Member Link Up Hello Alaska shooters

[Cegorach]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Posted a 5R stock, ptg SA aics dbm, and bdl bottom metal in the for sale section. I would be happy to give any fellow Alaska shooters a discount.

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Thunderbeast INBOUND.
B&B Firearms assisting. Great service thus far.
There won't be any wait because I'm going to forget all about it until I get a call that I can pick it up! Ignoring some thing really does make them go away.

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Birchwood range report:
Still a foot of snow in most places. Prone shooting difficult, but I managed shooting down the driving lanes. Weather was awesome. Zero wind, 40-50 degrees Sunday and Monday. 100% capacity on Sunday, but only 20% on Monday. It looks likes that's when I'll be doing most of my shooting when at Birchwood. Of course, that means $175 has to be shelled out for a yearly membership and gate key... ;-[

I found out what TRG means in Fin; "Half-Minute Angle".

This 42 is incredible.

 

[Cegorach]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

If I do well this summer a TRG or DTA is definitely in my near future. Except for my .223 build I am done putting money into factory hunting actions. They have worked well for me but end up costing just as much as purpose built equipment when all said and done.

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I hear you on the rebuild...

I've got a long-action magnum Rem 700 action I was going to build, but went with a ready-made TRG instead.

Going to work it up incrementally to a mile on the Kenai this summer. I'm a quarter of the way there on these crap ranges in Anchorage.

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Looks like I own this thread lately... and the Kenai Powerlines between Anchorage and the Russian River!

We've been stretching legs on Snug Harbor Road in Cooper Landing if anyone is interested.

952-4616

 

[DieTrying310]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I'll be back in Anchorage at some point this year, but all my rifles are in VA. My membership to Birchwood ran out late last year and haven't been back much since then. It's worth the price though, I loved going during the week and taking my time and having a lane to myself.

 

[Anvil_X]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

man that was half the reason I picked tuesdays and wednesdays as my weekends, the conspiracy theorists don't show up on the range until I'm in the middle of packing up and heading home. usually there on wednesdays around 11 am. if anybody feels like striking up a conversation, I'm the idiot on the 300 meter range with a 10/22 with a comb made of unfinished pink Bondo, or at the 100 meter range pushing some stupidly heavy bullet out of a levergun.

 

[Silversmith]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Been lurking for a LONG time. Searching for this pulled me out to live mode.

I'll be back home sometime shortly after September, once this deployment wraps up. Until then the family may or may not be using our membership at Birchwood. We usually hang out on the shorter ranges with the pistols and 10/22 but I do have a T3 and a Vanguard that we need to stretch the legs of.

 

[Cegorach]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Just got back into Fairbanks.

 

[KelsonAK]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Bethel AK here. Been in rural AK for almost 9 years, nearly 20 in AK all told.
The actual 'range' is out of order right now while they make some changes, so I'm walking out on the tundra to do my shooting these days.

 

[stefan73]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I'm out here in Fairbanks and need somewhere farther than the Cushman Range (plus not excited about setting targets with some kids fiddling around with their firearms).

 

[Cegorach]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stefan73</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm out here in Fairbanks and need somewhere farther than the Cushman Range (plus not excited about setting targets with some kids fiddling around with their firearms).

</div></div>

+1

That place is a nightmare, especially now during hunting season. Still, for some reason I am considering getting up and going really early on Wednesday to try and beat the idiotic masses.

 

[stefan73]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Slightly out of control to say the least. I would be concerned being the only person out there incase some true idiot shows up!

 

[Cegorach]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Very valid point. I would love to find somewhere else local to shoot.

 

[355sigfan]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

If your near birchwood you should shoot some matches with us. We do three gun, steel challenge and an occaisional precision rifle match.
Pat

 

[355sigfan]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KelsonAK</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bethel AK here. Been in rural AK for almost 9 years, nearly 20 in AK all told.
The actual 'range' is out of order right now while they make some changes, so I'm walking out on the tundra to do my shooting these days. </div></div>

Worked out in Bethel for 6 years back then only us cops had a range. Glad to hear they have a public one now. I hated that place hang in there.
Pat

 

[spdcrazy]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

hey I'm in Homer in case anyone iis this far south. went to snowshoe the other day with a friend who's a member and had the place to ourselves.

would love to shot some distance without going to Anchorage or Fairbanks, a bit far for a day of shooting

 

[355sigfan]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Snowshoe is a great range and as you know gets out to 600 yards. I shoot a lot of USPSA and some three gun there.
Pat

 

[AK Sgt Maj]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I am in the Kenai area and I use Snowshoe all the time. I shoot Mid-Range matches at Ft Rich and Long Range at Ft Greely. I practice at 300 and 500 at Snowshoe, but 600 requires you to drag your target frame threw the water and mud between 500 and 600. They just fixed the road out to 500. I have a couple of friends just getting into Mid-Range that I am helping out and if you want to do some shooting there let me know and we can hook up.

