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I'd been hearing good things about Elm Fork Range, so I took a friend of mine from H-town to check it out.

It's a large facility. Plenty of choices as far as shotgun, handgun, and rifle. Lots of people there. Generally a good crowd. Easy location to get to. Not cheap, but not too expensive.

Staff was reasonably professional and the range looked well maintained.

If you are going to do some basic marksmanship training with your handgun it is a good range.

I have to say I was disappointed with the handgun range overall, as it is not a good place to do self defense training.

The website talked about pistol bays. They have them. But I could not rent my own pistol bay. Had to share one, with not very many choices of how to set up the targets. They should have made this crystal clear on the website.

Rule: Limit 10 rounds loaded. The Clinton gun ban is over?

I assumed that shooting from a holster was not allowed, but what floored me was there is a rule: "One second between shots"

How in the world am I going to practice self defense with that restriction. Answer: I can't.

When I did some rapid fire(.2 second splits, hitting with every single shot fired at 10 yards) the range officer came over and told me next time I did that would be kicked out.

What got me most about this is that these rules are no where on Elm Fork's website. I didn't see these rules or hear them when I paid my range fee.

I only found this out when I got on the range. Felt cheated.

Anyway, just want to warn others so they don't run into the same issues.

I imagine their other ranges(shotgun/rifle) do not suffer as much under the burden of these rules.

(name corrected)

Don't you mean Elm Fork?

Rules are the same for the rifle areas and I'm not sure about the shotgun areas, although there aren't many shotguns that can hold more than 10 rounds. Most ranges do not allow rapid fire.

Unless you go to a range like Bass Pro's with retractable targets your distances are almost always going to be limited.

So far, the only problem I have with this range is that you are not allowed to use the 100 yard range without a 3x+ power scope.

Paladin wrote:I assumed that shooting from a holster was not allowed, but what floored me was there is a rule: "One second between shots"

How in the world am I going to practice self defense with that restriction. Answer: I can't.

When I did some rapid fire(.2 second splits, hitting with every single shot fired at 10 yards) the range officer came over and told me next time I did that would be kicked out.

That seems to be a very common rule in the ranges here in DFW, at least in the ones where I've shot.

There are some indoor ranges that allow you to do hammars. Otherwise Elm Forks rules are about the same as other ranges in DFW.

I actually like Elm Fork quite a bit. I shoot my pistols at DPC mostly, but my rifles and carbines are always shot at Elm Fork. I have yet to try their skeet range. I hear they have pretty good sized skeets there, and there's no limit.

C-dub wrote:Don't you mean Elm Fork?

Yes.

stroo wrote:There are some indoor ranges that allow you to do hammars. Otherwise Elm Forks rules are about the same as other ranges in DFW.

Guess I'm spoiled with Houston ranges.

The Ranges I've previously shot at in Dallas are DFW Gun and Alpine.

Pasadena Gun Center (near Houston) rents machineguns... They also have no problem with 100rd beta mags.

AndyC wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:I hear they have pretty good sized skeets there

You just know how I hate folks calling clay pigeons "skeets", don'tcha?

It says "skeet" on my shotgun's barrel.

C-dub wrote: So far, the only problem I have with this range is that you are not allowed to use the 100 yard range without a 3x+ power scope.

I have never understood why some ranges have this type of rules. I have several hunting rifles that are set up with iron sights and I don't limit myself to 50 yard shots on game animals. Not to mentions AR uppers with irons, both 5.56 and. 308.
Another one that bothers me is "NO HANDGUNS ON 100 YARD RANGE". I have a TC 14" Hunter that I keep zeroed in at 100 yards.....makes no sense.

I think a lot of it has to do with how busy they are.
I tend to avoid busy times and go in the middle of the day during the week when I can, and theres usually only a couple people there or sometimes just me. When it's like this they get a little more flexible with rule enforcement especially if you've been talking to them or asking advise.

I've never been told to limit my magazines to 10 rounds, and I've violated the one shot per second rule before and never had anyone talk to me about it (though i didnt do it repeatedly just a couple times)

Now its a completely different story when they are busy, everything is very strictly enforced. And many people choose to argue with the RO's which is just stupid, follow the rules.

every range in DFW i've been to has very similar rules.

I went in the middle of the day to shoot on the 100 yd range and there were just a handful of people present. The RO was very nice and I had a good time. He didn't say anything when i ran my bore snake through the rifle (bolt out) during the cease fire in order to break in the new rifle barrel at the time. I plan to go back and re-zero. Will also be working up a load for my .308 Win. using a Chrony Master Alpha.

When I got my new Para 16-40 and went to Elm Fork I had probably run 3 or 4 of the 16 round mags through the pistol before I noticed the "10 rounds only" sign. The RO was standing there the whole time. Either he couldn't count or he didn't care. I'm thinking the latter.

I've seen the RO's clamp down on the rapid fire antics several times. Most of the folks doing that sort of thing are clearly amateurish, thug wannabe's who probably just bought their new blaster. Scary.

The only place I know of where you can draw and fire from a holster and rapid fire is Shoot Smart. They have ONE isolated lane that can be rented separately for an additional fee. There's talk of adding more such lanes when they expand the facility (ETA not known) because it's a popular feature. The other lanes are 2-second interval. These are not enforced strictly at 2 seconds, but rapid fire is not allowed. I have not received any warnings for double-taps but try not to stretch my luck too far.

Honestly, I don't want to shoot while the random, unknown person next to me plays Miami Vice. I have no idea whether they are competent and in control. I've seen far more novices and idiots at the ranges than marksmen. Standing that close to an unknown shooter trying to empty their gun as fast as possible is not on my list of fun activities. YMMV.

Other than Shoot Smart, seems like you need to have enough of your own land to practice drawing, double taps, etc.