Defender968
08-05-2010, 21:18
I know there are some strong feelings towards Blackwater here, and I agree with many of them, however they have opened a new range on Reilly Rd in Fayetteville, I stopped in for a look around and ended up putting a few rounds through my rifles/pistols there. I have no affiliation what so ever, just like to shoot and thought I’d share my experience at the shop.
I'm not a huge fan of Blackwater/Xe but as it's 30 minutes closer than Gunsplus, and as you can shoot rifles up to 308, as opposed to Jims where you can only shoot pistols I figured I'd give it a shot so to speak.
Shop itself is nice, very little in the way of gear, mostly just Blackwater/Xe promotional gear beer glasses, t-shirts, polo’s and such, though the manager did tell me they were in the process of getting a FFL and will have a full complement of weapons/parts, accessories and tactical gear etc...
The range itself is unique, instead of an open bay with lanes designated by shooting positions it's got 6-10 actual lanes made of concrete tubing, so you're shooting down an approx 36 inch tube which is a little different but not a huge deal for basic marksmanship shooting, a bit of an unusual echo, but with double hearing pro not too bad. The range has AC, but the air circulation system sucks out smoke as well as cool air so it gets a bit hot with 2 guys shooting, I imagine with 6-10 it could get uncomfortable.
Lanes are adequate in terms of space to spread out and put gun cases, extra mags, targets etc without being too cramped. Max distance is 75 feet, though you can stop the target at any range to practice closer engagements.
One unique feature is the range is set up for low light/no light shooting for NODs.
They also have an archery range for those who want to practice before bow season.
Overall not a bad range, can't use full silhouette targets because of the tubes, which I don't care about, but some folks might.
Cost is 15 per hour less a 10% LE/MIL discount. They're open now, however not fully up and running, currently they don’t sell ammo, and don’t have eyes/ear pro for rental, (neither of which matters to me as I buy my ammo in bulk and have all my eye/ear pro, but something to be aware of)
I'm not a huge fan of Blackwater/Xe but as it's 30 minutes closer than Gunsplus, and as you can shoot rifles up to 308, as opposed to Jims where you can only shoot pistols I figured I'd give it a shot so to speak.
Shop itself is nice, very little in the way of gear, mostly just Blackwater/Xe promotional gear beer glasses, t-shirts, polo’s and such, though the manager did tell me they were in the process of getting a FFL and will have a full complement of weapons/parts, accessories and tactical gear etc...
The range itself is unique, instead of an open bay with lanes designated by shooting positions it's got 6-10 actual lanes made of concrete tubing, so you're shooting down an approx 36 inch tube which is a little different but not a huge deal for basic marksmanship shooting, a bit of an unusual echo, but with double hearing pro not too bad. The range has AC, but the air circulation system sucks out smoke as well as cool air so it gets a bit hot with 2 guys shooting, I imagine with 6-10 it could get uncomfortable.
Lanes are adequate in terms of space to spread out and put gun cases, extra mags, targets etc without being too cramped. Max distance is 75 feet, though you can stop the target at any range to practice closer engagements.
One unique feature is the range is set up for low light/no light shooting for NODs.
They also have an archery range for those who want to practice before bow season.
Overall not a bad range, can't use full silhouette targets because of the tubes, which I don't care about, but some folks might.
Cost is 15 per hour less a 10% LE/MIL discount. They're open now, however not fully up and running, currently they don’t sell ammo, and don’t have eyes/ear pro for rental, (neither of which matters to me as I buy my ammo in bulk and have all my eye/ear pro, but something to be aware of)