 

[spdcrazy]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I'm not a member there so if have too be one of your guests like i did last time but id love to shot some soon. i only did 200 yrs ai was getting my scope dailed in and was worried it was messed up during shipping it up here. all is well tho.

 

[355sigfan]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I have not used the rifle range in Kenai for practice in a while since one of my friends works at the prison here and they have a 420 yard range we can use. Not as good as 600 but its close and easy vs a 90 mile drive.
pat

 

[spdcrazy]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

sounds like me. I'm 12 miles east of Homer. so kenai isn't right around the corner...

in this case i do miss my arizona desert

 

[45.308]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Why is everyone going to a developed range? Yes, I know civilization has brought housing to many areas I use to hunt and shoot but there is still open backcountry.

 

[spdcrazy]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

with me it's just because I'm not familiar enough with the country. In Arizona I knew where to get away from the people. Here I do not.

I'm all about shooting in the back country. But I don't know where is safe. I would have to be showed

 

[stefan73]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Everybody seems to have a cabin or something somewhere, especially in the odd places.

 

[KelsonAK]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

There has been 'disagreement' over the past couple years about the use of the range. Sometimes it was 'cops only' and sometimes it was open to all - depended on who it was, who was 'in charge' that day, or who you knew.
The past NRA dinner got some funds raised to make it a real live 'open to the public' range, so they are busy digging it out a little deeper and making the berms a little higher. Not sure when it will be done though - winter is coming up quickly.

Bethel really isn't a bad place - although I found Dillingham 'prettier.' The hunting seems a bit better here in Bethel. I'm sure that a police viewpoint of the place is probably a little different than 'joe citizen' - since it is your job to see the stupid stuff every day. There have been a lot of changes in city government over the past couple of years that have improved things a bit. I like it a lot better than interior Alaska...

 

[355sigfan]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KelsonAK</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There has been 'disagreement' over the past couple years about the use of the range. Sometimes it was 'cops only' and sometimes it was open to all - depended on who it was, who was 'in charge' that day, or who you knew.
The past NRA dinner got some funds raised to make it a real live 'open to the public' range, so they are busy digging it out a little deeper and making the berms a little higher. Not sure when it will be done though - winter is coming up quickly.

Bethel really isn't a bad place - although I found Dillingham 'prettier.' The hunting seems a bit better here in Bethel. I'm sure that a police viewpoint of the place is probably a little different than 'joe citizen' - since it is your job to see the stupid stuff every day. There have been a lot of changes in city government over the past couple of years that have improved things a bit. I like it a lot better than interior Alaska...

</div></div>

I got sick of dealing with drunks and the reverse racism. Glad to see they are working on a a range for the public. The range we had for the PD sucked and you could only get 80 yards out of it and a lot of the year it was drifted in. I am sure Bethel would have been a better place without dealing with the idiots we had to deal with. But even without that its isolated, prices are super inflated. I had to have 2 roommates to survive on an income of 60K a year. Housing was super expensive, gas was super expensive, food was super expensive and there was not much to do other than work. I will say I did meet some good people out there. I hosted a few competition shoots before I left that I opened to the public, but it was mostly cops and firefighters.
Pat

 

[KelsonAK]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Much the same on the money front. It isn't cheap to fly or barge everything in. The housing situation has improved over the past 10 years.

Yea, there are probably more drunks 'n idiots here than some places. I get to ignore them

Well, not the idiots...
Rural Alaska is a 'special' place to live, and not everyone is cut out for it long term. It isn't just the lack of 24/7 Walmart, movie theaters, and good produce in Feb - it is the constant striving to survive and thrive that wears on people. There aren't a lot of easy days strung together and it is that slow grind that either eventually moves folks along to softer climes, hardens the shit out of them or proves that the really are a bit defective

Sometimes all of the above.

 

[355sigfan]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KelsonAK</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Much the same on the money front. It isn't cheap to fly or barge everything in. The housing situation has improved over the past 10 years.

Yea, there are probably more drunks 'n idiots here than some places. I get to ignore them

Well, not the idiots...
Rural Alaska is a 'special' place to live, and not everyone is cut out for it long term. It isn't just the lack of 24/7 Walmart, movie theaters, and good produce in Feb - it is the constant striving to survive and thrive that wears on people. There aren't a lot of easy days strung together and it is that slow grind that either eventually moves folks along to softer climes, hardens the shit out of them or proves that the really are a bit defective

Sometimes all of the above. </div></div>

What I like about being where I am at now on the road system is I can have a life outside of work. I drive to competition shoots all over the state. Something I could not do while living in Bethel. Plus I don't have people knocking on my door because they see a cop car wanting me to deal with X, Y and Z. Just a lot more stress free now. But to each his own. Glad your happy out there.
Pat

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Next Spring / Summer I'll invite you guys to some spots I've got on the Kenai. I go down for bear baiting but take my TRG and set up a range when I get burned out on the stand. I archery-hunt the bears, btw.

Range is pretty much unlimited, but I usually set one up at 1,000 to keep the travel between strings down.

