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What is happening to BA?

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I went to BA once before to participate forum member night more than I year ago. Today I went to SS first and it was full and I had to wait to get a lane. Then I went to BA and that place was empty. Only two or three ppl include myself in the range and I was by myself for a while. What is happening? The two ranges are less than two miles to each other.

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Lol its complicated to say the least on how some people feel about BA, reason one place being packed and one place being empty and literally being down the road is this.In my opinion a big percentage of shooters especially on weekends at SS and BA are newer shooters,people that are just looking to rent, or a guy that thinks its badass to take his girlfriend on a date to the shooting range.

I find that BA caters more to people that are not novice, don't really ask questions, have their own equipment and just want to go in and shoot. They aren't as personable to newer shooters and renters and their prices for renting show it. Renting a 9mm SS is about 10-15 dollars cheaper to rent from and that's excluding the NJGF discount, with the discount a range fee is 5 dollars cheaper and ammo would be about 10 dollars cheaper.Not to mention you get to shoot a majority of the major brands of handguns in that caliber, at BA you get to shoot one handgun.

Some of the people at BA are pleasant others seem to have woken on the wrong side of the bed and want to just move you along.As far as knowledge base on firearms some of the employees know little to nothing others know their stuff. If your new to firearms and don't feel confident in the person helping you or selling you a gun that's a big problem.

Bottom line the personable atmosphere to newer shooters and being cheaper is the main thing that packs ShoreShot and is why BA is usually empty.

Personally I have no problem shooting at either place and I go to BA from time to time, beyond using the range I wont deal with BA.

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I find that BA caters more to people that are not novice, don't really ask questions, have their own equipment and just want to go in and shoot.

Hence the reason why they are always empty. They don't cater to new shooters, and they were b*tching out their regular customers saying they didn't make any money off people who have memberships.

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That may have been a town or ATF requirement...

 

Then SS would have the same requirement..

 

The atmosphere @ BA is just plain weird, dunno how to explain it, it's uncomfortable to me for some reason.. SS on the other hand feels like home (but, it is the first range I shot at, so that could be why?)

 

:thsmiley_deadhorse: The long and short of it is they reduced their rates for NJGF members, so we all joined, then, they bitched at us and told us we don't support their business because we didn't pay enough for membership and we don't spend any money there, whats to buy? grossly over priced ammo? one of the 4 handguns they have in stock? or maybe a rifle or 2 that they went to Dicks to buy and resell in their store?.. :icon_cry:

 

It has soo much potential, the range is nice, the store is big, empty, but big.

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. BA is a good place to go shoot at. They allow just about any type of round unlike all the other ranges I have been too. Wanna shoot your AR or AK rifles there, go ahead! Want to shoot some Magnums, do it! Shore Shot allows Magnums, but if you want to shoot your AK you need to buy some expensive ammo from them.

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. BA is a good place to go shoot at. They allow just about any type of round unlike all the other ranges I have been too. Wanna shoot your AR or AK rifles there, go ahead! Want to shoot some Magnums, do it! Shore Shot allows Magnums, but if you want to shoot your AK you need to buy some expensive ammo from them.

I don't want to ever go to a place that shoots rifles inside. Thanks for the heads-up!

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The lack of RO is why they had a 470 or 500 Nitro Express negligently discharge :roulette: !!!!!!!!!!! The guy put a fukcin loaded double barell sitting on the litt le ledge they call a table!!!!!! It fell and boom gun flies across the range hits the back wall and the inertia fires the next round!!!!! Woohoo we are having fun now!!!!

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The lack of RO is why they had a 470 or 500 Nitro Express negligently discharge :roulette: !!!!!!!!!!! The guy put a fukcin loaded double barell sitting on the litt le ledge they call a table!!!!!! It fell and boom gun flies across the range hits the back wall and the inertia fires the next round!!!!! Woohoo we are having fun now!!!!

 

WTF, when the hell did this happen??

