Hi guys, I'm new to the forum. I'm in the Army and stationed at Fort Lewis. Glad to see that there's such a great shooting community here!

After owning several handguns for concealed carry, I finally got myself an AR and my buddy has a Barrett 0.50 cal among other rifles. With some downtime from work, we're looking to do some long distance shooting in Western WA. Aside from actual ranges in the area, are there any spots on national forest land that could accommodate shooting at 300 yds + ? Thinking of going out to Elbe at the honey hole listed on the map. Thank you in advance for any feedback !

-E

Welcome to the forum!



He would be my buddy too....

Welcome! The Elbe honey hole is max 100 yards. If you do go there, go early. It fills up quick with all kinds of dipshits. There are clear cuts further up at the top that you could get more range at, but no telling with the snow.

The West side of WA State is pretty difficult for LR shooting. Unless you join a "Club" with a 300 - 500 yard range you have to do some serious exploring to find land that's open, not posted, or next to houses. With most "Clubs" unless you're a member, or guest of a member, your pretty much limited to 100 yard distances. Worse yet, most of these ranges also ban the "50's" or any cartridge derived from the "50".

Eastern Washington has a lot more open spaces but this time of year they're all C-O-L-D!!!!

Thanks for the responses, guys! We'll do a recon of Elbe and check out the hilltop/high ground there.

JAN 24-26 I will be going to a back woods shoot not to far from the Fort, many Army brats and ex military shooters will be there for the weekend.
Plenty of long range shooting there, like as far as you can see a target in your spotting scope or more.
If you would like to go pm me

" Saturday, and there were many people out shooting guns, which I found a bit unnerving. They parked along the Durr Road north of Umtanum Creek, very near to where I parked."

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-repor ... 7193883199

It is rumored that in certain places on the hill at this location are "permanent" 500m and 1000m steel targets. Not hidden, per se, just have to know where to look (you will need glass).

once a month the tacoma sportsman club has a range out to 600 yrds, havnt been there during that time so not sure about .50 or membership, But on usual days you can pay a one day fee and shot out to 200 yards. It is off canyon road in spanaway
http://www.tacomassportsmensclub.com/default.aspx

Check Upper Nisqually Sportsman club in Eatonville, they have one day a month that is open out to 1,000 yards, I believe.

Out the back gate of JBLM it is not a bad drive.

The regular rifle range, is 400 and if you go up onto the hill a bit it is 550, but not sure if .50 is allowed on that range.

http://www.uppernisquallysportsmanclub.com/

http://www.tcsa.info/faq

checkout the shooting map at the top

Upper Nisqually also has a precision rifle competition one a month... I haven't been in a while, but they are shooting steel from 50-550 from all sorts of fun stuff like a roof mock up and baracades. If you interested let me know. I can get you on the email list. It's a ton of fun, nothing all that competitive and a great group of guys.

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What about Range 15 at JBLM? 300yd rifle range. Don't know if they allow 50 cal rifles.

New rules for Range 15, no magnum rifles on the range. Don't know if they consider a .50 a magnum or not.

Wait till late spring to early summer, head east on fs70. Once you've crested the west side of Cascades, many areas out past 1k yards, few dozen areas up to 500+ yards.
Low ground clearance vehicle will not work, but a car that sits reasonable should be fine.

This is exactly what I've been thinking. Just over pyramid pass it opens up quit a bit before making your way down into naches area. This is where I'll be heading this spring.