Rogue Elite

This week I got an email from an ammunition manufacturer that made me smile.   He was selling Russian 7.62×39 ammo for $209 per 100rds.   I haven’t seen that price since before the Obama election.   It seems that a bad economy and high unemployment is having an impact on the consumption of ammo buying.   I didn’t get caught up in the panic buying because in my opinion, I never thought that 1000rds of any kind of rifle or pistol ammunition should cost as much of the frickin gun.   I remember the days of $79 Wolf ammo and IMHO we are going to go back to that as long as there is not another major upheaval.

I wouldn’t rule out problems coming before the November election given the types of Politicians we have running the Country, and as they slowly run the economy into the ground, there may be people that might run out and panic buy, but other than that, most of the Country knows not to push any crazy anti gun agendas given past repurcussions, Politically, for doing so.  I strongly suggest bringing cash to Texas Gun Shows in your area and look and see what kind of ammo you can pick up for a good price.   Ammo prices are on their way down and you may run across some really good deals.

If there is a time to get out and shoot and you know that you’ll get a range to yourself, it’s probable going to be in the mid to later Summer months.   I know this can also be uncomfortable to shoot in if its really hot, but if you can shoot in the shade and bring plenty to drink.  You might be able to shoot all day and call cease fires at will without having to wait for the guy next to you to stop shooting.   The worst times to get out are usually in the pre-hunting weeks when ranges are crammed with people trying to verify zero before the upcoming hunting trips.

A few years ago I got to test out the new scope mounts I had on my DSARMS STG58.   I took it to one of Pennsylvanias shooting ranges where I was lucky to get the whole thing to myself.   At this time of the year so many people are on vacaction and not hanging out at the gun club.    It probable took me no more than 5rds to zero the gun at 200yds and after approximately 25rds I  had my rifle setup to shoot out to 500yds.   You can drive out to the burms to speed up target changes, but it was even nicer to not have to call for a cease fire and wait for everyone to get done shooting.   Even better was knowing that when I came back from 500yds, I was the only 0ne there and could just begin plinking at will.    The Sierra 168gr Matchking performed very well for a NATO relic.

This weekend there is another Gun Show in my area that is one of my favorite places to go.   I hear a lot of gun  shops complaining about how the internet is taking away a lot of their business because people just go online and buy stuff and have it shipped to their homes.    The reality is that this is true, but sometimes you still want to feel something in your hands and a gun shop or a gun show is the best place to pick something up and hold it in your hands.   If you bring cash with you, you  are more likely to get a better deal on ammo prices or gun accessories.   One hint I would suggest is to go on the last day for the best deals.

Last year I was with a friend that was looking to get a Glock, but most of the gun shops in his area didn’t have many.   He knew he wanted a 9mm, but wasn’t sure what size was best for him.   He tried out a G17, G19 and a Glock 26.    He realized that the G26 was just the size he wanted for CCW and did not feel under powered with the magazine capacity.   There are various generations of Glock pistols and there are plenty of opportunities to pick up Police tradeins for under $400  for hardly used handguns.   It’s best to open the action and see how much where there is an not judge them by the outside wear.   Holster wear seems to be very common on police tradeins, but the barrels are often in very good condition, find out about Texas Gun Shows in  your area and see TheRallyPoint.org for other State shooting range info.

I’m not aware of any indoor shooting ranges that are longer than 50yds, but I assume there are some out there.    I’ve probable been to and shot at over a hundred different firing ranges in the Country and some were very impressive.   I’d have to admit that at 90% of the ones I was in, there was either a bullet in the table or a bullet in the ceiling far too close to the tables.   This tells you that there is always going to be a certain percentage of risk when dealing with the public.   I’ve seen about as much negligence on firing ranges that I see on a daily basis on the roads with people driving, so theres the reality of being with gun owners.

Indoor shooting ranges are a better starting point for teaching handgun shooting skills.  I’m sure many of you won’t agree with that because your idea of teaching a novice is getting Grandpa to take out the old 22LR pistol and shooting soda cans.   That’s fine, but I’m talking about what my experiences are with taking teenagers, women, and adults to the ranges for the first time.   My favorite reason for going to an indoor shooting ranges is the auto return back stops.   I get tired of some of the big shooting ranges where cease fires are called way too often or not enough.   At an indoor shooting range, you can adjust from a 7yd-25yd in seconds and not have to worry about cease fires.   You are shooting on level ground which is also a better starting point in my opinion.   Sign up at TheRallyPoint.org and tell us where you shoot and help us update our gun club  shooting range listing.

