I went today with my buddy up to Target Sports Minnesota, the new pistol range in Rogers. The range is located in a strip mall style building and the entrance is around the back off highway 101. You will miss it if you aren't paying attention.
The front retail section is completely empty, aside from a few T shirts for sale. Not completely unexpected since they just opened yesterday, Friday Dec 20th. I went in around 11am and we had the place to ourselves. The girl behind the counter was nice and new most of the answers to my questions. At this time they do NOT have any firearms to sell, or more importantly, to rent. That was disappointing. My friend is in the process of trying to figure out what to carry and there was a gun or two that we wanted to try that was unavailable at Bill's, specifically the Bersa thunder. Of course, I had my carry piece so we had something to shoot. It looked like they had ammo for sale, but of course, no .380 ammo. There's no excuse for that, IMO, for a few reasons. With months of lead time, they should've at least had ammo in the caliber of the fastest selling caliber in the country. At worst, they should've gone to cabelas or gander to buy at retail and resell without a profit until their supplies come in. I purchased 750 rounds at gander last week in bulk 250 round cases, so I know they have it. And after the range, I picked up 300 rounds of Herters from Cabelas for $16 a box. Ultimately, I'm glad I had brought a few hundred rounds with me, or the trip there would've been rather sour for me and forced me to go shopping and then come back to the range.
Inside the double doors, it was a different story. I agree that the current space is small, with about a dozen stalls, but they have plans to expand into the space next door when the business there vacates. Another fellow came in to shoot what I imagine was a .45 and the sound was quite manageable. They have black acoustic panels everywhere, and that helps diminish the sound, substantially. They also have a state of the art air filtration system that leaves no smoke or smell behind. I'm curious to see how that holds up when the place is at capacity for hours at a time. This is my biggest issue with Bills. To me, it will be worth the ride to Rogers (from St Louis Park) for a noticeable difference in air quality. Overall, the inside of the range seemed too dimly lit. I advised the range manager to consider additional lighting in the stalls. The last thing anyone needs in such a critical place is low light conditions. He agreed. The overhead target system is great. They supply tape and staplers at all the lanes to affix the targets to existing cardboard in hopes that people will be able to refrain from shooting down their cables and equipment. It's great in theory, but the novices are still going to shoot the floor and ceiling, as well as everything in between. They've yet to mark off distances down range, but promised to do so in the near future.
My first impressions were very good. Unfortunately for me, (but good for the business owner), I imagine this place will be very busy, ALL OF THE TIME, once word gets out. The close proximity to cabelas and gander was simply genius. Only time will tell if they can keep it as clean and smoke free as it was today. If not, the 30 mile trip won't make sense for people in the cities. They said they should have firearms to rent or sell within the next week or 2. I'm skeptical because of the holidays and anyone interested should probably call first. I asked about the age restrictions, because it went unmentioned on their website. Happy to report its 10 and up, with a parent or guardian. We need places our children can learn about responsible gun ownership/usage. Preserving our 2A rights will most probably be in the hands of the next generation. Teach your children well.
Congrats to the new range owners. I wish them the best of luck. I purchased a 30 day membership so I'll be coming a lot over the next month. Happy and safe shooting.
Randy
PS: I forget to add: they should probably post their holiday hours alongside their already posted regular hours, if they plan on having any closures during the next 2 weeks.