I can't address the reasons but I did hear it was going to be closed by the county if they didn't do something.
Many reasons - not the least of which were people intentionally and unintentionally shooting over the berms.
This is the most horrible news I can imagine. I my mundane life there is little time for anything but work and mowing the large amount of grass at home and keeping the house from falling down. But at least once in a blue moon I could go shoot my big rifles at Manatee. Sometimes just knowing I could go was enough. But now it is gone. What reason can there be for living now?
Well, that's what I wondered about. A person on a mission can do a lot of damage.
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
At Manatee the berms were pretty high. Id guess 30 feet. On top of those berms I installed steel pipe with quality wind socks down all the way to 600 yards so shooters would always have at least some wind flags at the range to watch. Well, during service of these flags you would find bullet holes in the poles and flags. Not sideways holes from ricochets but straight through intentional holes.
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And it continues, Alex. Damned if I know how to stop it.
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
Well, I would call the sheriff to see if shooting over the berm could be a criminal charge. Seems like lobbing bullets on to property you dont own would be illegal. A few guys leaving in the back seat of a cop car should stop it.
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Dans40X
Welder
As James Comey stated, we can't prove intent
I would never support an individual launching bullets over a berm at a rifle range. That’s pure stupidity at its finest.
Dans40X
Welder
You've totally missed the context of the post.
Calling the Law to haul management away from a shooting range for their lack of supervision.
I totally agree that you can't fix stupidity.
Invite steel clangers & your equipment will be shot up!!
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
Nope, haul away the idiots doing the deed. Personal responsibility. Not a fan of calling the law. But in this case it got the 1k range closed, so it may have been worth doing. And if it keeps happening maybe the whole club will get shut down.
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Did you ever think there maybe intent to get it closed down ? Does anyone need or want the property for something else ? The one that is in paid and in charge and does not police the problem should be in jail. Some time the end justifies the means, like the rash of school shootings who benefits? Democrats want gun control and they plan to get it by any means, your club maybe a victim of that also. See who is stirring the pot, and who wants the property..... jim
1000 yard range is a dead subject. The cost to set it up would FAR exceed
the possible revenue from it and to begin with, they do not have enough money to set it
up.
Meanwhile the range is still a good place to go shoot. I live 3 hours away & for over 5 years, have travelled there about
once a month. I have found that today's is staff friendly and competent. Safety rules are strongly enforced
not a bad thing. In order to shoot at the 600 they demand that a shooter be able to shoot a 5 round group
of not more than 6 inches at 300 yards. This eliminates the occasional shooters.
I have found that the shooters at their 600 are competent and safe as is the ROs there.
As far as the yahoo shooters, I worked part time as an RO at a large municipal 100 yard range in southeast Florida for 4 years There will always be the fools that know it all, are unparalleled marksman in their own mind and could care less
about safety and downrange impact areas. Manatee is not exempt from them. The ROs can only try to control them.
the possible revenue from it and to begin with, they do not have enough money to set it
up.
Meanwhile the range is still a good place to go shoot. I live 3 hours away & for over 5 years, have travelled there about
once a month. I have found that today's is staff friendly and competent. Safety rules are strongly enforced
not a bad thing. In order to shoot at the 600 they demand that a shooter be able to shoot a 5 round group
of not more than 6 inches at 300 yards. This eliminates the occasional shooters.
I have found that the shooters at their 600 are competent and safe as is the ROs there.
As far as the yahoo shooters, I worked part time as an RO at a large municipal 100 yard range in southeast Florida for 4 years There will always be the fools that know it all, are unparalleled marksman in their own mind and could care less
about safety and downrange impact areas. Manatee is not exempt from them. The ROs can only try to control them.
CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Guess this is another thread back from the "dead".
Shot a 600 yard paper shoot at Manatee today. Pretty good attendance for the Summer heat. No, it does NOT rain each day here. At my house between Manatee and Tampa we are about 3 ft. down on the property pond and wondering if it will ever rain again. Manatee has more rain but not excessive.
