Gun Transport, Shooting Ranges
 

As mentioned in another thread, I've acquired a few guns to have fun and teach my kiddos safety.

A couple questions:

1. What places might I look to shoot at ±30 minutes from Moultonborough?

2. As I understand it, there are no transport restrictions in NH?

3. What do y'all use for home storage/transport systems? I picked up a used hard case, but I'm thinking I'm going to get a "personal safe" for the handgun (in addition to the breach cable lock) that I can just throw into a range bag for when I go somewhere. I'll then get a waterproof case for the ammo that I can keep in my regular safe with the keys to the guns. That sound reasonable?

4. I much prefer earplugs to earmuffs—any downsides to using them for shooting?

5. Finally, eye protection can be mostly any safety glasses as long as not glass, yes?

6. Any other tips welcome!

I may get these today, if so (I'm at camp alone and might like to take a ride):

https://www.harborfreight.com/person...afe-64079.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/550-we...ase-56378.html

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Belmont Firearms has an indoor range within your distance.

Just that they are nowhere near as effective. I have tried a few sets of electronic muffs, these are my favorite so far (I use them and plugs simultaneously) -

https://www.amazon.com/Walkers-Digit...%2C156&sr=8-23

If you are just shooting .22 and nothing with any real noise behind it you can skimp and get the $40 non bluetooth verstions that lack some bells and whistles but work fine for that type usage. That's what I give my guests that I take out for plinking.

Don't skimp on hearing protection, hearing loss is cumulative and once gone is gone for good.

Can you recommend any outdoor public ranges?

Indoor is good in the winter and during bad weather, but I personally always enjoy shooting outside when possible.

Thanks!

1. There is the Winnipesaukee Sportsmen’s Club on Route 109 in Moultonborough. This facility is all outdoors, with shooting sheds. However, it is for members only and there is a waiting list. The Pemigewasset Fish and Game Club in Holderness has an indoor range I think; it is also a membership organization and I do not know if there is a waiting list. There is an indoor range in Belmont on Route 106 that is open to the public. See generally
https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/hun...bs-ranges.html

2. You may not carry a loaded long gun in or on a vehicle. A loaded handgun may be carried in a vehicle; whether that is wise it up to you. Look into getting a concealed carry permit even though it is not legally required in NH. Other states with reciprocity may require a permit in order for the reciprocity to kick in.

3. There a vast number of storage options ranging from trigger locks to huge safes. I use a soft sided case for transport of long guns and hand guns. With kids around, it may be wise to store ammo and guns separately and appropriately locked or secured. There are hand gun safes that open with a fingerprint if ready access to a loaded or unloaded gun is appropriate.

4. There are electronic sound attenuating ear muffs which enable you to hear what is going on around you and then activate to block the sound of gunfire. There may also be similar ear plugs. I use electronic muffs both for shooting and running loud items like leaf blowers, etc.

5. I have always used glasses specifically designed for shooting.

I only shoot down here on the seacoast. I don't know of any up there. We have 2 brand new indoor ranges locally and a few membership based sportsmans clubs such as Major Waldrons. Public outdoor places are becoming harder to find.

Yes the indoor range in Belmont.

Earmuffs rather than plugs. The person in the lane next to you may be shooting an AR-15. And real shooting glasses.



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I use a similar case in my truck for those places that don’t allow carry in stores. As far as cases to transport I have a few soft bags and a couple of hard cases (bought at harbor freight) that work well. Hearing protection I use Surefire ear plugs, work better for me as muffs usually get in my way shooting a rifle. The key is proper installation of said ear plugs, I work in the airline industry and use foam ear plugs at work and will lower the decibels of jet engines dramatically if used correctly.
For ranges I would recommend White Birch Armory but a little far from Moultonborough. Outdoor I haven’t been able to find anywhere.

Question: while looking at muffs and plugs today, I noticed the muffs ranged from 21-27 decibel reduction while the plugs I saw ranged from 26-32.

Wouldn't the plugs be better (assuming they're inserted properly—almost impossible to get muffs wrong)?

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These muffs are 30 db and stay in place.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-PELTOR-O...10A/1002342132

These plugs are 29 db, essentially the same. However they are difficult to keep properly in place.
https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Tactica...X9XQTNM4K3TTQY
You would need plugs molded for your ears to insure continued proper fit.

Just my experience.

