Preppers meet up/Fun shoot North Springs Shooting Range

I’ve been hearing about a new shooting range out near Price for about two years now. The pictures and descriptions I kept hearing made it seem like a great place to check out, but the distance has kept me from visiting it. Until last weekend that is.

Now, I can’t wait to go back, this time with some firearms! Some of the Utah Preppers authors are heading up again on October 24th to watch some Cowboy Action Shooting and to do some shooting of our own. Read on to learn about this shooting sports venue, see some pictures and find out when some of us will be heading out.

The North Springs Shooting Range was created by and is entirely owned and operated by Carbon County. It’s construction was financed by the gas, oil and mineral rights of the area where the range resides. I have been to a number of shooting ranges throughout the western United States and this in my opinion is one of the nicest ranges I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.

Ranges

The range accommodates several different types of shooting sports.
Range Layout Map
This map is a little out dated, but shows the primary areas and their relation to each other.

High Power Rifle Range

This range has long line of well made concrete shooting benches under a roofed area. A section of this range even includes propane heaters in the ceiling for shooting on colder days or during the Winter.
The rifle range is divided into three sections from left to right as you face the range.
Section 1 has metal targets beginning at 600 yards at 100 yard intervals out to 1000 yards.
Section 2 has targets starting at 100 yards and going out to 600 yards.
Section 3 has some targets at varying distances up to 100 yards.
My only complaint about the rifle ranges is a lack of trenches at 600 and 1000 yards for raising and scoring targets. If the range had these, sanctioned competitions could be held there. A section of the rifle range is 3/4 enclosed for colder days. Use of the rifle range is included in your $5 user fee.

Shotgun area

The shotgun area is fairly basic right now. It consists of a picnic table, a few concrete pads to shoot from and an electric trap/skeet thrower. Using this facility costs an extra $2.50. You can purchase clay pigeons at the main cabin or bring your own from Wally World. Plans are in the works to expand this area by adding a few more throwers and some concrete lanes as you see in competitive trap and skeet. My wife loves shooting clays so I imagine I’ll be spending a decent amount of time in this area.

Archery Range

I didn’t get a good look at this area. I only saw a few archery targets from my vantage point on the road. I admit to not being much of an archer, but I should have paid more attention to this area. I watched a video online (sorry, I can’t seem to find it again) that showed a number of neat 3D targets like deer and even the Utah Raptor dinosaur. 3D archery is an extra $10 a day.

Law Enforcement Range

This is a mostly covered and heated area for law enforcement and tactical training. There are computer controlled reactive steel targets that are used in training law enforcement personnel. Due to limited numbers of range officers, this area is not open every day as an employee must operate the computer. The use of this facility is an extra $5 a day.

Castle Gate Cowboy Action Shooting Town

Cowboy Action Shooting is a very fast growing shooting sport. The Single Action Shooting Society is the group that organizes this sport. It involves dressing up in period clothes, adopting a period persona and shooting period weapons at steel targets.

I’ve been to a few of these events and they are always a lot of fun. Although some might discount this kind of shooting as impractical, I would beg to differ. If you can shoot a single action revolver quickly and accurately at ‘tactical engagement range’ you can do the same with a semi-auto. Maybe cowboy action shooting will become the new tactical training regimen du jour :)

The Caste Gate town also has a club house that is available for rent. It includes a kitchen, bathrooms and conference area. The club house is open during Cowboy shooting events and is available for 1/2 day and full day rental as well.

Basic use of the Castle Gate Town area in included in the basic $5 admission price.

Other features

The range also has 115 camp sites for those looking to camp in the area. Camping is $5 for Day camping and $8 for over night camping.

There are a number of 3/4 enclosed shooting areas with Propane heaters. The heaters cost $2 an hour to operate.

Utah Preppers Meetup

Since a couple of this site’s authors will be heading up to this range we thought we would invite our readers to come as well. Firearms are an important part of a well rounded preparedness strategy. So is knowing how to use the tools that you have. This will be a great opportunity to meet some fellow preppers from your state and have some fun.

The Castle Gate Posse will be holding their Cowboy Action Shoot on October 24th. Those who are interested in watching or learning more about this sport will be able to head up to the Castle Gate town to check it out. We also plan on shooting some rifles on the 1000 yard range. There may even be a .50 BMG or two in attendance. If you ask very nicely you will probably be able to shoot one as well.

Where

North Springs Shooting Range
MAP

When

Saturday, October 24th – 10 am
The range opens at 9 am but it is a 2 or more hour drive for many of us.

Below are some pictures we took last Saturday. In rough order, the pictures show the Rifle range, the Shotgun range, one of an archery target, the Law Enforcement range, the Castle Gate town and the camping areas.

I look forward to meeting more of our readers. Hope you can make it!