Luxury shooting range in Houston

[philip964]

Is this old news?

Athena Shooting Range. Near I 10 and Beltway. They store your guns and set them out for you?

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/prin ... l?page=all" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I still prefer shooting outside, don't smoke cigars and I am cheap. So obviously I am not their demographic.

[philip964]

Per the ads on the radio it opens this weekend. http://www.athenagunclub.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Per the ads not sure which day but mfg will be there and if you buy a box of ammunition there, you get to shoot it on the mfg gun.

Per the website you can rent and shoot fully automatic machine guns they mention the FN P90.

[RHenriksen]

I'm cheap too, but I note on their website that they allow draw/shoot practice, once qualified to do so. That's a key differentiator from most public ranges.

[howdy]

Watch this news report and see what you think! At the 22 second point, it gets scary.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/video?clipI ... Start=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[packa45]

I can't believe nobody else in Houston has a 50AE desert eagle...I thought all gang leaders and their lieutenants had them??

And why didn't he show that that thing was clear before handing it to a reporter that probably has no experience with that firearm?

[philip964]

Well the Athena gun range opened this weekend and I stopped by and fired a few rounds with the box of 9mm I bought there.

It is the fanciest gun range I have been to. Spacious, well laid out, lots of attention to detail. A box of 50 9mm FMG was $13.99.

I shot a Sig 239 9mm. It was a very nice gun, but I expected it to be smaller. They supposedly had a Sig 238 Extreme. It shot 9mm. But none of the employees knew where it was or anything about it. We both thought it was a misprint. In their store they had one in a case. I still dont know if this is a misunderstanding or what as .380 is equal to 9mm.

The Sig 239 shot very well, nice trigger. It is almost the same size as a regular Sig except it is single stack.

Athena has certainly taken the shooting range up a notch, lots of people there. Many women. Their store is like a fancy boutique. Guns are set out with the firing pins removed for you to handle.

Cool display of flashlights.

[philip964]

Yeah go a head, point it at my stomach.

[packa45]

That's ok it's not loaded... big oops on live tv

[benenglishtx]

I posted my impressions of Athena on another forum that has since gone offline. Here's what I posted:

11-09-2012, 09:41 PM
I was invited to today's "soft opening" of the shooting range and was the first customer to fire on the new range.

The place is *really* a work in progress. It wouldn't be fair to do a full "review" of the range since the full range doesn't yet exist. However, I can throw out a few data points. I hope other patrons will give the place a try and post their impressions.

In no particular order, then -

Good stuff:

- When construction is finished and everything is installed, they'll have a nice-looking facility, by far the prettiest in the city. That may sound silly to some people but I appreciate some spit-n-polish at the businesses I patronize. Most gun stores and indoor ranges looks like they haven't been cleaned in forever and were originally designed by...well...nobody who knows anything about design. This place is different - designed to be nice and create a professional, high-quality first impression. Kudos to them on this score, even if most of the shooters I know consider this unimportant frippery.
- The staff was johnny-on-the-spot all day long. Questions were answered. Attentiveness didn't waver. Training has clearly been done and done well (and was obviously continuing during the day).
- Speaking of staff, the RSOs were everything they should be - attentive and safe without being intrusive. I've never seen better at a public range. I made a special request of one. Since the only targets available were monumentally stupid proprietary designs, I asked permission to go to my car and retrieve a couple of real Edelmann 50M pistol targets. They had no problem with me doing so. They didn't have to be nice about it; this would have been a perfect opportunity for an RSO to be a jerk. He wasn't. He was sympathetic and graciously allowed me to solve the problem with no muss, no fuss.
- Seating all over the place and some of it was actually very comfortable.
- The range is beautifully lit and roomy, with plenty of room behind the line and adequately-wide firing lanes.
- Seriously nice restrooms.
- It looks like the place will be fully ADA compliant. A big, big thumbs up to them for that.
- The stock of rental firearms is huge.

Questionable items:

- When the parking lot is finished and all the construction equipment is gone, will there be enough parking spaces? There's no nearby place for overflow parking.