Alan

What are you shooting?
 

You really need to know what you'd be shooting, and as mentioned what others may shoot around you.

.223 / 308 / 30-06 are all in the 150-160-ish dba range. That Lowes model is rated as protection up to 105. So I would think ok for a .22 type setup but nothing past that.

I have never seen a passive pair of muffs match a pair of electronic - but maybe they exist. Once I went electronic I donated all my passives to the range.

I still vote for plugs + muff combos. Two good things that go better together....

I like my electronic muffs. I would not use earplugs, especially on an indoor range. Outside, shooting by yourself you'd probably be fine.

Agree with Stan, plugs plus muffs are good for indoor. Probably in the 40 db NRR range.

I have had several pair of electronic muffs for outside sporting clays. The big advantage is that you can hear normal conversation. Indoor, if you have muffs plus plugs that advantage is mostly lost. The basic noise reduction ratings of electronic muffs, however are no better that passive muffs.

I bought a Ruger 10/22 and Taurus TX22, both .22, but obviously I can't control what others will be shooting.

I'm a sweaty dude and don't like things on my head if I can help it, especially double things (hat and muffs, muffs and glasses, etc.), but I'll clearly do what I need to.

So, I'm hearing what might be best for me would be both a good set of plugs (for outdoors/light indoors) that would be compatible with muffs, and a set of muffs that could be used in conjunction with the plugs?

If so, recommendations? Passive or active muffs? Foam plugs vs. Surefire?

Thoughts on these? https://www.amazon.com/Walkers-Razor...222&th=1&psc=1

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I have a couple pairs of those slim Walkers, I like the full-size better but those are ok too, especially for .22. Keep a multi-pack of batteries in the range bag cause you will forget and leave them turned on once or twice.

Try a few pairs of glasses - sweat & muffs isn't a problem as much as sweat & glasses - most fog up easily. I bought a $40 pair from SIG that works great, the $15 generic / Bass Pro type leave me fogged up constantly.

Unsolicited advice - if not bought already load up on BX-25 / 25 round Ruger magazines. Someone else mentioned White Birch armory - they always seem to have them (they like everything else are hard to find these days). I would go there and buy 6x of them while you check out their range, you need them whether you know it now or not. Loading 10 round rotaries gets tiresome quick.

Thanks for the tip.

Would those muffs work well with the plugs posted above? Or would it defeat the purpose of having the electronics?

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Never seen a pair of plugs that didn't work when inserted properly. Also never seen a pair that would interfere with a pair of earmuffs. I don't think an incompatibility is possible there.

With .22 you can get away with one or the other, especially if you are alone / semi-alone on an outdoor range. Try both, I think you'll decide on the muffs or a combo over just plugs.

I err on the side of caution and always do both as I like to hear and want to keep on doing it.

I believe these are the ones I have:

https://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight...s%2C211&sr=8-6

Ear plugs and muffs together is overkill. The benefit of the electronic muffs is that when not shooting you can turn the volume up and have conversations without having to take them off.

Stay with Ruger mags for the 10/22. The BX-25 is a great mag. Buy a speed loader to help load faster, otherwise it can get a bit monotonous.

Very true - but the benefit is also (in my case) Bluetooth. It's nice to be able to stream - and yes you can still hear it with plugs in as well, it's kind of a background noise thing.

Agree in this case it's overkill for .22, but using both absolutely helps me when shooting anything 30 cal+. Or when situated next to one of the many newbs out there who have an AR platform and think it's a race to unload 30 round mags as quick as they can.

Ok, I ordered some Surefire EP10s and the Walker thins and will try both out and see how it goes.

Thanks, all!

Think
Look at the Winnipesaukee Sportsmen’s Club website. They offer some basic courses. Look under Education on the home page.


https://winnisportsmensclub.org/

Thank you kindly!

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Transport
 

If you are transporting in a car you need a concealed carry permit. Assuming you have one?

Don't really need to go to a range. In NH you can shoot on your own property (or a friend's) as long as you are not within 15' of a road or 300' from an occupied dwelling.. Naturally you want to have a safety backdrop .
Also, out of courtesy I'd let neighbors know and also give local PD a call to let them know you will be shooting from time to time.

I do not believe that statement is correct.

