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Ran down to Stock and Barrel to check them out today.

Nice and new. Range is pretty basic, nice shelves behind lanes, lanes are a little narrow compared to some of the other new ranges, lighting at the line is fair, air exchange is noisy and seems to be behind the shooters - definitely get more smoke in the lane, staff was polite - they are still working out some logistics. Fees are a few bucks more than the other ranges in the area. Store front is really thin, a few guns and not much else.

Overall not bad, but not the best strictly from a range standpoint.

Went to the New Hope open house for S&B this weekend. Kind of a bust. Had one gun vendor there, they did a few suppressor demo's. Little to no inventory other than cups and shirts. Staff was friendly and polite but only 3 of the 4 lanes were open. Waited over an hour and half trying to get a lane, finally just left. Did take a walk through the place, lots and lots of unused floor space. Lanes are dark and not great dividers or air management. They say they are going to add a lounge and smoking room. Still not sure how those things tie to going to a gun range.

Not sure what the business plan for this location is but it will be tough to make it on lane rentals. Looks like they just remodeled the front retail space and reopened the doors from the previous owners.

Overall it is clear these owners are after the upper income group of shooters, the lounges and services would seem to target them. Just not sure there is enough of those to sustain the overhead of running a place long-term. Hope they make it but I have doubts they will be profitable for the first 3-5 years.

mmcnx2 wrote:Overall it is clear these owners are after the upper income group of shooters, the lounges and services would seem to target them. Just not sure there is enough of those to sustain the overhead of running a place long-term. Hope they make it but I have doubts they will be profitable for the first 3-5 years.

Odd location to target that kind of audience. I will be curious to check out the Chanhassen location eventually since I work in the Eden Prairie area. We did an informal work outing to the Braemar training center and I was a little disappointed so the Chanhassen location might be a good option for us.

The chanhassen one is a bit more upscale with more lanes but I still don't see the math working. The lanes at that location are better but not the best of the new ranges in the cities, seems they were more concerned about looks than function. That location had a few more guns but not a huge selection.

Again I wish them well, always good to have options, but they won't be first on my list of places to shoot.

It is the former Sealed Mindset facility. They are pretty limited on what they have available since it's a pre-existing construction. Wasn't impressed with Sealed Mindset, and can't say I'm all that shocked that they got out of the firearms training game. It's nice that the facility became a more conventional range, but I think it's a limited appeal. It's a bad location for them IMO, because it's market intrusion into a market that is solidly controlled by Bill's and Osseo Gun Club. The Chanhassen one makes sense, but I too was under the impression that they were going for a more upscale clientele. New Hope is hardly the location for that kind of business model.

UnaStamus wrote:It's a bad location for them IMO, because it's market intrusion into a market that is solidly controlled by Bill's and Osseo Gun Club.

I know plenty of people dissatisfied with Bills and/or Osseo so I would say there is room for some market competition.

grimbeaver wrote:

UnaStamus wrote:It's a bad location for them IMO, because it's market intrusion into a market that is solidly controlled by Bill's and Osseo Gun Club.

I know plenty of people dissatisfied with Bills and/or Osseo so I would say there is room for some market competition.

Provided that the competition offers something better. That range that Stock and Barrel bought is not a very good one. It's certainly lacking compared to Osseo. If people are dissatisfied with Bill's and Osseo, I'm sure they'll find a reason to dislike this place also. It's just another variation of the same thing already available. It's not like someone put in a Scottsdale Gun Club.

UnaStamus wrote:Provided that the competition offers something better. That range that Stock and Barrel bought is not a very good one. It's certainly lacking compared to Osseo. If people are dissatisfied with Bill's and Osseo, I'm sure they'll find a reason to dislike this place also. It's just another variation of the same thing already available. It's not like someone put in a Scottsdale Gun Club.

Agreed, the ranges at both S&B locations are not as good as Osseo or Target. More on par with Bills but newer. The person that installed rough cut lumber to skin the divider walls clearly doesn't understand the dirt generated on a high use range, looks OK now but in a few years it is going to be a powder soaked mess. Additionally the air flow is unusual and seems to make the muzzle smoke linger in the lane and even draw back a bit towards the shooter. Light is only fair in the lane.

Like I stated from a range only standpoint they are not offering anything spectacular, just another OK range. Which is fine I hope the market can support it. All the other stuff they offer, I might be wrong, but I don't see it generating enough long term cash flow to justify the square footage they have dedicated to it.

UnaStamus wrote:Provided that the competition offers something better. That range that Stock and Barrel bought is not a very good one. It's certainly lacking compared to Osseo. If people are dissatisfied with Bill's and Osseo, I'm sure they'll find a reason to dislike this place also. It's just another variation of the same thing already available.

You assume that the dissatisfaction is with the range facilities but for the most part the people I know are dissatisfied with the customer service they have received not the range itself. I honestly do not care if it is fancy or not. All I care about is will I enjoy shooting there.

grimbeaver wrote:

UnaStamus wrote:Provided that the competition offers something better. That range that Stock and Barrel bought is not a very good one. It's certainly lacking compared to Osseo. If people are dissatisfied with Bill's and Osseo, I'm sure they'll find a reason to dislike this place also. It's just another variation of the same thing already available.

You assume that the dissatisfaction is with the range facilities but for the most part the people I know are dissatisfied with the customer service they have received not the range itself. I honestly do not care if it is fancy or not. All I care about is will I enjoy shooting there.

I think you may have misread this post and mine. We are both stating the range itself is not up to par with the other newer ranges in the area. I did not see where either referred to the customer service. We are not referring to 'fancy' we are talking about functionality, air quality, lighting all very tangible items that are part of enjoying range time.

Just got back from Chanhassen to put a new rifle on paper. A .243 Savage my wife bought.

The RO had never heard of a .243 and had to recheck everything to make sure it was ok...

Overall, not a bad place. I wouldn't pay the steep cost of membership, but since it s less than 7 minutes from home, it's a good place to hit when needed.

Glenn_S wrote:Just got back from Chanhassen to put a new rifle on paper. A .243 Savage my wife bought.

The RO had never heard of a .243 and had to recheck everything to make sure it was ok...

Overall, not a bad place. I wouldn't pay the steep cost of membership, but since it s less than 7 minutes from home, it's a good place to hit when needed.

Sounds like their RO needs to do a bit of "caliber" homework. I wonder how the RO would act were OldmanFCSA and I brought in our 50 BMG's? We get enough reaction and staring at OGC Then, when we offer to let others there shoot them, we always get the 50 Grin, right after they fire it.

BigDog58 wrote:

Glenn_S wrote:Just got back from Chanhassen to put a new rifle on paper. A .243 Savage my wife bought.

The RO had never heard of a .243 and had to recheck everything to make sure it was ok...

Overall, not a bad place. I wouldn't pay the steep cost of membership, but since it s less than 7 minutes from home, it's a good place to hit when needed.

Sounds like their RO needs to do a bit of "caliber" homework. I wonder how the RO would act were OldmanFCSA and I brought in our 50 BMG's? We get enough reaction and staring at OGC Then, when we offer to let others there shoot them, we always get the 50 Grin, right after they fire it.

Presumably, he would educate you guys on how ridiculous it would be to shoot .50 BMG's on an indoor 50 yard range, and then throw your silly asses out of there.

But, the muzzle blast/pressure wave are legendary....

Personally, I think it's foolish to shoot any center fire rifle indoors (admittedly there are some exceptions)

A 9x25 makes a palpable blast. A .223 is very unpleasant.

A .243 would be worse...and high velocity is what puts pits in armor plate. It's worse than the big African guns for what it would do to the range backstop.