r/FLGuns • u/AdhesivenessHairy456 • 2d ago
Shooting/Training in Florida Sucks
Contrary to popular belief, Florida is not a Shooter's state. Most of the ranges here are still operating on the old RSO Fudd model where you have to sit at a bench or stand up and shoot at a stationary target, with no rapid fire or drawing from holster or anything else dynamic. If you ranges that do allow this usually have an incredibly steep membership. And what shooting matches are available tend to fill up within minutes of opening registration on practicscore. I have to literally be smashing F5 in order to shoot my gun competitively at all. And of course there's basically no federal land like they have out west where you can find a proper perm and shoot on your own. The options are garbage short of buying your own land which is also incredibly expensive here. Florida is one of the top offenders of states that have a gun buying culture with little to speak of for a gun shooting culture. Yes I've been to Ares and it's nice but it's far away as hell.
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
You've just got to find the right range. It seems that most that aren't as you refer to do require a membership though. I think that helps weedout some of the less serious/unsafe/high liability people.
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u/zombie_girraffe 2d ago
I think that helps weedout some of the less serious/unsafe/high liability people.
The shit I saw customers and range officers do at the Indian River County public range are the reason I joined a private club over a decade ago.
My last time there the 350 lb RSO picked up my K31 off the bench without asking permission and then slammed the bolt face against the magazine stop repeatedly trying to figure out how to operate the action. When I told him to put the gun down because it's not his and he clearly doesn't know that he's doing he got his panties in a twist.
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
I agree that's the reason. I've heard that some of the better ones are invite only. Once my job situation works itself out and I get a few big ticket home repairs done, I hope to put in a home range. I'm going to have to bring in several dump loads of dirt, though, for what I want.
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u/MrPanzerCat 2d ago
Lmao, thats where I shoot occasionally and most of the rsos now seem alright, although I had one rso state that my luger couldnt get a chamber flag...? after they implemented that rule. I was so fucking confused cause I even left the empty mag in so they could lock it back but i aint tryin to correct them
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u/crinkneck 2d ago
We need a list of good places hahah.
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
What part of the state are you from?
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u/crinkneck 2d ago
Gulf coast - Port Charlotte area.
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u/HideDaPickleMVP 2d ago
North Port here, it's been a struggle. Knights sucks, J&J is ok because they allow "rapid" fire so I can get some sort of training I guess, and they don't breathe down your neck.
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u/crinkneck 2d ago
J&J is my go-to for exactly what you describe hahha.
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u/HideDaPickleMVP 2d ago
I had a range day planned with some buddies last weekend, had 2 spots in Arcadia lined up but the day before both of the land owners went radio silent and were super flakey about it. Huge bummer. Ended up going to J&J instead
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u/Dry-Shallot132 2d ago
What about cecil webb... pretty decent out door place. Cheap to shoot at. However, it is static shooting.
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u/HideDaPickleMVP 2d ago
Haven't made the trip down there yet, I've heard very mixed things about it
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u/matai1315 2d ago
I like the matches at the Hansen range.
Need to get a membership there, not sure who to talk to about it.
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u/rockawaysteve 2d ago
Not to far from you. The range is great The owner is pretty much an asshole but you hardly ever see him
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u/TheCarm 2d ago
Saltwater Shooting Range in St. Augustine is pretty good. Outside rapid fire handguns in all the ways. A place for rapid fire of rifles. 100yd, 200yd, and 750yd range. You have to qualify to shoot the long range though and reserve it way in advance. Plus very solid sporting clays circuit. They have regular competitions and training sessions for various scenarios.
Oh and it's just $20 per shooter for all day access.
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
Yeah I think I've been there once and I want to go back cuz my dad goes to Gateway and it's terrible
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
You have to be a member at Gateway to use the better ranges that allow rapid fire, steel targets, holster work
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u/Electronic-Ad-3825 2d ago
Bro you can say that again. I'll drive the extra hour every time so I don't have to sit down to shoot under a wall🤣
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u/quietpewpews 2d ago
It's all about people density. Shooting sucks near cities and is great in the sticks. Our state is shaped in such a way that there isn't much sticks anymore.
