Virtual Range Tour

 

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This page will take you on a guided tour of the facility.  It is a whole lot easier to show you the range this way than to walk the 10 acres with the guys who want to see what is here.  It is a hike that I take at least 4 times a day with prospective members and those curious about the range.  I hope you enjoy the tour... it will take a few moments for all the pictures to load.

Range Layout

 

Range sign at Pleasant Grove Rd. and 1st Street.  Turn left at the T intersection.

This is the sign you need to be looking for as you drive north on Pleasant Grove Rd..  It is on the right side of the road at the intersection of 1st Street.

As soon as you turn onto 1st Street, you will need to bear to your left.   It hits a "T" intersection.  Go right and you will end up in a church parking lot.  Turn left and you will get to the range.


Follow the Drive Slow signs to the range.   Follow the Drive Slow signs to the range.

 The range sign at the beginning of the range road.
As you drive down 1st Street, you will see clues that you are on the right path.  The "drive slowly past the homes and down range roads" signs will lead you to a big banner sign where the range road starts. 

The veiw of the range at the end of the range road.  This is the office. Go here first.

 Old DOP Lodge 58 sign. It was by the road where my sign is now.
About a half mile down the range road you will find the range.  The bumpy recycled asphalt road becomes a paved road that takes you to the range parking area.  There is an old weathered FOP Firing Range sign at the end of the road that lets you know you are in the right place.  The office where you sign in at is to the right of the sign.   The big log home is the Range Master's Quarters. 


Main Office  Main Office

 The restrooms are located at the back side of the office.
This is the office.  This is what you need to look for first when you get to the range.  There is a nice enclosed and air conditioned deck on the right side for cooling off, browsing the tons of magazines, getting a cold drink or snack. 


The airconditioned deck.  Room for eating lunch.

 Look out the windows and watch the Public Range.
The deck area has a couple of tables for munching on snacks, reading up on the latest gun mags, or just hanging out.  We'll have the game or race on the TV in the corner above the AC unit.


Pro Shop in the office.  Gun cleaning supplies

Sales Counter in office

Ammo and targets. The big targets are on the ceiling... look up when you get here.  Reloading Supplies, 29 kinds of powder, bulk bullets and primers, dies, scales, calipers, and powder measures, etc.
This is the office.  Here you will find ammo, targets, reloading supplies and equipment, eye protection, ear protection, range hats, cleaning kits, brushes, patches, solvents and cleaners, knives, spotting scopes, rifle rests, pistol rests, scopes, grips, magazines, sights, speed loaders, ice cold drinks, and snacks. 


Public Range pistol firing line.   The view out to 100 yards from the benchrest tables.

The claybird thrower and the plate rack.

Veiw of the 25 yard target area for both benchrest use and pistol use.   Veiw from the top of the berm back uprange.
The big range in front of the office is the Public Range.  This is the area that non-members of the range are restricted to.  It is a very nice range... just like the rest of the facility.  There are 12 concrete benchrest tables, 9 offhand shooting positions for shooting handguns, and an area to the left of the firing line with a clay bird throwing machine for shooting shotguns.  I recently added the steel plate rack to the pistol area.  It is for handgun use only.  Shooting reactive steel plate targets is a lot of fun (and tends to eat a lot of ammo).  There are berms at 12, 25, 50 and 100 yards.  There is a page on the web site that will tell you more about the Public Range when you click HERE.


Steel Challenge ranges.  The covered area has 4 tables for spreading out your gear.
Stage 1 target array.  Stage 2 target array.
Stage 3 target array.  Stage 4 target array.
Moving clock-wise around the facility, the next ranges are the Steel Challenge Ranges.   We have two ranges, side by side, that have stationary steel plates set up on them.   The plates ring very loudly when you hit them.  We hold a Steel Challenge Plate match here on the Second Saturday of each month at 10:00 am.  See competition events page for more info about the match.  Members can practice here for the matches.  It is also a great place just to target shoot.  I have cardboard target stands on each range for punching holes in paper if you want to shoot paper.   This is a handgun range.  No long guns are allowed to be fired on these two ranges.  Rifle and shotgun ammo will damage the steel plates.  Handgun ammo just knocks the paint off.  Bring a can of Rustoleum Blue paint and you will have new targets all day long.


Road to the General Purpose range, runs beside the house.  Veiw of the covered area uprange.
Veiw of the uprange area from the 50 yard line.  Veiw downrange of the target area. Its pretty big, 30 by 50 yards.
A road that runs from the parking lot along the left side of the Range Master's Quarters leads to the General Purpose Range.  This is a large range with 50 yards available between the tables on the covered area and the berm downrange.  I took these pictures on a Sunday morning just before the September Dixie Shooters IPSC Match.  We had two of the stages set up for the match on this range.  One of them was a huge 41 round course.  For more info about the IPSC matches see the competition events page.   You can target shoot in this range with rifles, handguns and shotguns.  When Law Enforcement Agencies need a place to qualify their officers, I set them up here.


