Hey everbody,

 

Was wondering if anyone here was a member in Old Bridge and if you could tell me about the place.

 

Have been considering joining Central Jersey which seems like a much larger place, a little more upfront but a little less each year compared to the rates listed in Old Bridges' website. For me, Old Bridge would be a lot closer so I would be able to shoot more.

 

Thank You

Per the bylaws:

 

New Member orientation is the second Sunday of every month at the indoor range.

 

Initiation is $300 or $350 (Can't remember that)

 

Full member dues are $384 plus 12 work hours or $15/hr not worked.

 

1/2 the first year's dues plus 1/2 the initiation is due upon joining. That makes you a probationary member for up to 6 months.

 

You have to attend 5 events and participate in at least two, this gets you your sign offs and you can become a regular member by attending a meeting and paying the rest of the initiation and the rest of the first year's dues.

 

Indoor range is 24 hours (Key Card), up to 25 yards, pistols and .22 rifles only, no magnums

 

Outdoor range is 7 days 9am to 30 minutes before dark. 100 yard and 50 yard rifle ranges, shotgun/trap range, and about 6 pistol pits. No caliber restrictions.

 

Regular member can bring up to 3 guests at any one time. No guest may be invited more than 3 times in one year. Immediate Family (Spouse and Children are not considered guests, iirc).

 

Anything else you need to know?

Sorry.. I typed it all out.. but it's listed all here:

 

http://www.oldbridgerifle.com/rifle-clu ... hip-NJ.cfm

Central Jersey's indoor range is A LOT nicer.

old bridge seems very over priced with overly strict work requirements -

old bridge seems very over priced with overly strict work requirements -

 

Central jersey has some weird rules to me. Like no rifle calibers in the pistol pits and no drawing from holsters and what not. The work requirements at Old Bridge aren't necessarily "Hard Labor". You can get involved with a discipline and help set up a match and things like that too. It's meant to get members involved in the club and make it a better place.. as opposed to being a dump like some public ranges are. Or.. you can be like me and just pay the money. :?: The initiation thing isn't really bad, it's designed to try to introduce the different shooting disciplines to the new members. Like, you can attend IPSC, Shotgun, Blackpowder, High Power, IDPA, etc.

 

I'm pretty satisfied with Old Bridge, my close proximity to it could be a large factor in that, but it's a really nice laid back place to shoot in my opinion. Most times I go, there is no waiting, and you can have an entire range to yourself. Of course that is dependent on how many people show up at once, but in my experience, it has never been a problem. Or.. if you enjoy competitive shooting like IDPA or Steel, the clubs for those is rather large and can get pretty competitive sometimes and even shoot for money.

 

The major downsize in my eyes is that there is no range longer than 100 yards.

And the manual indoor range.

 

Too much $$$ for me now, but I am only 10mn away from it so it would be convenient.

And the manual indoor range.

 

Too much $$$ for me now, but I am only 10mn away from it so it would be convenient.

 

The manual indoor range is kind of a drag.. I usually only shoot outside unless I get the hankering for some blasting at 3am. They set it up for indoor IPSC and PPC and bullseye and stuff too.. so I don't know how efective it would be if they put in the strings to pull the target back.

 

Central jersey has some weird rules to me. Like no rifle calibers in the pistol pits and no drawing from holsters and what not. The work requirements at Old Bridge aren't necessarily "Hard Labor". You can get involved with a discipline and help set up a match and things like that too. It's meant to get members involved in the club and make it a better place.. as opposed to being a dump like some public ranges are. Or.. you can be like me and just pay the money. :?: The initiation thing isn't really bad, it's designed to try to introduce the different shooting disciplines to the new members. Like, you can attend IPSC, Shotgun, Blackpowder, High Power, IDPA, etc.

 

I'm pretty satisfied with Old Bridge, my close proximity to it could be a large factor in that, but it's a really nice laid back place to shoot in my opinion. Most times I go, there is no waiting, and you can have an entire range to yourself. Of course that is dependent on how many people show up at once, but in my experience, it has never been a problem. Or.. if you enjoy competitive shooting like IDPA or Steel, the clubs for those is rather large and can get pretty competitive sometimes and even shoot for money.

 

The major downsize in my eyes is that there is no range longer than 100 yards.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

exactly the type of info I was looking for, I would have no problem attending a few events or working a couple of Saturday mornings. Just wanted to get an idea if it was worth the $. Defintely thinking about it, closest place for me to shoot.

 

Will they let me check the place out before joining?

 

Central jersey has some weird rules to me. Like no rifle calibers in the pistol pits and no drawing from holsters and what not. The work requirements at Old Bridge aren't necessarily "Hard Labor". You can get involved with a discipline and help set up a match and things like that too. It's meant to get members involved in the club and make it a better place.. as opposed to being a dump like some public ranges are. Or.. you can be like me and just pay the money. :?: The initiation thing isn't really bad, it's designed to try to introduce the different shooting disciplines to the new members. Like, you can attend IPSC, Shotgun, Blackpowder, High Power, IDPA, etc.

 

I'm pretty satisfied with Old Bridge, my close proximity to it could be a large factor in that, but it's a really nice laid back place to shoot in my opinion. Most times I go, there is no waiting, and you can have an entire range to yourself. Of course that is dependent on how many people show up at once, but in my experience, it has never been a problem. Or.. if you enjoy competitive shooting like IDPA or Steel, the clubs for those is rather large and can get pretty competitive sometimes and even shoot for money.

