So I am a creature of habit when it comes to use of a gun range. I use what I like and I try to support the local businesses as best I can. I’ve lived around Austin basically since 2007 with a short stint back out of Texas briefly in 2010-2011. But I’ve tried a few ranges that I liked. Here’s a few thoughts about each.
Best of the West
It was. Past tense, unfortunately. As any shooting enthusiast in the overall area knows, they were excellent. It was an outdoor range in Liberty Hill. They had rifle, pistol and shotgun ranges, several bays for groups and I think even a tactical bay for police type training but I never got to use that one. It was a huge range, but alas they finally succumbed to the legal dance that comes from when shooters with poor backstop awareness shoot over the berms. It’s been closed a few years now which is a shame. My dad and his wife came out and we all went to a gun show there once, plus shot of course and had a good time. I don’t know what they’ve done with the place since it closed. There is an old Facebook presence that has details. I post this info here so that people know it’s gone.
Lone Star Range and Academy
This one is technically in Florence but it’s easy to find right on US-183 north of Liberty Hill on the east side of the road. It should not be confused with the similarly-named one down in Lockhart. They are different. You cannot miss this one – despite being out in the country, it’s got a huge shot shell for a sign and the parking lot is butted up against the road so it’s very visible. I liked this one a lot. It’s much smaller and simpler than many ranges, but because of that it also feels better put together. Less effort keeping a sprawling range kept up and more emphasis on what you can do with it. We were all responsible shooters so the range staff didn’t need to interact with us and let us do our thing. I also got really a really, really good trainer in Mike Scheffler. He’s a career DPS State Trooper with a long training pedigree too. That firearms training came courtesy of Tx2 Security who pursue extremely high quality instructors overall. On another occasion, my L3/L4 requalification range time was held here, too.
Astro Shooting Range
This one is also on US-183 a bit farther north from Austin than Lone Star is. It’s on the west side and is technically Bertram. It has a gate right at the road, which if it’s closed makes getting off 183 a bit dicey since everyone hauls butt on that road that far out in the country. But the range itself is set a bit further back. You have to look for the sign(s) on this one because you wouldn’t be able to tell it was a range otherwise. It’s older, a bit looser overall, and has multiple ranges available. I only ever shot pistol there, myself. It changed ownership a few years ago and doesn’t have a website so getting info on it is a bit harder. They have a Facebook page and a Yelp profile. I was just shooting recreationally that day, but I can say that for reloaders they do sell their brass and for the casters out there, they may even mine the berms if you’re looking for lead.
Shady Oaks Gun Range
This is an indoor range in Cedar Park. It was brand new when I was living in Cedar Park and was a short hop down the road. It was designed with female shooters in mind, in particular. It a bit more expensive, but it is also super clean, extremely well ventilated, has areas to relax & eat snacks etc when you’re not active inside the range proper. I used the pistol range exclusively, but they have since built an indoor rifle range and an archery lane outside as well. It’s very well lit, has very attentive staff, and overall was an excellent experience. My eldest actually really enjoyed shooting there as well. The range focused on ensuring they had a variety of instructors available there, too.
Red’s Indoor Range
This is where I took my qualification when I initially got my L3 license. I re-qualified again there recently, too. I used to live in Pflugerville and shot there a bit back then. It’s a bit far from where I live now, but it has a long list of well established enthusiast shooters who go there. This is one of the longest term ranges in Austin. Red’s Indoor Range down South has closed down, so this is the only Red’s I am aware of now. They are very well stocked, have both pistol and long gun lanes. It’s older and is the stereotypical indoor range – loud, a bit crowded in general, and tends to be very busy. Sign of a thriving business is a good thing.
There are other ranges nearby, too. I just haven’t shot at them. I’ll let people who are more familiar than I am tell you about those. I’m working on getting a big fat update onto the site that will treat Vendors the same way we currently handle Companies, except for the whole Jobs component. Vendors will have a corporate profile, be able to provide reviews of Employers, Candidates and even other Vendors and be reviewable by the same. But, the MAIN thing they are going to have are independent calendars so that each vendor can show off the classes they have, the events they are holding, etc. Gun Ranges will be a prominent set of vendors once we get the system in.