Best rifle ranges in MN

View · by **LumberZach** on Mon Oct 05, 2015 4:23 pm

Hey all,

I'm trying to join a rifle range lately, and I wanted to get your guys opinions of the better ranges in MN. I've shot at oakdale, gopher campfire and seen a bunch of pistol ranges, but I'm curious if the range in Harris or some others should be looked at. I've been to a range or two in Texas and they seemed very top notch, I'm hoping there's something like that in MN. I live in the south metro so I was thinking about doing horse and hunt just to be close, but $500 a year for that range... I don't think I'm going for that. The problem seems to be most of the ranges in MN are member only so I can't barely see them, and oakdale has a waiting list a mile long. I'm just trying to get some more info before I settle to pay some guy to let me shoot in his field.

View · by **Bessy** on Mon Oct 05, 2015 4:38 pm

Zack,

I've seen quite a few ranges, the one that I like best happens to nearest to me. Pine Island White Pines Sportsmans Club.
It's south of the cities about an hour.
http://www.piwpsc.org/

They have 9 total bays, with a steel, for both pistol and rifle. Their club house is top notch.

Pros,
Relatively small membership, holster work allowed. Lots of options if you are serious about practicing, not just shooting from a bench.
Very active practical shooting group calls it home.
Public steel on both pistol and rifle ranges.
Tons of uspsa, rimfire, and a few 3gun matches during the year.
Club house is top notch.
Indoor archery range, which when capital is obtained will be converted into indoor shooting range.

Cons,
There are events most weekends. Usually you can work around them if you pay attention to the schedule, but there is ALWAYS something going on.
Most of the time during events the rifle range, and lower bays are still open to members.
Rifle range only has 200 yards max.
There is currently a wait of a few months to get membership.

I'm probably biased, as I host the 3-gun events at Pine Island, but I really do feel it's one of the most active and best clubs around, especially for people interested in action shooting sports.

View · by **westhope** on Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:40 pm

What is your location?

How far are you willing to travel?

What types of shooting are you going to do at the range?

Start here: http://www.mnguntalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Or here: http://dnr.state.mn.us/shooting_ranges/index.html

View · by **nhluke** on Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:53 pm

Forrest lake sportsman club. For the money I think it's fantastic. 25 min from downtown with non rush hour traffic. Rarely more than 3 people using the rifle or pistol bays. 4 covered shooting areas 0-25 yrds,50yrds,100, 200-400yrds. Also nice trap and archery.

View · by **bucktail** on Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:16 pm

I used to belong to gopher and Huntly, and currently belong to Delano. I've never had trouble getting a look at the facilities before I joined. Most of them have pictures on their websites and you can look at them on google earth just to see whether it's even worth arranging a tour in person.

View · by **shooter115** on Tue Oct 06, 2015 7:33 am

Not a member, but I can tell you from shooting 3 gun matches there that Forrest Lake is and outstanding facility for being close to the metro.

View · by **Snakeman721** on Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:18 am

If you like Oakdale, don't let the waiting list deter you. Every March they send out invites to around 400-500 people on the list because that's about how many members didn't do their range duty and got booted the previous year. If you like the place, get on the list. You can always decline the invite if you found somewhere else to shoot.

View · by **andrewP** on Tue Oct 06, 2015 11:48 am

Bessy wrote:Zack,

I've seen quite a few ranges, the one that I like best happens to nearest to me. Pine Island White Pines Sportsmans Club.
It's south of the cities about an hour.
http://www.piwpsc.org/

They have 9 total bays, with a steel, for both pistol and rifle. Their club house is top notch.

Having shot the USPSA sectional for the last 2 years there, I have to agree that it's a really nice facility, and I wish I was closer to it so I could justify shooting there more often. I didn't even realize there was a rifle range, though!

View · by **MJY65** on Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:19 pm

Bessy wrote:Cons,

..........Rifle range only has 200 yards max.........

I also view that as a con, but it seems to be the reality for most ranges I'm aware of. Even those with longer range facilities usually restrict use of those distances to formal events. I haven't found one that just lets you go out to practice on their long range set ups.

View · by **shooter115** on Tue Oct 06, 2015 4:32 pm

Morris Rifle Club. Covered concrete benches, 400 yards, $20 per year, do what ya want (respectfully) and nobody is ever there. Most of y'all wouldn't care for the commute though.

View · by **LumberZach** on Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:39 pm

shooter115 wrote:Morris Rifle Club. Covered concrete benches, 400 yards, $20 per year, do what ya want (respectfully) and nobody is ever there. Most of y'all wouldn't care for the commute though.

I had to look up where morris is. I'm willing to drive, but that is too much ha.

I'll need to look at pine island. I like the Forrest lake range, but it seems to me the rifle range was very restricted to shooting off a bench through a little hole in the wall. I only got to look attorney time though.

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