NRA HQ range has banned steel jacket ammo

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  • necrodude

    Active Member
    Aug 22, 2012
    220
    PG county, MD
    If I'm remembering correctly SEG tried the same policy against steel jackets sometime last year but so many people complained that it only lasted a few weeks.....squeaky wheel gets the grease.
    Yeah I remember that. I think that was because there backstop was getting old. Atleast that's what the manager told me. The manager said it wasn't going to be permanent but I'm not 100% sure.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I have sent them an email requesting they rethink this:
    I just wanted to give some feedback on the new "no steel-jacketed ammo" policy. (I am aware that certain steel-cased ammo is not steel-jacketed - but this is fairly uncommon, to say the least). Simply put, I am not a fan of this new policy for a few reasons.

    First, it makes it very difficult to shoot many eastern-bloc calibers in anything resembling an economical fashion on a regular basis, especially the less common ones like 9x18 Mak and 7.62x54r.

    Second, for those of us who were heavy into steel-jacketed ammo like myself, it essentially makes that entire investment unusable at the range.

    Third, due to its low cost, steel-jacketed ammo was an excellent option for higher round count classes. The cost of training at the NRA just got significantly higher for me as a result, and it completely eliminates certain options such as 6.5 Grendel, 5.45x39, .308, etc. due to cost.

    Fourth, your competition _does_ allow steel-jacketed ammo.

    I understand why you might want to temporarily prohibit the usage of this ammo if the old backstop is having problems, but when you do refurbish/upgrade the backstop, I would implore you to design it such that we can use steel-jacketed ammo again. It has a much larger impact on serious shooters than I think may have been anticipated.

    If you don't like this policy, I would encourage you to email them as well at nrarangeadmin@nrahq.org.

    The part of this that pisses me off the most is not being able to use my fancy new 6.5G SBR over there for classes, because I can't afford to sling 80cpr pills down range in those numbers. It was reasonable with Wolf at 25cpr.
     

    Chasbo00

    Active Member
    Jun 30, 2012
    304
    Northern VA
    My email to the NRA Range:

    Some questions on your recent ammo restriction policy regarding steel-jacketed projectiles:

    Why after operating the range for many years without a restriction on steel-jacketed projectiles do you believe such an ammunition restriction is now needed?

    Why have you not yet updated your published range rules and Web FAQ to include this recent change?

    Do you realize that this policy, especially since it's not properly communicated, is a real potential problem for some?

    Do you offer non-steel-jacketed ammunition for sale in calibers such as 7.62 x 39 that are in common use yet mainly found with steel-jacketed projectiles?
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I got a response from them today, and it essentially devolves into "filtering out magnetic bullets is the only way to deal with people shooting steel-core and M855 into our backstop, and we are not moving to a rubber-media backstop". Still sucks hard, but makes more sense than "our backstop can't take metal jackets". I suggested that perhaps they could continue to allow ammunition in properly marked boxes.

    Guess I'll be burning the rest of my .223 off elsewhere and then replace it with non-magentic as I can.
     

    spur0701

    Active Member
    Dec 31, 2009
    221
    I got a response from them today, and it essentially devolves into "filtering out magnetic bullets is the only way to deal with people shooting steel-core and M855 into our backstop, and we are not moving to a rubber-media backstop". Still sucks hard, but makes more sense than "our backstop can't take metal jackets". I suggested that perhaps they could continue to allow ammunition in properly marked boxes.

    Guess I'll be burning the rest of my .223 off elsewhere and then replace it with non-magentic as I can.

    Not me, I'll go to SEG instead if I'm going to shoot long guns..........
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    Not me, I'll go to SEG instead if I'm going to shoot long guns..........
    That isn't gonna help me at rifle classes at the NRA range, alas, and it's just radically out of my way from Crystal City. If they ever built that proposed bridge over the Potomac, I'd go there like every night, though.
     

    necrodude

    Active Member
    Aug 22, 2012
    220
    PG county, MD
    I understand that some people are douchebags and shoot steel core and ap at the range but don't punish everyone. I liked the NRA range in it's older days but for me it's not even worth going to anymore. The waits are long and I can't even shoot the ammo I have. The museum still rocks though. I also stopped going to the Maryland small arms range for the exact same reason. I told the manger I wouldn't be back after they started doing the magnet test. Haven't been there since then.
     

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