AZ Blogmeet & Range Trip - It's Still On

AZ Blogmeet & Range Trip - It's Still On!

Despite my change in employment status, the Saturday, December 12 range trip and blogmeet are still a go, and I hope to see all six or eight of you there. It looks like Saturday is going to be a bit chilly and possibly damp, so dress warmly. This is still Arizona, so bring plenty to drink (non-alcoholic, of course). Since we're going to shoot until about 1:00PM or so, you might also want to bring a snack of some kind.

For those who have never been there, the Elsy Pearson Public Shooting Range is quite easy to get to:

From either the direction of Phoenix or Tucson, take I-10 towards the I-8 interchange.

Take Exit 199 to I-8 West

The first exit you come to on I-8 is Exit 174 for Trekell Rd. Exit there.

Turn left and go about 2-3 minutes. (Note, the speed limit through the residential area there is 25.) Proceed on through the first minor intersection, and keep your eyes on the left side of the road for a sign for the Casa Grande Trap Club.

Turn left again at W. Arica Rd. The road turns to dirt here, so your vehicle will get dirty. Go for another 2-3 minutes. W. Arica Rd. intersects Isom Rd. at the trap range.

Turn right on S. Isom Rd. Go for a minute or two, and you will pass the Casa Grande police range on your left, and immediately after that will be the Public range.

Here's a picture of how to get there:


And one showing the three ranges a bit better:


The range opens at 7:00AM. As I said, it is my intention to be there when it opens so I can set up my steel targets.

One further note: While the range has some very nice concrete shooting benches, there are NO CHAIRS. If you want to sit down, BRING A CHAIR or something to sit on.

Edited to add: Here's my previous list of things-to-bring-&-do:

1) It is an unsupervised range - there are no Range Officers, so we have to do that ourselves. I expect everyone to be familiar with the Four Rules. I also expect everyone to be familiar with firing range etiquette.

2) There is no potable water at the range. Bring fluids. (But no alcohol.)

3) There is, at least, a Porta-Potty on site now. There didn't used to be. I suggest that someone bring some toilet paper, just in case. And hand-sanitizer, too.

4) Even though it's late fall, and the firing line is covered, Mr. Sun is nasty. Bring sunscreen.

5) There are no targets nor target stands at this range. You can bring anything you're willing to clean up as a target (exceptions being glass and explosive targets - that's posted). As I said, I'll be bringing my steel targets, and everyone is welcome to shoot them. I'll also be bringing a target stand for paper targets. If you go out to pick something up, don't get the "stick in the ground" type target stands. The ground out there is caliche, and about as hard as cement.

6) There are three ranges to shoot from, a 100 yard range with covered shooting benches, a 300 yard range with covered benches, and a 25 yard range with no benches, but the firing line is covered too. I figure we'll take up one end of the 300 yard range. In addition, the backstop is a range of mountains. About 600 yards downrange on the side of the mountain someone has put some steel targets, so if you bring something with some reach, you have something to shoot at.

7) Sorry, but they don't allow .50BMG at this range. I suppose it's just slightly possible to loft a 750 grain .50 caliber projectile over the mountain range backstop and drop it onto Interstate 8, so they're verboten.

End edit.

At about 1:00 we will pack it in and head to Ochoa's. It's just off Trekell Rd. The address is 512 East Cottonwood Lane. Get back to Trekell Rd., turn right (North) and drive until you hit Cottonwood Ln. Turn left and if you get to Casa Grande Ave., you went too far. It's back a bit off the road on the North (right) side of the street just before Casa Grande Ave.

Hope to see you there!