In Ohio
DNR says no machine guns on their ranges. And ‘rapid fire of semi-automatic firearms’ is also prohibited. How fast is rapid?
Also, internet buzz is that the range officers are telling people that suppressors are not allowed. Kinda silly because suppressors are one of the more effective safety devices and prevent hearing loss. Reportedly, this is coming from DHS. Odd.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:26 am
Very few public ranges allow full auto fire these days, nothing new there. As to the supressor issue, I’d like to see something official before commenting.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:35 am
Missouri Dept. of Consternation staffed ranges do not allow rapid fire. And, by rapid fire, they mean more than 1 round every 3 or 4 seconds.
They also don’t allow the use of any “humanoid” shaped targets, and the closest shooting position is 25 yards.
Don’t know about suppressors, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t prohibited too.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:49 am
The range I use has a loose “no more than one shot per second” policy. Double taps are not uncommon, though.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:51 am
“Rapid Fire” on the Marine Corps KD range is 10 shots in 60 seconds.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:20 am
“My” range only allows double taps, too. No rapid fire. Its’ indoor, though.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:41 am
DNR range officer at Deer Creek, Ray, has said that rapid fire is anything more than a tripple-tap without pausing. So bang-bang-bang as fast as possible is OK. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang as fast as possible gets you a lecture (and I have heard it given many times to those who ignore the rule). There is no pre-set determination on what a “pause” is, as long as you take a noticeable break (one second, take a breath, realign your sights, whatever you want to consider a “break”).
He said the rule is to prevent unsafe practices such as a mag dump with an AR-15 where 25 of your 30 rounds go over the berm and into god-knows-what. I routinely practice double taps without a problem.
The machine gun rule has always been there and I never bothered to ask why, probably the same reason you can’t rapid fire more than three rounds at once, to keep rounds from going over the berm. Never asked about the suppressor rules since I don’t own one. If you had an M-16 and used the semi setting, I can’t see there being any trouble, they don’t check your rifles before you shoot.
Overall, the facilities are very nice, and the staff that runs them has always been polite and helpful. Ray has tools in his truck and I have seen him help a shooter fix a rifle on more than one occasion. Year round passes are around $15 for unlimited shooting the ten months they are open. Finally, the State is constantly improving the ranges, new benches were installed at Deer Creek a few years ago.
They also allow .50 BMG and have witnessed two guys shooting them at the 100 yard range.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:52 am
My range lists it as “No faster than you can keep all shots on paper”. Now that’s a GOOD RULE. When shooting my model 60 if I feel racy I’ll empty the 19 shot magazine just as fast as I can pull the trigger….all shots will land well within the paper, so no foul.
June 21st, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I wanted to echo what Jim said, only about the Grand River range. The RO’s are friendly and they used the same definition of “rapid fire”. The facilities are great for a public range and the price is right.
Never heard of a “no suppressor” rule. The only thing I could think of is that the range is ostensibly for hunting purposes and the ODNR thinks only poachers would have use for a suppressor.
June 21st, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Yep. My range in WA doesn’t care how fast you fire, but if you can’t keep your shots on paper you will be told to fix that or leave.
Maybe someone should suggest this as a better replacement for the DNR rule they have now?
June 21st, 2010 at 1:37 pm
The 2 public ranges in South Florida (Trail Glades and Markham Park) have a rule against rapid fire (shot every two seconds)which miffes the hell out of the shooters because on weekends when the range is the fullest, immediately next door the next range is rented out to IDPA, Cowboy, IPSC or any action shooting sport. and trust me, we don’t do one shot a second… at least not on purpose.
June 21st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
I was at the city range about 3 weeks ago.
Near the end of the session I took the CZ 2075 (.40SW). Starting for the low ready position I did a quick double tap followed by a triple tap. The range officer, who had been near us all day, was on me like a hawk. He was very polite and had been all day but he sure made it clear that no rapid fire would be tolerated.