UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

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UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby yukonjasper on Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:59 pm

Just curious if anyone has ever been to this range and what the experience was for renting it? It looks like it could be a lot of fun.

https://police.umn.edu/services/range

The University of Minnesota Police Department outdoor range is in Rosemount, Minnesota and features a computer controlled targeting system with twenty-five (25) shooting lanes, a running man system and a sniper deck. The range offers shooting distances of 3 to 100 yards. The range has a classroom building that can sit up to 30 people. The range is available for rental to law enforcement and non-law enforcement groups for training purposes.


I'm wondering if it would be worth it to get a group together and pool some money to use this range for a half day outing. Running man system and sniper deck sounds fun.

Anyone have any first hand experience shooting here? What do you think?
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby mrp on Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:26 pm

They have insurance requirements which would make it practically impossible for an individual or group of people to just rent it for an afternoon.
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby yukonjasper on Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:38 pm

I'm reading some of the paperwork and they require you to use only subsonic ammunition - WTF?

So basically, because its owned and operated by the University and the University is a public institution, they technically have to appear to offer the facility to the public, but when you look into it, they have it set up so that no one other than the Law Enforcement community would ever seriously consider using because of all the requirements and red tape. What a sham. It would be interesting to see what that costs and what they recover in fees to know if its self supporting or if its directly subsidized by the University. I imagine there are a lot of similar types of "services".............
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UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby gun_fan111v2 on Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:39 pm

I went to a private university where tuition was lower than that in UofM. Needless to say that institution did not have a private 25 lane shooting range... or any private shooting range for that matter...

What they did have were classes of 30 instead of 300!
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby yukonjasper on Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:56 pm

And they wonder why tuition is rising - since when did it make sense for a major public University to run that sort of facility. Talk about a potentially juicy story for some enterprising investigative reporter - if that is even a thing anymore..................
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby mmcnx2 on Tue Mar 22, 2016 4:19 pm

I worked at the U for a few years and knew the LE folks pretty good from interactions with the Athletics events we ran. They use to laugh about the range basically being private based on setting up rules that made it all but impossible to gain access. Yet legally they could still claim it was public which met the institutional requirements. The reality is that is typical for the U, huge taxpayer money pit protected by the same folks gaming the system.
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby UnaStamus on Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:53 pm

It's pretty much impossible to use, even for another LE agency. I looked into that range to book a national-level rifle course and use my own department as the host agency and insuring agency, and it was still a massive PITA. The restrictions are insanely prohibitive, and the cost of actually using it are astronomical versus paying a fee to another local range/gun club.
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby xd ED on Wed Mar 23, 2016 11:01 am

yukonjasper wrote:I'm reading some of the paperwork and they require you to use only subsonic ammunition - WTF?

So basically, because its owned and operated by the University and the University is a public institution, they technically have to appear to offer the facility to the public, but when you look into it, they have it set up so that no one other than the Law Enforcement community would ever seriously consider using because of all the requirements and red tape. What a sham. It would be interesting to see what that costs and what they recover in fees to know if its self supporting or if its directly subsidized by the University. I imagine there are a lot of similar types of "services".............


If it's the range I'm thinking of, it's buried in the old Gopher Ordnance Works WWII gunpowder plant. The entire property is owned by the U of M, which has mismanaged the property from day one. There is/ was a small private airport operating on the property for many years, without any accountability(and some say knowledge of) the U of M.
Now they've got this con called UMore Park in the works, which will cost the U(public) millions when it fizzles. If anyone remembers Jonathan, this will be a reincarnation on steroids
As one of the plums to bait the public, they've hinted at a public access gun range on the property (several thousand acres), but don't hold your breath.
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby yukonjasper on Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:03 pm

I believe the Dakota County Gun Club is located in UMore Park. I was a member there for a little while and I seem to remember them mentioning payments to the University for the lease on the property.

It's a large expanse of land, but I think, if the mapping software is any indication, that the LE range being discussed is separate from of UMore Park, unless the land grant contained multiple parcels. The software indicates that this site is much further East - could be the mapping software also.
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby BuckKlier on Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:16 pm

xd ED wrote:
yukonjasper wrote:I'm reading some of the paperwork and they require you to use only subsonic ammunition - WTF?

So basically, because its owned and operated by the University and the University is a public institution, they technically have to appear to offer the facility to the public, but when you look into it, they have it set up so that no one other than the Law Enforcement community would ever seriously consider using because of all the requirements and red tape. What a sham. It would be interesting to see what that costs and what they recover in fees to know if its self supporting or if its directly subsidized by the University. I imagine there are a lot of similar types of "services".............


If it's the range I'm thinking of, it's buried in the old Gopher Ordnance Works WWII gunpowder plant. The entire property is owned by the U of M, which has mismanaged the property from day one. There is/ was a small private airport operating on the property for many years, without any accountability(and some say knowledge of) the U of M.
Now they've got this con called UMore Park in the works, which will cost the U(public) millions when it fizzles. If anyone remembers Jonathan, this will be a reincarnation on steroids
As one of the plums to bait the public, they've hinted at a public access gun range on the property (several thousand acres), but don't hold your breath.


The Airport has been shut down for a couple of years, I think there is a site for small radio controlled planes, that is still active. The whole thing is just a waste of land.
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Re: UofM Firearms Range - Rosemount, MN

Postby xd ED on Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:34 pm

I don't know if all the U's property in the area is part of UMore Park. The range I'm thinking of is, I believe in the ESE part of the property. It's in one of those overgrown areas with a lot of old buildings and concrete ruins. I only noticed it because the chain link fence was new and shiny, compared to anything else around it.

Many decades ago, before it became as known as it is now, it was OK to tromp around and explore... again likely because of the neglect of the U.
There was a good population of jack rabbits that would entertain my dog.
I distinctly remember coming across a fenced in semi-trailer, with a sign on the gate:
ATTN fire fighters: Do not attempt to fight explosives' fires...
Once it became popular with the urban explorers and vandals, it got patrolled far more frequently. I don't venture off the public roads anymore, and it's pretty heavily posted most places.
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