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I must say, I used to be a member at SS until they decided we could no longer shoot 5.56 rifles there because too many people were shooting the ceiling, not to mention half the time I would go there I would end up just going home because no lanes were open (they get very busy). I didn't even own a handgun so the fact that SS wouldnt allow members to shoot rifle calibers is what made me allow my membership to lapse. I am aware that 5.56 is allowed there now as long as its frangible but that is an expense I'd rather not have to pay just to shoot at the range with, its useless to own otherwise. I also seem to recall them having an issue with steel cased ammo, and they required me to bench rest my rifle back when it WAS allowed. I like shooting at BA, its never busy, there are never hoodrats there renting guns which was something I saw almost everytime I went to SS, and they let me shoot all of my rifles there with any ammo I want as long as its not steel core. I also like the fact that I am not treated like a novice at BA while shooting on their range. When I used to go to SS that guy Doug was always breathing down my neck and acting like I was doing something wrong while I was shooting, he onced scolded me for shooting from the hip and told me to never do that again.. I was using a laser sight and was hitting center mass on the target without any issues. Otherwise the staff at SS was always very friendly, they are good people over there, especially the owner and his son, but bieng as I am a pretty much exclusively into shooting rifles I have no choice but to patronize other ranges. Not to mention, at BA i shoot from the prone position, from the hip, bench rest, standing, you name it.. and they allow rapid fire :icon_twisted: They are a Class 3 dealer, One night I was there and one of the employees was on the range firing an M16A2 on full auto. I am yet to see any dangerous behavior being displayed on their range, everytime I go there there is a maximum of 3 other people on the range with their own firearms being responsible shooters, I often find myself having friendly chats with the other shooters. One time I went there and there were some new shooters there who were being given a course on safe firearm handling prior to shooting on the range. The staff at BA is friendly and seems more knowlegable when it comes to EBRs than the guys at shore shot were back when I used to go there, I remember being told by one of the staff members at SS that the mini-14, without a folding stock, was on the ban list in NJ when I asked if they could order me one. SS is a pistol range though and they always had a lot more handguns in stock then BA ever does, I think their shop is geared more towards handguns and not much in the way of rifles. Bear in mind this was a few years back, and I havent been there since. BA always has cool semi auto rifles in stock that were made NJ compliant by their gunsmith, stuff that you don't usually see at shops here. I remember the first time I went in there they had a century golani sporter that had its stock pinned and a brake welded on it, I was there last night and they had a WASR underfolder with the stock pinned open, an HK USC, and a bunch of other cool semi auto rifles that required modifications to be sold here. I have done business with BA one time, and although the purchase was a bit overpriced, it is an awesome rifle that I have not seen for sale at any other shop in NJ and I have had other FFLs tell me that they would not do a transfer on it ban compliant or not. That said, their prices are a bit too high on most of the items they stock but there is the occasional good deal here and there. I only really go there because of the freedoms they have when it comes to all calibers of rifles and the fact that experienced shooters are treated as such and basically left alone to enjoy themselves.

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Last time I was at SS they had a whole wall full of Black Rifles? Chris and Andy are both very knowledgeable in all forms of tactical arms and have been very helpful to me. It is funny how perceptions vary. I always thought Doug was a very helpful and efficient RO? I have seem him on many occasions helping out new shooters, as does Paul and Tiny. I would much rather have a RO that is watching out for our safety than no RO and a bunch of yahoos walking around outside the shooting ports with loaded guns and sweeping the firing line all night long? But hey, that is just me.

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Last time I was at SS they had a whole wall full of Black Rifles? Chris and Andy are both very knowledgeable in all forms of tactical arms and have been very helpful to me. It is funny how perceptions vary. I always thought Doug was a very helpful and efficient RO? I have seem him on many occasions helping out new shooters, as does Paul and Tiny. I would much rather have a RO that is watching out for our safety than no RO and a bunch of yahoos walking around outside the shooting ports with loaded guns and sweeping the firing line all night long? But hey, that is just me.

