JackL said:
The only range I'm familiar with in WPB proper is Gator Guns, at the corner of Military Trail and Okeechobee Blvd. There are another one or two in Lake Worth; I've shot at one, but the names of both escape me at the moment. I'll get back to you on that.
Chuckusaret said:
Whats wrong with Gator Guns, I shoot there frequently, people are nice, helpful. It is better and cheaper than driving to the PBSO range, 40 plus miles from WPB, in Belle Glade. All ranges in Palm Beach Country require the shooter to use their ammo and the rates are about the same.
I went to Gator Guns the other day after class and again last weekend. I had some very mixed thoughts when visiting there. Actually, they have two locations and visited them both.
My experience:
1.Their rental guns were in the worst shape I've ever seen. I understand rental guns get abused, but they were mishandled so badly that I almost asked for my money back. They stored them under a counter and literally tossed them around like a kid rummaging through his toy box to find his G.I. Joe at the bottom.
2. Their prices were sky high for their guns. I saw 4 TRPs that were NM. I drooled over them until I saw their price tag of $1600. Most other gun shops I've seen them for about $1300. They wanted nearly $800 for a Taurus PT1911. And, although these were new, they definitely showed excessive handling wear....so much that they should have been offering used conditon prices IMO.
3. While waiting to get a chance to handle some guns, an older sales guy literally walked past my buddy and me several times without even addressing us. We watched and noticed that he wasn't doing anything in particular other than avoiding us and everybody else to help. That really p#^ssed me off. Finally there's a kid that let me handle the TRP allowed me to dry fire ONCE after I asked permission. After seeing him handle it and the rental guns, I was wondering what his motive was.
4. Range rental price was about average. Their range time plus gun was a little high, but ammo prices were decent given the prices overall these days. It averaged out.
5. The actual session wasn't pleasant. The vent airflow was so great and the cable assy for the targets had so much slack that the target never settled. It wasn't just a little sway. It was so much that I and others' targets dropped during deployment or retrieval. I won't even go into the crappy shooting these guns were due to their neglect.
6. My second visit along with my wife provided a little better experience. There was another older guy that was more than helpful on letting us handle their guns. He was a typical salesman stating everything we handled was "a great gun, no problems with them". I asked quite a few questions in specifics and you could tell he wasn't the most informative, but was still very courteous and made eye contact with my wife too to include her in the conversation. And a side note, he let me dry fire the TRP a couple of times as well as my wife. He saw no problem with us checking different models out. Maybe that's why they do still sell their guns.
My instructor highly recommended Arizona Gun Range & Emporium in Ft. Lauderdale. He didn't let me down:
1. The staff was VERY cordial and was patient with my selection process.
2. Their gun rental was only $10 and didn't charge me extra to try two different guns. Range time, IIRC, is also $10. But, I bought a shirt there and they waived the range fee. Ammo was a couple of dollars higher than Gator Guns, though.
3. Their store was well stocked and very clean. Available guns for rent were displayed on the wall and selection was decent. The brand selection wasn't great, but the brands they had models thereof was plentiful.
4. Their prices for reloading dies were absolutely DEPLORABLE! I did a triple take. IIRC, Redding .45ACP complete die set was
$110! I couldn't believe my eyes. New gun prices were a bit high, but I don't know what the going rate is on some of the ones they had available. IIRC, they had a Springer XDM for about $750. I've seen them back home for at least $100 less.
Hope this helps for anyone else looking for places to go in the WPB area...
