Gotta' love Alaska when a local shooting range builds an addition, it gets local news coverage. This is the club in Palmer that I belong to. They just finished an addition of 4 indoor rifle lanes. It made local news this morning, the video showing the muzzle blast of the 50 indoors in hilarious!

https://www.ktuu.com/content/n...lmer--563669411.html

New .50 cal range opens in Palmer

By Taylor Clark | Posted: Tue 6:09 PM, Oct 22, 2019 | Updated: Wed 7:17 AM, Oct 23, 2019

PALMER (KTUU) - There’s a lot of people in Alaska who like guns. For people who like really big guns, there’s a new spot to shoot them from the comfort of the great indoors in Palmer at the Matanuska Valley Sportsmen’s Range.


President of the board David Young said it took about 3 years of finding grant money, fundraising, and saving what they could of membership dues, but they finally have cut the ribbon on their new four-lane .50 caliber BMG shooting range.

He said the gun club and the Noel W. Woods range have been around since the 80s, but the high caliber ranges are brand new.

It’s been a serious undertaking according to Young. Aside from getting all the money together to purchase the materials for the range, there was about 17,000 pounds of steel to be assembled by members of the club and a local building company.

“We’re trying to dial it in, trying to get the benches to the right height, get the right chairs, get everything dialed in to fit the most people, but they seem to like it,” Young said.


The members at the range say, in fact, they do like it. Mike Bruirge has been a member for almost a decade. He said having a place to shoot firearms of this caliber is great by itself, but being inside with them is a game-changer for shooters who have high powered rifles in Alaska.

“When you’re working with new loads, you need to chronograph them,” he said, “and when it’s ten below and the winds blowing, you don’t want to set up expensive electronics outside and go try to chronograph.”

Most of the time when people are shooting calibers of this magnitude inside, Young said they’re normally for law enforcement or military training.

A big reason for that is the cost and amount of manpower put into building one.

The walls and floor are all concrete. The walls and ceilings are AR-plated steel three-quarters of an inch thick in some spots according to Young. The ceiling is ribbed with angled plates of steel that are specially-formed to deflect bullets into the ground and avoid ricochet if someone happens to shoot them.

This range has all the bells and whistles as well. Young showed Channel 2 reporters new touchscreen target carriers they had installed. They even come lighted with normal or flashing distraction lights as well. In the back of the range, thick steel plates are angled to collect the bullets in a snail drum that helps keep the range cleaner. Fans help suck up any stray lead and shrapnel that deflects off the walls.


There’s not many places where civilians can do this, so Young and the other members at the range hope people will come out to try them out. They teach a lot of classes about hunting and shooter safety that Young said they plan on implementing.

Copyright 2019 KTUU. All rights reserved

I hate it when they let a guy in with a 12 gauge or ar15 - this would be unbearable. Looks like it's not the general range at least...

.50BMG indoor? No thank you.

Last time we were at the local indoor range, there was a guy shooting what I assume was 12GA slugs. Noticeably louder than the AR15s we had, and quite the hole in the target.

Can't imagine a 50BMG.

you're very fortunate

one of the things I found distressing here in AZ is the municipal ranges prohibit 50 cal and 338 Lapua from the outdoor ranges

thought that was odd, but it seems to be the norm here

Not to mention the expelled gasses. Notice in the video how bad it is after firing. They definitely need to improve air handling and install some low level louvers.

I wonder what they have done to dissipate the concussion and noise of the .50 BMG blast at the firing line and behind?

YHGTBSM. It makes total sense, especially the bit about dialing in and chronographing, but YHGTBSM.

We have a local indoor range in Newtown, Ohio with a couple of lanes for the big boys.

When the Owner christened the range with a round from a .50 BMG, the clock fell off the wall. the video was posted on You Tube.

I have no desire to be I there when those are being fired.

Pardon me.. but fuck that!!!

Totally unnecessary & ridiculous

Shooting a .50 at 25 yards. What does that prove?

It functions, it can hit a target?

It's a long range platform, use it that way.

There is a indoor range near me that allowed 50BMG when they first opened. It only lasted about a week. The noise was so bad that all the other customers would leave if someone was shooting a 50.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
Shooting a .50 at 25 yards. What does that prove?

It functions, it can hit a target?

It's a long range platform, use it that way.

And I thought ours allowing up to .308 at 20-25 yards a bit on ridiculous side.

Two new indoor facilities have opened near me. When asked they stated the max capability is .50bmg. So containing it is not a big deal. I wouldn't want to be there for someone shooting one (I hate even .308 near me indoors).

The indoor range near me has some 50-yd rifle bays that are rated for up to .460 Weatherby, a limitation set by the municipality for sound levels leaving the facility. It is very loud inside when a big rifle is shot.

flashguy