With so many (myself included) people getting into shooting for the first time have members of this group ever tried to schedule meet ups at a range where the "topic" is "gun x" versus "gun y" (S&W MP9 versus Glock 19  or Ruger GP100 versus S&W 686 for example).  People with those particular guns would agree to meet up and let newbies or others interested in purchasing that type of gun try them out.....of course those wishing to try them out would bring ammo.  Plus it would be a great way to meet forum members.

 

Just curious if anything like this has ever been attempted on a quasi regular basis?  It seems the shotgun shoot out has a pretty decent turn out (from what I've read) and this would be in a similiar vein as I'm assuming part of the allure of the shot gun shoot out is trying out other shot guns and meeting forum members.  Just an idea I thought I would throw out there.

What are you trying to shoot? In my experience if you post it others will have it and invite you to shoot. The shotgun shoot outs are not only a good place to try some diffrent guns but to also put faces to usernames and make some friends on the side

 

 

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We tried this once but we had to cancel it because none of the Beretta owners could decide what to wear.

 

Seriously, though.  It's a good idea.  Maybe Ft. Dix, which would accommodate a large crowd.

We tried this once but we had to cancel it because none of the Beretta owners could decide what to wear.

 

Seriously, though.  It's a good idea.  Maybe Ft. Dix, which would accommodate a large crowd.

.....or their Italian Supermodel Girlfriends didn't let them go because they sent them to change the oil in their Maserati's instead!

 

 

We had a meet-up 2 1/2 years ago at Ft Dix where people brought a lot of stuff to try out. Maybe a repeat is a good idea.

Thing is that as in every club with membership either you have to be a member or be able to guest enough members.

And someone has to organize all of the logistics. Expect about 30 people to show or such and bring all sorts of guns.

I belong to dix and cjrpc, would be game for a meetup and have a plethora of things for ppl to shoot.

 

CJ would be preferable bc of the setup but I realize thats prob not realistic.

CJ would be preferable bc of the setup but I realize thats prob not realistic.

I recall a meetup or an attempt at a meetup at CJ and the board of CJ had objections or something like that.

Technically, if  a few CJ members could be rounded up each one can guest in two people, you could make quite a crowd without breaking any club rules. Ten CJ members can  guest in twenty additional people. 

We should give it a try....sounds like their is some interest there. We could maybe limit the first meet to say 12-15 people or maybe reserve a certain amount of ports/space at a club (if you can do that).....heck, if that many people are interesred maybe we could rent an entire indoor range and make it a private event!

 

I just joined EFGA and it seems there are quite a few other members on the forums as well that are members. If we had 3 or 4 EFGA members participate I think each member can guest in 3 people....though only 1 gueat per member can shoot at a time.

 

Let'see how many people are interested and go from there. I'm willing to give it a try and would help organize/plan it.

They tried this at cj a while ago and there were problems with the board. I would say it is not worth trying to do it there unless you go before the board for approval. Just figured I'd give a heads up

Here's the thread from that initial try

 

http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/11896-central-jersey-the-final-countdown/

They tried this at cj a while ago and there were problems with the board. I would say it is not worth trying to do it there unless you go before the board for approval. Just figured I'd give a heads up

Theoretically it could be done BUUUUUT each guest must be under constant supervision of the member that guested them into the club.  What you can't have is your guest over on the shotgun range shooting trap while you (me) are in the pits shooting pistol.

 

I'm sure you know this Mike, so for those who might not understand it, the premise behind the guesting privilege to invite friends to the range with the ultimate goal that they will join.  This is why it's limited to two visits.  An organized shoot like this violates the principal of the guest policy, and in my opinion is likely why it won't fly again at CJ, and while I'm not a member, I suspect Old Bridge would object too.

 

I love the idea of this type of organized event, but I don't see it working at the member clubs.

Range 14 is probably the best but we have to have members arrive early and get reserved lanes.... then if they're busy (which they are a lot), they're going to restrict our time on the ranges.....

We tried this once but we had to cancel it because none of the Beretta owners could decide what to wear.

 

Seriously, though.  It's a good idea.  Maybe Ft. Dix, which would accommodate a large crowd.

LMAO!!

Theoretically it could be done BUUUUUT each guest must be under constant supervision of the member that guested them into the club.  What you can't have is your guest over on the shotgun range shooting trap while you (me) are in the pits shooting pistol.

 

I'm sure you know this Mike, so for those who might not understand it, the premise behind the guesting privilege to invite friends to the range with the ultimate goal that they will join.  This is why it's limited to two visits.  An organized shoot like this violates the principal of the guest policy, and in my opinion is likely why it won't fly again at CJ, and while I'm not a member, I suspect Old Bridge would object too.

 

I love the idea of this type of organized event, but I don't see it working at the member clubs.

 

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

 

This is just for everyone's knowledge and not directed to anyone in particular.

