Long Range options in Southern IN

[TNLongShot]

Greetings folks!

I recently relocated to Charlestown, IN from Tennessee and I'm trying to get my bearings. I have found the range listing here on these boards and the only one I came across was the Southern Indiana Rifle and Pistol Club. They have a 500 yard range but it's not accessible all the time looks like (also 200 yard range). I'm not opposed to joining a club but with my work schedule I'm afraid to commit to something and then not be able to participate in a structured/scheduled organization. I'd love to get into competitions if my schedule did allow though! That one is the only one I see that's within an hour of my location though, and I was just curious if there were any other options.

I had a few private farms I shot on back in TN, one was 800 to 1000 yard shots, the other was 300 to 600 yards. I'm guessing I'm not going to find anything public access with that type of setup and club may be my only option. I saw some highly suggested ones up north, however they were 4 hours from me which is the same drive back to my family properties in TN!

Also, I'm looking to get a suppressor for my 300 WM, I've stopped in at Orion Arms in Clarksville, but that's the only place I've been to. They had a Huntertown Arms Chameleon, but not much else for me. Any suggestions on go-to shops and smiths would also be appreciated. It's really strange not knowing where anything is!

Thanks in advance!

 

[tedk]

Might try Knob Creek from Jeffersonville it's 30-45 min.

 

[mammynun]

I'm a happy member of SIR&PC, and here's my experience with shooting there...

M-F during business hours the range is usually empty; Sat/Sun there's usually/often times a match till 5-6pm-ish so casual shooting is a non-starter till the match is over. If you work normal business hours, your best bet is to get involved in shooting the competitions; there are some VERY good shooters that are friendly and willing to share their knowledge. The website has a calendar that is kept current and shows when the range is reserved for specific activities.

You have to cross a small creek to get to the range, and the creek can turn into raging class 5 rapids when it's raining. Raining or not, you'll want something with some ground clearance as the creek bottom can vary from smooth to very rough.

The range itself has a covered 200 yard line with benches and an uncovered berm, and berms at 300 and 500 to shoot from. If you're shooting at 500 yards and a shooter arrives who want to shoot at 200, you have 30 minutes to finish what you're doing; this also applies to all the other directions. This has never been an issue for me, but I bring something appropriate to shoot at any distance in case the issue arises. I suspect that's what most people do as well. Most people seem to shoot at the 200yd line as there are specific dates/times that the range is reserved for long range (500 yd) practice.

When you're at the 200 yd line it is acceptable (and common) to place your own targets at some closer distance; you just need to ensure that a lane marker isn't behind your target (4 rules kinda stuff). Pistols are often fired in this scenario, as are rifles for zero and load development.

Speaking of lane markers... competitions are shot in the USMC style; you are teamed up and half the people go downrange into the pits (a thick earthen wall backed by a foot of concrete) and hoist the target for their teammate to shoot. When the target is engaged, the person in the pits lowers the target, marks the impact with a scoring disk, covers any previous hole with an appropriately colored paster, and raises the target to be re-engaged. This repeats for the course of fire (usually 20 rounds). Not a big deal, but some people seem to get freaked out over it so I thought I'd mention it.

There's also an indoor pistol range in Georgetown, IN but I've never shot there... I think it's 25 yards? They hold pistol matches there.

Here's a link to the calendar for the outdoor range: 2015 Outdoor Range Events

To sum it up, I work odd hours so I usually go to the range when most people are at work. The downside for me is that I usually can't participate in the matches. There few matches I have been able to attend were well run and safe. The shooters were VERY good (did I already mention that? ); they compete at Camp Perry and do quite well representing Indiana on the national level. Coming from an Army 11B background I thought I was a pretty good shot and, while I can successfully engage a 100% IPSC piece of steel at 500yds 99.9% for the time, these guys consider it to be a blown shot if they don't hit the 2.5" X ring. I'm not there, but I'm working on it.

 

[TNLongShot]

Thanks for the info on SIR&PC. I have looked at their website and been in contact via email with some questions. I would like to try competition shooting and hopefully can do that, but I do work every other Saturday so it will be hit or miss. The upside is when I work Saturday I have Friday off which may give me a good time to go for casual shooting. I may try to come out to the next meeting.

 

[TNLongShot]

Here's a link to the calendar for the outdoor range: 2015 Outdoor Range Events

I just checked out the site and it looks like they are having F-Class competition this Saturday. I'm not familiar at all with NRA rules, so I had to do some reading but it looks like this is what my 300 WM would fall under. I need to weigh it, I have a McCree Precision chasis and I can't remember what it ended up at. I don't know if I'm ready to compete without first observing a match. I've never competed, but my personal best so far was a 5/8" group at 200 yards and a 6" group at 990 yards. I'm sure my rifle is worthy, just not sure if I am!

I will try to make it to the meeting Wednesday and at least come out and spectate at this weekend's match.