Under NH RSA 159:6 (III) a license is not required to carry a loaded handgun in a vehicle in NH. See

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/.../159/159-6.htm

However, there is a prohibition on the carrying of a loaded rifle, shotgun, etc. in a vehicle under NH RSA 207:7 (II). See

https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa.../207/207-7.htm

Guess they changed the law and I missed it
 

In 2017, New Hampshire changed its law to allow individuals to carry loaded handguns in vehicles without a license. New Hampshire still prohibits, however, the carrying of loaded rifles or shotguns in a moving motor vehicle unless the individual is in the act of protecting his or her livestock or crops.1
All firearms, including handguns, carried in
an off-highway recreational vehicle or a trailer towed by an off-highway recreational vehicle2 or
a snowmobile or a trailer towed by a snowmobile3
must be unloaded, however.

All firearms, including handguns, carried in an off-highway recreational vehicle or a trailer towed by an off-highway recreational vehicle2 or a snowmobile or a trailer towed by a snowmobile3 must be unloaded, however.

And this has just changed as well, HB 334 was passed and allows you to carry loaded handguns now.

A Few Owners Have Been Shot by Their Own, Rambunctious, Dogs...
 

HB334 should be amended to restrict dogs in the presence of loaded firearms. :look:

If you discreetly ask around you might catch wind of places to go - typically sand pits, which you can shoot in without anyone giving you grief. There are also a couple places in the national forest where you can do the same.

The reason why I won't post where these locations are is that once the word gets out these places get trashed and eventually closed. That very thing happened at the Alton sand pit at the end of Rines Rd where for many years it was a great place to shoot, known by many and used quite a bit. Eventually that was shut down which is unfortunate for those who respectfully used it for many years.

Ok, soooo a couple good things have come up the last couple days. The first is that I discovered a former student is a member of a rod and gun club not far from me—we'll be meeting up next Wednesday.

The second is I discovered my cousin-in-law is a high-ranking member of my local fish and game club and can sponsor my membership, bypassing a couple-year wait. New member orientation is August 7th. The triple-good thing is that they do a lot of family and youth fun and safety activities, and it's the same club that sponsors my son's Boy Scout troop, which will help him/us fulfill his quartermaster duties.

Yay me!

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It was never legal and they shot across a class VI road.

https://casetext.com/regulation/new-...arget-shooting

So I don't know where you get your information from but the pit that was there had no class IV road traversing through it. Rines road followed along one side of it. Where you entered the pit was the end of the town maintained road and from there it was a class IV road that goes up into Devil's Den.

Far as it being "legal" to shoot in there, at the time it was active I spoke directly with the land owner who had no problem with the activity going on in there however did tell me that if the trash continued to be left he would gate it and post it. Eventually that did happen, a few years later the property was sold, for a short time it was re-opened for shooting but once again closed due to all the ATV riding going on in there in addition to the trash accumulation problem. An illustration of what lack of respect does - a once great resource is now gone forever.

My information is that I was the President of the NDATV for years.
The ATV was an active trail... and you are not allowed to recreational shoot within 300 feet of it.
We had F&G in there repeatedly, repeatedly picked up the trash and shell casings by the bucketful, and had several signs with bullet holes that could not be made without shooting across the Class VI road.

Since the trails also moved through the woods, and the shooting was not 300 feet from all of them also, it was not technically legal.

If we are speaking of the same place - there is no class IV road that traverses that sand pit. The class IV road starts at the end of Rines Rd which is beyond the entrance to the pit.

For as long as I can remember, and we're going back 20-30 years or so there has always been evidence of ATV riding in there and from what I understand from the former owner like the shooting he was aware of it but didn't care to do anything about it so long as there wasn't any problems. This predates the NDATV club's existence.

At some point the second owner had that area logged out and as such skidder trails and a landing was created above the pit. Those skidder trails eventually turned into defacto ATV trails but I am fairly certain that happened before the ATV club came into existence and "technically" that riding was illegal as I don't think anyone in there had written landowner permissions at that time. It is possible that my timing there is off and in fact the club did exist, I don't know for sure.

Later on when I know ATV riding became legal all throughout the devils den area, the pit in particular was used by many to park and thus go off and ride. For a short time there was shooting still going on in there along with the ATV riding. At that time as well I did see signs and even a trash can appear for the purposes I assume for shooters to pick up after themselves which never really happened. At that point I don't know who owned the property only that so long as it appeared it was open for use I did shoot in there a number of times.

