Had the opportunity recently to try out the range at Bass Pro Grapevine Mills location.
We unloaded the vehicle and walked in the door with our firearms (handguns and .22lr rifles). Upon entrance were required to stop at the desk, before entering the turn style to enter the store, and have all the firearms checked and trigger locks applied. Also had to fill out a form listing the firearms. Since there was a handful of us with a handful of firearms in a handful of cases, it took a few minutes at the least. The gentleman working the desk was nothing but polite and positive. After getting firearms packed back into their cases we walked through the store to the range.
We approached the desk at the range to check in and were met with a grumpy guy who acted as if his job would be great if it weren't for all the customers. After some back and forth about a membership card, calling over another employee for the decision, we filled out liability forms. That took a little more time as each person needed a form. Once those were handed in we unpacked the firearms again so the guy could remove the trigger locks. Once done, guns were sorta packed. Eyes and ears were pulled out and put on. Now we could finally enter the firing line.
The lanes are 25yds long. There was adequate space for shooters but the lighting was fair to poor. At certain distances it was difficult to see POI on targets ( worked mainly 5-7yds and couldn't see POI on the black areas of targets with orange center/black rings). Before we got targets up at distance, it took us a few to figure out how to work the target stand. It is the programmable kind that looks like a push button telephone keypad. You can run programs, get the target to turn sideways and display on a timer, etc. There were no posted instructions. None of us had used that kind before so we just started hitting buttons as we tried to figure it out on the fly. Eventually another customer came in who looked like he knew what he was doing. So I asked him for a little help and he got us in business. It was actually very simple, once you know the instructions.
The shooting part went fine. Tried out firearms, shared, etc. The bench though was small, but enough to have two handguns, mags for each and box of ammo for each laid out. The surface wasn't very wide and was this odd molded plastic tray. It was a little awkward but we all made due.
As far as brass goes, like other places I've been you sweep up after yourself. I pick up my brass so this is fine. The lanes width, front to back isn't wide. So if I stood a step forward I kept losing my brass downrange. If I stood a step back the ejected brass would go up and over the lane divider and hit the shooter in the lane next to me, but my body was as if I was snooping in on their lane (arms extended for firing). The dividers weren't all the way up to the ceiling. One of my guns is a beast about ejection so that bears a lot of responsibility for brass landing locations. It was good I knew my lane neighbors.
We finished up our session, packed firearms and cleaned up our lanes. We walked out of the firing line and around the corner to the desk. The guy seemed to be a better mood (maybe he ate a Snickers bar?). We again unpacked our firearms so the guy could apply the trigger locks to each one. Packed them back up and headed to the exit. There we stopped at the desk and again unpacked the firearms so the trigger locks could be removed. We packed the firearms...again. And then walked out to the vehicle.
In conclusion, I won't patronize that range in the future, for a few reasons but all totaling "It's just a pain in the butt to go there". I've had hard time accepting the attitudes of some employees there. There are some that are friendly. There are some that are not. They act like they are doing you a favor and you are imposing on them. Couple that with the fact that to get into the range firearms must be unpacked, secured, packed, unpacked, unlocked, packed, unpacked, shot, repacked, unpacked, secured, packed, unpacked, unlocked, and repacked, that's very tedious. (And to shoot in a poorly lit range). I understand why they do this for the location, safety and security, but my goodness is it cumbersome. CHLers can go in and out if concealing without needing to go through this process. But if you're going in with firearms that are not concealed you have to take a little extra time.
I am not the target customer for a range setup like this and I can handle that. So, if you've wondered what it might be like shooting a Bass Pro Grapevine Mills (pistol range), this was my experience.
We unloaded the vehicle and walked in the door with our firearms (handguns and .22lr rifles). Upon entrance were required to stop at the desk, before entering the turn style to enter the store, and have all the firearms checked and trigger locks applied. Also had to fill out a form listing the firearms. Since there was a handful of us with a handful of firearms in a handful of cases, it took a few minutes at the least. The gentleman working the desk was nothing but polite and positive. After getting firearms packed back into their cases we walked through the store to the range.
We approached the desk at the range to check in and were met with a grumpy guy who acted as if his job would be great if it weren't for all the customers. After some back and forth about a membership card, calling over another employee for the decision, we filled out liability forms. That took a little more time as each person needed a form. Once those were handed in we unpacked the firearms again so the guy could remove the trigger locks. Once done, guns were sorta packed. Eyes and ears were pulled out and put on. Now we could finally enter the firing line.
The lanes are 25yds long. There was adequate space for shooters but the lighting was fair to poor. At certain distances it was difficult to see POI on targets ( worked mainly 5-7yds and couldn't see POI on the black areas of targets with orange center/black rings). Before we got targets up at distance, it took us a few to figure out how to work the target stand. It is the programmable kind that looks like a push button telephone keypad. You can run programs, get the target to turn sideways and display on a timer, etc. There were no posted instructions. None of us had used that kind before so we just started hitting buttons as we tried to figure it out on the fly. Eventually another customer came in who looked like he knew what he was doing. So I asked him for a little help and he got us in business. It was actually very simple, once you know the instructions.
The shooting part went fine. Tried out firearms, shared, etc. The bench though was small, but enough to have two handguns, mags for each and box of ammo for each laid out. The surface wasn't very wide and was this odd molded plastic tray. It was a little awkward but we all made due.
As far as brass goes, like other places I've been you sweep up after yourself. I pick up my brass so this is fine. The lanes width, front to back isn't wide. So if I stood a step forward I kept losing my brass downrange. If I stood a step back the ejected brass would go up and over the lane divider and hit the shooter in the lane next to me, but my body was as if I was snooping in on their lane (arms extended for firing). The dividers weren't all the way up to the ceiling. One of my guns is a beast about ejection so that bears a lot of responsibility for brass landing locations. It was good I knew my lane neighbors.
We finished up our session, packed firearms and cleaned up our lanes. We walked out of the firing line and around the corner to the desk. The guy seemed to be a better mood (maybe he ate a Snickers bar?). We again unpacked our firearms so the guy could apply the trigger locks to each one. Packed them back up and headed to the exit. There we stopped at the desk and again unpacked the firearms so the trigger locks could be removed. We packed the firearms...again. And then walked out to the vehicle.
In conclusion, I won't patronize that range in the future, for a few reasons but all totaling "It's just a pain in the butt to go there". I've had hard time accepting the attitudes of some employees there. There are some that are friendly. There are some that are not. They act like they are doing you a favor and you are imposing on them. Couple that with the fact that to get into the range firearms must be unpacked, secured, packed, unpacked, unlocked, packed, unpacked, shot, repacked, unpacked, secured, packed, unpacked, unlocked, and repacked, that's very tedious. (And to shoot in a poorly lit range). I understand why they do this for the location, safety and security, but my goodness is it cumbersome. CHLers can go in and out if concealing without needing to go through this process. But if you're going in with firearms that are not concealed you have to take a little extra time.
I am not the target customer for a range setup like this and I can handle that. So, if you've wondered what it might be like shooting a Bass Pro Grapevine Mills (pistol range), this was my experience.