Road going down the hill to the lower parking lot.  Lower parking lot looking back up the hill.
At the end of the parking area, you will find a road that goes down a hill, leading to the lower parking area.  This is how you get to the pistol ranges and the rifle range on the lower part of the facility.


Lower pistol ranges from the lower parking lot.  Lower pistol ranges looking towards the parking area.
There is a paved roadway that leads from the lower parking area to the lower pistol ranges. 


Practical shooting range.  Covered area offers some shade.
Props include a mock up of a car. We call it the Alabama Short Bus.   Lots of pepper poppers to knock down.
Barricades and wall sections.   This range is 25 by 40 yards. When empty, it looks huge.
More props.
This is the Practical Shooting Range.  It is at the far left side of the lower pistol ranges.  It is a 25 by 40 yard range with a 270 degree field of fire that we use for the practical shooting matches.  Members who participate in the IPSC and IDPA matches are welcome to use this area to set up a course of fire and practice for the matches.   Because of the steel targets in this range, it is restricted to handgun use only.   There are tons of props we use in the IPSC and IDPA matches stored on this range.   If you drag them out, you have to put them away when you are done.  You may also do simple target shooting on this range.  I have cardboard target stands on each of the ranges for shooting paper targets.  Don't shoot the props.


Falling steel plate range.  The covered area makes some shade and allows steel plate shooting in all weather. 
MGM plate racks
This is the Falling Steel Plate Range.  There are three falling steel plate racks on this range for members to bang away on.  The plate racks are made by MGM Steel Targets.  No rifles or shotguns are allowed on the steel plates.  We hold the Falling Steel Plate Match here on the first Saturday of each month at 10:00 am followed by a man-on-man shoot-off with a 2 out of 3 double elimination format.  See the competition events page on the main page for info about this match.  This match is a blast to shoot and members can use this range to practice for the match.  It also is a great place just to target shoot.  There is nothing more fun than knocking down steel plates with ammo.  Just pull the rope to reset the plates and go again.  This range eats more ammo than the other ranges combined. 


Paper Range.  Lots of room to punch paper.
This is the Paper Target Range.  This is a good place to shoot paper targets at shorter distances.  Most shooters want a place to shoot at 7 to 15 yards and this pistol range is set up just for that purpose.  I have a bank of target stands set up in front of the berm for shooters to staple or tape their targets up on.  I recently added 4 more falling steel plate racks to the facility and this range now sports two of them.  Falling steel plates continue to be the most fun things to shoot on the range.


Member's Rifle Range from the lower parking area. You can drive up to the tables.  Shady veiw downrange.
Looking uprange fromthe 100 yard target line.  Target stands slide into the pvc. Super simple way to hold up a target stand.
This is the member's Rifle Range.  It has 6 concrete benchrest tables and target stands at 33, 50, and 100 yards.  The use of campaign signs (corrogated plastic) is recycling what would be thrown away and they hold up great in the weather.  This range points north and the shooting benches are in the shade all day long.  The surface is gravel and there is no mud to track home from this range.


Speed Shoot Range
The last shooting range is the Speed Shoot Range.  It is at the end of the upper parking lot, above the office.  We use this area as a place to set up an additional course of fire for the IPSC and IDPA matches.  I originally intended to put together a 10 meter air gun range here but the demand never surfaced.  It also makes a good place to park my backhoe.

Come find me, Jon Grigsby, when you get here and I'll help you if I can.

Long story... involved a cocaine buy-bust, a takedown in Fairfield, a wig I found in the bad guy's truck, and a Birmingham New photographer who was riding along for a story.  Ok, I need to be serious here... I just don't have any serious pictures of my self.
John Cooper took this picture. It is one of my favorites.

I have some good help, Lee Knobloch.  He will catch my slack when I'm not here or busy handling the business end of running the range.
Lee Knobloch knows steel plate competition. Just ask him about what it takes to get started in the most fun you can have with your guns. Looks like he might hurl. I have been working him pretty hard with the recent range improvements.

Dan Pulley (left) recently joined the range staff and will be around the range office to assist you with anything you need.

Recent pictures of the range office area....  I have added tons more shooting stuff to the walls...
 
Veiw of the Public Range from the deck...


I hope you have enjoyed the tour.  You have just seen about all there is to offer at the F.O.P. Range.  It is a very nice, well maintained, clean, safe shooting facility.   It is available to anyone who can legally possess a firearm for just a little bit of money.  If you have any questions after poking around this website, please call me at the range, 744-2600.  Be safe and shoot straight!

 

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Last modified: April 07, 2004