Sporting clays coming to CFC

B

bradu

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
Location
Calgary, AB
Hi all,

I'm sure a good number of you already know or have suspected that the equipment from the recently closed Brooks club is making its way to the Calgary Firearms Center. For those of you that didn't/don't, I was out at CFC for a bit this afternoon and one of the fellows that works out there mentioned that are getting that equipment and will be setting up an SC course below (North of) the Trap field. Apparently the plan will be to alternate days for trap and SC once it's in place. No info yet on what it'll cost to shoot a round but I suspect it will be substantially less than Silver Willow. Sounds like they will have golf carts available as well. For one, I am really looking forward to seeing it come to life, much closer for me to get there as compared to driving up to Silver Willow.

:cheers:
Brad
 
Last edited:
Excellent, glad to hear that. I had heard AHEIA took over the assets from Clay's and Feathers.

I'll miss Clay's and Feathers in Brooks a lot, but I'm happy to see we aren't going to end up with a net loss on sporting clays ranges.
 
I can hardly wait. As much as I like the range at Silver Willow, $65.00/100 is outrageous. Sporting Clays numbers seem to be dropping. $Cost$ sure is a factor.
 
Covey Ridge said:
I can hardly wait. As much as I like the range at Silver Willow, $65.00/100 is outrageous. Sporting Clays numbers seem to be dropping. $Cost$ sure is a factor.
Click to expand...

:agree:

I can't say I've shot at Silver Willow yet, but I'd certainly agree that their pricing is more than just a little steep.
 
Silver Willow is a superior sporting range. It is also a family owned and operated business. Owners, Don and Gwen day are really nice people and I am glad at the success of their business. They offer target prices cheaper than the $65.00/100 but it involves a membership fee and prepayment for targets. One has to shoot quite a few targets to make the membership worth while. The range is very popular among the very competitive and to some the cost is not an issue. I like to shoot and I wish I could shoot at SW more often. To stretch my shooting $dollar$ I mostly practice on a skeet or a trap range. The aheia range is not a family run business and they seem to be dedicated to fishing and hunting and include many shooting sports. I sure hope that they can provide sporting targets for a similar price to their trap and skeet targets.
 
Let's not forget Silver Willow is a family run business and the objective is to make a profit. I have no idea of how many rounds of SC are shot there in a year but there are only about 5 months a year when the weather is good enough to drop in and shoot. Excluding the various SC events he hosts, lets say there are 1000 rounds in the season which equates to $65,000 in revenue. Considering they throw rabbit, mini, midi and battue targets in addition to regular targets, that there is a "show me" set of targets for every group of shooters (and some will do more than 1 "show me"), there is target breakage and some people shoot extra targets without paying for them. Cost for targets is a minimum of $15, maybe $18 per round so target cost is in excess of $15,000 per year. There needs to be at least one person on site for at least 10 hours who needs to be paid. There is another $15,000 minimum per year. I have no idea what liability and property insurance costs are but based on what our club pays, I can't see it being less than $5,000 per year and maybe $10,000. There is property and business tax to pay as well as GST collected on the cost of a round. Silver Willow must have invested a minimum of $125,000 in machines, solar panels, batteries, cables, enclosures and spare parts. There another $200,000 minimum in club house and shooting infrastructure, not including land. If that investment is recovered over 10 years, you can see that there is basically nothing left from the $65,000 in revenue. The only way to make a profit from this simplified business model is to have much more than 1000 shooters per year and to host a number of competitions and corporate events. Then if they do make a profit, the tax man is first in line. Not sure I would leave my day job to start a SC club.
 
salter, I think that the objective of any business should be to provide a service that will allow the business to see a profit. At $65.00/100 no one should scratch their heads and wonder why the sport is not attracting many new shooters or wonder why many of the shooters they have are not staying.
 
How the heck did CFC getting equipment from Brooks turn into a SW bashing thread. Way to go, someone spends hundreds of thousands to set up a target range to hopefully break even at a minimum and all they get is abuse. If you don't like it go somewhere else and shoot. By the way prices are similar province wide.

I enjoyed our trips to Brooks and will sadly miss them. Thank you Clays and Feathers, we had a lot of good times on your range.
 
SW Bashing thread? WTF! Who is bashing or is bashing simply a term used for complaining about high prices? Check the numbers for the last couple years and see which way attendance is going. It does not take a genious to figure it out. I said SW does offer a superior product and I am not against Don and Gwen making a good living but the cost is just too much for some to enjoy the sport. I look forward to what the CFC will have to offer. BTW hillbillyreefer, many of us do shoot somewhere else. Other than a few shoots we only attend SW to shoot non competative or practice just a couple times a year. I am not asking Don and Gwen to lower their price, but I am saying that at their currant price I will not be buying.
 
It was NOT my intention to bash Silver Willow in any way! Just letting folks know what I learned on my last visit to CFC, that is all!

Silver Willow is a very nice facility and I'm glad they are there. I too will likely shoot a few rounds a year there regardless of the price, but CFC is much closer (for me) and will very likely be less costly. Being as close to Calgary as they are, CFC get's enough business that it's easier for them to charge less (economies of scale).

Fact is, it's kinda like comparing a luxury sedan to a compact. I'd love to drive a BMW but (as my budget dictates) a VW does just fine for me...
 
so where is closest sporting clays to brooks now?very depressed:( and what are they going to do with the land make a lead mine
 
bradu said:
Hi all,

I'm sure a good number of you already know or have suspected that the equipment from the recently closed Brooks club is making its way to the Calgary Firearms Center. For those of you that didn't/don't, I was out at CFC for a bit this afternoon and one of the fellows that works out there mentioned that are getting that equipment and will be setting up an SC course below (North of) the Trap field. Apparently the plan will be to alternate days for trap and SC once it's in place. No info yet on what it'll cost to shoot a round but I suspect it will be substantially less than Silver Willow. Sounds like they will have golf carts available as well. For one, I am really looking forward to seeing it come to life, much closer for me to get there as compared to driving up to Silver Willow.

:cheers:
Brad
Click to expand...
Do you know if the SC range will be up and running this summer?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom