Need a good handgun range in Salt Lake City.

Tropical Z · October 15, 2001, 12:16 PM

Fiance is in Salt Lake for a year,and i want to give her basic revolver training,and leave her with my .357 Windicator.I'm familiar with the 1300 east-2200 south concept of the city.Thanx in advance!

SAWBONES · October 15, 2001, 01:24 PM

Hi Tropical Z;
Unfortunately, there is NO good range in SLC. In Taylorsville (West Side of SLC), there's a decrepit hole under the ground called Doug's Shootin' Sports, where all the target tracks and hangers are chronically broken. There are several outdoor ranges, including the Holliday Gun Club and the PMAA Range, which are quite good enough, but cold in the winter.
My favorite range is south of SLC by some 30 miles, in Lindon, called The Shooting Range (at A&F Gun). It's new, well-maintained, and has indoor 15 and 25 yard ranges as well as a pop-up steel plate range.
Other than this, there are a few ranges in several farther suburbs, both indoor and outdoor. I can give you details if you can tell me a little more about how far you're willing to go from SLC. Best.

Goet · October 15, 2001, 01:42 PM

They have ranges. Supposed to have interactive lanes as well.

SAWBONES · October 15, 2001, 02:30 PM

They do, of the projected video display type. $10 per use, or thereabouts. Not exactly good for weekly practise on sight alignment, trigger control, and reload drills, but OK for occasional shoot-no shoot drills.
My comments above referred to "standard" ranges, where you can put up a target and shoot at it, ast varying distances. Rangemasters of Utah down in Springville also has the video projection offerings, but with a "standard" range as well. Best.

Shake · October 15, 2001, 08:15 PM

I really don't know of any good ranges in SLC. If you were willing to travel, I could recommend Armsplus in Ogden (www.armsplus.com). Their facility is fairly new and in very good condition. The people are nice. They don't have much in the way of firearms for sale, but Impact Tactical Weapons Systems right around the corner and they have a good selection and class III stuff

. Its about 35 miles from downtown Salt Lake City.

There is a map on their web site.

There are a lot of outdoor places to shoot, but winter is coming.

Shake

Tropical Z · October 16, 2001, 01:21 AM

Thanx everyone!
I'm willing to travel the 30 miles if thats what it takes.

Adventurer_96 · October 16, 2001, 02:30 AM

Excellent.

As it stands right now, I'm going to be stationed in the Ogden area for 2-3 years, so I'm anxious to find out about the shooting facilities in the area.

Check Six.

Correia · October 16, 2001, 01:45 PM

Most of us shoot out in the boonies. The only indoor that I like is Rangemasters in Springville, but I've no experience with either AF in Lindon, or the one by Impact in Ogden. Doug's in a hole. I won't enter that store out of principle.

Winter? I shoot outdoors in the winter. It certainly makes you appreciate gloves.

Went shooting last winter in Providence canyon outside of Logan. 10 degress below 0. We had some leftover Halloween pumpkins to shoot, but our weapons didn't faze them since they had frozen solid. And another advantage, at -10 you learn real fast if your gun is reliable or not.

Shake · October 16, 2001, 02:18 PM

Adventurer_96,

If you are in Ogden, Armsplus is the place to shoot. For shopping try Impact or Sportsman's (if you want to see a big selection). There are a lot of places to shoot outside as well. A lot of desert where you can do informal shooting.

By the way, if you are historically minded the Browning firearm museum is in Ogden as well. There is some pretty neat stuff in there.

Shake

Goet · October 16, 2001, 02:52 PM

"Doug's in a hole. I won't enter that store out of principle."

I was semi-forced to go last week for some last minute ammo. Other than getting charged $2-3 extra on each box and getting NO service for about 10 minutes... mighty pleasurable.

They did have a nice Swede Mauser and SKS.

Shake · October 16, 2001, 10:19 PM

I've purchased 2-3 firearms from Doug's, but they have turned me off since then. There is now an older guy that is working there that will treat you like an equal, but the younger guys act as though they are superior to everything that walks through the door.

Disdain would be a good descriptor.

Shake

Johnny Rad · October 16, 2001, 11:24 PM

Nice to see so many SLC shooters!

I mainly shoot at Holliday Gun Club and expect to continue doing so. However, I also hit Doug's now and then for some up-close shooting. However, just last week, I went shooting at the Lee kay Center on 5600 W (?) for the first time. It's closer than the others, but I prefer the other two ranges. I should try out Lindon and maybe Ogden.

Like you gentlemen, I've got a favorite clerk at Doug's that I like to deal with because the others plain ignore me!