 

I liked Tiny when I used to go to SS, he was a cool guy with a lot of tall tales, he let me shoot some of his pistols a few times. There was also a guy named Jeff who worked there that was very nice, Doug kinda came off like he was on a powertrip to me, maybe its because I am younger. Andy was the one who had told me that the mini-14 was banned in NJ and that they could not order me one, I'm sure he has probably figured out by now that this was incorrect. The one thing I've grown to like about BA is that they tend to have guns for sale that are modified by their gunsmith for NJ legality, so its stuff that you don't normally see for sale in NJ since they cannot be ordered from the factory in a post ban configuration. I can understand wanting attentive ROs, but if there are only experienced shooters on the firing line I generally feel safe even if there is no RO present. I like the freedom to shoot rapidly and from whatever position I want without someone scolding me. I can't say I've ever seen anyone walking around outside the ports with loaded firearms at BA. Typically when I go there is at most 3 other people on the range, usually its empty, and I have only once seen novice shooters with rented firearms,and there was a RO assisting them. When I used to go to SS, almost everytime I was there (typically on weekends), there would be a group of at least 4 hoodrat thug types renting handguns and shooting ghetto style, always made me feel a bit unsafe to be honest. The few times I shot there when Doug was present he made me feel uncomfortable, watching my every move and standing directly over my shoulder while I shot, acting as if I did not know what I was doing. I mentioned the incident in which I was shooting from the hip, at least he didn't kick me off the range i guess. I was shooting my own firearm and doing so in a safe manner, I have never hit the floor or the ceiling at a range. Whats the fun in shooting a rifle if it has to be bench rested at all times? back when I shot at SS that was the rule, until they just flat out decided that we couldnt shoot rifles there at all anymore so I stopped going and didn't renew my membership, and that is why I shoot at the BA range now. I am new here, and I've obviously missed something since I see there is a lot of hatred for BA here. Just out of curiosity, what did they do?? I can tell you that I have purchased a rifle from them and am happy with it, and I was going to purchase another rifle but test fired it and discovered that it had some issues. They did try to deny the gun had any problems, which was BS as it certainly did, but I was refunded my deposit on the spot without a problem and next time I went in the gun had sold. I am not trying to badmouth SS, like I said in my other post, I always thought the owner Billy and his son Kyle were really friendly guys and they run a good honest business. If they allowed me to shoot all of my rifle calibers there, with steel cased ammo, in any firing position I want, and at any rate of fire, I would renew my membership. In the meantime, I'll stick with BA so I can dump 15 round .308 magazines down range as fast as I can pull the trigger (safely of course) :icon_twisted:

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Personally, I don't see the point in taking a 300-600 rifle and shooting it at 25 yards? You can always use the search feature of the forum to read through old BA posts if you like.

 

Until I joined this forum, I was unaware of an outdoor range in NJ that I could afford and was within an hour of where I live. I also dont think my 16" carbine or WASR would be very accurate out to 600 yards.. does a range that long exist in NJ? I can't afford CJ range, and I've heard a lot of things about range 14 being anti- black rifle, didnt they call the cops on someone with a semi auto belt fed? not to mention its just too far of a drive for me to go shooting there after work. BA is 20 mins away, its convenient. I just found out about the Monmouth county range, which is apparently very affordable, but it seems as though there is a lot involved to become a member (being voted in, joining the NRA, 1 year probation etc) and I'm not sure I really wanna deal with all that stuff, not to mention they close at dusk so I'd rarely be able to shoot there. For now, the 25 yard range will do. As long as I can load ammunition into my rifles and make them go bang, I'm happy. Maybe one day when I move out of this state, I will be able to go to public outdoor ranges that dont have any requirements for membership. In the meantime it is most convenient for me to go to the indoor range, they are open till 10pm so I can make it there by 9pm on weeknights and have an hour to shoot :) Its unbelievable how much of a pain in the butt it is to shoot rifles here. When I go to PA for vacation, all I have to do is walk onto the back porch of the rental house and I have my own private range where I make the rules.. only bad thing about it is that I end up burning through all my ammo in less than hour bumpfiring with standard capacity magazines and can't hear anything but high pitched ringing for a few hours afterwards. Its always a sad moment when I have to pack up my stuff, leave the standard capacity mags behind and head back into this state

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