Brock - I live over in Frisco. Here are some things that I'd recommend or at least things that I like to see at a range
1 - good parking. There are some ranges around that have you park in the grass or the dirt - after a heavy rainstorm (especially around here) the range is either closed or you get in there and pick up 10 lbs of mud on your boots and it gets all over the place to the point where you are going to get filthy just shooting since people are tracking that shit everywhere.
2 - it would be great if there was an indoor area that has a bench on it with power so people can bring a seating press and load onsite for load development work. maybe a bench with some bolts in it in some popular configurations (coax, rcbs, etc..) so we can drop our presses in and use that area on load development day.
3 - lots of steel at various ranges; i am sick of gong to the ranges and being able to shoot at 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc... it would be nice to have steel at various yardages so we don't get comfortable at just 5 specific ranges. maybe move then frequently like golf courses move the flag.
4 - timely cease fires - noone wants a cease fire every 10 minutes but people also don't want to wait 90 minutes to hang some paper if they want to shoot at paper.
5 - qualify people - if they get insulted or want to argue send them away. i have no problem demonstrating my proficiency to be allowed to shoot at specific distances and neither should anyone else.
6 - have various barricades to shoot from for some of the guys who shoot comps - a stair step, a rooftop, unstable platform, etc.... keep that area set aside and you need to be allowed to enter that area (loop into qualifications) - you don't want someone on a unstable platform or a stair step and figuring it out on their own.
7 - steel is expensive, if you can swing it have interactive steel. A dueling tree at 500 is a great tool for practice and the more interactive the targets are the less you have to worry about people complaining that they are not painted and they can't see hits. do all you can to reduce the need for painting targets (flappers, spring back, etc...)
8 - it's a shooting range, i get it - but if you have the lanes available try and spread out the braked people from suppressor people. Nothing worse than coming to shoot suppressed and you get a 300 Winmag and a 338 Lapua on either side of you with big brakes. This is my princess fairyland request. If you can - brakes start on the far right and suppressors start on the far left.
9 - have the shooting lanes separated by something so you don't get sprayed with AR brass from the guy next to you. yep - another princess fairlyland request. the amount of people with bad AR etiquette is amazing to me.
10 - have a shaded area to chill out in when your not shooting
11 - shooting positions where possible have covering/shade
i know some of this is "luxury" but it would make a difference to me and i'd drive extra to be comfortable.
