Great Experience at Freestate!

[Johnny Utah]

Long story short, Continental lost two customers - althought I doubt they will notice or care.

Anyways, my sister and I went shooting Friday and were extemely impressed by the range, but the best part of the experience was how friendly the staff were to us. My sister has had countless issues with The Roadie @ Continental being a condenscending douche to her and treating her as if she was incompetent - even though she is a Nurse Practicioner who can shoot better and safer then most men I have shot with. So needless to say I was impressed when they treated us so well - polite, social, and courteous - they didn't give off the typical 'Captain Serious/*******' vibe that EVERY other Gun Range in this area seems to do.


The facilities are impressive and clean, and as an avid AR15 fan the ability to shoot 556 fmj is a MAJOR selling point for me - not to mention being 10 minutes from my house. I hope they stay in business.

 

[GNLaFrance]

Great to know you and your sister enjoyed the experience! If you want them to stay in business, bring them money frequently and encourage others to do the same

 

[nomo613]

wow, i had the exact same experience. they maybe a little farther away, but totally worth the drive!

 

[Jay]

Who is the Roadie @ Continental?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Who is the Roadie @ Continental?

He is the guy with long curly hair who works the counter (and watches you) that everyone under the sun has had an issue with at some point in time

 

[aberforth]

countless issues with The Roadie @ Continental being a condenscending douche to her and treating her as if she was incompetent

Several times I've been to Continental I've had exactly the same experience with him. Generally I won't take business back to a place that does that to me more than once. The problem was Continental was 5 minutes from work, so it was *extremely* convenient.

Then Freestate opened up. A bit pricier (if only they charged by the half-hour!), and certainly further away from work (but much closer to home), but with a fantastic facility, better hours, amazing customer service, and just a great friendly vibe both from the patrons and all the employees. I love Freestate and they are now my range of choice.

The interesting thing was I dropped back by continental a week or two ago, to go shooting after work with a coworker (who didn't have the time or inclination to drive to Freestate), and the Roadie (Ziggy is his name I believe) was like a completely different person. He was friendly, helpful, joking around, polite, even helped my coworker with some issue he was having with stance and cross-dominance (I'm a lousy teacher). I hate to joke about it, but it was almost as if he (Roadie) was on different meds that day. Several friends of mine have also commented about a similar change they've noticed while at Continental. I have a sneaking suspicion that Continental is feeling the pressure (like Horst changing their ammo policy) and somebody pointed out that an attitude adjustment will help keep them from driving away customers.

In any event, like I said I love Freestate. They've been good to me and I intend to reward them for it by giving them the (vast) majority of my business.

 

[Annie Oakley]

I am the sister Johnny Utah is referring to. I would agree that the experience at Freestate was great (and only about 5 minutes from my house.) My brother and I really enjoy going to shoot together and it was nice to go to a place that didn't make me feel stressed and actually made me feel comfortable. Considering how close Freestate is and how much "The Roadie" treated me like I was incompetent, I have no need to return to Continental Arms. I am a psych nurse and if someone feels the need to be such a jerk to people (despite me ALWAYS being respectful towards him,) then they need help. Just sayin'. From what I hear, I'm not the only one who has had issues with him either.

 

[MattTheGunslinger]

I am the sister Johnny Utah is referring to. I would agree that the experience at Freestate was great (and only about 5 minutes from my house.) My brother and I really enjoy going to shoot together and it was nice to go to a place that didn't make me feel stressed and actually made me feel comfortable. Considering how close Freestate is and how much "The Roadie" treated me like I was incompetent, I have no need to return to Continental Arms. I am a psych nurse and if someone feels the need to be such a jerk to people (despite me ALWAYS being respectful towards him,) then they need help. Just sayin'. From what I hear, I'm not the only one who has had issues with him either.

I have taken both my mom and my girlfriend there. They both love it because everyone is so nice and respectful to them. If either one of them has a question, they are not looked down on, they get a real answer. I have been going there since they opened and have been happy everytime. Do as I do and tell everyone you can about this range! We need to keep these guys in business.

 

[Les Gawlik]

I live 10 minutes from Continental. I drive past it, go another 20 minutes to Freestate, and have done so about twice per week since it opened.

 

[Annie Oakley]

You're absolutely right, we SHOULD tell everyone. Everyone can do their part to help them stay in business. I plan on going weekly.

 

[marko]

So - what caliber can you shoot?

 

[Boondock Saint]

So - what caliber can you shoot?

All pistol calibers, rifles up to and including 7.62x39.

 

[mikec]

All pistol calibers, rifles up to and including 7.62x39.

I was told by a little bird that the backstop can handle bigger calibers, but the issue is noise.

I wonder what they would say if someone asked to shoot a suppressed 7.62x51 there? Of course, unless you are doing a function check or something along those lines, it would be a waste. I did fire my AR there, helped me get my EOTech roughed in.

It would be a nice place to get a 5.7x28 SBR dialed in.

 

[Ruzo]

I live 10 minutes from Continental. I drive past it, go another 20 minutes to Freestate, and have done so about twice per week since it opened.

+ 1 I do the same thing. Just got my Family Membership Friday

 

[BigDuphis]

I was told by a little bird that the backstop can handle bigger calibers, but the issue is noise.

I wonder what they would say if someone asked to shoot a suppressed 7.62x51 there? Of course, unless you are doing a function check or something along those lines, it would be a waste. I did fire my AR there, helped me get my EOTech roughed in.

It would be a nice place to get a 5.7x28 SBR dialed in.

Speaking of noise, I was there on sat and someone cracked off what sounded like black powder, quite the ka-whump. Was it one of our fine members here?

 

[nomo613]

we just received our family membership there and look foward to going there often. we are also considering buying a new gun soon, so we will have to check what they have in stock. they rock at customer service.

 

[Docster]

+1 on the Freestate comments; will be going there often and encourage everyone here at Maryland Shooters to do the same. I've mentioned before about the free market and voting with your wallet, and that's what I'm doing. It's not worth the cheaper price to go to H & M (small, dark, unkept) or Continental so let's vote with our wallets and vote Freestate!

 

[Les Gawlik]

For those of you who haven't been there recently, Randy has put in a pool table. That gives me another thing to shoot poorly.

 

[Second Amendment]

...and the Roadie (Ziggy is his name I believe) was like a completely different person. He was friendly, helpful, joking around, polite, even helped my coworker with some issue he was having

Yeah....and why wasn't he nice before? To me, it is worse when someone is insincere and pretends to be nice, then when someone is being their true self. The employees at Continental are genuine a-holes and that's why I don't shoot there. Are you listening "Roadie" and company?

 

[TROOPER]

I'll be honest, I've been going to Continental for a couple of weeks, and they've been really nice.

They've been friendly, and answered all my dumb questions LOL, and generally a good group so far.

As this is really my first time dealing with gun stores and ranges as a civilian, it's not been so bad.

Not checked out FreeState yet, but don't give up on Continental just yet, we need all the stores and ranges we can find, in these economic hard times..