Year: 2021

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

Target Systems and Gun Range Types

Posted on by Action Target

Action Target™ designs and creates industry-leading, state-of-the-art gun ranges and target systems that provide unrivaled firearms training and proficiency. Whether you use your range for training, qualification, decision-making, or entertainment, your Action Target range provides an engaging, safe, and environmentally responsible shooting environment. A crucial component of any gun range is the target system employed on the range. Action Target offers a wide variety of target systems that allow you to optimize your range to your shooting discipline, simulate real shooting environments, and maximize the effectiveness of your range. These target systems seamlessly integrate into indoor gun ranges, outdoor gun ranges and modular small arms ranges.

Target Systems

  • Genesis™ and Pilot™ target retrievers offer dynamic target presentations that turn, tease, and spin targets to provide an unpredictable experience for the shooter. These systems are ideal for charging drills and custom scenarios that require life-like behavior and variable target distances. Common scenarios include law enforcement qualifications, firearm proficiency training, and commercial games.
  • SRET™ is Action Target’s longest-standing target retriever. The base model SRET is the most economical offering from Action Target and includes a toggle switch that sends a target out and back. An optional keypad interface provides a digital readout of target location and allow you to expand device capabilities to meet the needs of your range.
  • Dual Running Man Pro™ target systems move targets laterally along a track at variable speeds (walk, jog, run) to provide weapons training with moving targets. The DRM Pro solution is popular with law enforcement and military installations.
  • Turning Targets can rotate target positions by 90°, 180°, and 360°. Turning targets present shoot or no-shoot scenarios at or before cognitive reaction timing—ideal for qualification and decision-making training with law enforcement and military personnel. Indoor (ceiling-mounted) and outdoor (ground-mounted) installations are available with pneumatic and electric controls.
  • Autotargets™ are reactive targets that use hit-sensing technology to detect target strikes. With each strike, the Autotarget sends a digital signal to an app that tracks draw speed, split times, and strike location. Autotargets are available with zone-based targets that divide strikes into multiple scoring zones (center mass and outer-body) and E-type targets that offer single zone strike detection. Autotargets are modular and wireless, deploy anywhere, and sync together to form a mesh network.
  • Pneumatic Bobbers are reactive steel targets that challenge a shooter’s speed, accuracy, and judgement. Targets pop up from and retreat behind total cover, forcing shooters to concentrate on shot placement. Separate shoot no-shoot target plates require shooters to make split-second decisions on which target they want to shoot. Innovative training software controls presentation times and intervals.
  • Line of Fire™ shooting ranges incorporate multiple target systems in a single line of fire. Target systems include the Dual Running Man Pro, turning targets, swing-up targets, and pneumatic bobbers. This turnkey range solution is unparalleled when creating dynamic training environments. Line of Fire ranges are self-contained and frame-mounted, so you can expand your range with ease—all you need is flat ground and a suitable backstop or bullet trap. Line of Fire ranges do not require railroad ties, concrete, or other protective walls in front of the targets because they include an angled AR500 steel knee wall.

Range Types

  • Indoor Ranges are completely enclosed spaces that use safety baffles, bullet traps, shooting stalls, sound abatement, range lighting, air filtration, and ventilation to provide the safest possible shooting environment. Indoor ranges feature ceiling-mounted target retrievers, turning targets, floor-mounted Autotargets, and shooting stalls.
  • Outdoor Ranges typically have minimal infrastructure requirements, but support the installation of safety baffles, shooting stalls, bullet traps, and other protection solutions that reduce the risk of ricochet or injury—especially when in proximity of neighboring communities. Outdoor ranges feature ground-mounted turners, bobbers, DRM Pro retrievers, Line of Fire products, and Autotargets.
  • Modular Ranges are the ultimate in portable, self-contained, modular small arms ranges. Action Target and Cover Six partnered to create the Arcas™ DLX, MBL, and EXT, a series of modular gun range solutions you can place anywhere, with minimal site infrastructure required. These self-contained ranges feature ceiling-mounted target retrievers, DRM Pro target systems, turning targets, and ground-mounted Autotargets.
    • Arcas DLX – Is the new standard for modular small arms ranges, scaling to meet specific project requirements of up to 14 lanes and a 100M target distance. This deluxe configuration features an open-bay concept that does not require vertical supports mid-range and uses fewer modules than its competitors.
    • Arcas EXT – Deploys quickly and with minimal infrastructure, providing up to 3 lanes and a 100M target distance. Instead of the industry’s standard of reusing containers, the Arcas EXT utilizes purpose-built modules that combine seamlessly to create an unmatched finished product.
    • Arcas MBL – A mobile, chassis-mounted module built for the road. Fully portable, this range goes where it’s needed and includes all options and features found in any typical fixed-location small arms range.

Reach out to the Action Target Range Design Consultants to discuss your next range project.

 

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Media Contact:
Jesse Nelson
JNelson@ActionTarget.com
Action Target
3411 Mountain Vista Parkway
Provo, Utah 84606