I happened to be in the Houston area this weekend for a crawfish boil with my girlfriend's family on Saturday, and figured some of us might want to go fling some lead at the range on Sunday. I brought some guns with me, and checked to see what was nearby after I arrived. I am no fan of indoor ranges, especially when shooting with a group, so I found the nearest outdoor range and made sure that it was open. From what I could find, BHOG had a 25yd pistol range and 100yd rifle range. That seemed sufficient enough, so off we went on Sunday.
My first observation about this place were the range fees. One of the reasons I dislike indoor ranges is hourly fees make shooting prohibitively expensive. Bailey's does not have this and told us we could shoot as long as we want. What they did have was a per gun fee. I brought 5 guns with me, and at $8/gun, that comes out to $40! I opted to leave one of my rifles in the car and take a $32 hit instead. Once you pay, you have a number of ticket stubs stapled to your shirt to prove that you paid for the number of guns you brought. It's a good thing they don't charge hourly, as everything seems to move at a snail's place at this range.
We arrived at the 25yd range and took several minutes to work out precisely where we were going to shoot because of the diversity of gun types we brought with us. Once that was settled, the range master called a cease fire. Another unique (and somewhat irritating) feature of this range is that only the range master can put targets on the target board. Instead of being given a briefing on range rules and etiquette, this was skipped and we were instead subjected to a kindergarten-style procedure. A cease fire was called and we were all required to stand in a row behind a red line that was painted there for us while the range master went and changed targets one by one. It was nearly half an hour before we got to do any shooting. Additionally, ALL of the targets on the 25yd range are at 25 yards. This is neither practical nor fun, and greatly detracts from the shooting experience for new shooters learning with handguns. The one exception was a single place on the very end of the line. It appeared to be at about 5 yards, and had rules stipulating that it was only for .22, .25, .32, and .380 calibers, with a maximum barrel length of 2 1/2 inches. The target board was also down on the ground at the base of a mound. Apparently this lane was for people who liked to shoot their mouse guns into the dirt.
Then there were the range rules. Most ranges require 1 second between shots. Apparently, Bailey's considers anything faster than 5 second intervals "rapid fire". I found this out while after going through the second magazine of a friend's Sig. I was making controlled shots at intervals of about a second and a half, and was treated to the range master yelling "No rapid fire! Five seconds between shots!" as soon as I finished.
There did seem to be some sort of tactical range off to the side of where we were shooting. Rapid-fire shots could be heard coming from that direction. When I asked the range master about this, I was told that it was for members of a special club, and that he did not know how one could become part of this "club".
The rifle rules are what really perplexed me. Rifles are not allowed to be loaded with more than a single round at any time, even bolt-action rifles. The range master assured me that this was an extra layer of "safety". It seems to me that forcing everyone to constantly loading their rifles between every shot makes it more likely that there will be an accidental discharge. This seems especially true on the "high powered rifle" positions of the 25yd range, which had a large shroud/tunnel of steel mesh grating that you had to put your gun inside to point it downrange. This meant that after every single shot, you had to pull your rifle rearwards in order to load another round. If you're shooting a tube-fed rifle such as a lever action or some .22 rifles at one of these stations, this means you have to pull you gun rearward, then point it upwards to load it, and then repeat in reverse... between every shot. Forcing a situation where guns were constantly being moved around like this seems the antithesis of a safe range environment.
The one positive thing about the range was that there were scopes at every position. They weren't really spotting scopes, but rather rifle scopes in makeshift stands. They did work well, but I imagine they are there as a necessity - as you can't go look at your targets between cease fires and are unable to see them anyway at 25 yards.
All-in-all it was an excruciatingly slow and anemic shooting experience, that sapped nearly all the fun out of shooting and pulled way too much money out of my wallet. I will not be returning.
Any good public ranges in that area anyone can recommend?