Strongly considering a move to Alaska before the end of summer. Either Fairbanks or Anchorage area. My question is what is available for ranges, matches, and if needed, a competent smith for minor work/maintenance? Thanks!
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Member Link Up Moving to Alaska...ranges?
- Thread starter Hoyt7mm
- Start date
If you didn't know end of summer is August in north and Sept in SC Alaska. It is common for snow to fall in Fairbanks in Sept, and I have seen several inches last week of Sept in Anchortown. I have seen 8" in mid May. Been snowed on July 4th weekend camping trip. But with global warming things are in constant change anymore. My kids use to trick or treat in temps around 0f. We had high school football championships in weather what Green Bay calls the ice bowl, real tuff for grown men not high schoolers. Not a good time to move up but it has and will continue to be done. If you hunt I suggest you arrive by August 1 to be able to hunt full season the following year.
Good thing I guess is the cost of living is like many cities down in the states now. WalMart and the big box stores took care of that back in the 90s. But many of the local shops closed. The bush is still very expensive.
Both areas have their fare share of crime but Los Anchorage has that name for a reason. The boy mayor opened up refugees with free money and living and they flooded the area and of course, brought that life with them to the north. City government is infiltrated with left coast liberals, a few from the other coast and made their way into the state level. The state is changing almost daily now. This is not the Alaska up to around 1990 when things started going south, pun intended.
Stan Jackson was considered the best for pure accuracy.
Alaska Custom Firearms.
There are others.
The areas we use to shoot hunt are long gone now and many have houses or no trespassing or off limits now. But, once you know the area you can still find open areas to shoot. You will find a hard time getting this beta from Alaskans due to, every time one person finds out, next week there are 10 people there, next week 50 then it is ruined. This includes fishing and hunting. People moved up to get the away from the life in the states but for some reason brought what they were trying to escape from with them.
I know very little about matches, not my thing I am private person love open space and freedom....Alaska.... but there are a few around all areas to include squarebanks, on parks, anchortown and the penn.
http://brspclub.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Cushman-Outdoor-Shooting-Range/116370655091470
http://www.snowshoegunclub.com/
https://susitnashooters.org/
http://www.akrifleclub.com/
http://www.akrifleclub.com/schedule/...ule_2007-1.pdf
Good thing I guess is the cost of living is like many cities down in the states now. WalMart and the big box stores took care of that back in the 90s. But many of the local shops closed. The bush is still very expensive.
Both areas have their fare share of crime but Los Anchorage has that name for a reason. The boy mayor opened up refugees with free money and living and they flooded the area and of course, brought that life with them to the north. City government is infiltrated with left coast liberals, a few from the other coast and made their way into the state level. The state is changing almost daily now. This is not the Alaska up to around 1990 when things started going south, pun intended.
Stan Jackson was considered the best for pure accuracy.
Alaska Custom Firearms.
There are others.
The areas we use to shoot hunt are long gone now and many have houses or no trespassing or off limits now. But, once you know the area you can still find open areas to shoot. You will find a hard time getting this beta from Alaskans due to, every time one person finds out, next week there are 10 people there, next week 50 then it is ruined. This includes fishing and hunting. People moved up to get the away from the life in the states but for some reason brought what they were trying to escape from with them.
I know very little about matches, not my thing I am private person love open space and freedom....Alaska.... but there are a few around all areas to include squarebanks, on parks, anchortown and the penn.
http://brspclub.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Cushman-Outdoor-Shooting-Range/116370655091470
http://www.snowshoegunclub.com/
https://susitnashooters.org/
http://www.akrifleclub.com/
http://www.akrifleclub.com/schedule/...ule_2007-1.pdf
I just moved from Fairbanks to AZ. I wish I could go back. I loved it. Me and my buddies used to go to cushman range or just drive out and shoot state land. Just make sure you clean up really good if you do that. They do have some shooting matches out by Fairbanks airport. I never went but I heard about them a lot. Good luck. Dress warm.
Close...Its Alaska Precision Rifle Competition
Dang, it..... I hate auto correct.
I’m fixing to move back to alaska next summer so hopefully will be able to get in on some of the matches
Stop on in to Wiggys Alaska in Anchorage, or Bowman arms in Fairbanks for the low down on rifle shooting.
For some more Fairbanks info:
I lived up there for 3.5 years, and miss it dearly. Cushman is an adventure if you go on a Saturday afternoon. If you go in the morning, it is a fairly quiet public range that runs out to 330yds.
Bowman Arms is the local spot to go for newer stuff, precision, NFA, and other goodies to spend all (or some) of your paycheck on. Iron and Wood is another fantastic shop, but he focuses on the classics, which makes it a great “other” option for firearms in the small town.
There is a lot of public land around, and there is a spot that goes out to 775 ish, and another spot that goes out to a mile (and currently working to go further). If you do the facebook thing, Bowman Arms will tell folks when they are headed out (and they might even bring your pending suppressor if you are nice).
Powder and Primers are a bit of a pain in Alaska, because you can’t mail order ammo, primers, or powder without going through a freight forwarder (pallet size to make it worth it).
Also, if other NFA things tickle your fancy, AK is also a great place for that. Every year the Alaska Machine Gun Association hosts a machine gun shoot every Memorial Day over in Clear, AK that anyone can go to. Lots of fun there.
As other above have posted, there are some Precision matches down south. If USPSA is also on your “to do list” there are two clubs that shoot year round (about 5 months indoors), and have matches atleast once a month. They are called FAS (Fairbanks Alaska Shooters) and TAPs (forgot their acronym). Both are great groups as well. Finally, if Cowboy Action is on your list, there is also the Golden Heart Shootists Society who is a SASS club as well.
Fairbanks is a great community, and is definitely a unique place to live. I will move back one day, and a large reason is because of the people up there.
Marc Taylor / Frank Galli - [email protected]
Thanks for the mentions, fellas.
Yes, “Wiggy’s Alaska” is LR Shooter Central in ANC. In FAI, visit “Bowman Arms”.
Thanks for the mentions, fellas.
Yes, “Wiggy’s Alaska” is LR Shooter Central in ANC. In FAI, visit “Bowman Arms”.
I am in SE Alaska.. (Petersburg) we are a small town of 2800 or so... but, and it is a big but... We have a island of several LR shooters, we have 10 steel targets (with plans to add more) in the hills from 400 to 1800yrds and try to get together every couple of weeks. We love to push each other to be better, we all run quality equipment and rifles, with 308, 6.5 (Creed and PRC) and 300 ( Win and Norma) being of the most common shot stuff here... Most of us reload as well.
The neighboring island community has its own targets and shooters as well...
a handful of us are retired military and allot of us work FED or local government jobs. I work at the PD and as with all PDs we are hiring. The hunting and fishing is amazing here... hell living here is amazing.
The neighboring island community has its own targets and shooters as well...
a handful of us are retired military and allot of us work FED or local government jobs. I work at the PD and as with all PDs we are hiring. The hunting and fishing is amazing here... hell living here is amazing.
