Month: June 2021

What Does the Typical In-Home Gun Range Cost?

Posted on by Action Target

Surprisingly, in-home gun ranges are becoming more and more popular, and many people see it as a place to escape. 

Many people now consider adding a gun range to their homes for the convenience of shooting at their leisure. Adding a gun range to your home may involve retrofitting an existing space or creating a new space. The overarching question is: how much does the typical gun range cost?

In-home gun ranges can cost $50,000-$200,000. The final total is determined largely by the simplicity or complexity of the equipment selected as well as the level of safety you want. To grasp the costs involved, you must understand the requirements involved in a home gun range.

Many factors affect the overall cost of installing a home gun range. These factors also involve decisions that affect the cost of those portions of the design and installation. Before you make any decisions about a home gun range installation, read on to learn the intricacies and requirements of such a project.

What Does an In-Home Range Cost?

The installation of an indoor home shooting range involves a variety of costs. You should expect to incur costs for permitting, engineering services, equipment acquisition, and remodeling or construction of adequate space. Additional costs can involve insurance and ongoing maintenance. 

Engineering or Architectural Services

The permitting department may require engineering or architectural drawings to get the required permits for your indoor home shooting range. The cost of having these drawings produced can vary greatly, but in most cases falls between $1,200 and $6,000. Often the cost is based on the estimated cost of the project.

Permitting Fees and Inspection Fees

The permitting process almost always involves fees for both the permit and the follow-up inspections. These fees vary from approximately $125 to $1,000 plus in some cases and may involve permits and fees to different departments and even to different jurisdictions. Your local permitting officials can provide you with a schedule of permit and inspection fees.

Construction Costs

You may plan on retrofitting your indoor shooting range into an existing space or build a new structure to house the range. In either case, there will be costs associated with the construction and remodeling. A good contractor will provide you with an estimate for whatever type of installation you are planning. Remodeling costs may be as low as $100 per square foot or as much as $250 per square foot for new construction.

Ongoing Costs to Consider

Be sure to check with your insurance agent about adding insurance coverage for your indoor home shooting range. Some insurance companies will not insure a home with a gun range. In any case, there will be additional costs for the liability insurance and the coverage for the equipment. 

You must also maintain the equipment. Air filtration systems need regularly scheduled maintenance to remain effective. Bullet traps require maintenance as well. The nature of target systems almost ensures regular repair to this equipment.  Maintenance costs could average $50 to $150 per month.

Is It Legal to Have an In-Home Gun Range?

Many cities and counties allow in-home gun ranges if you meet certain conditions. However, there are places where in-home gun ranges are prohibited or strictly controlled, and you must determine the legal issues where you live before you proceed. 

Legal challenges can come in various disguises and from different agencies. For example, you may face legal issues from:

  • State agencies such as Health and Safety organizations that control and regulate air quality.
  • Local regulations and ordinances about discharging a firearm in a specific area, noise abatement issues, and zoning restrictions may prohibit any sort of shooting range in certain types of residential areas.
  • Homeowners Associations can exert a significant amount of control over what you can and cannot do on your property. Some covenants and deed restrictions may prohibit the installation of a home gun range on your property.

Before you begin building any indoor home gun range, be sure that you have the appropriate clearances and permits in hand.

Where Will You Put Your Home Gun Range?

Location is a huge factor in building a home gun range. Finding space large enough for a home gun range on most residential lots is a challenge. Retrofitting an existing space may be an option or building a new space if you have the room. Each alternative comes with its challenges.

If you have a large enough lot or acreage, building a new structure to house your home gun range is possible. However, the additional cost of the construction pushes the overall cost of a home gun range in the tens of thousands of dollars and perhaps more.

Renovating an existing space in your home might work if your home has a space suitable in size and location for the installation. Considering the overall size requirements for even a single lane shooting range, this is often impossible in most homes.

For many people, the best option is to retrofit an existing basement. Basements are excellent locations for in-home shooting ranges. The below-grade location provides safe zones without the cost of constructing elaborate concrete or block walls. Ceiling safety measures are not unreasonable in a basement installation.

What Features Do You Want in Your In-Home Shooting Range?

Much of the cost of installing an indoor home shooting range comes from the installed range equipment. Range equipment includes bullet traps, baffles, air handling and filtration, target systems, and auxiliary areas. 

A home indoor shooting range in a basement with a simple bullet trap and air filtration system may cost ten to twenty-five thousand dollars to install. A space as little as twenty feet in length and four feet wide is adequate as a modest home gun range.

