The guidelines of opening an indoor firearm range.
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NRA provides assistance in creating ranges. Check here:Trebla said:
http://www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/
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Two good suggestions already. I would tho tend to think that the final intended purpose will determine how few or many reg's need followed.
If we assume you plan a commercial enterprise then much needs followed and considered - not least being insurance indemnity!!! If for personal use I expect there is less to deal with.
Certainly these days the health aspect is very much more needy of being addressed.
If we assume you plan a commercial enterprise then much needs followed and considered - not least being insurance indemnity!!! If for personal use I expect there is less to deal with.
Certainly these days the health aspect is very much more needy of being addressed.
I really would like a state-of-the-art range that doesn't make you buy their expensive ammo. One that operates by the hours posted. One that doesn't have a waiting to shoot list as long as a city block. One that upholds all safety regulations. The Perfect Range!
In addition to the NRA the National Association of Shooting Ranges NASR is a good resource. http://www.rangeinfo.org/
The NRA offers a three day class which gets into the operation of a range. The NASR folks teach you how to run one as a business. They can also put you in contact with ranges in your state so you can learn what you will have to do to be compliant with regulations.
Best of luck. Bring $$$,$$$ cash and $,$$$,$$$ in financing. Although in your area commercial property may be cheaper. There is a very nice shooting facility in PA that took advantage of subsidies and blighted land to get their indoor facility up and running for right around $1 million (Rock Run or something like that). Our estimates in VA were $1.8-3 million at completion of a 20 lane 25 yard indoor facility with a couple classrooms and a modest gun store.
The NRA and NASR can definitely help you with insurance. It's not as high as you might think. I insured a Skeet Range, an 11 position Pistol/Rifle/Shotgun 100 yd outdoor range and an Archery range for about $2500 per year. The 5 acre pond was about $7K per year. Now renting or loaning guns changes the dynamic some, but you can mitigate that in different ways. Just talk with the underwriter about it.
-Scott-
The NRA offers a three day class which gets into the operation of a range. The NASR folks teach you how to run one as a business. They can also put you in contact with ranges in your state so you can learn what you will have to do to be compliant with regulations.
Best of luck. Bring $$$,$$$ cash and $,$$$,$$$ in financing. Although in your area commercial property may be cheaper. There is a very nice shooting facility in PA that took advantage of subsidies and blighted land to get their indoor facility up and running for right around $1 million (Rock Run or something like that). Our estimates in VA were $1.8-3 million at completion of a 20 lane 25 yard indoor facility with a couple classrooms and a modest gun store.
The NRA and NASR can definitely help you with insurance. It's not as high as you might think. I insured a Skeet Range, an 11 position Pistol/Rifle/Shotgun 100 yd outdoor range and an Archery range for about $2500 per year. The 5 acre pond was about $7K per year. Now renting or loaning guns changes the dynamic some, but you can mitigate that in different ways. Just talk with the underwriter about it.
-Scott-
Wow, Oregon must have some rough insurance rates (well, my car insurance is kinda high, never thought about it).
The range here has to have a 10 million dollars policy JUST FOR the range area. It runs them around 12,000 per year (don't know if the range is also set up for class III's if that has something to do about it) and then they had to ensure the employees and the store separetly at 1 million for liability and so much for each million in inventory. Was told that all together, insurance was running around 20,000 per year.
I guess if you got established really quickly, this isn't much of a problem but still, it seems like alot to me.
Wayne
The range here has to have a 10 million dollars policy JUST FOR the range area. It runs them around 12,000 per year (don't know if the range is also set up for class III's if that has something to do about it) and then they had to ensure the employees and the store separetly at 1 million for liability and so much for each million in inventory. Was told that all together, insurance was running around 20,000 per year.
I guess if you got established really quickly, this isn't much of a problem but still, it seems like alot to me.
Wayne
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you better look at the cost of the building before you get too far into it. i've designed the HVAC system for an indoor range. You better be made of money to both purchase the equipment and pay the operating costs. All these ranges with a tiny fan and furnace will not cut it with today's regulations. My range was 40 lanes and ended up with a $100,000 air handler with energy recovery. Plus the cost of the filters to recirculate some of the air, ductwork, louvers, exhaust fan, several thousand (~$25,000) dollar controls system. Ventilation requirements were from the industrial ventilation handbook, an industry accepted standard as well as OSHA and NIOSH requirements. The conclusion of my feasability study was that opening the facility was not recommended due to cost.
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See if there's a local gun club already. I just joined one that has an indoor range, for a very reasonable fee. It's a small club and a small range, but I have the keys and can shoot whenever I want for $3.00 a visit. It's great! Doing it with a small club like that helps to spread out the costs and gets more people involved with shooting. Just a thought.
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