Correia · October 17, 2001, 10:14 AM

My problem with Doug's is that everytime I have been there. (All 3 times

) I have seen massive blatent violations of the basic rules of gun safety. I do not like to have guns pointed at me or my kid. And if the clerk then proceeds to tell me that it is okay because it is empty, then he is a fool, and his employer is a fool for letting him work there.

Ben Shepherd · October 17, 2001, 04:08 PM

I agree with sawbones. AF Gun is great. I maintain an annual pass there. Practice a couple times per week. I've dealt with Brent for 10 or more years now, he's always been willing to help me, the employees are great too. About six months ago I was trying to decide wich 40 semi-auto to get. I took a couple of borrowed guns with me. As soon as the guys found out what I was up to, they were bringing in thier personal carry guns to let me try. Between other patrons and the employees I tried out almost a dozen different guns in one session, back to back. Sure made the decision easier!!

SnakeLover · October 18, 2001, 07:17 PM

Been a few years since I lived out there (91-95) but there was a shooting range just off the old Hiway 89 between Layton and Kaysville. Think it was called Davis County Shooters or something like that. It is all outdoors, but they had short and long distance ranges available. It's not too far south of the Valley View golf course. Maybe one of the locals can confirm if it still exists.

I also thought that Hill AFB had a place to shoot, though I never actually shot there if they did.

Snake

Quartus · October 18, 2001, 08:44 PM

Just guessing here, but I imagine security concerns have shut down civilian access. I KNOW it had for at least a week after 9-11.

Doug444 · October 22, 2001, 09:29 AM

I'm a bit curious about why there is so little appreciation for the Lee Kay Center (5600 W, 2100S)? Granted, you can't practice "run & gun" tactics, nor rapid fire (limited to one shot/second by posted signage), but IMHO it's one of the better outdoor ranges I've been to (I haven't made it to the NRA Whittington Center, yet!). 2-3 range officers and 15-minute fireing sessions at the pistol/shotgun/muzzleloader range (yeah they're volunteers, but that means they probably now a LOT more about firearms that the local PD - which HAS been my experience), and an electric eye to prevent down-range movement on the "live" range at the high-power rifle range (it's "hot" all the time). Sure they have some limitations, but for $2 for the whole day it's hard to beat.

The Holliday Gun Club is much closer, but twice as expensive with NO range supervision at all. The honor system works MOST of the time, but it's NOT my choice for the best place to teach beginners. (Though I've done it out of necessity.)

I agree, Doug's is a hole.

Haven't shot at Custom Arms yet, though I have 2 free 1/2 hour passes - go figure.

One of these days I'll get to check out some of the other ranges.

Doug444

George Hill · October 22, 2001, 10:41 AM

The PMAA Range is also great, yet not a mention.
Thats the range I used to go to when I lived in Sugerhouse. Its just up the canyon a few minutes. Take 80 East and then get off on the East Canyon Exit. It's right there and you can't miss it.
The let you shoot anything there except shot sells. I've been there when SLC Swat pups were there plinking off with lots of assorted HK weapons and they even offered to let me pull off a few from what looked like the oldest MP5 in the world. The range has no problem with .50BMG rounds - Just dont use tracers unless its raining real good. They dont want a fire.

General · October 22, 2001, 11:27 AM

I also recommend Armsplus. They have always given me good service and they don't let unsafe shooters stay.

The Davis County range has been open. It has been taken over by the Wasatch Shooters Assoc. They local LEO's still use it but the management is by WSA. They change their hours during the winter so you may want to call and check with them.

Last time I was on Hill they had really limited who they let shoot due to the amount of lead they were getting.

dctag · October 23, 2001, 12:05 PM

I love rangemasters in Springville. I go about twice a week. They have a bowling pin every thursday at 6:00 and in the winter they have IDPA at 8 in the morning on the 4th saturday of each month. Their range is safe and they have a good selection of guns that you can rent also.

October 15, 2001, 12:16 PM	#1
Tropical Z Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2000 Location: Atlantis Posts: 1,683	Need a good handgun range in Salt Lake City. Fiance is in Salt Lake for a year,and i want to give her basic revolver training,and leave her with my .357 Windicator.I'm familiar with the 1300 east-2200 south concept of the city.Thanx in advance! __________________ FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!!!!!!!

