TargetTalk

Hey guys,
An old friend of mine emigrated to Austin,TX a while back and recently mentioned that despite being there for a few years now, he's never actually gone shooting yet. I'd like to recommend a range to him, but the only one I found from a google search that I'd instantly point a beginner towards was the University ROTC range in Austin.

I'm guessing there's at least one Texan here who could recommend a range suitable for a beginner to come to and safely give ISSF shooting a try, and to return to if they caught the bug? Please?

If your friend intends on shooting strictly ISSF / USAS administered events, he will find those in very short supply in Texas.
If he is a beginning shooter and wants to participate there are a few matches each month in the area.
The closest match to Austin would be in Marble Falls (north & west) about an hour's drive, held every 4th Saturday.
http://www.copperheadcreek.com
There is another match In San Antonio on the 2nd Saturday of each month at the San Antonio Rifle & Pistol Club Range, 12135 Jarratt Road,
Atascosa, Texas 78002.
There are similar matches every weekend at different locations within the state, depending on how far you are willing to drive.
All of the matches above are governed by NRA rules.

dadmolder wrote:If your friend intends on shooting strictly ISSF / USAS administered events, he will find those in very short supply in Texas.

He wouldn't know ISSF from IDPA :)
But in Ireland, ISSF is all he'd be familiar with (and by familiar with, I mean "has seen photos of me shooting ISSF"), and I'd rather recommend him an air pistol or air rifle range to learn the basics on before sending him to a range where he'd be expected to know his way around a firearm a bit better; simply because that's how I learnt and I think it's a good way to learn.

If he is a beginning shooter

We're talking total, never-picked-up-a-firearm-in-his-life beginner here. I'm not so much looking for a place for a competitive shooter to adopt as his new home, as I am a place that will take a total neophyte and show them the basics safely in a clean, nice-looking, friendly place. Ranges with robust senses of humour and where the toilet facilities comprise a well-fertilised patch of shrubbery tend to abound in Ireland and I'd rather not have that be his first look at our sport (like I said, he's an old friend - I'd rather not recommend him to a place where he won't get a good introduction, or worse, won't be safe). I'm thinking bright shiny safe fun, even at the risk of looking like Disneyland.

Does anything near Austin fit that bill, does anyone know?

Has he looked at this club?

http://www.austinrifleclub.org/index.html

I know it's an all-purpose type club, but it does have an air range.