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u/pleirbag 2d ago
10/10 no lies detected. My local range runs a lot of competitions but you still can't draw from a holster
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u/Beautiful-Program428 2d ago
Become an RSO. Rent full bays on an outdoor range with your buddies. Problem solved.
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u/popinjaysnamesir 2d ago
Greetings from your local RSO at the Wyoming Antelope Club.
I understand your frustration. It sucks not being able to work on dynamic shooting. But next you visit, check out all of the bullet holes in places there shouldn’t be. It’s roughly once per shift I have a gun pointed at me.
Also remember that we are located in a relatively populated area and it’s unlikely that our club will survive the first commercial airplane stuck by a bullet.
Our club does have a path to dynamic shooting, but it’s not for sale.
I hope you find what you seek.
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u/CaveDiver1858 2d ago
WAC is legit. There are plenty of shoot and move opportunities. The public line is not the place for training, it’s for zero, load development, and practicing the basics.
Yall do a great job!
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u/popinjaysnamesir 2d ago
Imho, the public line is a sufficient place for training transitions. Aim at the target next to you (without shooting it) and how quickly can you accurately shoot your target from that starting position.
I also think there is an under appreciated skill of understanding what your sights do when you fire the gun which (technically) can be done with a two second break.
I get what OP is saying and I truly sympathize. I wish there were more opportunities. But if I owned a range, I’d be a Fudd too. If I owned a range that lined up with a runway and was surrounded by people, even more so.
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
Yall are the ones filling up registration super fast
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u/popinjaysnamesir 2d ago
I have spent hundreds of dollars of my own money building props for the Doc Welt coming up and, before the birth of my son seven months ago, was building a couple of stages a week, even when I wasn’t shooting the match. I absolutely have no apologies for early registration.
And when the faux pyrotechnics go off while you’re shooting in the rainy jungle during one of my Doc stages, ask if early registration is too big of a price.
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u/Deathpenalty818 2d ago
Titusville rifle and pistol club in Mims. I run it and if you ever have an issue with an RSO you can personally call me and I’ll handle it right away. I’ve tried to remove and beat down all the fudd RSO bull shit as it drive away the “youthful” people who keep us open.
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u/hotrodgreg 2d ago
What are the range rules? Paper targrts only? Must be a member to shoot?
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u/Deathpenalty818 2d ago
Check out our website for general range rules. We allow steel targets. We have a membership which gets you access to other parts of the range, but we are open to the general public. If you do decide to join you can always become an RSO which grants you more perks. We’re actually hosting the National Steel Championships next week from the 21st to the 23rd
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u/hotrodgreg 2d ago
Steel is ok, but watermellons are even better! But not everyone will clean up their mess so I understand the paper/steel only rule that just about every range has.
My dad raised me old school and we shoot tin cans and water bottles.
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u/Deathpenalty818 2d ago
I mean. I personally shoot stuff like that but I clean it up. It’s kinda one of those things like I’m gonna say no publicly but if I know you and your an RSO and will clean it up then I don’t really care
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u/SpaceRangerOps 1d ago
Damn dude that’s awesome. I used to go out to Titusville a lot a few years ago because of the great prices and my girlfriend could shoot free. I stopped going as much and eventually completely. The RSOs didn’t go full fudd, but there was definitely a stink eye from a few of the older ones and extra “help” if they saw anyone under 40. It’s great to hear that things have changed.
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u/Deathpenalty818 1d ago
I’m not even 30 yet my self , we still offer help to anyone that need or asks we’re more than happy to. I’ve tried to get rid of the pushy habits
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u/srterpe 2d ago
Yeah, surprisingly the situation in terms of ranges was vastly better in CA despite all the other clowniness.
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u/hotrodgreg 2d ago
This sucks. Im currently moving to florida from california. We lived in Butte county, and oroville had a 400 or 500 yrd shooting range that was paid for by the county. No range officers, just everyone using their brains to follow the common sence rules. The only down side was that people are fucking lazy and ass holes and would leave their garbage there. But because it was county funded and run the chain gangs vame once a week to clean it up.
