and off because it happens to be the range closest to where I live. I've seen very little of the sort of problems from the range folks that others unfortunately ran into. There are a couple of guys there who are a little "high-strung", lets say...but I also see some of the folks that visit the place who could make them that way. Seriously, the no FMJ rule is the most irritating thing about the place. And, hopefully, that will be the only irritation I have there (knock on wood ).

I've been out there a few times, teaching my daughters to shoot. I had a good time. Several times in each visit, someone doesn't open a slide, or they go back up to the table during a cease fire etc. and i felt that the range masters dealt with it well. They didn't cut the folks to shreds but made sure the people knew what was expected.

The deal is, I don't have a problem at all with a gentle reminder if I forget my manners and do something like absentmindedly step forward toward a table during a cease fire. It could happen to anybody. What I won't do is let anyone deal with me the way those boys did before, particularly when I had done nothing particularly wrong, grabbing stuff out of my hands, yelling in my face, and generally treating me like a drunken oaf treats a red-headed step child at a family gathering. On more than one occasion. I'm glad you guys are having a good experience there. I will never go back. Ever.

The Annoyed Man wrote:The deal is, I don't have a problem at all with a gentle reminder if I forget my manners and do something like absentmindedly step forward toward a table during a cease fire. It could happen to anybody. What I won't do is let anyone deal with me the way those boys did before, particularly when I had done nothing particularly wrong, grabbing stuff out of my hands, yelling in my face, and generally treating me like a drunken oaf treats a red-headed step child at a family gathering. On more than one occasion. I'm glad you guys are having a good experience there. I will never go back. Ever.

I only go shooting at times when most other people are at work due to my particular career. I refuse to go to any range on a weekend or outside any usual 9-5 business hours. Usually this means I'm at the range with retiree's. Because of my choice of range times I am rarely at a range during peak occupancy and probably get different RO's. There also isn't the "idiot crush" of the weekend hours which I'm sure tries any RO's sanity.

Flat out, Quail Creek offers a better range experience when shooting my WWII milsurp rifles. I can shoot 100yds with irons so long as I use HP or SP rounds. I usually have the 100yd line to myself or maybe 1 or 2 other shooters. The outdoor "dirt" enviornment is much better on the ears and it feels a little "rustic" as well, which I like.

TAM, I still find it a bit ironic that the BEST range that I have ever shot at is Angeles Crest in...wait for it...Kalifornia!!!!
For those not in the know you could shoot pistol (they have an incredible silhouette gallery), rifle from 100-700 yds with steel at 200-700 permanently there, and 4 trap stands...all for $4 on Thursdays so long as the LA county SWAT team didn't use their standing 1pm range time (they never did for the 2 years I shot there regularly). It was heaven and I miss it...

olafpfj wrote:TAM, I still find it a bit ironic that the BEST range that I have ever shot at is Angeles Crest in...wait for it...Kalifornia!!!!
For those not in the know you could shoot pistol (they have an incredible silhouette gallery), rifle from 100-700 yds with steel at 200-700 permanently there, and 4 trap stands...all for $4 on Thursdays so long as the LA county SWAT team didn't use their standing 1pm range time (they never did for the 2 years I shot there regularly). It was heaven and I miss it...

Absolutely right....the best range I ever visited. And even on Saturdays it was only about $10 or $12.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

olafpfj wrote:TAM, I still find it a bit ironic that the BEST range that I have ever shot at is Angeles Crest in...wait for it...Kalifornia!!!!
For those not in the know you could shoot pistol (they have an incredible silhouette gallery), rifle from 100-700 yds with steel at 200-700 permanently there, and 4 trap stands...all for $4 on Thursdays so long as the LA county SWAT team didn't use their standing 1pm range time (they never did for the 2 years I shot there regularly). It was heaven and I miss it...

Absolutely right....the best range I ever visited. And even on Saturdays it was only about $10 or $12.