To your point and efforts to clean and sign that area...nothing gets me more mad than to see a free and open resource like this to be abused and lost. I loathe anyone who will leave trash there, shoot to hell signs and other pieces of infrastructure including the gate that was installed. One of the last times I was in there the F&G did a drive through and stopped to talk to me and my shooting companion. We actually had a pretty long chat about the goings on and he told me of the challenges they were having in there, in fact telling me that the area would likely close due to all the factors he had mentioned. Due to the increased ATV riding activity alone I figured as much since having riders and shooters in the same area is an accident waiting to happen, but ultimately as you say the lack of respect and trash left was why things were shutdown in there.

I'll also mention that there were times when I was in there where there were shooters that were shooting in areas I personally felt were unsafe are arguably illegal, nevermind in a manner that made me uncomfortable and not conducive for the layout of the spot. It was bound to happen and I don't fault whoever owned the property from closing it. It's just sad and unnecessary that it happened. Unfortunately nobody can be there all the time to babysit what was going on and I am certainly empathetic to the F&G as well at the ATV club to make attempts to keep it open for dual use only to have those efforts thwarted by the few irresponsible morons who had zero respect for the resource that had existed for years and now is no longer.

If you go down Rines Road, their is a pit just before the bridge.
That pit was a parking area with trails behind it. Since you would not be 300 feet at a minimum from the parking area or the trails behind it... it would be illegal to recreational shoot there.

After you cross the bridge, you leave Alton and enter New Durham, that is a Class VI road running the length to another town. There is a pit/parking area to the right... it is also illegal due to a mixture of being a parking area and recreational trails behind it.

If you continue down the Class VI road, there is a private road to the right... that is also a trail and leads to another parking area off from Hayes Road enterance... also per the statute illegal.

Randy's trail runs all around that area... and there is no pit not within the 300 feet restriction.

The Alton Selectboard actually had an on record discussion with me, because they were under the impression that NDATV was promoting the shooting. We simply were not policing it... because it was not our responsibility to do so.
We did try to manage it to keep trash down, and improve safety... but we did not have the legal standing to promote violation of a state statute.

There concern would only be the section before the bridge, with New Durham being after the bridge.

At this point it doesn't matter as it is no longer a place to use which was my point to begin with. It started to be a problem well before the ATVs got in there.

Don't care I have found several other places to go. Thankfully they are not well known and I hope it stays that way.

Deal with the Fogging...
 

A colleague had a spent 9mm cartridge case get lodged behind his regular glasses. :eek: Yes, the case is hot and can leave a burn.
:(

This is the same unlucky colleage who later had a large wasp fly into the same spot! :eek2:

My husband belongs to the Pemigewasset Valley Fish and Game Club in Holderness.

Where does this 300 foot restriction come from? State law is 300 feet from a normally occupied dwelling/building, and 15 feet from a road.

That is hunting, not recreational shooting.
https://casetext.com/regulation/new-...arget-shooting

Hunting is considered an active activity, recreational shooting a stationary.

Are those pits DRED land/ or state parks?

DRED easement.
All legal snowmobile/OHRV and designated recreational trailheads are DRED (currently a new name ) easements granted by he landowner in exchange for either direct lease or value transfer of landowner liability insurance coverage.

What does the state define as a trailhead?

Not being difficult, however, we have a trail through my property which adjoins my private range- letting the trail through is fine, but not if it’s going to cause issues with my personal use. There is no easement, we just give our permission.

An official parking area used to access the trail.
For example, in Belknap County... Weirs Beach Boardwalk, and Lakes Region Casino are official trailheads for the snowmobiles.

You can unload, and at low speed, ride around the parking lot to the trail.

We no longer have the option of riding down a road to the trailhead.

Trigger locks
 

A trigger lock is probably the most dangerous piece of “safety equipment “ one could use on any gun!!! Do some research…..

Just an update that I ended up with both of the cases from the original post and both work perfectly. I also ended up with both Walker's electronic muffs and Surefire plugs. I've not shot indoors yet, but the Walker's by themselves were more than sufficient for shooting a Glock .9mm and AR-15 in semi-closed in outdoors.

A few more tips I could use:

* Spotting scope that could be used for shooting and archery

* Targets suggestions: $, uniqueness, ease of seeing

* Scope suggestions for Ruger 10/22

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