October 15, 2001, 01:24 PM	#2
SAWBONES Senior Member Join Date: March 17, 1999 Location: The third dimension Posts: 670	Hi Tropical Z; Unfortunately, there is NO good range in SLC. In Taylorsville (West Side of SLC), there's a decrepit hole under the ground called Doug's Shootin' Sports, where all the target tracks and hangers are chronically broken. There are several outdoor ranges, including the Holliday Gun Club and the PMAA Range, which are quite good enough, but cold in the winter. My favorite range is south of SLC by some 30 miles, in Lindon, called The Shooting Range (at A&F Gun). It's new, well-maintained, and has indoor 15 and 25 yard ranges as well as a pop-up steel plate range. Other than this, there are a few ranges in several farther suburbs, both indoor and outdoor. I can give you details if you can tell me a little more about how far you're willing to go from SLC. Best. __________________ "Humani nihil alienum"

October 15, 2001, 01:42 PM	#3
Goet Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2000 Location: North Ogden, UT Posts: 953	What about Custom Arms? They have ranges. Supposed to have interactive lanes as well. __________________ Bomb Canada!

October 15, 2001, 02:30 PM	#4
SAWBONES Senior Member Join Date: March 17, 1999 Location: The third dimension Posts: 670	They do, of the projected video display type. $10 per use, or thereabouts. Not exactly good for weekly practise on sight alignment, trigger control, and reload drills, but OK for occasional shoot-no shoot drills. My comments above referred to "standard" ranges, where you can put up a target and shoot at it, ast varying distances. Rangemasters of Utah down in Springville also has the video projection offerings, but with a "standard" range as well. Best. __________________ "Humani nihil alienum"

October 15, 2001, 08:15 PM	#5
Shake Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 1999 Location: Utah Posts: 1,004	I really don't know of any good ranges in SLC. If you were willing to travel, I could recommend Armsplus in Ogden (www.armsplus.com). Their facility is fairly new and in very good condition. The people are nice. They don't have much in the way of firearms for sale, but Impact Tactical Weapons Systems right around the corner and they have a good selection and class III stuff . Its about 35 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. There is a map on their web site. There are a lot of outdoor places to shoot, but winter is coming. Shake __________________ “The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make some other bastard die for his.” -George Patton

October 16, 2001, 01:21 AM	#6
Tropical Z Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2000 Location: Atlantis Posts: 1,683	Thanx everyone! I'm willing to travel the 30 miles if thats what it takes. __________________ FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!!!!!!!

October 16, 2001, 02:30 AM	#7
Adventurer_96 Senior Member Join Date: November 3, 2000 Location: Utah Posts: 417	Excellent. As it stands right now, I'm going to be stationed in the Ogden area for 2-3 years, so I'm anxious to find out about the shooting facilities in the area. Check Six.

October 16, 2001, 01:45 PM	#8
Correia Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 1998 Location: SLC Utah Posts: 3,740	Most of us shoot out in the boonies. The only indoor that I like is Rangemasters in Springville, but I've no experience with either AF in Lindon, or the one by Impact in Ogden. Doug's in a hole. I won't enter that store out of principle. Winter? I shoot outdoors in the winter. It certainly makes you appreciate gloves. Went shooting last winter in Providence canyon outside of Logan. 10 degress below 0. We had some leftover Halloween pumpkins to shoot, but our weapons didn't faze them since they had frozen solid. And another advantage, at -10 you learn real fast if your gun is reliable or not.

October 16, 2001, 02:18 PM	#9
Shake Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 1999 Location: Utah Posts: 1,004	Adventurer_96, If you are in Ogden, Armsplus is the place to shoot. For shopping try Impact or Sportsman's (if you want to see a big selection). There are a lot of places to shoot outside as well. A lot of desert where you can do informal shooting. By the way, if you are historically minded the Browning firearm museum is in Ogden as well. There is some pretty neat stuff in there. Shake __________________ “The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make some other bastard die for his.” -George Patton

October 16, 2001, 02:52 PM	#10
Goet Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2000 Location: North Ogden, UT Posts: 953	"Doug's in a hole. I won't enter that store out of principle." I was semi-forced to go last week for some last minute ammo. Other than getting charged $2-3 extra on each box and getting NO service for about 10 minutes... mighty pleasurable. They did have a nice Swede Mauser and SKS. __________________ Bomb Canada!

October 16, 2001, 10:19 PM	#11
Shake Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 1999 Location: Utah Posts: 1,004	I've purchased 2-3 firearms from Doug's, but they have turned me off since then. There is now an older guy that is working there that will treat you like an equal, but the younger guys act as though they are superior to everything that walks through the door. Disdain would be a good descriptor. Shake __________________ “The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make some other bastard die for his.” -George Patton

October 16, 2001, 11:24 PM	#12
Johnny Rad Senior Member Join Date: February 17, 2001 Posts: 201	Nice to see so many SLC shooters! I mainly shoot at Holliday Gun Club and expect to continue doing so. However, I also hit Doug's now and then for some up-close shooting. However, just last week, I went shooting at the Lee kay Center on 5600 W (?) for the first time. It's closer than the others, but I prefer the other two ranges. I should try out Lindon and maybe Ogden. Like you gentlemen, I've got a favorite clerk at Doug's that I like to deal with because the others plain ignore me!