 

The major downsize in my eyes is that there is no range longer than 100 yards.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

exactly the type of info I was looking for, I would have no problem attending a few events or working a couple of Saturday mornings. Just wanted to get an idea if it was worth the $. Defintely thinking about it, closest place for me to shoot.

 

Will they let me check the place out before joining?

 

Sure.. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to show up at an event.. just about every event listed in the calendar in the newsletter is open to the public. You can just show up and start asking questions. You can even shoot there in a match for the non-member fee ($20 vs $5).

 

I haven't been going to the range much, but I could show you around too if we could work out a time that would work for both of us.

Central jersey has some weird rules to me. Like no rifle calibers in the pistol pits and no drawing from holsters and what not.

You can draw from a holster at OB?

yes OB is ok with drawing from a holster and shooting rifle in the pits.

Dunno how I missed that bit when I was looking into clubs :doh: that's a pretty big check in the "plus" column in my book.

The rules say that the pistol should be holstered unloaded/mag out until you are actually on the line and ready to shoot. Pretty much standard practice really, just be safe and use your head. I've done rifle/pistol transitions as well. If nobody else is there, you have the range to yourself.

 

That is during open range time, during a scheduled match, there will be a range master who will be right next to you, only one gun on a particular range will be hot.

Pretty much standard practice really, just be safe and use your head.

I wish it was standard practice at more places. At CR only LEOs can use holsters if I remember the rules correctly. No drawing from a holster at BH either as far as I know.

 

Anyway, back on topic Only visited OB on one occasion for a class, and it seemed like a pretty decent range. One of the board members, Jim Norman, was in our class, and he seemed like a good dude.

Thanks for the info everyone

 

CSJ, pm will be sent

We used to regularly draw from holsters at the fun shoots at Shore Shot on Monday nights? I assume they still do, I haven't been there since my son moved to NY.

I wish it was standard practice at more places. At CR only LEOs can use holsters if I remember the rules correctly. No drawing from a holster at BH either as far as I know.

 

Courtesy of a NJGF member I just checked out central jersey a couple weeks ago. Spoke to one of the managers there. Drawing from a holster for the general membership is not allowed unless you attend three matches and then bring the results to a board meeting to get approval. I don't agree with the need to attend a match as I have no interest in competing against anyone but myself but I do support the idea of proper training and it IS required for stuff like this. I just wish I could pay a qualified person appointed by the club for X number of hours of training and then get the approval. Seems like the current rules are just a way to discourage people from doing getting the approval. If Old Bridge allows drawing from a holster without some documented form of training, I'd be concerned. I've been muzzle swept by noobs so many times over the years I'm considering investing in some body armor.

Three matches does seem a bit excessive, but the fact that it's even an option is a positive to me.

 

It's definitely a tricky thing. NJ, not being a CCW state (well, technically CCW permits exist, but no normal humans have ever seen them), drawing from a holster is not the sort of thing most people probably practice. So, I can understand a range's reluctance to allow drawing from holsters, especially since, like you said, it's not that uncommon to get swept by some moron that barely knows which end of the barrel goes bang.

I think it is a reasonable request for two reasons they are trying to get more members involved in events. The second reason OB only has 10%-20% of the membership of CJ. More members means more people who need observation by having you attend thre matches the club knows you have at least had a minimum of familiarity of drawing from a holster in a controlled environment. We have 2,500 members so a small percentage is a large number of folks and it only takes a few to potentially have a tragic accident.

I agree with Wolfy. Nobody should be allowed to draw from a holster unsupervised until/unless they can prove they have been properly trained. When you shoot in a competition, there is a range officer or event supervisor watching the shooter to make sure they are doing it properly. I have noticed this when doing fun shoots at shore Shot and at steel shoots at CJPRC. I have always felt safe shooting at these events.

 

It is very scary to see how some people handle their guns at one of the indoor ranges I go to. I am sure they would be shooting themselves (or others) if they were allowed to draw from a holster! Most of the newbies that shoot there have no concept of sweeping, pointing and gun handling.

I think it is a reasonable request for two reasons they are trying to get more members involved in events. The second reason OB only has 10%-20% of the membership of CJ. More members means more people who need observation by having you attend thre matches the club knows you have at least had a minimum of familiarity of drawing from a holster in a controlled environment. We have 2,500 members so a small percentage is a large number of folks and it only takes a few to potentially have a tragic accident.

 

I can understand that.. but the "small" population at OB is part of the reason I like it. If I'm in a pistol pit, the only person I'm going to sweep is myself.

 

At the matches, the RO is right behind you, and they do make you go through a new shooter introduction before you can shoot a match.

At CJ the only there is usually only one party in the pits. OB makes you attend 5 events before you can become a member CJ it is optional to attend if you want your draw and fire badge.

At CJ the only there is usually only one party in the pits. OB makes you attend 5 events before you can become a member CJ it is optional to attend if you want your draw and fire badge.

 

Attend 5, participate in 2.

at the club i belong to you are nominated by existing member , safety + range checked before you can join + shoot -

Sounds like a good procedure to follow, however, how does a complete stranger hope to join? For example, I move from another state to right by your club and want to join, if I know nobody in town, how am I going to get "nominated"?

you could attend a meeting + make friends to get nominated -

would this be the range in Carteret?

CSJ, If they see you sweeping yourself at a steel shoot or IDPA meet, you will be asked to leave! A newbie at our fun shoots gets one warning/instruction, then it is adios partner!

( would this be the range in Carteret? )

no - south river