If you want to shoot larger calibers or rifles, the cost goes up. Larger calibers require more extensive protection from stray rounds and heavier bullet trap systems. Generally, you need at least twenty-five yards or seventy-five feet for a rifle caliber indoor home shooting range.

The sophistication of your target systems is also a cost factor. Simple target stands are relatively cheap, or you may fabricate target stands as needed. Automatic retrieval target systems can get quite expensive and require ongoing maintenance to keep them in top operating condition.

The Final Figures

You are required to install special air handling and filtration equipment and more elaborate stray bullet protection, the overall cost of an in-home shooting range can cost a hundred thousand dollars or more. Doing your homework before starting an in-home shooting range project is essential.

Contact Action Target

With over 30 years of experience, Action Target can help you build the perfect range for your unique needs. Whether you are building a commercial range that caters to casual or tactical training or a law enforcement range to better prepare your officers, our experts can help with the challenges of building a range. Talk to one of our representatives in your neck of the woods here. 

https://www.clarksvillehomesales.us/indoor-shooting-range/

https://www.quora.com/How-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-private-shooting-range-indoor-or-outdoor

https://www.clarksvillehomesales.us/indoor-shooting-range/

Are Indoor Shooting Ranges Profitable?

Posted on by Action Target

There are contributing factors to how much profit indoor shooting ranges will accumulate, and today, we’ll go over them. 

By understanding what drives sales and revenue, you’ll have a better chance to make your indoor shooting range profitable.

An Indoor shooting range can be profitable. Shooting ranges are predicted to see an annual profit increase of 8.35%. However, there are elements that will determine the success of the shooting range.

Is an indoor shooting range worth the investment? This article will discuss how profitable indoor shooting ranges are and what can positively or negatively affect the profit margin.

Are Indoor Shooting Ranges Profitable?

As interest in gun usage and safety rises amongst consumers, the need for gun ranges will increase. This is an ingredient for higher profits. Some factors can make or break a commercial gun range, and these must be considered before starting an indoor gun range.

The major contributors to an indoor shooting range’s profit are:

  • Where the shooting range is located
  • Your customers
  • How it’s advertised
  • Its membership dues
  • The number of people who use the facility.

These contributing factors help determine how much overhead your business will make. Let’s explore how they can affect the profits of an indoor shooting range.

Membership Fees and General Customer Fees Make the Profit

On average, shooting ranges charge general customer fees of $10 to $14. This per-person charge can be hourly or by the day. How much you charge customers to use your indoor shooting range is where you’ll make your profits. You must be competitive when deciding on your prices to ensure your customers will return. 

On the other hand, some ranges can charge upwards $25 for a VIP lane or target retriever equipment. These generally provide pre-programmed training scenarios, games, accuracy drills, special effect lights, and more. 

Many businesses have a non-linear pricing structure. This means they charge different rates for certain customers during different times of the: 

  • Day
  • Week 
  • Month

To determine your pricing schedule, consider what time of day will have the greatest number of shooters and when you’ll be most likely to maximize revenues per hour. For example, if you’re charging less at peak times, you may make a larger profit for those hours due to having more customers.

With membership fees, you want to give your recurring customers the ease and ability to come whenever convenient. Memberships are typically a bit less expensive than paying per session. However, a paid member may bring new customers to the door.

To ensure customer satisfaction, we recommend that all ranges have an hourly or day-pass type of pricing structure available because this will allow people with different budgets to use the facility without breaking the bank. 

The Location of the Indoor Shooting Range Affects the Profit

One of the most important aspects of having a profitable shooting range is the location. Your commercial firing range should be in a decent commercial neighborhood where people enjoy going.

The Indoor Shooting Range Customers Affects the Profit

The indoor shooting range needs to attract customers that have a need and a desire to be there. Indoor shooting ranges located in convenient urban areas will bring in higher profits as it attracts everyday citizens and those who protect and serve. 

Therefore, you want to attract middle to upper-class people with an interest in or a need to practice firing a gun. These people may be:

  • Police Officers and other law enforcement need gun ranges to practice firing their guns.
  • Security guards often carry guns and may need extra training in using their weapons.
  • Gun-owning homeowners need a secure place to go to learn to shoot their guns safely.
  • Military personnel use indoor gun ranges to practice using their guns.
  • Gun sports enthusiasts will use an indoor range to practice, especially when they cannot make it out of town to an outdoor firing range.
  • Anyone new to gun ownership needs to familiarize themselves with the weapon and learn how to shoot it.
  • Anyone interested in shooting a gun can go to an indoor shooting range to fire a gun in a controlled environment.

