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Shiner Bock wrote:

tag2501 wrote:Note that the lawyers owning Elm fork will not allow you to shoot open sights on the 100 yard range. Scopes only.

I'll be continuing to look for another rifle range to shoot the lever actions and the garands

That's good to know but bad to hear. I'm not sure what that accomplishes.

I'm not sure either, but I do know that a lot of their's and the previous owners' policies regarding rifles has to do with making sure that nothing travels beyond the berm. My guess is that their insistence on a scope has to do with that. Whatever the reason, all of my rifles are scoped, so that particular rule doesn't affect me one way or the other.

597newbie wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: We each brought along a heavy barreled bolt rifle in .308, and a heavy barreled AR varmint rifle in 5.56/.223. .

What type of ammo did you shoot? FMJ or HP/soft tip?

I ask because when I called they said no FMJ (magnetic or non magnetic).

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I just called Elm Fork today and they said NO FMJ.
by 597newbie on Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:10 pm

I just called Elm Fork today and they said NO FMJ. Soft point or frag only on 100 yard range.
I wanted to clarify (even though no clarification was necessary) and they said no fmj (magnetic or non magnetic).

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3598&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

In the ARs, I shoot 68 grain HPBT Sierra Match Kings (either Federal or Black Hills), while my son likes the 75 grainers.
In the .308s, we both like the 175 grain HPBT Sierra Match Kings, either Federal or Black Hills.

Neither caliber choice we've made is cheap when you're talking match ammunition, but we like to shoot tight little groups, and we haven't started reloading yet, so that's the price of doing what we like. But, being hollow point rounds, we get no guff from the ROs. In fact, we get along famously with the ROs there, and everybody has a good time and jokes around a lot. Their staff there is great.

longhorn_92 wrote:Absolutely beautiful! It sure does sound like a great day....

Would have been fun to be there!!!

It was a fun day. It was actually the most fun my son and I have had shooting rifles in a long time. We enjoy shooting pistols, but our passion is shooting rifles. Until now, I've found shooting rifles in the DFW area to be a frustrating experience. I expected to find more ranges when I moved here, particularly ranges with longer distances.

Back in California, I had a 700 yard rifle range not 20 minutes from my house in Pasadena. It had poured concrete rifle benches with folding chairs (not cheap splintery wood bench seats) - in the shade. The benches were dead level, and there was never a wait for a shooting lane. There were paper target stands at 100, 200, and 300 yards, and steel silhouette targets out to 700 yards. Here is a map of the range layout. Not shown on the map are a sporting clays course, an airgun range, and a "scenario" paintball course. Here are some pictures of the range facilities, including the rifle firing line. Here are their fees. It has always seemed strange to me that here in Texas, with the abundance of available land (California has very little available land which is one reason why housing is so darned expensive there), and with a much more pro-gun culture than in California, that there would not be a facility in the DFW area as nice and as comprehensive as the Angeles Shooting Range that was 20 minutes from my Pasadena home.

And as importantly, why isn't there such a facility which can be accessed at such an affordable rate by the general public? Here, I have to drive 90 miles to TacPro and pay a ton of money, or about 90 miles in another direction to Tiger Valley and pay another ton of money if I want to shoot at longer ranges. I have to drive to the far side of the metroplex to find a 200 yard range that is open to the public. Alternatively, I can drive to the Grand Prairie gun club for a 200 yard range, which is closer, but have to pay what is a fairly steep buy-in price (approximately the price of a fairly nice new hunting rifle) to become a member - not counting dues. Granted, it's a nice range, but it further illustrates the truth that target shooting rifles in Texas is a rich man's sport. In California, for all of its restrictive gun laws, rifle shooting is much more accessible to the general public. Don't get me wrong... I love living here, but that particular aspect of it has been most frustrating for me.

The Elm Fork range is vastly improved over what it used to be before it got flooded out and changed ownership. My only real complaint is that it is still restricted on only 100 yards. But other than that, I will definitely go there again.

I shot there with my son today. It's a pretty nice facility, and the RSOs were friendly and helpful. I didn't count the number of lanes, but I was in lane 9, and I was about half way down the firing line. They've gotten rid of those pipes you used to have to shoot through. I'll definitely go back there again.

We each brought along a heavy barreled bolt rifle in .308, and a heavy barreled AR varmint rifle in 5.56/.223. My AR is a Bushmaster Varminter with a 24" fluted heavy barrel. My son's AR, which is brand new and was fired for the first time today, is a Rock River Arms Varminter with an enormous 24" bull barrel. Both ARs are topped with a Burris XTR Tactical 3-12x50mm mil-dot scope. Both have a 2 stage match trigger. Both are very accurate... but my son's is like a darn laser beam. On one go round, he put 6 rounds into one ragged hole. I was impressed. He pronounced it a good day, and I agree.

For a little gun lust, here are a few pics comparing the two rifles to one another. The Bushmaster is the black rifle, the RRA is green:






Ignore the copper fouling in the above barrel. It's getting scrubbed out thoroughly tomorrow.

That RRA barrel is .92" at the muzzle. That's bigger than the muzzle of my Remington 700 VSF in .308, which is a heavy contour fluted barrel; and the extra stiffness pays off. It's crazy how accurate that rifle is.

I finally tried the Black Hills .308 Match with the 175 gr SMK, and I got pretty good results with it, so I've found another cartridge that works well in that rifle.

Like my son said, it was a good day.