I've been pistol shooting at indoor ranges (Shoot Point Blank Greenwood; Indy Arms Company Indianapolis; Wisconsin Firearms Training Center--Brookfield, WI), and wanted to try shooting outdoors.
There are two outdoor ranges within a reasonable distance of southern Indianapolis--Atterbury Shooting Complex (Edinburgh, IN) and Deer Creek Shooting Range (Cloverdale, IN).
I visited Atterbury on a Sunday afternoon around 1-ish pm, August 2018.
I intended to try their 50-yard rifle range to test my long-distance shooting with my 6-inch 0.45 ACP long slide 1911 pistol (I regularly shoot from 25 yards indoors with reasonable shot group precision), but I was "encouraged" by the attendant to try their pistol range first.
The pistol range portable target rigs need work. The one I had in my shooting lane was missing a leg, and was difficult to move and set up down range. I was glad I asked about how to prop up paper targets, and the attendant gave me thumb tacks to post my paper targets. Unfortunately my targets are 23x35-inches, and the bottom half of the paper target blew around in the wind. You must bring tape to attach the lower half of the paper target to the metal side posts to keep your target steady.
The range safety officers at the indoor ranges I've shot at, were just as strict as the RSOs at Atterbury, but the RSOs at Atterbury are very much like military drill instructors in their approach to issuing commands (the ones I had were impolite and discourteous). I'm a prior U. S. Army service veteran, but, as a civilian money-paying patron--I expect courtesy and professionalism from all range safety officers--since that's been my experience at Greenwood Shoot Point Blank, Indianapolis Indy Arms Company, and Wisconsin Firearms Training Center (Brookfield, WI).
I don't reload my spent ammunition casings, so I'm used to sweeping my brass down range to keep others from tripping over them from behind the firing line. I tend to keep my area clear of casings. After firing 268 0.45 ACP rounds over an 1-1/2 hour period I was finished for the day. I waited during a cease fire to retrieve my targets and leave. As I was packing up to leave, I was commanded to pick up all of my brass casings that I'd swept down range. There were no posted signs (that I saw), nor were there explicit instructions in the range safety rules to police my own brass. Had there been signs to do so, I would have. Without hesitation, I policed the casings and placed them in the blue bucket, and left.
For my next outdoor range experience, I will try Deer Creek in Cloverdale. Deer Creek's range cost rates and rules are the same, except now I am aware of how outdoor range shooting is managed. Deer Creek is a much newer facility and only a little farther from southern Indianapolis than Atterbury. read more
