Rating Collegiate Ranges

[PaulB]

Which college range is considered the "best" by shooters and coaches? I am interested in the quality of the facility, not just the size (I believe that West Point has the most overall firing points)

Best overall?
Best smallbore? (lighting, environment {ventilation, heat, A/C}, other)
Best air gun?
Best shooter lounge area?
Best office area?
Best storage rooms?
Best locker room?
Best spectator area?

[GCSInc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zyjLyBp64

No Reply...

[blg]

Ole Miss

[esaabye]

How about best options for a female pistol shooter? Understanding there is no NCAA options but hoping to find some schools to look at that have softball and a range for training within easy access.

[crankythunder]

I would have to give my vote for Michigan State's Demmer Center.

It is also open to the public.

Only down side is that it is rimfire only and the range is limited to 50 foot.


Regards,

Cranky

[blg]

It is interesting that MSU has that nice facility and no NCAA rifle team.

[dschaller]

Top collegiate pistol programs are at Citadel, M.I.T., North Dakota State, Ohio State, Texas A&M, West Point, Naval Academy, Coast Guard Academy, and Utah. I don't know which ones have strong Softball programs, but if you are looking for a scholarship, I do know that M.I.T. is Division 3, so they don't have athletic scholarships.

[crankythunder]

It is interesting that MSU has that nice facility and no NCAA rifle team.

They are working on it but the facility is rather new. The old range was closed due to lead/safety issues a while ago and MSU did not have any facilities at all for a long period of time. What is nice is that it is open to the public and that they encourage competition. It is the home range of both my pistol and rifle teams.

I have worked extensively with the director there and with a lotta help from my teammates, we have written a program such that we have a computer controlled range commands for the bullseye competitions. It is not totally automatic, you need to manually guide it through any alibi targets if needed but the commands are consistent from target to target with no screw ups and the targets turn automatically at exactly 20 seconds and 10 seconds.

While we have had lots of positive feedback on the computerized bullseye commands, we have received a couple criticisms that it takes too long between targets but we have programmed all the required range commands for each string as prescribed in the rule book. At other ranges with a biological range officer, some of the commands are forgoed such that a 900 point match would would take between 55 and 60 mins whereas a typical computer called match lasts 70 minutes.


Cranky

Cranky

[Ryan Anderson]

So I just got done with my four years of NCAA shooting as a member of the University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle team. Honestly, one of the reasons I chose Alaska is because of the quality of its range; in terms of what is good for training and the typical collegiate shooting match, I think it's ideal. It has 12 large (non-cramped) firing points, a lot of room behind the line, two rows of stadium seating inside the range, a very quiet ventilation system, an excellent team locker room, and has the coach's office with a door that opens right into the range (rather than being across campus as some other schools have). Additionally, for training purposes, the range is open whenever the athletic building is open, so shooters can train whenever they want all day long, which is very convenient (many schools do not offer this luxury). Some other schools have very loud ventilation systems, others are very cramped behind the line, some have athlete lockers right on the range rather than in an actual team room which makes for a very cramped training area, and some have either no spectator area or a spectator area that makes it very difficult to actually watch the shooting.

All in all, I would definitely say Alaska is the best by a wide margin.

By comparison, the WVU range is very cramped and the spectator area does not offer a good view of the range, the UK range is very cramped and the coach's office isn't even in the same building, the Ole Miss range has very loud ventilation and the spectator area doesn't offer a great view (and the range is in its own building and is only open a couple hours a day for training whenever the coach comes in), Murray has a nice locker room but no room for spectators, and Ohio State is not set up to accommodate spectators very well (although the coach's office is right there which is nice).

Ryan

[Mark Freedman]

I always thought the Naval Academy had the best pistol range. It was in the basement of their dormitory (Bancroft Hall). They didn't even have to go outside to go practice.

Mark

[wmw3]

West Point Range has dedicated 20 small bore rifle firing points, 20 air gun points (both SB and Air have MegaLink targets) and a 22 point 25 yard pistol range with turning targets - oh, by the way - the 25 yard range is rated to .50 cal and we have a rifle test cradle that can accommodate a .50 cal. Barrett...... Lots of space, two team rooms.

Maybe I'm biased, but I think its the best range in the country.

Web
Head Coach, Army Rifle.

[Dustin Clays]

Does anyone have a status update on the U of Nevada's rifle range?

When it will be completed?

Are they still shooting in shipping containers?

[SPPcoach]

I would have to give my vote for Michigan State's Demmer Center.

Sad that the Demmer Center is now only archery.
What a waste of resources.

[James Storm]

Several years ago I visited the University Of Alaska and saw their elegant indoor range which should be on the list.

[BrazosbyNemo]

Old post but just came across it. My biggest complaint as a parent/spectator is very cramped and limited area to watch the match. Second, and a very close second is lack of A/C. My daughter shot on the Granbury HS team and now shoots in college. I have to say that at Granbury HS there was plenty of room and seating for spectators and I wasn’t sitting there sweating watching a match. Best air conditioning goes to the Air Force Academy. West Point has a nice, big range but no room for spectators. Murray has a decent size range but no room for spectators and has no A/C. TCU has a decent range but no room for spectators and though they have A/C it must not work well as everyone is sweating, even in the winter. I have been to other college ranges and about the same. I haven’t been to Alaska but it sounds nice. Probably my favorite was Air Force. Not a lot of room for spectators but at least it had great air conditioning. I guess attending matches at Granbury HS kind of raised the bar on my expectations of what a decent college range should be like.

[M-1903A4]

West Virginia University has a good rifle range with electronic targets/scoring systems which is ported out into the spectator area as of 2017. TCU we used to shoot air pistol and air rifle leagues in their range until non-students were moved to Haltom City. The range was great for rifles, but not well set up for air pistol. As far as I know UT-Arlington's range is permanently closed due to lead issues and non-repair of the carriers and Texas Tech University does not have even a temporary air pistol range set up anymore since the entire building it was in is now gone as well. Texas A&M used to have the air pistol range under the stadium and it felt like you were shooting in a cave with limited light and it could be frosty in there (as of 1994), and their .22 range was updated under the ROTC building to have electronic carriers. I have heard Sam Houston State University had a range constructed in 1995, but I have no idea if it is still there or operational.