 

Old Bridge already "survived" one of these Meet-Ups.  And then changed the Rules so that they don't happen again, and here's WHY:

 

In a word, LIABILITY!  To expand upon this thought will require a thought process and NOT a knee-jerk adolescent reaction, so here goes:

 

In actuality, Meet-Ups are social events where some brand-new shooters who've never even met each other get to "play" with other people's guns.  They're organized with more thought about who is bringing what new toy (some experienced shooters bring stuff they've NEVER shot before, so this adds to the problem of potential safety issues since not even the gun's owner knows how to make it work) and little, if ANY thought is given to make sure that PLENTY of supervision of CARDED and INSURED Certified Instructors and Range Safety Officers (RSO's) of all three main disciplines (rifle, pistol, shotgun) are on-hand to keep things completely organized and SAFE!  To complicate matters, some Collectors bring unique, hard-to-shoot items like hide-out guns such as Derringers and NAA .22 Magnums as well as hand cannons such as .500 Magnums and complete Newbies are invited to try them out prior to receiving ANY formal safety training (see LOTS of You-Tube videos of Girlfriends getting knocked in the head from a .50 cal handgun).  

 

Shooters are human beings and like to "play show and tell" with their guns.  Doing so behind the firing line gets dangerous, since the line is hardly ever called "COLD".  So people routinely handle firearms BEHIND the firing line (a problem looking for a place to happen).  During these events it's extremely easy for the owner of a firearm to become distracted, and before you know it a complete Newbie is sweeping everyone with a loaded gun (happens more with handguns) and the rest of the social gathering is oblivious to the inherent danger because everyone is chatting-up newly found friends or busy shooting.  I've seen this with my own two eyes, even at the NJGF Shotgun Meet-Up where I was swept by a 12 ga. pump with the action CLOSED as it was being handled BEHIND the firing line.  I politely got hold of the gun and pointed it muzzle-up and stroked a live round out of the chamber onto the ground.  I didn't make a scene, I just made it SAFE!

 

In addition, the guesting policy issue that you already spoke of (Guests are limited to X number of visits before they have to join) is put in-place so as to enable a senior member of said Club to faithfully supervise his/her guests while employing superior situational awareness on a one-to-one or one-to-two basis so as to ensure COMPLETE SAFETY is maintained.  A large social gathering requires more than a substantial quantity of Certified Instructors in order to meet the requirements of most Clubs.  As an example:  Our NRA Women's Day at the Range has 2-3 Instructors per Pit as a minimum, and the Women are escorted by another Instructor from discipline to discipline in groups of 15 or so.  There is NO uncased handling of firearms behind the firing line!

 

The members of Club's Board of Trustees are charged (by the laws of the State of NJ AND the Bylaws of their Clubs) with a fiduciary responsibility to maintain the operations and financial stability of the Organizations that they serve therein.  Having complete strangers of unknown abilities handling firearms (some for the very first time) is a threat to the Club itself.  As a former Board Member, I speak from the experience of being there.

 

Please don't take any of the above as a "put-down" or be "dissed" by it.  One mistake could CLOSE A CLUB FOREVER!

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Dave

Former Board Member 

As was recommended perhaps the number of attendees is capped off at a manageable & safe number. I also don't think newbies would be interested in a .500 caliber hangun with a 7 inch barrel for their first handgun. I would think we would be looking at the common calibers/guns newbies are interested in (22, 9mm, 38/357, etc).

Lol....I just.briefly read the link to the prior mass meet up. Sounds like you had enough firearms and people to take over a small country......

 

What I envision for the "Versus" meet up would be much, much smaller Limiting the amount of firearms being handled....hence the "Versus" title..... one gun(Ruger GP 100) versus this one other gun (S&W 686) as mentioned earlier and keeping the amount of people involved would be safer and more informative.

 

This is pretty much what I did this weekend and it worked out great. It was myself and 2 other guest. We tried out 3 different guns, got to meet one another and had a great time.

 

Smaller, in this case, is probably a much better way to go.

.....or their Italian Supermodel Girlfriends didn't let them go because they sent them to change the oil in their Maserati's instead!

 

Uh, don't remind me.  Giulia and Valentina insisted that it be done.  Then Chiara made us all Cannoli and it would have been rude to leave after she worked so hard.  We weren't done eating until bedtime... and then it was bedtime.  The perils of being a Beretta owner...

Here's the thread from that initial try

 

http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/11896-central-jersey-the-final-countdown/

 

Holy sh*t.. What a cluster fcuk that sounded like.. Just read that whole thread..

Holy sh*t.. What a cluster fcuk that sounded like.. Just read that whole thread..

Also read the whole thread. Crazy how it was handled by the cj board members.

 

I would schedule a meet up at the Woodland Park Range. They have lots of rentals available (once they get final approval from the state)  and range officers on hand as well. You could probably arrange to rent out the entire 50 yard range for 2 to 3 hours for a set fee. People who want to shoot put money towards that reservation. New guys have range officers there to guide them through the paces.