Fort Riley Range available for personal weapons

Range 4, when not used as a grenade qualification range, is the Fort Riley privately owned firearms range and is open nearly every weekend.

"If the other ranges are hot it isn't a problem as long as it isn't interfering with anything here," said Bob Forman, volunteer range master. "We have rifle deer season and when we have a major exercise the entire impact area is shut down here. Additionally, of course, military training has priority if they are training on the weekend -- which is not a problem with us."

Forman and several of the other range masters have been with the volunteer-led range for nearly 15 years, he said.

Weapons aficionados can fire everything from a hand gun to a .50-caliber rifle on range while shooting at targets from 50 meters to about 1,000 meters -- both paper and steel -- with a gap between 350 and 800 meters due to the terrain, Forman said.

Shotguns are also welcome on the range, Forman said. Just let the range master know when checking in so they can give a different target.

All privately owned weapons need to be registered with Fort Riley prior to coming to the range.

"We do check them," Forman said. "It's not that hard to get them registered."

This is important because Fort Riley Regulation 190-1 reads:

• Military personnel who fail to comply with this regulation are subject to judicial or non-judicial action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or appropriate administrative action.

• Government employees and civilians who violate this regulation may be subject to prosecution in the United States District Court, barred from post, referred to civilian authorities, and/or subject to disciplinary and administrative action according to federal laws and regulations.

• Weapons used, possessed, transported or stored in violation of this regulation may be temporarily seized or permanently confiscated.

• Legally owning National Firearms Act (Class III) weapons does not authorize their use on the installation.

• It is unlawful for any person to: (1) Fail to register, store, or transport a firearm on the installation in accordance with this regulation. (2) Possess an item on the installation that is prohibited by this regulation.

• Any violations will be investigated and forwarded to the appropriate authorities for action.

Gun owners can register their weapons at the Visitor Control Center, Henry Gate, by requesting a Fort Riley Form 102-1.

Forman said the range operates like most military ranges, with safety first, as he gave the brief to Sgt. Austin Smith, medic, 299th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.

Smith, a first time visitor to the range, was there to fire his 1874 Sharps .45-70 rifle.

"It's wonderful," he said of the range. "I absolutely enjoy it. It's awesome we have the guys like him that will come out here and open up the range for the Soldiers. I thoroughly enjoy that they open it up for the Fort Riley community."

Smith said he heard of the range through its Facebook page, and was pleased with the fast response times and information available.

"They are always updating it, who the range safeties are going to be," he said. "They messaged me back and told me all the details I needed to know about the range and how to get out here safely."

The best part, Smith said -- the price, free.

"It's a huge bonus," he said.

The range is family friendly with tables and chairs available for shooters to work on sighting in their rifles or scopes.

With children present, the range masters slow the rate of fire to one round a second to keep it safer. They also ask to make sure if a child is shooting that they are shooting something they can handle, Forman said, referring to instances of first-time shooters firing too large of a rifle.

"It's no fun for the kids," he said. "You have to think about that. We tell them, 'the kid's not having any fun, how 'bout you come back tomorrow and shoot. But, right now your child's not having any fun.'"

Forman, who was a teacher after leaving the military, likes when the children come to the range.

"When families come out it's fun," he said. "The kids, we ensure the parents are in charge of them. If they are smaller children the range master will make the decision. If you go down range your child goes down range with you. I've got a number of years as a school teacher, so it's kind of fun to brief the children, 'OK, now you are in charge of your parents.' And they have a lot of fun."

For those looking to volunteer at the range, Forman said the group would like to know.

"We've had range masters who are active-duty military," he said. "We like to get those guys, they PCS a lot but if we can get the staff sergeant or higher with a range certification out of Range Control we sure would like to sign them up."