The end of Texas Varmint Benchrest.

[KiloTrooper]

With much regret, I am compelled to announce here on the forum, that the property in Coolidge, Texas on which Heart of Texas Shiloutte Association ran their range has been sold, and the club will need to move immediately, possibly closing for good. Therefore, future iterations of the Texas Varmint Benchrest match that HOTSA hosted are cancelled.

This supremely challenging course of fire- a hybrid of precision disciplines - and the comraderie of those competitors shooting in this match will be greatly missed by all who had the occasion to participate in it. David Brady, the match creator and director sent the message below to all concerned. David is a man among men who brought an innovative and tremendously enjoyable match event to our shooting sports.

i can only hope that this match may appear at another Central Texas club in the not to distant future.

- Kyle Burley
Killeen, Texas

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! - HOTSA

FYI please be advised that the property owner has sold the land & required the HOTSA club to remove all it's property & vacate by 03/15/2020. The Range will be closed to all access starting this Friday 02/14/2020. I was advised this morning about these matters & I wanted to let you know as early as possible. I've enjoyed shooting with you folks & your support is greatly appreciated. If something transpires, I'll get back with you on any particulars. Please pass on to any folks you know regarding this matter.

Thank you,

David Brady

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Man thats awful. I was coming down there this year.

 

[X-Caveman]

Sorry to hear this. David & company worked their butts off for this match & he just replenished target inventory in preparation for the 2020 season & beyond. It's a bummer to lose any shooting opportunity, but this one hits especially close to home.

 

[CaptainMal]

Sorry to read this.

It is a bummer when you do not own the property. Our shooting at Manatee in South Florida has parallels. We just use one of the ranges on the public rifle range. They make the rules, charge the range fees and we are at their mercy.

Bummer when you work hard and see it all taken away. Hope you can find another venue.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Sorry to read this.

It is a bummer when you do not own the property. Our shooting at Manatee in South Florida has parallels. We just use one of the ranges on the public rifle range. They make the rules, charge the range fees and we are at their mercy.

Bummer when you work hard and see it all taken away. Hope you can find another venue.

It is sad to see any range or shoot close down. Before you complain at a match count to 1000 then think. If it is not a safety issue will your complaint be the straw that broke the camel's back? If you have a concern address it in private with the match director probably not the day of the match. He has more than enough to handle that day. Once a match goes away they never come back. Each match has a driving force, once he goes away the match usually goes away. Nobody is winning a new Cadallac, sometimes we need to swallow and just move on. Be thankful for what we have......it's shrinking.

 

[okie]

I wish there was a "DIS-like" button....hate to hear that has happened

 

[Matthew Schwartzkopf]

My Question. Is the property going to remain a shooting range? Or is the new property owner going to do something else with the land? The reason I ask is that if the property ceases to be a shooting range the new owner has some compliance clean up to take care of for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This could cost hundreds of thousands of $$. It is often easier and more cost effective to keep a shooting range a shooting range.

 

[KiloTrooper]

per my telephone conversation with David: The new owner wants the club off the property, no negotiation.

Before the sale, the land appeared to be open grazing for cattle, but anything more would be conjecture on my part. I was only a match participant a few times, not part of the club leadership in any way.

 

[Kings X]

My Question. Is the property going to remain a shooting range? Or is the new property owner going to do something else with the land? The reason I ask is that if the property ceases to be a shooting range the new owner has some compliance clean up to take care of for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This could cost hundreds of thousands of $$. It is often easier and more cost effective to keep a shooting range a shooting range.

Yea that could come as a real surprise to the new owner.

 

[geo.ulrich]

My Question. Is the property going to remain a shooting range? Or is the new property owner going to do something else with the land? The reason I ask is that if the property ceases to be a shooting range the new owner has some compliance clean up to take care of for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This could cost hundreds of thousands of $$. It is often easier and more cost effective to keep a shooting range a shooting range.

Not really there are companies that will come in and basically clean out the lead just for the scrap.when we shot b.r. at englishtown this was a normal procedure every few years. it was an amazing operation bulldozers and a huge sifter than pushed the berms back up and back to normal. took maybe 2-3 weeks total.

 

[riflewoman]

That works if it is going to remain a shooting range. If it is going to be used for other purposes the cleanup of lead debris has to be more thorough.

 

[Matthew Schwartzkopf]

Not really there are companies that will come in and basically clean out the lead just for the scrap.when we shot b.r. at englishtown this was a normal procedure every few years. it was an amazing operation bulldozers and a huge sifter than pushed the berms back up and back to normal. took maybe 2-3 weeks total.

Unfortunately that is not the case nowadays and in this situation. The lead generated from rifle and pistol ranges is not worth a lot of money. It is what I like to call "dirty lead." Because of the different metals that are combined with it from the bullet jackets and cores it takes an extra process to separate the lead, which brings the cost higher for the smelters. A rifle/pistol range is very VERY lucky if they can break even from removing the lead from the impact berms and building them back up. The cost of construction these days is much higher, plus all of the precautions that the companies have to take to be OSHA compliant cost money.

In this case if the range is ceasing to exist there is much more clean up needed. This involves not only removing the bigger lead particles, but also getting the soil lead content under the residential or commercial standards. There are lead micro particles in the soil that are nearly impossible to remove, so a company will have to take further steps to remove those particles or treat the soil so that the lead doesn't migrate in the soil. The whole operation is costly and will be under the microscope of RCRA and EPS.

 

[Medic505]

The Company I worked for had a rifle, pistol and trap range. When the plant closed down I was told the remediation of the range property was close to 1 million dollars. I went out and looked after the work was done, they took out 6 berms and a slice of ground about the size of a football field. Not cheap by any means.

 

[geo.ulrich]

Unfortunately that is not the case nowadays and in this situation. The lead generated from rifle and pistol ranges is not worth a lot of money. It is what I like to call "dirty lead." Because of the different metals that are combined with it from the bullet jackets and cores it takes an extra process to separate the lead, which brings the cost higher for the smelters. A rifle/pistol range is very VERY lucky if they can break even from removing the lead from the impact berms and building them back up. The cost of construction these days is much higher, plus all of the precautions that the companies have to take to be OSHA compliant cost money.

In this case if the range is ceasing to exist there is much more clean up needed. This involves not only removing the bigger lead particles, but also getting the soil lead content under the residential or commercial standards. There are lead micro particles in the soil that are nearly impossible to remove, so a company will have to take further steps to remove those particles or treat the soil so that the lead doesn't migrate in the soil. The whole operation is costly and will be under the microscope of RCRA and EPS.

All lead in the U.S. is "dirty lead " at this point it is no longer mined here. all is melted and cleaned centrifugally at different temperatures. I can only give you the experience I have seen and there was NO cost to the range. Another one I hadn't thought about is a range I belonged to here in Illinois 10/15 years ago that also shut down was "cleaned" and they built subdivisions on it within one year of closing ....

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Can you imagine mitigating a large sporting clays range like the one i just shot at in dallas? 300 something acres and i overheard over 2.5mil rounds shot/yr avg and shot falls on every part of it. Lots of ponds and creeks on the property and throw in a power line right of way just for good measure.

 

[CaptainMal]

Manatee has people come in every few years and "clean" out the backstops. My understanding is the whole process takes just a couple days as there are no range closures other than normal closures Monday through Wednesday. That tells me it is a three-day job.

Price? Pretty sure it is near or completely nothing because of what is recovered.

 

[One Shot One Thrill]

Great Job all your comments have encouraged new land owners to open a range I'm sure of that!!
NOT