Does anyone have land I can shoot on? I'll pay!

DaemonAssassin said:

Sometimes you have to embrace the suck and put in for a private club.

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Or be willing to burn some gas/time and drive. For every fifty miles you're willing to add to your round trip, the options expand, sometimes significantly.

Occam said:

Or be willing to burn some gas/time and drive. For every fifty miles you're willing to add to your round trip, the options expand, sometimes significantly.

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This is very true too.

Might also help if the OP made a good introduction post.

KevinK said:

Might also help if the OP made a good introduction post.

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Yeah - if I had 100 acres I would not just invite any old yo ho to go running around my property; the land owner is going to be held responsible. And there's probably some Maryland laws that mandates requirements if you are getting paid. Good luck OP, I doubt you'll get any takers. Maybe if you were in another state where you would not be so easily sued.

Boards01 said:

I posted this same question a couple of months ago and got 0 response. The range closest to me (Im in Hickory) is indoor and I don't really like the vibe there. All the private clubs that I've seen are full and waiting lists are exhausted. One of my neighbors shoots every weekend but I'm not sure which one it is and I aint going on nobody's land without an invitation. Good luck.

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Elk Neck isn't too far from you. $10/day or $50 for the year I believe. Also Southern Lancaster Farmers and Sportsmans association is less than 45 minutes from where you are, $75/ year with rifle range up tp 300 yards. Only problem is new members are only taken 1 day per month during Jan, Feb, Mar and April each year

Unfortunately, most long term members here have really good reasons to be protective.
The folks on this site are really good folks and are very eager to help but they have been down these rods prior and others have ruined it for the newbies now.

Go to a few meetups and get to know some folks. The doors will be opened up with exposure to the group.

Keep shooting and enjoy.

Hap Baker is a good choice and is easy going.

Whereabouts in Frederick are you? There is a club up near Emmitsburg.

rseymorejr said:

Elk Neck isn't too far from you. $10/day or $50 for the year I believe. Also Southern Lancaster Farmers and Sportsmans association is less than 45 minutes from where you are, $75/ year with rifle range up tp 300 yards. Only problem is new members are only taken 1 day per month during Jan, Feb, Mar and April each year

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The OP is in Frederick MD.

Elk neck is 100 miles and Google says 1 hour 39 minutes.

SLCFSA is 98.1 miles and 1 hour 50 minutes per Google.

hidaro said:

I live in Frederick County and there's nowhere around me to shoot! Cresap Rifle Club isn't terribly fun - overbearing safety officers, can only change targets once an hour, etc.

If anyone near Frederick County has land that I can shoot an AR15 on, I'll pay cash for access!

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OP go to the Maryland Shooters Firearms Interactive Map and you will find what your choices are in Maryland and surrounding states.

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=135949

Other than those you are mostly limited to buying your own property if you want a place to shoot.

I'm still waiting to hear what the OP's issues were with the RSOs at the noted club noted in the OP.

Blacksmith101 said:

The OP is in Frederick MD.

Elk neck is 100 miles and Google says 1 hour 39 minutes.

SLCFSA is 98.1 miles and 1 hour 50 minutes per Google.

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I was responding to another memeber that lives in Harford County.
Sorry for the confusion

308Scout said:

I'm still waiting to hear what the OP's issues were with the RSOs at the noted club noted in the OP.

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Hell I was yelled at for rapid firing a bolt action rifle, while loading every round by hand. I was averaging 1 shot every minute.

DaemonAssassin said:

Hell I was yelled at for rapid firing a bolt action rifle, while loading every round by hand. I was averaging 1 shot every minute.

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1 shot every minute! There's no reason to shoot so wildly.

Was you using a burp stock?

Threeband said:

1 shot every minute! There's no reason to shoot so wildly.

Was you using a burp stock?

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He was impersonating Jerry M.

Threeband said:

1 shot every minute! There's no reason to shoot so wildly.



Was you using a burp stock?

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You know it.

But the guy in the lane next to me was mag dumping a AK. RSO never said a word to him.

DaemonAssassin said:

You know it.

But the guy in the lane next to me was mag dumping a AK. RSO never said a word to him.

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RSO was skeered of AK Guy.

Helicopter Mother took little boy to first day of school, tells teacher, "My little Snowflake is very sensitive, so if he misbehaves, just punish the child next to him."

Threeband said:

RSO was skeered of AK Guy.



Helicopter Mother took little boy to first day of school, tells teacher, "My little Snowflake is very sensitive, so if he misbehaves, just punish the child next to him."

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Helicopter mom can eat a fat one.

RSO not smart that day.

DaemonAssassin said:

Hell I was yelled at for rapid firing a bolt action rifle, while loading every round by hand. I was averaging 1 shot every minute.