October 17, 2001, 10:14 AM	#13
Correia Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 1998 Location: SLC Utah Posts: 3,740	My problem with Doug's is that everytime I have been there. (All 3 times ) I have seen massive blatent violations of the basic rules of gun safety. I do not like to have guns pointed at me or my kid. And if the clerk then proceeds to tell me that it is okay because it is empty, then he is a fool, and his employer is a fool for letting him work there.

October 17, 2001, 04:08 PM	#14
Ben Shepherd Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2001 Location: Utah Posts: 1,462	I agree with sawbones. AF Gun is great. I maintain an annual pass there. Practice a couple times per week. I've dealt with Brent for 10 or more years now, he's always been willing to help me, the employees are great too. About six months ago I was trying to decide wich 40 semi-auto to get. I took a couple of borrowed guns with me. As soon as the guys found out what I was up to, they were bringing in thier personal carry guns to let me try. Between other patrons and the employees I tried out almost a dozen different guns in one session, back to back. Sure made the decision easier!! __________________ From my cold dead hands......... NRA certified rifle, pistol and shotgun instructor. Hunter education instructor

October 18, 2001, 07:17 PM	#15
SnakeLover Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2000 Location: Mechanicsville, VA USA Posts: 302	Been a few years since I lived out there (91-95) but there was a shooting range just off the old Hiway 89 between Layton and Kaysville. Think it was called Davis County Shooters or something like that. It is all outdoors, but they had short and long distance ranges available. It's not too far south of the Valley View golf course. Maybe one of the locals can confirm if it still exists. I also thought that Hill AFB had a place to shoot, though I never actually shot there if they did. Snake

October 18, 2001, 08:44 PM	#16
Quartus Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2001 Location: Virginia Posts: 3,823	Just guessing here, but I imagine security concerns have shut down civilian access. I KNOW it had for at least a week after 9-11. __________________ . Better to know what you don't know than to think you know what you don't know.

October 22, 2001, 09:29 AM	#17
Doug444 Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2001 Location: Draper, UT Posts: 257	I'm a bit curious about why there is so little appreciation for the Lee Kay Center (5600 W, 2100S)? Granted, you can't practice "run & gun" tactics, nor rapid fire (limited to one shot/second by posted signage), but IMHO it's one of the better outdoor ranges I've been to (I haven't made it to the NRA Whittington Center, yet!). 2-3 range officers and 15-minute fireing sessions at the pistol/shotgun/muzzleloader range (yeah they're volunteers, but that means they probably now a LOT more about firearms that the local PD - which HAS been my experience), and an electric eye to prevent down-range movement on the "live" range at the high-power rifle range (it's "hot" all the time). Sure they have some limitations, but for $2 for the whole day it's hard to beat. The Holliday Gun Club is much closer, but twice as expensive with NO range supervision at all. The honor system works MOST of the time, but it's NOT my choice for the best place to teach beginners. (Though I've done it out of necessity.) I agree, Doug's is a hole. Haven't shot at Custom Arms yet, though I have 2 free 1/2 hour passes - go figure. One of these days I'll get to check out some of the other ranges. Doug444

October 22, 2001, 10:41 AM	#18
George Hill Staff Alumnus Join Date: October 14, 1998 Location: North Carolina Posts: 11,546	The PMAA Range is also great, yet not a mention. Thats the range I used to go to when I lived in Sugerhouse. Its just up the canyon a few minutes. Take 80 East and then get off on the East Canyon Exit. It's right there and you can't miss it. The let you shoot anything there except shot sells. I've been there when SLC Swat pups were there plinking off with lots of assorted HK weapons and they even offered to let me pull off a few from what looked like the oldest MP5 in the world. The range has no problem with .50BMG rounds - Just dont use tracers unless its raining real good. They dont want a fire. __________________ MAD OGRE

October 22, 2001, 11:27 AM	#19
General Member Join Date: April 24, 1999 Location: Hampton Roads, VA Posts: 17	I also recommend Armsplus. They have always given me good service and they don't let unsafe shooters stay. The Davis County range has been open. It has been taken over by the Wasatch Shooters Assoc. They local LEO's still use it but the management is by WSA. They change their hours during the winter so you may want to call and check with them. Last time I was on Hill they had really limited who they let shoot due to the amount of lead they were getting.

October 23, 2001, 12:05 PM	#20
dctag Member Join Date: October 23, 2001 Location: Orem Utah Posts: 47	Rangemaster I love rangemasters in Springville. I go about twice a week. They have a bowling pin every thursday at 6:00 and in the winter they have IDPA at 8 in the morning on the 4th saturday of each month. Their range is safe and they have a good selection of guns that you can rent also.