Stuff that needs to be improved. Note that I don't say "Negatives". They're going to have growing pains and I feel sure they can fix all this, but as things currently stand:

- There's a serious design error on the main range that was *instantly* apparent to the staff. The sound-dampening material seems to stop at the same height as the bullet baffling. That means that the sounds of gunfire from the range leak into the RSO lobby area. Sometimes it's slightly noisy. Sometimes it's ridiculous, as in "the staff outside the shooting range needs to be wearing ear protection."
- Prices in the retail store are high. Examples? I saw an optical sight for $549 that can be bought for $489 elsewhere. I saw a .22 pistol tagged at a jaw-dropping $499 that I know is available elsewhere in the $369-$389 range. These prices aren't idiotic. They are in a high traffic location on very expensive ground. If they have what you want, I wouldn't call anybody stupid for buying there. Which brings me to -
- Stock was thin, thin, thin. The whole "Apple store for guns" concept is intriguing but it doesn't make for much efficient display space. There are plenty of gun stores around with half the retail space and twice the inventory.
- Ammo and accessories inventory was just like the guns, thin, but times 100. Seriously, the selection of leather, cleaning supplies, and ammo on the retail side would have easily fit in the back seat of my car.
- The range is limited to 20 yards. That makes no sense. 45 feet is enough to do a CHL course. 50 feet is enough to shoot on standard reduced-scale targets for various shooting disciplines. But 60 feet? That, I just don't understand. Cut back to 50 and save room and expense or go all the way out to 75 (better yet, 25 meters) and be able to shoot real competitions. 60 is an absolutely weird compromise.
- The range noise-damping is sub-par. The place is really loud. I suggest plugs and muffs.
- Available targets were proprietary and poorly designed. Multiple people assured me they'll make "normal" targets available in the near future.
- The restrooms are too far from the range, making the mandatory, immediate post-shooting cleanup of the lead on your person less convenient than it should be.
- The "VIP" section wasn't finished. I really wanted to tour that.
- No class III available for rent. It's "coming soon" but who knows how long that might be?

Like I said, the place is new. If it grows into the space properly, it will be a hugely successful venture since it will cater to the close-to-town crowd, a market previously ignored with plenty of money to spend. They won't be my home range for the foreseeable future but, as some of you know, my only living relative is a disabled sister who lives with me. If something should happen to her, I'll probably move to a downtown highrise. If that happens, there's a strong chance that I'll look at this range as a contender to become my home range. That's how much potential I think it has.

Somebody posted back they they went and weren't impressed, especially considering the VIP membership prices ($5K initiation and $200/month). I responded:

It's not unfair to conclude that you're "not all that impressed" at this stage. They still have a *lot* of work to do to get that place finished. I was really surprised they did a soft opening with so many things not yet done. They lost a big profit off me just by not yet having the vending machines installed. :-)

The $5K initiation price is only good prior to opening. After that, it goes up to $7K. I'm not sure how much the monthly fee gets bumped. The top-range VIP package will, I assume, be more of a "golf country club for shooters" than a serious shooting range.

Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering what sort of competition they're facing. The only public, commercial range close enough to them (that I know of) is Memorial Shooting Center which is a completely different experience. Do they actually have any high-end competition, anywhere close by, at all?

As for the areas not yet built, it's clear that there will be some improvements in the VIP area. Specifically, I was told that the range equipment would be upgraded to allow turning targets and lighting changes. If you've shot at Gander Mountain on I-45 @ Cypresswood, then what they described to me sounds remarkably similar to that.

Personally, I'd love a proper turning target range. 3-second drills for Conventional Pistol shooting are absolutely necessary to progress beyond a certain point and turning targets are the best way to accomplish that. However, I can make do with an MP3 player and the right audio files plugged into my ear muffs. If I really feel an occasional need to use turning targets, I can spend the $25 to go to Gander Mountain.

What I'm hoping is that Athena will offer some sort of membership package between the VIP and the regular schmuck having to pay well over $20 per visit. I consider it a tad over priced, for example, but I buy a full year Gold Membership at SGA every year. I just re-upped. Since I shoot there 5 times a week (when I'm sticking to my training schedule), it quickly pays for itself despite the fact that $650 seems crazy-high to most folks I talk to. For the people who live close to Athena, something on that level would probably sell well.

Ah, well. I'm not all that invested in how well they do other than my basic belief that more places for people to shoot is a good thing. They're too far away from me to be a practical, everyday choice. I am, however, glad to see the folks who live close to town gain an additional alternative.

After doing a bit more research (Athena has updated their web site) it turns out that they do have an "executive" membership that provides a bulk discount for frequent weekday users. It's still expensive.

I'd be very interested to hear opinions from people who have visited in the last week or two, assuming construction is finally finished. Anybody been there lately?

