Worst Handgun Range in TN - Stones River TWRA

[Guest SpoonMan3]

Let me first say that I believe stronly in gun safety. I have several rules that I abide by even when I am on private property.

After last weekend, I have decided that the TWRA Stones River Gun Range, might be the worst gun range in the state.

Dont get me wrong, the facilities are nice, but after my 3rd visit last weekend..... I will never, EVER go back. See the reasons below:

- A range office has to check each and every firearm that you bring with a flashlight and mirror....for safety (if you bring 6 rifles......they are going to check 6 rifles"

- The lady at the handgun range was probably the most annoying human I have ever met:

I -asked for 3 lanes for me and my 2 friends... she asked how many guns we had (completely irrelevant and none of her d---- business)

-I put up 2 - 6" targets on my cardboard stand at 5 Yards (Got Yelled at on the loudspeaker)....only one target per stand regardless of size.... not sure of the logic there

I unloaded a handgun, removed the magazine, and locked the slide open and preoceeded to pass it to my friend in the next lane w/ barrel pointed downrange.... Got yelled at (barrel supposed to point straight up.....)

-After the incident above, we decided to leave our handguns on the bench (unloaded, slide open, barrel pointing down range) and just switch places......again, we were verbally acosted by a yankee know it all b----

- There was an hour and a half wait for the rifle range (they wouldnt open the 50 yard range with 20+ benches)

- They always want to know how many rounds of ammo you shot (and what caliber) - again........ WHY?

I was honestly waiting for the lady to tell me that I couldn't go out and change targets until I had put on sunscreen.....

Sorry to rant... I just feel like some of these RSO's (especially the female) put their orange vest on and think they are God

Anyone else had a run in with that lady?

Edited March 10, 2010 by SpoonMan3
remove bad language!!

[DavidD]

Sounds like Jenny. She has "yelled" at me if that is what you call it a time or two but no big deal. I understand your embarrassment if that is what it is but they really aren't that bad. Now that you know the rules (intimately I might add), you shouldn't get yelled at anymore. Remember, it is run by a State Agency and Safety is their top priority, even if it is a bit redundant. The RSO's are also volunteer which means they are not getting paid. It is definitely NOT the worst Handgun range in TN.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

in fairness I understand the safety aspect of it all, however some of those folks out there have a power/ego trip thing going on. I have heard nothing but negatives from customers that come in my store.

The last customer was fuming because they were told they couldnt pick up their own brass. Thats insane!!!

[Guest no_masters]

I don't know if I would say that it is the worst but it is definitely not my first choice. Never got yelled at over the loud speaker though.

[Guest tennesseevolz]

Phil--- on the brass topic, they will "not" let you have it if it goes in the yellow bucket

OP- on the Jenny topic "she" has turned me off to that range as well- we stopped in a few weeks ago after a trip to the gun show, and "she" made sure to let me and my buddies know every thing that we did wrong. I have been to that range 40 + times over the past few yrs, and Jenny is the only RSO that I am not comfortable around------

the range is close to me, it is a safe range compared to Cheatham County, and it is CHEAP- so I will go back, and if "she" is on the handgun side I will shoot rifle, and if she is on the rifle side, it will be a handgun day.

[Metalhead]

in fairness I understand the safety aspect of it all, however some of those folks out there have a power/ego trip thing going on. I have heard nothing but negatives from customers that come in my store.

The last customer was fuming because they were told they couldnt pick up their own brass. Thats insane!!!

+1

[Guest SpoonMan3]

Maybe that is what I need to do Tennesseevolz.... not trying to be a jerk, but she just anoys the heck out of me and makes me nervous as heck. I am EXTREMELY safe and am very knowledgable about firearms...I really dont appreciate an RSO on a power trip micro-managing the hell out of me.

I also saw someone get yelled at for picking up their own brass. Ridiculous.

[Guest SpoonMan3]

Honestly, if I was doing something that was truly unsafe, I deserve to be yelled at... in fact, I would hope that they would yell at anyone out there that was being unsafe.

I just dont like being yelled at over gay stuff that has has very, very little to do with safety.

[DavidD]

Maybe that is what I need to do Tennesseevolz.... not trying to be a jerk, but she just anoys the heck out of me and makes me nervous as heck. I am EXTREMELY safe and am very knowledgable about firearms...I really dont appreciate an RSO on a power trip micro-managing the hell out of me.

I also saw someone get yelled at for picking up their own brass. Ridiculous.

I can definately understand and respect that. They are ony a few miles or so from my house however I haven't been there in months.

[MikeW]

I shoot there almost every weekend or so. I shot on the rifle and pistol range this past Saturday.

I have never had any issues. I pick up my own brass and any other brass that I want that the owner does not want. Sometimes the RSO's even offer brass to me if they know that it is something that I may want.