The people that visit your shooting range will directly affect how much profit you make. If the area where you’re located does not attract those with money, then profits won’t be as high. To get more customers and higher profits, it’s important to understand your paying customer base. 

Advertising Your Indoor Shooting Range Affects Profit

Advertising is a way to get more customers to your indoor shooting range and increase revenue. It’s important to understand how advertising works and how it will attract the customers you want to come into your commercial shooting range.

There are many forms of advertising you can use to promote your indoor shooting range. These include: 

  • Print media such as Posters, flyers, and postcards, billboards, and banners. Give potential customers a visual direction to and hours opening of the gun range.
  • Coupons and promotions are also a great way to entice customers to visit your business.
  • Marketing campaigns. Marketing campaigns are a great way to reach people in different demographics like age groups and gender. 
  • Word of Mouth. Happy customers will often suggest your business to their friends and colleges.

The frequency in which you advertise also plays an important role in how often a person is receptive to this type of advertisement.

Can a Shooting Range Advertise on Social Media

When it comes to social media, many ranges will post pictures of their clients shooting. They’ll also post lifestyle pictures of firearms without trying to sell. 

Safety course ads are often denied because they will link directly to your shooting range and possible gun sales. That being said, Shooting Sports Retailer tells us it may be possible to advertise a safety course on social media.

They suggest making a new landing page for your safety course. This landing page cannot link, in any way, to your existing web page. They also suggest that you may want to buy an additional domain name to go with your safety course landing page.

Indoor Shooting Ranges Can Be Profitable

Indoor shooting ranges can be profitable. But they have several factors that affect the profit potential for an individual range. Location is key to success, while membership fees and general customer fees are also essential to make money from your indoor shooting range. 

The number of customers you receive will also dictate how much you’re able to charge them. Advertising is important as well because it helps bring more people into the facility, which increases revenue generation possibilities. It all comes down to figuring out what works best for your situation by considering these various elements before jumping right in and opening up shop!   

Action Target Can Help

Action Target can help you build the right range for your unique needs, and we have over 30 years of experience to back our words up. Whether you’re building a commercial range that caters to casual or tactical training or a law enforcement range to better prepare your officers, our experts can help meet the challenges of building a range. Chat with one of our representatives in your neck of the woods here. 

IBIS World

https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/shooting-ranges-industry/

Range Systems

https://www.range-systems.com/blog/how-much-does-a-commercial-shooting-range-cost/

Profitable Venture

https://www.profitableventure.com/income-gun-range-make-margin/

Biz Influent

https://bizfluent.com/how-5220381-start-shooting-range-business.html

South Wick Associates

https://www.southwickassociates.com/preferences-and-motivations-of-indoor-range-users/

HW Range 

https://hwrange.com/gun-ranges/

Shooting Academy https://www.shooting-academy.com/media/Profit%20Breakdown%20Indoor%20Shooting%20Range.pdfShooting Sports Retailer https://www.shootingsportsretailer.com/business/how-to-get-your-facebook-ads-approved

Maintaining a Modular Gun Range

Posted on by Action Target

Article Contributer – Diana Rotolo

In 2020, Action Target the expert in gun ranges partnered with CoverSix the expert in modular structures to launch Arcas modular ranges. Arcas modular ranges consist of three distinct platforms – the MBL (mobile gun range), EXT (3 lane extended modular gun range), and DLX (a 14-lane modular small arms range with an open bay void of pillars. This offering allows customers to purchase a rapidly-deployable gun range that requires minimal infrastructure anywhere in the world. Arcas modular gun ranges is outfitted with Action Target’s industry-leading range equipment so training and quality need not be impacted by the modular nature of Arcas.

Action Target is also the leading expert in maintaining gun ranges and offers customers a suite of services, support staff and programs to ensure their facility remains in peak operating condition. As with any range, modular being no exception, a great amount of effort and attention to detail must be paid to maintaining the range.

From scheduled maintenance and cleanings to managing metals recycling, hazardous waste disposal, and compliance documentation, Action Target’s programs and services can help you streamline your operations and simplify your procedures.