Finding a gun club that fits our style of shooting can be difficult in some States, but for other States there are so many gun clubs around,  but trying to find out where they are and who to contact is difficult.  We have been compiling as much info about Texas gun clubs as possible so gun owners can atleast be pointed in the right direction.   We realize that some gun clubs like to be off the radar, but for the majority of the shooting ranges we’ve dealt with, they lacked the money and the resources to advertise and many were running on 20-30% of capacity.

A good gun club is should be a safe environment, but also be fun and hopefully, opportunities for advancements in shooting skills.   I’ve been on some ranges that ran like an airport and time slots were filled almost everyday with some group or training event.  This can be nice if you have the time to be involved, but it’s always nice to belong to a range where you know you’ll always get a seat and the target posts aren’t shot down.   Not everyone has private property to shoot on and the notion of showing up and finding out there is nothing to hang your targets on is shockingly common at outdoor ranges.

Ammo availability seems to be slowly coming back.   The last gun show I went to actually had .380 ammo which was telling.  Russian ammo has slowly been dropping back to pre-Obama administration prices, too.    We’ve been seeing a lot of people switch to the 5.45×39 uppers from Smith & Wesson and I got to see a few of them last weekend.   The caliber is so close to the American 5.56 round that you gotta read the barrels to know what the calibers are.   Later next month I  hope to be at a show in the Dallas Fort Worth area to see more Texas Gun Shows.

Check in on our forum month to see the Texas Gun Show dates we have compiled.  If you know of any gun shows that are not listed please let us know.   We are also running an Eotac apparel giveaway from RogueElite and this is open to members of TheRallyPoint.org.   Please tell us if there is info that is missing or invalid with our Texas gun club listings, too.   We’ve been hearing from a lot of our membership about gun club listings from other websites missing info and we’ve built the website forum so that members can post the info and we can update asap.

We’ve been compiling as much info as we could about gun shows in the State of Texas.   Many Texas Gun Shows are promoted by small promoters and the word doesn’t always get out very well.   That seems to be the case for many States.   There are a few big name promoters that host gun shows a few times a year and you can almost avoid reading about them because they are on the same date or close to the same time every year.

Ammo prices seem to be coming down just like the economy is going down so now might be a better time to consider going out and scoping the place out for ammo.  Ammo prices are still drastically different, but atleast the availability seems to be there.   I notice the run on firearms has slowed now, probable since everyone knows that if you don’t already have enough, racking up more credit card debt just for  rack queen isn’t rational.   Let us know if you don’t see any shows being listed that are being promoted.

Langhorne rod and gun club is one of the best run gun clubs in Pennsyvlania.    As of now there is no member cap although I wouldn’t be surprised that at some point there might be one.    They have a well maintained rifle range that is called the Big Bore range.   You can shoot any semi-auto up to but not including a 50bmg.   There are several competitive shooting groups here from Action Pistol to the Practical Carbine group.

One thing to be careful about when walking the 100-200yd rifle range is the snakes.   The club even has a sign up that warns of the the snakes in the area.  Kinda funny to see something like that at a range, but it might be good for checking your situational awareness.   There are trap ranges that are open for only a few bucks for each match and the new club house makes spending the day even nicer and more accomodating.  Find out about Pennsylvania Shooting Ranges like this one over at TheRallyPoint.org

Everyone has there own particular styles of shooting and interestes.   Some shooting ranges are specifically for hunting, some are for sporting clays or shooting trap, and some ranges are for long range target shooting.   One of my favorite shooting ranges is a 100yd range.   A good range will be designed for easy communication between shooters.   It always bothers me when people get too anal about calling cease fires and target changes.    If a range is setup right, a shooter should be able to setup their targets and not need to change them for hourse or atlease hundreds of rounds of ammo.

Pistol ranges are easier to setup than rifle ranges.  Pistol ranges normally are no longer than 50yds long and usually have wires for sending targets downrange.   Last year I was at a range near Dallas that was really nice.   I shot IDPA there and the range was clean and controlled.   Find a range that fits your shooting needs over at TRP.org under the Texas Shooting Ranges listing.

There are a great many reasons for gun owners to find a decent range that they know will accommodate their shooting interests.   We tend to find the more restrictive ranges closer to urban environments, but you won’t know for sure depending on which State you a living in.  Every State in the Country is different and trying to find out where to look is very difficult.

Some gun clubs don’t want to be too open to the public and we can understand that, but the vast majority of shooting ranges and gun clubs should be recruiting grounds and basic firearms safety locations.  Sure we can learn from our parents, but the NRA has a strong hold on in some Texas Shooting Ranges and if you can find a good gun club near you, you should have access to different levels of training and shooting skills.