A four-wheeler is a plus, but I've done it on foot on occasion. Good to stretch the legs after a long winter.

If you're in Anchorage, stop by Wiggy's-Alaska and we'll talk rifles. It happens in here alot.

Marc

 

[stefan73]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Too bad I'm up in Fairbanks and not down there.

 

[Cegorach]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stefan73</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Too bad I'm up in Fairbanks and not down there. </div></div>

Don't you hate that? All the good stuff happens around Anchorage.

 

[bassani]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

i'd love to make it up to Alaska one of these days

 

[ykrvak]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

It would be fun to meet some of you Fairbanks shooters sometime while I'm in town. Perhaps meet up for a cup of coffee/beer and talk shooting. I get in about once a year in the spring/early summer. I have steel out to 1K at my place, but it certainly isn't convenient. You should be able to find some good places to stretch things out up on the steese. Not exactly next door, but certainly a doable day trip. Twelvemile and Eagle summit areas in particular. There is a trail on the north side of the Steese near Eagle summit so you would want to avoid shooting in that direction.

 

[stefan73]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

Just give us a heads up before you come into town.

 

[ykrvak]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

will do. Depending on what my caretakers availability is, I might be making a run in by snowmachine this winter.

 

[stefan73]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

I'll be here. Work hours are a bit crazy for me but I have evenings (normaly late) unless I'm in the field for training.
How far out are you by snow machine?

 

[ykrvak]

Re: Hello Alaska shooters

It's about 330 miles from my door to downtown Fairbanks. (one way) It's an easy one day trip if the trail is decent. Usually I catch a flight out of the nearest village though.

 

[Enough Said]

Hearing that there is a 1,000 yard/meter range being put in at mile 94 of the Parks Highway.
First guy to drive through needs to confirm or disprove that...

 

[SPAK]

Hearing that there is a 1,000 yard/meter range being put in at mile 94 of the Parks Highway.
First guy to drive through needs to confirm or disprove that...

Dang it, just when I leave AK some guy decides now would be a good idea to build one! That would be a nice addition if it's true.... Maybe it'll still be there when I move back.

 

[stefan73]

Well, ordered another rifle. Would like to find some other responsible Fairbanks shooters to work on long range precision. I have a neat little AR500 steel target and I plan to build a second one. I am starting to work on a new .300WM load and a new 750grn .50BMG load. Now I have to work a base load for the .338 Lapua (new rifle).

 

[stefan73]

BTW, I am now a volunteer IBEP instructor for ADFG and shortly a volunteer Basic Hunter Ed instructor. I already assisted on post for one class, a couple more and I'll feel confident about being the primary instructor.

 

[45.308]

Hearing that there is a 1,000 yard/meter range being put in at mile 94 of the Parks Highway.
First guy to drive through needs to confirm or disprove that...

Upper Su Shooters club, this club has been there for quite sometime but its had odd rules and limited access. This 1000 was made possible by grants from friends of NRA AK chapter and is in the works. I understand it will be a long time coming to completion but is in progress. I am sure you will have to be a member of the NRA and do some work to become members like Birchwood as the Upper Su club has now become its own friends of NRA chapter.

A few years back a complete training range was proposed in the valley complete with 1 mile range, shoot house, etc so all AK fed and state LE and military would not have to leave the state to train. I think it was funded by a group out of TX. This range was LE/military first with limited access if any to citizens, the valley approved it but it lost private interest due to no access and it would take a good chunk of prime land.

I for one do not understand why Alaskans cannot find open range to shoot a 1000. While open land and shooting is not what it was in the 60s-80s with development and hoards of people, a drive and search will find plenty of open range to stretch the burning powder. I understand its not like it was to walk to the fishing hole, burn some powder waiting on the run, wet a line with the run comes by, then burn some more powder and never a look or phone call or shocked concern but it still can be found with little effort.

 

[Preflight]

I've been a volunteer shooting coach for the ADFG youth shotgun league in Anchorage for several years. The hunter ed group at ADFG is a positive force promoting the shooting sports. Glad to see another enthusiast on board.

 

[Cegorach]

I will be in Fairbanks towards the end of May and would be very interested in some range time.

 

[Cegorach]

Anyone shooting around Fairbanks these days?

 

[stefan73]

I was at Cushman last weekend. I had the Serbu BFG-50, both Sako TRG's among a few others out there. Range control is focused on the fire in the YTA so I didn't bother them with trying to use the KD/sports fire range.

I agree with what you wrote about the ADFG Hunter Education programs. I have been enjoying helping out there. I'm doing an IBEP class this weekend and have done my policy read on for Basic Hunter Ed.. I might try and do muzzle loader also. MY biggest problem is time, in my current capacity time is something I don't have much of.

 

[Enough Said]

Interested in getting some 700 - 1300 shooting in this Monday? Anchorage area.
Drop me a PM

 

[SPAK]

Dang, wish I was still living up there I'd shoot with you for sure... Just came back from fishing for a week and a half down on the kenai.... I sure miss home....