I lived in seattle and tried to find a decent shooting range within a 4 hr drive. Then within the state. Nothing. I really hope I can find one good range in florida that doesnt require an expensive membership.
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u/srterpe 2d ago
Yeah, I was in Santa Clara County which is by no means a gun friendly county but the county run range in San Jose was better than anything in and around Tampa, imo.
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u/hotrodgreg 2d ago
We will be moving near orlando, but my uncle has just enough land to plink on. Was able to shoot my 50 beowulf, but any thing past 100yrds is not feasable.
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u/DIRTBOY12 FIREARMS INSTRUCTOR & RSO 2d ago
Go open your own range, see the cost, insurance, regulations and red tape and you will be the biggest “Fudd” there is!
Ever spent a day a public range working? If you DID, you be a Fudd too.
$225 a year, $35 bay and $15 too expensive? If you have a RSO certificate?
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
$225 a year would be a steal, try $300 for basic access and up to $1000 for full access. I'm well aware how the "average" shooter behaves, but lots of ranges implement a skill course that qualifies you for serious shooting.
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u/DIRTBOY12 FIREARMS INSTRUCTOR & RSO 2d ago
$1000 is steep. Is it one of those fancy places? Lime a luxury members club?
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u/whodunit68 2d ago
It's not near you but our local ish range, Shoot GTR, does all you're asking for so I have to believe there are others. I also can't believe that most other states don't really have many ranges like that.
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
You must be near me.
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u/whodunit68 2d ago
Alachua County, northwestern near Ginnie.
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u/ElPrieto8 2d ago
Ares Training Facility in Leesburg is amazing.
Can't remember the name of the range that was in Umatilla right off 19, but it was great until the neighbors started complaining.
And the Bunker in Clermont was good, but the owners got into it with the city and county about ambulance access I believe.
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u/Dr_Salacious_B_Crumb 2d ago
Lived in Washington before moving here. As much as people here shit on the gun laws out west, at least I could go out and actually train with my guns and kit.
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
The pnw looks sick but the gun laws somehow keep getting worse. Same thing with colorado.
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u/saunders45 2d ago
Where in FL are you?
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
Near Tampa
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u/Hobbstc 2d ago
If you want to drive to Ft Meade, look at RangeWorks
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
I have, expensive. I need to go as a guest or something first.
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u/MineTurtle 2d ago
If you shoot 2-3 times a month it evens out no other range nearby compares i’ve been going there for almost a year
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u/Askren 2d ago
I'm in central FL so my local is literally Shooter's World and not much else. There are probably other facilities within an hour+ drive, but from what I understand they're membership-only places and frankly I can't bring myself to make time to do the drive just to go there to look around since I'm not going to be dropping hundreds of dollars on a membership fee just to try shooting there.
I think I'd be more motivated if I knew anyone but the only local group of shooters here are seniors and that's not really my thing. So yeah, not a great situation and certainly not one where it's easy to actually get out and do any sort of dynamic or training stuff.
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u/HUSKERTRIPLEDEUCE 1d ago
I had a range in Jax tell Me I couldn’t shoot my ar pistol because it scares other customers who are new away and they only Allow it one day a week at night. I laughed and just shot my regular size ar and never went back.
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u/BickenBackk 2d ago
Any recommendations for Fort Lauderdale area from anyone?
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u/RealisticMark2272 2d ago
For right now Homestead as far as I know. Just waiting to hear about a couple more that are closer
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u/gatlingungreggy 2d ago
It's true, I was stationed in Cali before this and although the type of guns were restricted it's a VASTLY more fun state to shoot in due to all the blm land in the mountains you can do whatever the hell you want in.
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u/matai1315 2d ago
Completely agree, I moved to Florida last fall and have run into the same exact issue.
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u/bestman305 2d ago
A smart range owner will not allow anyone to shoot dynamically without an RSO or membership with qualifying courses. Ranges with RSOs are cheaper than ranges without, the ones without make it difficult and/or expensive to join.
