I Found A Public Rifle Range.

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I was returning from Shooters Express and saw a sign. "Gastonia Shotgun, Rifle, and Pistol Range". This range is behind Rankin Lake in Gastonia, North Carolina. I knew there was a skeet and trap range, but not a rifle range.

I followed the signs to the "Gastonia Police Departments' Firearms and Training Facility". The pistol range is not open to the public, but the 100-yard rifle range is! Each Saturday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, you can use the range.

I spoke to the range officer and he said you must use lead core rifle ammunition. No steel core ammo like the "Wolf" ammo. I didn't quite understand that because you were shooting into an earthen berm, but, rules are rules. Here are the directions. I am including GPS coordinates for those with GPS devices:

Take US Highway 321 towards Gastonia. Just north of I-85, turn onto Tulip Drive (N35.290230, W81.188070). Go less than a mile and turn right onto Weetabix Parkway (N35.287971, W81.200974). Turn left up a dirt road (N35.292529, W81.203680). You will arrive at the rifle range (N35.294430, W81.205740).

Here is a quote from the Gastonia Police Department web site:

Gastonia Police Departments' Firearms and Training Facility is open to the public when not utilized for police training. It is normally open to the public on Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. The range allows shooting rifles only, not pistols. The cost is $5 per hour for Gastonia citizens and $8 per hour for others. Customers bring their own guns and ammunition. Targets are provided. For more information call the shooting range at 704.866.6734.

I will go there in a couple weeks about try it out. It's good to find such a facility close to home.