On the pistol range you can only have one target up.. not a big deal to me. However, on the rifle range you can put up as many targets on one stand that you want.

I have never seen the 50-yard only range open...not sure why.

They may ask what caliber you shoot on the rifle range because two of the lanes are 50 & 100 only and some folks may want to shoot 25. Again not sure why they ask but I just tell them and move on. Sometimes I have to say .22, .30-06, & .308 +.

It does slow things down when the have to check every firearm going into the range. However, I have seen them pop a round out of a firearm that the owner thought to be empty.

Is jenny the one that wears sandals even when it is cold outside? If so she is fine by me and I have not had a run-in with her yet.

If they were to "yell" at me about something I would be sure not to do it again and keep them happy. I have seen some of the stress that they put up with. Anyone can shoot there and I like to know that they are watching folks colsely. I have seen some real "interesting" folks there that need a little "help" shooting safley.

Sorry to hear that you had a poor experience spoonman3

[DavidD]

...I have seen some real "interesting" folks there that need a little "help" shooting safley.

Sorry to hear that you had a poor experience spoonman3

Yeah, kind of like the guy that managed to shoot himself in the gut with a .380 a couple of years ago or the "gangsta's" trying to shoot gangsta style....

They deserve to be micro managed for sure.

[trblmkr13]

I have taken my 9 yr old there 3 times and we have never had a bad experience

[LagerHead]

I've been once. That was enough for me. If I shoot outdoors, it's Owl Hollow (Or I guess it's Charlie Heffner now) or nothing.

[kb4ns]

- They always want to know how many rounds of ammo you shot (and what caliber) - again........ WHY?

I'm not familiar with the place. Is the handgun range indoor or outdoor? My PD shares an indoor range with TWRA (Their building on our land - we just share it). We have to keep up with how many rounds and what caliber we shoot so that they know when it's time to perform maintenance on the backstop. Not sure if it would matter with an outdoor range. This is possible explanation.

[E4 No More]

I've been there a few times, and the only one I've had problems with is the guy I call the Range Nazi. He's an old codger who's definitely on a power trip. One the brass hits the yellow bucket it's theres, but I've picked up my brass without problems. All told, I'd rather have private property to shoot on.

[E4 No More]

I'm not familiar with the place. Is the handgun range indoor or outdoor? My PD shares an indoor range with TWRA (Their building on our land - we just share it). We have to keep up with how many rounds and what caliber we shoot so that they know when it's time to perform maintenance on the backstop. Not sure if it would matter with an outdoor range. This is possible explanation.

All of it is outdoors.

[mikegideon]

I've never had a bad experience with the RSO's out there. Haven't met the girl yet. I went out there last Saturday, but didn't want to wait. Gonna hit the place this Friday if weather permits. I'm on my second annual membership.

[Volzfan]

I haven't been out there mainly because of the negative posts I've seen here on TGO.

[DavidD]

I haven't been out there mainly because of the negative posts I've seen here on TGO.

You should definitely form your own opinion. I will warn you however it does get crowded on the weekends.

[mikegideon]

You should definitely form your own opinion. I will warn you however it does get crowded on the weekends.

It's pretty regimented, but it's also safe. Great facilities.

When I was there Saturday, it was an hour wait for the rifle range, and 30 min for the handgun range. Best day is Friday.

[DavidD]

It's pretty regimented, but it's also safe. Great facilities.

When I was there Saturday, it was an hour wait for the rifle range, and 30 min for the handgun range. Best day is Friday.

+1. When I usually go it is on Friday. An excuse to take off a little early and there is never a wait for any of the ranges.

[mikegideon]

+1. When I usually go it is on Friday. An excuse to take off a little early and there is never a wait for any of the ranges.

Got several virgins in the safe. Also need to turn my new liberal girlfriend into a gun totin' heathen like me. Gonna start her out on the Mini 14.

I may spend the entire day this Friday if weather permits.

[kesava]

You should definitely form your own opinion. I will warn you however it does get crowded on the weekends.

Thats the only times they are open lol.

[extremescene]

Jenny sucks, but the range is great. You have to follow the rules, simple as that. The RSOs have no idea how experienced you or anybody else is.

I prefer CHMR(owl hollow), but its not fair to bad mouth a facility because you weren't following the rules and got in trouble. People are generally more experienced at Owl Hollow, lots of true idiots shooting at Stones River so I can tolerate a few extra safety measures. I'm sure Charlie would get mad if you broke his rules in front of him too, although I've never seen it happen.

[Jasongar8]

F that place. I have had dealings with that old man, the range nazi. I heard him tell another RSO, "I dont know why the f*** anyone would want a gun like that" talking about a gun my Dad was shooting. We have been told that we were not "qualified" to shoot at the 200 yard range. So after we saw the pattern of how they run the place we joined a private range and never looked back. I will never, ever go back there.