Now, I am in the process of getting a suppressor, so the thought of squeezing off 60 rounds in one session with no break or suppressor makes my shoulder hurt. I think the most I've done at one time is 30.

 

[mammynun]

I just checked out the site and it looks like they are having F-Class competition this Saturday. I'm not familiar at all with NRA rules, so I had to do some reading but it looks like this is what my 300 WM would fall under. I need to weigh it, I have a McCree Precision chasis and I can't remember what it ended up at. I don't know if I'm ready to compete without first observing a match. I've never competed, but my personal best so far was a 5/8" group at 200 yards and a 6" group at 990 yards. I'm sure my rifle is worthy, just not sure if I am!

I will try to make it to the meeting Wednesday and at least come out and spectate at this weekend's match.

Now, I am in the process of getting a suppressor, so the thought of squeezing off 60 rounds in one session with no break or suppressor makes my shoulder hurt. I think the most I've done at one time is 30.

We're sort of in the same boat, I'm an NRA competition newbie too... when I joined the club they didn't shoot F or F/TR class and I didn't have a rifle that was legal for the High Power class, and I was bummed that I couldn't use my suppressor in competition (POA vs POI shift with/without the can mounted still causes me issues when I forget to factor in the offset). But the rules are the rules, I guess...
I wouldn't look forward to shooting a 300WM 60 time w/o a brake or suppressor either! I shoot a .308 AR-10 in F/TR, the people who are most competitive seem to shoot .260 Ackley (or something along those lines). When I shoot in a match I don't compete against anyone but myself; as long as I improve I'm happy. The people who consistently do well all reload and they all say that reloading is essential to consistency, and you won't "win" w/o being consistent.
If you do go to next weeks match, take your rifle and go ahead and shoot it. They won't have a problem with it unless it has a brake which tends to **** off everyone else on the line (especially a brake and a 300WM), so unscrew that puppy! No one will weigh your rifle unless 1. it's obviously 10lbs over weight, and 2. you're kicking their ass. But if you go and you're not prepared to shoot, you'll regret it.

Here's me and my F/TR rifle... well, it doesn't have the suppressor on in matches. If I can make it to the match be sure to say "hi!"

 

[WyldeShot]

I'm a happy member of SIR&PC, and here's my experience with shooting there...

M-F during business hours the range is usually empty; Sat/Sun there's usually/often times a match till 5-6pm-ish so casual shooting is a non-starter till the match is over. If you work normal business hours, your best bet is to get involved in shooting the competitions; there are some VERY good shooters that are friendly and willing to share their knowledge. The website has a calendar that is kept current and shows when the range is reserved for specific activities.

You have to cross a small creek to get to the range, and the creek can turn into raging class 5 rapids when it's raining. Raining or not, you'll want something with some ground clearance as the creek bottom can vary from smooth to very rough.

The range itself has a covered 200 yard line with benches and an uncovered berm, and berms at 300 and 500 to shoot from. If you're shooting at 500 yards and a shooter arrives who want to shoot at 200, you have 30 minutes to finish what you're doing; this also applies to all the other directions. This has never been an issue for me, but I bring something appropriate to shoot at any distance in case the issue arises. I suspect that's what most people do as well. Most people seem to shoot at the 200yd line as there are specific dates/times that the range is reserved for long range (500 yd) practice.

When you're at the 200 yd line it is acceptable (and common) to place your own targets at some closer distance; you just need to ensure that a lane marker isn't behind your target (4 rules kinda stuff). Pistols are often fired in this scenario, as are rifles for zero and load development.

Speaking of lane markers... competitions are shot in the USMC style; you are teamed up and half the people go downrange into the pits (a thick earthen wall backed by a foot of concrete) and hoist the target for their teammate to shoot. When the target is engaged, the person in the pits lowers the target, marks the impact with a scoring disk, covers any previous hole with an appropriately colored paster, and raises the target to be re-engaged. This repeats for the course of fire (usually 20 rounds). Not a big deal, but some people seem to get freaked out over it so I thought I'd mention it.

There's also an indoor pistol range in Georgetown, IN but I've never shot there... I think it's 25 yards? They hold pistol matches there.

Here's a link to the calendar for the outdoor range: 2015 Outdoor Range Events

To sum it up, I work odd hours so I usually go to the range when most people are at work. The downside for me is that I usually can't participate in the matches. There few matches I have been able to attend were well run and safe. The shooters were VERY good (did I already mention that? ); they compete at Camp Perry and do quite well representing Indiana on the national level. Coming from an Army 11B background I thought I was a pretty good shot and, while I can successfully engage a 100% IPSC piece of steel at 500yds 99.9% for the time, these guys consider it to be a blown shot if they don't hit the 2.5" X ring. I'm not there, but I'm working on it.

Very good advise!
I didn't know Georgetown, IN had a indoor pistol range. Where is it located?