Why a Maintenance Schedule Is Essential for Modular Ranges

First and foremost, you must implement a service and maintenance schedule and stick to it meticulously. The health and longevity of your range depends upon it. With every Action Target range that is manufactured and installed comes an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Manual. Make sure you keep this manual accessible to your range staff, and if necessary, Action Target can send you a digital copy as well so that all the members of your team can have access to this manual. Establishing and maintaining a schedule is crucial to ensuring key maintenance and service is being performed regularly on your equipment. Not only does this ensure your range continues functioning as designed, but it is crucial to maintaining your equipment’s warranty.

Depending on the needs of your range, Action Target also offers service packages that can be tailored to your range Be it electrical, pneumatic, or physical, our technicians have the skills and knowledge to restore equipment operation, thoroughly inspect your range equipment for wear, and assess necessary service and maintenance protocols going forward. Any product that is in need of service can be taken care of on-site by our highly trained and knowledgeable team. Action Target also offers maintenance schedules and maintenance and service logs that will help you as you determine what works best for your equipment, training schedules, or range usage. Our team is able to check the performance history of many products through service logs. These logs provide insights that help us quickly identify solutions.

Keep Your Modular Range Clean

Just as important as maintenance and service is cleanliness. In order to keep those who step foot into your range healthy and safe, as well as remain in compliance with your local and federal agencies, you need to keep your range clean. There are several ways Action Target helps you succeed in this endeavor.

A big part of every maintenance plan for a shooting range is managing all the hazardous byproducts a range produces. These range byproducts include recyclable hazardous materials, such as collected lead, lead dust, brass, and non-recyclable waste such as used PPE and lead-contaminated filters. Any lead-contaminated range items that have a recyclable value are categorized as hazardous materials. All other lead-contaminated range items that have no recyclable value are designated hazardous waste. Ranges are required to properly handle, transport, and recycle or dispose of these byproducts according to EPA, RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), DOT, and OSHA standards and regulations, with detailed documentation showing proof of this compliance.

Action Target helps manage this material for you through our Metals Recycling and Hazardous Waste disposal programs. We work with you to supply and customize a complimentary packaging system that best fits your range access, usage, and storage capabilities. We help set up a waste profile with federally approved hazardous waste landfills and manage the material as it transitions from pickup at your facility until its time of destruction at the landfill. As a range owner or operator, you are legally liable for this waste, from cradle to grave. With a partner like Action Target helping manage this process for you, you can rest easy knowing that it is being handled properly.

Stay on Top of Bullet Trap Maintenance

At the heart of your range, your bullet trap is one of your most important pieces of equipment. All bullet traps require service and maintenance throughout their life span. Steel and rubber are not impervious to wear and damage. Both bullet trap solutions have distinct maintenance needs, and Action Target is well-versed on what this protocol looks like based on usage of your range. These important pieces of equipment require daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly inspections, maintenance, and service. For a rubber berm trap this includes maintaining the depth of rubber, reapplying fire retardant and properly removing hazardous waste. For a steel trap this includes flipping plates, inspecting back shells and monitoring lead collection barrel levels. Routine maintenance avoids many costly repairs and ensures the bullet trap is working properly and more importantly – safely.

Action Target Can Help

Your target systems are another vital piece of your range, and though they are built to withstand abuse, these also require special care. Reference your action target owners and operations manuals for target system-specific maintenance requirements.

Many range operators simply do not have the manpower, expertise, or time to keep their equipment properly maintained. When lack of maintenance leads to equipment failure, critical operating time is lost. Whether your range is a training facility or a commercial operation, a partnership with Action Target will help you focus your time on the important business of running your range.

Action Target has online service techs available 24/7 that can help you troubleshoot via email, phone, or on remote meetings to help you determine the cause of your mechanical issues, order parts, and even walk you or your team through the process of fixing the equipment that is in need. Many of our products are remotely accessible, allowing our team to quickly troubleshoot and provide assistance.
Also, as software improves, we are able to provide upgrades without the cost of sending a technician to your range. By offering full access to service, this speeds up the maintenance process, ensuring minimum downtime.

Performing all of the required maintenance is key to keeping your equipment under warranty. A regularly scheduled maintenance plan with trained Action Target technicians is the optimal way to make sure this happens. At Action Target, we are confident we have created the best shooting range equipment. We back that up by offering a 3-year comprehensive coverage warranty, which covers both parts and labor due to manufacturing or product defects.

Action Target Can Help

We also offer various extended warranties to give you added peace of mind. Managing a modular small arms range is a multifaceted job, and our goal is to make your job easier. Action Target is committed to being a trusted partner at every level. Contact us to learn more about our full range of services and see what we can do for you.

Article Contributer – Diana Rotolo