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While looking for a local range this morning, I stumbled upon Spring G&A in Spring! What a nice place; great gun shop and the range was nice. Could have been a little better lit but it wasn't bad. a/c worked; Range Master just left us alone and was very polite and friendly. Was able to pick up my brass without incident. The best part was a 'senior discount' of 50%; both the Mrs. and I shot for a total of $18.

I have to admit, having moved here recently from Edmond, OK and having a membership at a great range, this one doesn't stack up in amenities but considering so many ranges in the Houston area won't let you 1) pick up your brass, 2) let you shoot reloads and 3) have nazi rangemasterss, Spring was a pleasure.

Next week it's Shiloh since there are so many who have given them good reviews.

Not sure where you are at in Houston but the two I go to dont say anything about reloads or me picking up my brass. I will not visit a place that trys to keep my brass.

Not counting my CHL qualifier at PSC, I've only shot at Spring Guns n' Ammo, Shiloh Shooting Range, and Carter's Country in the Houston area.

None of them said anything about reloads or brass. As I save brass and reload, I would have noticed if there was any problem.

I have been to Spring G&A, Shiloh, Carters, Conroe shooting center(AKA gun emporium) and Hot wells in the cy-fair area off 290. I think Spring G&A is the nicest indoor one but Shiloh will let you shoot as long as you want as long as there is not a wait. Spring G&A charges by the hour and I usually need close to 2 hours to finish shooting. 18X2 is a lot of money imo for two hours at the range. I only go to Spring G&A when I have less then 300 rounds to put down range. As for outdoor ranges I like hot wells for pistol and conroe shooting center for rifle and shotgun use. Conroe Shooting will let you shoot buckshot off to the side away from the benches. But if you have a lot of ammo to shoot in a non magnum handgun and go during the middle of a weekday it is hard to beat Shiloh. They will also let you pick up your brass! In fact all of the ones mentioned will.

I like outdoor ranges better personally but that is just me.

CC Italian wrote:Spring G&A charges by the hour and I usually need close to 2 hours to finish shooting. 18X2 is a lot of money imo for two hours at the range.

I've never seen SGA enforce the one-hour rule as long as they don't have a waiting list. On Friday or Saturday nights, yes, you pay per hour. If, like me, you go in the mornings on weekdays when the lanes are never full, I doubt you'll ever see them hit up a customer for a second-hour charge. Since they opened the additional dozen or so lanes in a second building, I haven't seen a waiting list at all, even when I've dropped by on a Saturday evening. I assume it happens; there's too many cars in the parking lot for *everyone* to be on the line at once. But I see the hourly charge as an almost non-existent problem. If you didn't have to put your name on a waiting list to get a lane, don't expect the hourly charge to be enforced. When they have enforced it (I've seen it happen once), they step out and give you a heads-up so that if you don't want to buy another hour, you get a few minutes to pack up.

BTW, I shot at Athena on Friday. They have the same policy. You pay for an hour but if there's no one waiting, they don't enforce it.

Gander Mountain, however, is completely different. It doesn't matter if you're the only person on the range. The RO will give you a five-minute warning and when your time is up, they're standing right behind you to escort you out. I don't like that, to put it mildly.

Well not that I have a problem with it. I understand that they charge by the hour but I have been charged for 2 hours twice when lanes where not full. Which is their policy that they clearly tell you. One time I spent all two hours there and expected to spend all that time. The other I was there about an hour and 15 minutes and the guy said I was charged for two hours. Fine by me, I went over the allotted time into the second hour. So I just went back and shot for another 45 minutes. They had no problem with that

CC Italian wrote:Well not that I have a problem with it.

I'm surprised to hear you got hit with the extra hour charges when you were on the line for over an hour and the place wasn't full. I may just be a jerk, but I would definitely have a problem with that. Currently, I'm a member and I habitually go during low-traffic times (I'm retired) so maybe they cut me extra slack. However, I never got hit for the extra hour even before I was a member and went over time.

If you'd like, I can ask the Range Manager how close they're cutting it these days. Maybe things have changed for the worse. They've certainly increased their transfer fees and made their procedures sufficiently irritating that it's become clear they just don't want to be bothered. Maybe they're cracking down on other stuff, too. Want me to make a discrete inquiry and post back here?

I shoot there often, but only because they're close to where I live. Otherwise, I'd go somewhere else. They literally don't give a _______ about you until you're ready to buy a gun.

Not too long ago, I was shooting and found myself bleeding badly because I put my hand down on the firing table and onto a piece of broken glass. I looked around and saw a busted spotlight over my head, and figured that the glass sliced my thumb open (which begs the question, how did that light get busted?). I went to the counter and asked around for the manager - when they hunted him down (because I made people look for him) he acted like an idiot, and a fool, and didn't want to take responsibility for their negligence. They really irritated me off that day. I asked to fill out an accident report, and he walked away and didn't come back out of his office. Now I have no feeling in that area of my thumb and wish I would have consulted a lawyer. Not a single person gave a damn about the blood I left everywhere.