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Yeah, those bolt actions just scream rapid fire. Perhaps the RSO just didn't know any better and though you were using an AS-007 with the bolt action camo kit.

brianns said:

Isn't there a conservation club up around Thurmont you can join that has land and a range? If I recall they you could camp as well. It's not Izaak Walton though. Can't recall its name but I think they had Schutzen Competitions. I used to be semi-interested but fell off of that interest a long time ago.

Speaking of Izaak Walton, I think the one near Mt. Airy mitgt have a 300 yd range. But that's another membership, place.

NRA HQ has a 50 yd range down in Fairfax. For proximity sake though you can always go to The Machine Gun Nest for some basic shooting. I know it's only 25 yds, but you can make it useful.

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IMHO I highly recommend Izzak Waltons. Most you've gotta put a little skin in the game as they are conservation groups, not just shooting groups. I am looking at joining Mt Airy as my son does CAP and they meet there weekly (or, well, when COVID isn't as much of a concern). In the summer time, kill two birds with one stone, drop him off and then go over and do a little shooting for awhile.

I am a member as the Damascus/Wildlife Achievement chapter now. But the cost for membership at either isn't bad for what you get out of it IMHO. I haven't looked in awhile at Mt Airy, but Damascus as a probationary member you have to put in two service credits per year for 2 years. One an environmental credit and one general (or two environmental). A TON of members (I want to say it is 3-4k). Not all of them shoot though. And many don't shoot often (maybe just sighting in a couple rifles or ML for deer season every year).

Post COVID I'll probably get back to helping out with a service opportunity or two a year just to help out. They aren't bad. I did a couple range clean-ups (one was about an hour of work, the other was about 4hrs as we were replacing shot-up and decayed target stand holders on the pistol range ripping out and installing new railroad ties), a road side clean-up and a gardens maintenance day (both about 3hrs of work).

After that, you don't HAVE to do anything other than pay dues and follow the rules, which aren't onerous. Downsides are, you can't mag dump, you can't shoot steel, you can't draw from a holster or shoot on the move. There are places you can do that, but pretty limited. That's fine with me personally. They do have some competitions and classes periodically where you CAN do most/all of those things.

One perk, once you take the range safety class, you are your own RSO as is everyone else. With extremely rare exceptions, everyone follows the basic safety rules and rarely do I run in to a real dick. The worst I generally have to put up with is wanting to change targets and ask to go cold and I'll get someone who really, really, really just needs to finish shooting their string and clean their barrel because they have some break in schedule that they MUST adhere to. So I get to sit and twiddle my thumbs at the bench waiting for them to be done for a few minutes before heading down range.

The worst violations I've seen are a couple times people shootings rifle calibers on the pistol ranges and some grandparents and their grand kids setting some some steel spinners at about 20yds and shooting them with rimfire rifles as I was headed off the range with no one else there. Buddy who got me to join has seen some other stupid crap like guys mag dumping on the pistol range with targets at 5yds a time or two.

Most people seem to get the hint when you point out to them they aren't allowed to do that. The grandparents did anyway, but it was a "oh, well we were going to wait till you left so there was no one else on the range". The guys with rifles on the pistol range one was a "oh, I didn't realize that. I am sorry" and cased it up. The other got butt hurt of "well I need to try to sight it in at close range because I can't get the scope zeroed". They were pissed I told them to knock it off as it was against the rules. If they wanted to F around with it when I wasn't on the pistol range, well I won't be around to report it then.

Public ranges I've seen safety violations, serious ones, on almost every single visit in my life. 95% of them caught by an RSO promptly and corrected, but still doesn't warm me to get muzzled by someone with a round still in the chamber for sure or someone starting to step in front of the benches to grab something that dropped off their bench and not calling things cold first.

On the OP's request, I get the interest. Even if it wasn't shooting, would you solicit around asking total strangers "hey, can I use your land for something?" I am guessing probably not. Doesn't matter too much if it is "hey I am looking for private land I can take a relaxing hike or camp on" or "I am looking for a private spot for my daughter's wedding".

You look for a place that specifically does that. Either public or private. If you don't want a place that does that, then you get to know the person you'd be asking, or at least get a bit of a reputation (hopefully good) so that people have something to go off of.

I probably wouldn't turn down the opportunity to go shooting on someone's property if scheduling and what not worked out and we both knew each other at least by reputation. I don't know that I'd be asking around, per say. Of course I do have a place I like I can do most of my shooting. That said, eventually I want my own property I can shoot on. Setup a range how I want it. And use it for hunting and just get away from things occasionally. Though that is $$$.

Must’ve scared him off with all the replies. Not a peep since his second post.