Ben

[canvasbck]

I was there Saturday. It was nice, very "upscale" looking.

I have to say though, I wasn't overly impressed. The parking lot is WAY too small. They have not corrected the problem of soundproofing, it's still loud out at the RO's station. There was nothing but guns in their store area and I found the jewelry type display of firearms to be kinda silly. I tried one of their "mini sessions" on the simulator, I felt like I had been ripped off afterwards. During the demo, the guy was showing us video based scenarios where a bad guy pops out and you have quick shoot/no shoot decisions. When he started my $15/5 minute mini session, it was CGI versions of paper targets! For $15 I got a $0.75 video game with CO2 recoil on the gun.

I don't mean to make it sound all bad. The place is VERY nice. Huge lobby area. Plenty of smartly dressed staff eager to help. Any of the staff that we spoke to seemed very freindly. The range is still brand new, so not too many bullet marks on the walls, soundproofing, and baffles. Good ventillation system.

My first impression was that it's The Arms Room with a big lobby and without the in store selection. If you ask me, I don't see where it would be worth the money for what they want for membership.

[benenglishtx]

My first impression was that it's The Arms Room with a big lobby and without the in store selection. If you ask me, I don't see where it would be worth the money for what they want for membership.

If they allow Executive memberships to use the VIP lanes during the week, I might have some interest. Did you get a chance to try/tour the VIP area?

[canvasbck]

My first impression was that it's The Arms Room with a big lobby and without the in store selection. If you ask me, I don't see where it would be worth the money for what they want for membership.

If they allow Executive memberships to use the VIP lanes during the week, I might have some interest. Did you get a chance to try/tour the VIP area?

I didn't but some of my friends did, they said it's pretty nice but not worth $5k up front and $200 monthly.

edited to fix speling "I before E except after C"

[Scott in Houston]

They only "competition" in terms of an upscale range is Tactical Firearms in Katy (about 15 mins away).
I live about a mile from Athena but have yet to check it out. The membership pricing is crazy. I'd almost consider the "Executive" at $250 initiation then $100/mth. Shoot 9x/mth and it's cheaper than lower end ranges in town. The $250 initiation is hard to swallow though.

[howdy]

My adult son and I went to Athena range in Houston for the first time today. I only visited the range so I can't comment about the gun store or simulator area. It is $18 an hour to shoot and half price for CHL's on Tuesday. This price includes 2 targets and eye/ear protection if needed. Tactical Firearms in Katy is $20/hr and American Shooting Center (outdoor) is $18/day. The building is very spacious and clean and it is obvious the owner has invested major dollars in the place. There is live video monitoring of the range area but no RSO's physically out there with you. They did come in once to sweep the brass away. I don't know if you are allowed to collect your own brass. The range is well lit and ventilated and I did not notice it being any louder than other indoor ranges. You are allowed to draw from the holster but you have to be cleared by the staff to do it. I don't know what is required to get that OK. The range controls are automatic and easy to use. They have a very large selection of rental guns. Might be a good place to go shoot something you are considering to buy.
My son bought a 50/rd box of .380 for $24. Seems a little high but I don't mind them making a good profit. The staff was friendly and all in all a very good experience. (I have no affiliation with Athena or any gun range)

[rockinar]

My adult son and I went to Athena range in Houston for the first time today. I only visited the range so I can't comment about the gun store or simulator area. It is $18 an hour to shoot and half price for CHL's on Tuesday. This price includes 2 targets and eye/ear protection if needed. Tactical Firearms in Katy is $20/hr and American Shooting Center (outdoor) is $18/day. The building is very spacious and clean and it is obvious the owner has invested major dollars in the place. There is live video monitoring of the range area but no RSO's physically out there with you. They did come in once to sweep the brass away. I don't know if you are allowed to collect your own brass. The range is well lit and ventilated and I did not notice it being any louder than other indoor ranges. You are allowed to draw from the holster but you have to be cleared by the staff to do it. I don't know what is required to get that OK. The range controls are automatic and easy to use. They have a very large selection of rental guns. Might be a good place to go shoot something you are considering to buy.
My son bought a 50/rd box of .380 for $24. Seems a little high but I don't mind them making a good profit. The staff was friendly and all in all a very good experience. (I have no affiliation with Athena or any gun range)

Athena is nice. It cost $5 million to build. Plus operating expenses. So yeah, it's going to be on the more expensive end. But it's a great place and I have no problem supporting the business.