We had a good range in my part of NorCal, too. The Yolo Sportsmens Association Range was kind of like QC in the layout, but they had no prohibition on FMJ. They were co-located at a small airstrip, of all places and had HUGE berms. I bought a $50 one-year family membership and my range fees were $8 after that with no time limit, IIRC. I tried to go as often as I could get time off from the USAF. Best of all, I lived in the farm country nearby, so it was only about 15 minutes away.

The Annoyed Man wrote:The deal is, I don't have a problem at all with a gentle reminder if I forget my manners and do something like absentmindedly step forward toward a table during a cease fire. It could happen to anybody. What I won't do is let anyone deal with me the way those boys did before, particularly when I had done nothing particularly wrong, grabbing stuff out of my hands, yelling in my face, and generally treating me like a drunken oaf treats a red-headed step child at a family gathering. On more than one occasion. I'm glad you guys are having a good experience there. I will never go back. Ever.

Wow, that doesnt' make for a fun outing. I wouldn't go back either if I had that experience.

I guess I'm an anomoly. I've never really had any issue with that range other than with some of the other shooters. In those cases, I was glad the RO's were on top of things. Even then, they were firm, but I didn't find them rude when dealing with the idiots. Maybe the RO's changed the coffee they drink or took sensitivity training .

Cheers

camjr wrote:I guess I'm an anomoly. I've never really had any issue with that range other than with some of the other shooters. In those cases, I was glad the RO's were on top of things. Even then, they were firm, but I didn't find them rude when dealing with the idiots. Maybe the RO's changed the coffee they drink or took sensitivity training .

Cheers

I really think its a case of who you run into as ROs at QC. I have a pretty good idea (though I admit I could be wrong) about which individual TAM ran into that soured him so badly on QC. I saw that individual in action one day and he was pretty darned unpleasant (though it wasn't with me, thankfully). As I stated above, there are a couple of other "high strung" guys, but the rest seem okay. And yes, I have seen some other shooters out there that made me cringe. In fact, I left one day due to an individual one table over who simply wouldn't listen to the RO...some sort of older version of a "mall ninja" with a super-AR with 50 gadgets on it, and yet he constantly had problems doing simple things like clearing it for ceasefires...I'd imagine that would be something that would grate on an RO's nerves.

Before I call them,

Anyone know if QC will allow steel "plinking targets" on the 100 yrd line?

Thanks
David

I have been to QC twice and have had a blast both times I was there...... That being said.....

I just recently found the threads that are saying what a horrible place it is. Was kind of surprising to me.

In my opinion,

I think the Range Nazis must not be there anymore... Wife and I both have enjoyed shooting there and have had nothing but great cooperation from the ROs there. RO was a little jumpy at the fact that I pre-loaded a AR mag....but I could live with that....

Now.... My total opinion.....

I wish they had more than a 100 yd range as I love firing my AR as far as I can.
Reasonable price of $15 for all day, as many guns as you want.
They have treated us fair and have not harassed us as I have read they have done to others.
It is close to my house <--- #1 reason I prefer it. since its still a 35-40 minute drive.
I hate that they wont allow FMJ

I swear on my life I have ZERO ties to them and am not trying to promote them (If you dont believe me, id be glad to give you my info to prove it). I just haven't had any bad experiences there.... I am just a old school marine that is getting back into enjoying shooting.

I would love to find a place that has up to 500 yd ranges and allows FMJ..... But they are more than a couple hours drive from me, or way overpriced. (IE: membership) ... I am considering buying a key to Mickeys, but its still a LONG drive for me. However, the freedom there may be worth the drive.

Why would anybody care if a magazine was pre-loaded? (Provided it wasn't installed in the rifle, of course)

sjfcontrol wrote:Why would anybody care if a magazine was pre-loaded? (Provided it wasn't installed in the rifle, of course)

I think that is part of the issue at QC. The ROs each have their own quirks, etc. I've preloaded AR and AK mags and never had a blink from anyone about it...but that doesn't mean the other guy didn't. Thus I can believe that some folks have no issues at QC and others have run into problems. All in the timing factor, I guess.