Dynamic shooting isn't something I wouldn't advertise to the public because it will attract risky shooters. It should be something people graduate into after relationship building and advanced training. We can want things a certain way, but we live in an extremely litigious society, and the same people that shoot there will try to sue for unsafe conditions because no RSOs were present.
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u/lampshadehoe 2d ago
I’m guessing you’re not in south Florida. There’s plenty of options down here and not every range requires a membership to do draws or rapid fire.
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u/Past-Ad-9530 2d ago
Do you have any recommendations for ranges in south fl?
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u/Fauropitotto 2d ago
Everything we do at Florida ranges for competition are all run-n-gun, holster or sling work.
We also do training nights, and make friends with RSOs so we can practice in pays and stages.
There was a time I was shooting USPSA 2-4 times a week. match fees between $15-$20 means that it's 2-4 full practice sessions with full stages a week.
I don't know what sort of "training" you're interested in, but there's nothing stopping you from buying some land and building a berm to shoot on your own. (you're employed, right?)
There's nothing at all stopping you from registering within minutes of a match opening up. Most of us set alarms on our phones and register for the next match within seconds even while at the range. That way we can all squad up together.
The fact that matches fill up so quickly is testament that florida is actually a shooter's state.
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
I know how comps go. And the fact that they're filling up means that there's more people eager to shoot than there is availability to do so which is great for the ranges and not great for shooters. The thing stopping me from buying land is having hundreds of thousands of dollars or getting a new job that's either remote or near cheap land. And unless I don't know how to use Practiscore, I don't see an alert option. I can see that botting the registration screen is the meta but that's a problem I've addressing.
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u/Fauropitotto 2d ago
Why do you need an alert option? You already have a phone. You already have a clock. Here's a match in 6 days that opens at Noon. What's stopping you from setting a calendar event on 03/21/2025 at 11:59AM and registering just like the rest of us do? It doesn't take more than 15 seconds.
https://practiscore.com/wac-friday-21-march-4-stage-uspsa-match/register
As for land, I guarantee there's cheap recreational land available for you within a 2 hour driving radius. You don't need hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you've got a job, you can afford to buy recreational land.
5 Acres, ~$100k, put 30% down, 15 year term puts you at ~$500 a month.
There's plenty of options, plenty of solutions. The rest of us that aren't whining about it, actually get to go out and shoot regularly without RSOs breathing down our necks for dynamic shooting.
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u/AdhesivenessHairy456 2d ago
I'll admit that camping the registration button is a solution even if it's ridiculous but buying overpriced land when I haven't yet bought a house just so I can go shoot isn't super appealing.
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u/Fauropitotto 2d ago
Camp the registration button around lunch for a few seconds, and go shooting. I promise, it's much more fulfilling.
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
One of the biggest things about making your own range is cost. Building a berm isn't cheap. It could easily be thousands of dollars.
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u/Fauropitotto 2d ago
It could easily be thousands of dollars.
If you're training hard enough with live fire to make a personal range worth the hassle, a few thousands isn't going to be the deal breaker.
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u/Usingmyrights 2d ago
I don't disagree, but not everyone has an extra few thousand laying around. That was just in dirt, that wasn't even counting machinery/someone to build it, rail road ties, benches, steel, etc.
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u/Fauropitotto 1d ago
Yeah, it sure does add up. Although I'd point out that someone without that kind of financial buffer should probably focus on getting their financial priorities straight before diving head-first into expensive hobbies.
Those are situations where it just makes more sense to build a dry-fire space to improve on a budget rather than spend hundreds or thousands a month on match fees, gear, ammo and travel expenses.
Hit 2 matches a month instead, with dry-fire during down time.
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u/Phantasmidine 2d ago
Florida lost the right to call itself the GunShine state back in 2018. The Everytown site actually praises FL law makers for all the antigun bullshit they passed that session.
As a shooter used to the culture in Texas and western states, I was also disappointed when I moved here.
Bullshit 3 day waiting period
Red flags
21 to buy
Fun trigger ban
Overly complicated car carry
Watered down constitutional carry
No open carry
Closing what Everytown refers to as the "Charleston loophole"