Airfield Shooting Club

Fellow members I want to reiterate and emphasize our commitment to safety on the range.  There have been several instances lately where it appears a causal attitude is being taken with how firearms are being handled.  Compliancy kills and will shut down the club.  If you have not reread the rules lately, please do so.  We have these in place to prevent accidents.  Lately we have found where people have discharges rounds outside of our range, bringing uncased guns to the line when the line is cold, handling guns when people are down range, and having people down range when shooting has started.  We take these infractions very seriously.  Someone’s life could have been easily taken with some of these violations.  We are urging you to have ruthless adherence to safety practices and be polite but firm in monitoring others at the club if you see a safety infraction.

If you have ANY questions about what is safe or not, please let us know.  We would much rather answer questions now vs taking disciplinary action or worse having to address an injury or death.  With no staff, we rely on you, our members, to keep our range safe.

Thank you in advance for your efforts in these matters.

Enjoy the ASC Q4 2025 Newsletter.  It is filled with safety concerns, given the recent number of safety violations at the range.

Have you been out in the woods or on the water?  Did you take a youngster fishing, hunting, or shooting?  Did you take a photo of wildlife or nature you may want to share?  Send a copy of the JPEG to [email protected], and it may be included in a future newsletter edition.  Add a short caption explaining the who, what, when, and where.  There is always room for great sporting photos you may want to share.

ASC Q4 Newsletter 2025

Experience the fun of a friendly IBS-modified bench-rest shooting event uniquely designed to test and challenge your shooting skills. Join us on Sunday, October 19th, for a day of precision 22LR shooting.

The shooters will follow a modified version of the IBS Benchrest Shooting Competition, shooting two to four official IBS 50 YD RF RED 25 bull targets.  Each shooter gets 20 minutes to complete each target.  Factory or unlimited target classifications,  scoring on the best edge. The cost is $5 for ASC Members and $10 for Non-Members.

The range set-up/sighting-in period lasts until 8:30 AM, and then the range goes cold for the 8:30 AM Mandatory Safety Meeting/Instructions. The match starts promptly at 9:00 a.m. and lasts until 12 noon.

ASC Cold Range Policy

• Firearms unloaded, keep cased/bagged until at the line on RSO command.
• Empty Chamber Indicator at any time you’re not actively firing.
• No handling of firearms during COLD or behind the line.
• All participants must attend the Safety Meeting to shoot!

*** The 25 – 50 Meter Range is Closed for this Event. ***

For more information about this event, contact the Match Director, Tom Sanford, at [email protected].  This event will be canceled due to poor weather conditions.

Please enjoy this edition of the Airfield Shooting Club Newsletter.  Please send us your outdoor photos for future newsletter editions. Have you been out in the woods or on the water? Did you take a youngster fishing, hunting, or shooting? Did you take a photo of wildlife or nature you may want to share? Send a copy of the JPEG to [email protected], and it may be included in a future newsletter edition. Add a short caption explaining the who, what, when, and where. There is always room for great sporting photos you may want to share.  Tom Sanford

ASC Q3 Newsletter 2025

Hello from the MO,

Today, Sunday October 12, 2025, while I was at the range making some minor repairs to the range camera system and also sighting in a firearm on the SRB/50, I noticed some damage to the gutters on the front of the structure. It appears that someone discharged a round in the center of the range in the vertical position up thru the bottom of the gutter and the round exited thru the gutter guards. Yes, this damaged the newly installed gutters, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY a round left the range and had the potential to do harm to someone. The thin metal on the gutter system will do little to slow down a high velocity round. From the diameter of the hole it appears to have been from a 22 caliber firearm, most likely an AR type firearm. All members need to take a step back and reevaluate their own safety and range operations along with the rules of the range. This is the 2nd incident that has been identified in less then 2 weeks and both of this incidents had the potential for a round to leave the range, this one most likely did.

Please be safe and report any incidents or damage to the range to me, the Maintenance Officer or any member of the board.

Cory, aka The MO

🚫 Buckshot Violation Alert 🚫

We recently discovered buckshot shell casings on the shotgun range.

⚠️ BUCKSHOT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED ON THE SHOTGUN RANGE. ⚠️
This includes trap, skeet, and 5-stand areas.

✅ Allowed Shot Sizes:
Only shot shells size 7.5 or smaller (e.g., 8, 9) are permitted.
🔍 Why? Larger shot can travel beyond our designated shot fall zone, posing a serious safety risk.

🔁 Where Buckshot Is Allowed:
Buckshot, slugs, and similar loads may be used on the SRB or 25/50-yard and 100m ranges.

Let’s keep our ranges safe and enjoyable for everyone. Please follow the rules and help us maintain a safe shooting environment.

Violations of this rule will result in disciplinary action.

I was recently shown a video of a group on a firing line. The safety violations were staggering. These weren’t new shooters — they appeared experienced, but likely complacent. When I was flying aircraft, we had a saying: “Complacency kills.” These folks were lucky that phrase didn’t hold true.

Let’s talk about firing line safety. While each range has its own rules, there should be a universal baseline of safe behavior. Here are a few fundamentals:

1. Bringing a Gun to the Line
   Always bring your firearm to the line in a case, and ensure it’s unloaded.
2. Uncasing
   Before touching the firearm, rotate the case so the barrel faces downrange. Otherwise, you risk pointing the gun in an unsafe direction the moment you touch it.
3. Open the Action
   Before placing the gun on the bench, open the action, remove any magazines (if applicable), and lay it down with the ejection port facing up. Firearms should never be set down with a closed action or a magazine inserted — except in an emergency. If you have chamber flags, use them.
4. Cold Line Protocol
   When the line is cold and someone goes downrange, step back from the shooting points.
5. No Handling During Cold Line
   When someone is downrange, there should be zero handling of firearms. Many ranges also prohibit loading magazines or handling ammunition during this time (ours included).

All of these rules were violated by multiple individuals in a short video I just watched. Shooting sports are enjoyable and historically very safe — but only when we uphold basic safety standards. Let’s stay vigilant and keep it that way.