Only thing to remember is the new management is really trying to keep things both safe and going. Main range is only to 300 yards now. Not going to change. Way, way too much danger to the people wandering in the county park behind the far 1000 yard backstop. All is now blocked off with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to build up backstops at 300. You just cannot have bullets leaving the grounds and heading out into the park. Way too many who shot at 1,000 yards, did not pay the extra money to do so, had no clue of where to hold. Most hit way low and many skipped rounds over the berm and out into the park. It's near impossible to monitor and stop that.
Today we require some element of competence at 300 yards to qualify and go back to the 600 yard benchrest range. Sometimes/often that is not enough. As a volunteer RSO back there I often have had to stop shooters from shooting. They cannot hit the 30' high backstop at 630 yards.You can tell them they need an additional 12-15 moa UP from 300 yards and they come up 10 "clicks". Bullets hit the ground around 400 yards or so and some skip out. Very difficult to show the idiots that do that how to look through a bore to see where it is pointing related to the reticle let alone deal with scope adjustment or using graduated reticle marks. I mean a real joke of stupidity reins with oh so many.
Today I participated in the iBS style club paper shoot. New shooter had his 300 certification and shot with us. I did not check or oversee. 1/2 way through the shoot and he had never hit a target gong, clay bird on the bank and then the first 10 paper shots. All misses and no-one knew. I found out, talked with, showed him how many numbers and turns he needed to do on his scope. He was clueless but polite. Set him up and got a competent watcher to use my spotting scope and help him hit near a gong. A the end of the shoot he hit one shot out of 20 on paper and managed to destroy a target number mounting screw at the top of the frame.
Dealing with the general public on a range is quite difficult. Surprised Manatee was not closed down by the county. Now it seems that income is down, attendance is down and management is struggling to find the right answers to keeping things going successfully and safely. Lots of good people running Manatee today. They have just not found out a way to be solvent and make the changes to accommodate a wide range of shooter interests.
More changes will come. No way will Manatee ever have a 1,000 yard range again. Stop wishing. We, as benchrest shooters, are working hard to keep the 600 yard range open as it is. There are issues afloat to maybe cut that down to 500 yards or less as a way to gain access and make money on the back area that used to be part of the 1,000 yard area. Also, just today, after multiple changes to target frames and backstops, we heard a couple bullets skipping out from the main range above our heads to end up ??? Skipping off the edge of steel targets is a major contributor to that issue. Getting them placed in front of a good backstop has been a volatile topic met with occasional resistance.
To run that shoot today we shooters had to bring our own equipment and tools to set up the target frames that we made, put up the targets we bought out of our own pocket, use my quad, trailer and tools to transport things with shooters to build and take down everything. One time we left up a flagpole alongside the range up 30 ft. Someone shot a hole right through our own purchased flag pole even under supposedly close supervision when the range is open to general shooters.
We still hope to rise above the adversity and keep the benchrest 600 going. We are even planning major sanctioned IBS shoots this winter with a two-day event in January. To do that we have to pay all expenses and buy the materials and equipment. Manatee does provide gong supports for big gongs that are generally used by the public. The small target posts and gongs are all done by and paid for by our benchrest shooters. Often they are blasted apart by public shooters using the range during the week.
Long discourse to try and explain how hard it is for us to just keep the 600 yard benchrest. As for the rest of the ranges, I just do not have a handle on them but know that revenue is a big deal. Parts of the range by different types of shooters are graded for value by money made to the club. If benchrest does not make enough money it just may have a finite end.
Shot a 600 yard paper shoot at Manatee today. Pretty good attendance for the Summer heat. No, it does NOT rain each day here. At my house between Manatee and Tampa we are about 3 ft. down on the property pond and wondering if it will ever rain again. Manatee has more rain but not excessive.
