Went to the brannew Take Aim indoor shooting range today in Bellevue, NE.
Located at the NE corner of 36th and Hwy 370 on Samson Way.
FWIW, My observations and impressions follow.
Very nice. Very nice, indeed. Got a brief and thorough tour from Floyd, the day manager. [I woulda rather had the tour guided by the Pretty Young Blond Lady who was tidying up the place, but such was not my luck.] Anyhow, Floyd has the day shift; owners Bob and Mary Whaling are on deck during the evening hours.
Location is in a classy, fresh, new, modern strip mall instead of the usual dark and grimy industrial area too often associated with shooting ranges.
Ample parking lot. Plenty of room. Could easily hold a nice summer swap meet there someday with plenty of tables of stuff.
Building is fresh and newly renovated. Attractive, clean décor. Spacious; not yet fully utilized.
Has front desk, large assembly area w/TV, large classroom, M/F restrooms instead of unisex. Ammo in various calibers and manufacturers on display.
Has two 5-lane bays, 10 lanes in all. 25 yards/downlane. Could hold CHP or LEO classes on one side; public shooting on the other. Target distances in one bay can be set digitally; no estimating needed.
Lanes have Meggitt-type [could actually be Megs] target carriers. No dangling cables. Target carriers on all lanes were in good working condition. [Now, why do I bother to mention that fact???]
Most targets are from Targets OnLine, a local Omaha printing company that makes Most Excellent Targets on thick, very high quality paper.
Has a Super ventilating system that DOES NOT blow the targets around. No Madly Dancing Targets on Lane #12 during CHP range qualification, IYKWIM. How about THAT, Shooters!!!! Just a nice, evenly distributed flow from a perforated plenum behind the shooters toward the downrange exhaust. Negative pressure in building to keep air contained. [In which case let your girlfriend pull the front door open for you while you carry in the range bag.]
Excellent baffling system, w/fully lighted range. [No dark dungeon here.]
Separate shooting stalls and counters for each lane. Nice, thick lane separator partitions for safety.
Attendant was properly gathering empty cases on floor w/a proper rubber squeegee instead of a broom [which we have seen elsewhere and which will annoy OSHA to no good end.]
Free WI-FI and coffee.
Rate schedule for shooters and classes is reasonable and competitive.
There’s more, but Eastern Nebraska shooters oughta go and see for themselves.
Coupla Other Items:
>No firearms sales here, consignment or otherwise.
>No shooting accessory sales here, either.
IMHO, a substantial revenue stream is being missed here. At the NRA Range Operations Conference in San Diego last October, the point was made that somewhere between 60-80% of shooting range total revenue and profits are usually derived from the above two sources. Well, it ain’t my store, but I did want to come back and try to make that point to the owners, But then, they no doubt already know it. Maybe they don’t have their FFLs yet [it took Randy Lauer of Thunder Alley in Lincoln many months to obtain his store FFL.]
SUMMARY
Many Eastern NE shooters have long wanted an alternative venue for shooting instead of single-source indoor shooting. Here it is. Take Aim is now part and parcel of the shooting sports system in Eastern NE. Like all entrepreneurs, the Whalings have gone to considerable effort, investment, and risk to make this excellent venue available to us. We should patronize and support this company through frequent use of its excellent facilities and staff.
And maybe even urge them to do IPSC/IDPA on Toosday nites, like the Good Ol’ Days of Yore.
sfg
