Light from the muzzle of a .500-caliber revolver engulfs shooter Neal Soeteber during a session on the shooting range Jan. 9. The indoor range opened to the public for the first time and will remain open through February. Tuesdays are for .22-caliber rifles, handguns, and pellet guns. Larger-caliber handguns can be used in Thursday's session.
The sound of a .45-caliber handgun going off indoors lands like a blow on the ears. It can be felt through the diaphragm and rib cage, through protective glass.
The sound echoed off the walls of the James Barker Memorial shooting range Thursday, the first night of the regularly scheduled season at the range in the basement of the Public Safety Building. The range opens Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. through January and February.
Tuesdays are for pellet guns, .22-caliber handguns and rifles. The big guns come out Thursday nights, when local shooting enthusiasts can bring almost any caliber handgun to the range, with the exception of .460-caliber handguns, which actually fire rifle bullets.
Enthusiasts sometimes get a little carried away, said rangemaster Marlin Benedict.
"Remember that one guy, brought down a .223 with a pistol grip," he said. "It was almost like an AK-47 type of thing, but instead of having a butt stock, it had a pistol (grip). When I seen that, I said 'Uh-uh, you ain't shooting that here.'"
High-caliber rifles aren't allowed because they can potentially penetrate the range's backstop, which would damage the range and potentially result in its closure, Benedict said.
A tight-knit group attends regularly on Thursdays. While only three people attended, they didn't hesitate to address the invisible bears in the room (if only in spirit).
"Just about everything on the North American continent is knocked down," said Gerald Hall. "That's the idea why, when we go hunting we pack these buggers with us just in case we run across a brown bear or something."
Handguns also mean less weight to carry through tangled undergrowth, said Neal Soeteber.
"They're light and easy to carry in the woods if you're just going to go for a quick hunt," he said.
While hunting and bears definitely play a part in the decision to carry or not to carry a large-caliber handgun, the handguns you find on the range Thursday nights also represent a hobby.
"I would say handguns, why most people around here collect 'em and have fun with 'em," Benedict said.
While the range can stay open as late as 9 p.m., most shooting is done well before eight, in large part because reasonably priced ammunition can be difficult to find, local shooters said. Many local shooting enthusiasts have turned to making their own ammunition by hand as a result.
Safety is paramount. The range includes an automated system that switches off the lights if a shooter crosses an invisible line. Range users have to set their weapons down and back away when the lights go off. Shooters wear hearing and eye protection.
"For us, around here, there's not a lot of the home defense portion that goes (into it)," Benedict said. "It's more like playing around. It's fun to make it go bang."
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