Only thing to remember is the new management is really trying to keep things both safe and going. Main range is only to 300 yards now. Not going to change. Way, way too much danger to the people wandering in the county park behind the far 1000 yard backstop. All is now blocked off with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to build up backstops at 300. You just cannot have bullets leaving the grounds and heading out into the park. Way too many who shot at 1,000 yards, did not pay the extra money to do so, had no clue of where to hold. Most hit way low and many skipped rounds over the berm and out into the park. It's near impossible to monitor and stop that.
Today we require some element of competence at 300 yards to qualify and go back to the 600 yard benchrest range. Sometimes/often that is not enough. As a volunteer RSO back there I often have had to stop shooters from shooting. They cannot hit the 30' high backstop at 630 yards.You can tell them they need an additional 12-15 moa UP from 300 yards and they come up 10 "clicks". Bullets hit the ground around 400 yards or so and some skip out. Very difficult to show the idiots that do that how to look through a bore to see where it is pointing related to the reticle let alone deal with scope adjustment or using graduated reticle marks. I mean a real joke of stupidity reins with oh so many.
Today I participated in the iBS style club paper shoot. New shooter had his 300 certification and shot with us. I did not check or oversee. 1/2 way through the shoot and he had never hit a target gong, clay bird on the bank and then the first 10 paper shots. All misses and no-one knew. I found out, talked with, showed him how many numbers and turns he needed to do on his scope. He was clueless but polite. Set him up and got a competent watcher to use my spotting scope and help him hit near a gong. A the end of the shoot he hit one shot out of 20 on paper and managed to destroy a target number mounting screw at the top of the frame.
Dealing with the general public on a range is quite difficult. Surprised Manatee was not closed down by the county. Now it seems that income is down, attendance is down and management is struggling to find the right answers to keeping things going successfully and safely. Lots of good people running Manatee today. They have just not found out a way to be solvent and make the changes to accommodate a wide range of shooter interests.
More changes will come. No way will Manatee ever have a 1,000 yard range again. Stop wishing. We, as benchrest shooters, are working hard to keep the 600 yard range open as it is. There are issues afloat to maybe cut that down to 500 yards or less as a way to gain access and make money on the back area that used to be part of the 1,000 yard area. Also, just today, after multiple changes to target frames and backstops, we heard a couple bullets skipping out from the main range above our heads to end up ??? Skipping off the edge of steel targets is a major contributor to that issue. Getting them placed in front of a good backstop has been a volatile topic met with occasional resistance.
To run that shoot today we shooters had to bring our own equipment and tools to set up the target frames that we made, put up the targets we bought out of our own pocket, use my quad, trailer and tools to transport things with shooters to build and take down everything. One time we left up a flagpole alongside the range up 30 ft. Someone shot a hole right through our own purchased flag pole even under supposedly close supervision when the range is open to general shooters.
We still hope to rise above the adversity and keep the benchrest 600 going. We are even planning major sanctioned IBS shoots this winter with a two-day event in January. To do that we have to pay all expenses and buy the materials and equipment. Manatee does provide gong supports for big gongs that are generally used by the public. The small target posts and gongs are all done by and paid for by our benchrest shooters. Often they are blasted apart by public shooters using the range during the week.
Long discourse to try and explain how hard it is for us to just keep the 600 yard benchrest. As for the rest of the ranges, I just do not have a handle on them but know that revenue is a big deal. Parts of the range by different types of shooters are graded for value by money made to the club. If benchrest does not make enough money it just may have a finite end.
I've shot F class matches there every winter since 2009. I have not been at the New Back 600yd range yet without hearing ricochets come over my head. I think any metal on the range, (supports or gongs), will be the death of that range. Too bad they can't get a handle on it. The range could have lots of potential for snowbirds.
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I spent the morning on the 600 Sunday the 24th. Few shooters there, RO was highly knowledgeable and helpful.
I did not hit the small swingers as much as I wanted but did well enough to put a smile on my face.
Manatee is a good place to go and shoot as long as you have good sense, follow basic safety practices and don't act like a jackass.
I did not hit the small swingers as much as I wanted but did well enough to put a smile on my face.
Manatee is a good place to go and shoot as long as you have good sense, follow basic safety practices and don't act like a jackass.
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