New to Virginia!

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esheato

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Hey everyone,

I did a cross country move two weeks ago to Virginia from Southern California. Lots of things are better, amazingly, I think traffic is worse (Manassas and McLean areas).

Anyway, I took the tour of the area W of DC yesterday. Manassas, Chantilly, Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Gainesville, etc. I hit up lots of different stores and talked to people. Everyone is friendly, plenty of guns, mags, bullets, etc. I can't complain a bit.....except where do you shoot?

I've heard Izaac Walton is nice. I've also heard Fairfax Rod and Gun is a lost cause unless you know someone. Spent today at the Prince William County gunshow (small, but nice), and then went to Clark Brothers. I've never seen such a small range. There is plenty of open space around here, but finding more than 100 yards is apparently difficult. What does a long range guy do here?

Bull Run seemed more than adequate for shotgun sports. I'm at a loss for pistol/rifle practice.

Also, I'm fairly competition oriented, so I'm looking for short range benchrest and USPSA. I found some indoor IDPA at Blue Ridge Arsenal, but I'd rather shoot USPSA outdoors if possible.

Thanks!

Ed
 
Welcome to Virginia!

The Loudoun County Izaac Walton is nice, but not exactly conveniently located. And it's still limited to 100 yards. The Fairfax one is impossible to get into. If anyone finds a good 100 yard range near Burke or Fairfax, let me know.

If you like deer hunting, wait until fall. Deer are EVERYWHERE. You'll have NO problems getting one. Our bag limit is 6 per tag. And you can buy an additional 6 doe tags as many times as you want for $18 each. We have massive deer overpopulation problem and each one shot is one less killed on the road.
 
Welcome to the Old Dominion! I too am an ex-Californian, living near Alexandria. My favorite shooting spots (in addition to Izaak Walton and Bull Run, as you mentioned) are the NRA HQ range, the Blue Ridge Arsenal (near the intersection of routes 50 and 28), and Clark Brothers (route 29 in Warrenton). NRA is a fancy indoor range, Blue Ridge is also indoor, not as opulent, in the rear of a gun shop, and Clark Brothers is outdoor, also in the rear of a gun shop, and is the only one of the three that has trap shotgun positions as well as rifle and pistol.
 
Welcome to VA. I'm in Leesburg and I shoot at Silver Eagle Group in Ashburn. It helps that they are about a 2 minute drive from work. Can you say lunchtime shooting? :D
 
Careful at Blue Ridge Arsenal. Their staff doesn't know how to respond to squibs. Friend got a misfire, and notified the Range Officer as you're required to do. The range attendant took my friend's gun, cleared the chamber and, without checking for bore obstructions, loaded another round and fired it. :barf: There was a squib stuck in the barrel. Fortunately, it was a CZ-82 and didn't blow up. But the gun was wrecked; the bulged barrel made it impossible to move the slide to take it off. And they didn't want to pay him for the damage even though they caused it. He finally had to threaten legal action to get compensation.
 
Welcome to Virginia and congrats on your escape from the PRK!

Sorry, but I can be of no help with local shooting ranges ... if I want to shoot I just walk out one of my back doors. And, yes, I realize how lucky I am!

BTW, when you have a sec, please check out the VCDL. They do great work!
 
Get on the waiting list for Arlington-Fairfax Isaac Walton.

We have 100 yards for rifle/handgun (minimum is 25 yards though), shotgun, air rifle, bow and arrow, even fishing in our pond.

There are usually at least a few memberships available every year.

Fairfax Rod and Gun had some type of 'non-voting' memberships that might be available (or at least have a waiting list).
The full memberships are scarcer than hen's teeth and very expensive.
Scalia is a member there.
 
Definitely stay away from the Hampton Roads region if you can. Now go get your CHP!
Click to expand...
I'm on the Peninsula and just took a trip to northern Virginia. There's no comparison, NoVa is much worse. I'd rather staple an angry Humbolt squid to my rear end and ride a unicycle through a car wash which spews pepper spray instead of soapy water than drive I-95 up there.

