This review is in regards to their shooting range - not the retail side of the business.
I arrived early and waited for the store to open. Once in I waited in line to sign-up for the range. For some inexplicable reason, one of the sales people grabs the customer behind me and starts setting him up for range time. Customer was like any other "Joe" from the street, and I was next in line. "First come, first served," is the general rule so I can assume that either they are clueless or they are racist (I am non-white and have gotten strange vibes from Iowa gunners before).
Next was orientation during which new comers like me had to sign waivers and agreements for the range rules. Most rules are straight forward and shouldn't surprise a responsible shooter. Considering that the rules covered 4 sheets of paper, I would have appreciated a copy after signing my agreement. Also, noticed that they have a large sign sitting on the ground with some of the essential warnings. Probably would have been more useful to hang-up the sign at the range or somewhere visible.
Next entered into the range and immediately noticed that there were no warnings when to put ear protection on. As a matter of fact, no warnings or information is posted anywhere. If it is your first time, you may just walk into the range without ear protection. Felt a little amateurish but it may explain why one of the employees talked in a louder voice (hearing loss will do that to you).
Range itself is nicely set-up with new equipment - no complains there. The lighting is excellent and distances are marked out (unfortunately no information is provided anywhere in regards to the distance markers). Blew through over 100 rounds of .45 when one of the employees behind me had a seizure as she noticed that I was using steel case ammo (not to be mistake with steel core). She proceeded to admonish me that steel case ammunition is against the rule. Unfortunately, there were no warnings and the rules were almost 8 pages long and steel casing was not verbally covered during the orientation. She emphasized that it's my responsibility to clean-up the casings. After she cleaned up other shooters brass from the floor without warning (one of the shooters next to me grumbled that he wanted his brass), I figured that she was just too lazy to be bothered to clean-up steel. I am not there to get into an argument so I emptied out the rest of my clip (which gave her another seizure) since I had to do her clean-up job anyway.
You may agree or disagree with me, but treating me like you are doing me favor after I have to pay for membership and range time is just plain rude. I might be a shooter, but to the business I am first and foremost a paying customer. The last deal breaker was the lack of proper ventilation. They kept bragging about their ventilation but when we were down to 4 shooters (9 lanes in bay 1), the blue haze accumulate above me and was never sucked out. Noticed that the other bays had the same problem - afterwards I had to drink quite a bit of fluids to get my voice back.
Pros:
New building and range
Nice set-up, plenty of lanes and very clean
Sound proofing between sales floor and range is excellent
Cons:
Lousy customer service (might be racist)
Lack of warnings all around
Lack of common sense to hang-up warning signs in visible places (large sign sits on the ground in a room)
Female employee was inconsiderate (don't expect to pick-up your brass) and extremely lazy
Insufficient ventilation
Your experience may vary or even be positive; It wasn't for me so I am posting my opinion. To emphasize again, my experience only covers the range - not the retail side. As usual, Caveat Emptor. This review has been posted in Google and Yelp. read more
