Pedie22 wrote:
Royal Ridge, limited experience with this place. Anal-retentive range rules and high prices. Everything is clean, low-medium sized, moderately priced inventory. The owner is certainly knowledgeable about the more traditional firearms--anything made before the 80's (eg: 1911, M1A, AR-15, revolvers). Somewhat opinionated and rough, hates plastic guns, treats his inventory as if they were his children--I swear he wiped down, stroked, and sang to every pistol I handled before putting it back under the counter.
Stonewall--I think it was Tod that said not to go during happy hour. Good advice...at least they have 1/2 hour rates.
B&T--small but clean. If it's slow in the store, the guys (Doyle) will watch you shoot. Sometimes they make fun, sometimes they offer advice. Good place, bad neighborhood.
A&A--they have 200 yards, $8/hr, can shoot garbage if you want...a little run down but fun.
Sherwin Shooting Sports--a downward spiral from my point of view. Used to be my favorite place...now... Zero inventory, extra range charge for using your own ammo, not-so-helpful staff, high prices, I think the owner's resource's are spread too thin (2 and soon to be 3 locations). The upside: you pay by the visit, not by the hour, so you can shoot as long as you want for one price. Staff is friendly, patrons are less rowdy that Stonewall, you can get decent prices on their auction guns.
I was a regular at Top Guns, which became Royal Ridge after I moved out of the Cleveland area in '96. I stopped there once after it became Royal Ridge and was treated so badly, I've never been in again in years and have been badmouthing them ever since. I was so offended by their "gunsmith" I special ordered a Savage 112BVSS in .30-06 and a Canjar set trigger from the friendly gun dealer in Fremont, pretty much out of spite. I was going to send Royal Ridge a copy of the receipt, but never got around to it. What the hell, it's one of the best guns I've ever owned, and kind of rare, and I threw some bucks to a nice guy.
Stonewall scares me. It's the last place I've had a gun pointed at me. The times I've been there, supervision has been minimal at best. They have (or at least had) an excellent selection of holsters.
B&T in Lorain is the old On Target. The people are friendly and the range fees are as reasonable as any local commercial range. Bad neighborhood? I'll take you to my old neighborhood in Chicago. You wouldn't go if you COULD carry a gun... a Pom Pom Gun!
I like A&A for what it is. It really reminds me of Knob Creek in the early '80s before the machinegun shoots started. Aside from the trap & skeet ranges, it's just big, open fields where you can shoot plastic milk jugs if you want. Even the gunstore (when I last went there in the '90s) reminded me of the gunstore at Knob Creek.
You say that Sherwin has two locations? I thought they'd shut down the Sheffield store. If that's not the second store, what is? I took the CCW course there. Like Stonewall, they had a decent selection of holsters and the range was clean and well maintained.
Not previously mentioned:
Precision Firearms in Grafton - They seem friendly. I believe they offer the CCW class there. I haven't bought anything there but reloading supplies and a speedloader, but the prices seemed reasonable.
Dick's Gun Room in Cuyahoga Falls - Not a place for bargains, but an excellent selection of everything from new Remington 40Xes to used handguns, to books and clothing. Back in the '90s they closed out a bunch of iron sight bases for target rifles. Some friends and I got some great deals. They're friendly and quite knowledgeable.
Pro Gun and Sport in Cuyahoga Falls - Again, an excellent selection of pretty much everything, from collectible handguns, to bullseye target pistols, to combat shotguns. They're one of the few places around that stocks Dillon products. If you don't want to wait for a caliber conversion or a powder measure to come in the mail, you can drive down and get it. They also have a good stock of holsters, grips and reloading supplies. They're another place with friendly, knowledgeable sales people. In fact, I'd say they're everything that Royal Ridge isn't and should be. They've also added a range next door.
Rt. 53 Rec in Tiffin - A BIG selection, bargain brands not seen elsewhere and reasonable prices, especially on reloading supplies and equipment. At least half of my support equipment for reloading came from them. They also stocked a lot of hunting clothes and boots. Haven't been there in a number of years.