Welcome to the Commonwealth, Esheato! Second on the "get your CHL" comment. Take a look at the VCDL (Virginia Citizen's Defense League), check out Virginia Gun Trader dot com, and drive the parkways whenever you can. You can't beat the Virginia mountains in the Fall.
Cheers!
 
I'd rather staple an angry Humbolt squid to my rear end and ride a unicycle through a car wash which spews pepper spray instead of soapy water than drive I-95 up there.
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Oh my, that paints tooo vivid a picture.:uhoh:
But funny still.
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Oh yeah congratulations on your move to America.
 
I did a cross country move two weeks ago to Virginia from Southern California. Lots of things are better, amazingly, I think traffic is worse (Manassas and McLean areas).
Click to expand...

Traffic is fine if you leave for work at 0945 ;) NOVA is fine so long as you work around traffic. The southern Virginia members are just jealous since they're unemployed and can't buy ammo :neener:

The top two indoor ranges in northern Virginia are Silver Eagle (SEG) and the NRA Range. These are also the safest ranges around, though I have seen people violate the gun safety rules. However, the NRA now posts an RO on the range itself and that has improved safety dramatically. I think SEG posts RO's on the range too, but I have not been there recently.

Avoid Blue Ridge Arsenal. It is nasty and the employees are...an experience. Clark Brothers is just bad and their ammo prices are worse. Only go to either location if you are desperate for ammo.

Peacemaker National is a great range, but it's an hour and a half drive. It's worth it though. This is the place to do long range rifle (1200 yards), 3 Gun, IDPA, etc. They also host training classes, and sell guns and ammo.

Echo Valley hosts training classes. They have a 275 yard range, several 100 yard ranges and a 360 degree snailshell pistol range.

Quantico Shooting Club is adequate with pistol, rifle and shotgun ranges. They have a 1,000 yard range and they host 50 BMG shoots. The problem there is that the RO's are all volunteers so the ranges are not always open. If you wish to volunteer to be an RO (all you have to do is a few sessions annually and you can split the session with a friend so you can shoot), they will get you in. Membership fees are reasonable.

Has the Izaak Walton league in Centreville changed their shooting policies? I haven't been there in many years but one could not draw from a holster or shoot rapidly there. I dropped my membership because of those policies.
 
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Sam1911 did not mention Peacemaker has TEN bays, each 25-35 yards. At the end of the bays is a 300+ yard range. Parallel to that is the 1200 yard range. Behind that is a woods walk. There is a public daily range (I think it's 600 yds, but could be 300). They have shotgun and other stuff too.
 
Make sure to join VCDL too!
Get your CHP!

For paper plinking and load testing like I do, I have a family membership at Silver Eagle Group in Ashburn.

Every Sunday Ed Levine from VCDL hosts an Open Carry breakfast at a diner up on Rt 7. Its a blast!
 
Buy a copy of "The Virginia Gun Owner's Guide" (Bloomfield Press) and read it.

ALL Virginia lethal force law is case (common) law.

We have a lot of it, and a good system.

It is based around the idea of excusable homicide and justifiable homicide.

We have better laws than the 'stand your ground' states.

if you had no part in bringing about an incident involving the use of lethal force and are reasonably in fear of your life you do not have to retreat from anywhere you are legally allowed to be.

You may meet lethal force with lethal force under a 'reasonable man' doctrine.

There are some pitfalls if you had ANY involvement in creating/causing the incident.

It then becomes 'mutual combat' and you have no claim to self defense.


Even the police in Virginia operate under the common law for lethal force.

About the only exception they get is they can point their gun at someone and it is NOT considered brandishing.
 
tomrkba said:
Traffic is fine if you leave for work at 0945 ;) NOVA is fine so long as you work around traffic. The southern Virginia members are just jealous since they're unemployed and can't buy ammo :neener:

.
Click to expand...

We usually don't even claim NOVA as part of Viriginia. That area is full of gun grabbers....
 
Fredericksburg resident here, was just looking into rifle ranges this weekend, Quantico looked good, also look into to range82.com, have not been there yet, but hope to check it out next Saturday. Clark Brothers is small indeed. For some pistol shooting, check out the range in Stafford, no frills good range I frequent.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
 
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