CSS Facility Manager Doug Long
The Tribune brought you the news first about Cullman Shooting Sports. Now, take a look inside.
CULLMAN – When Cullman Shooting Sports (CSS) opens its new state-of-the-art facility, it will likely be the only one of its kind in the country. Its 110-yard indoor rifle range will be the longest indoor gun range in the Southeast and the longest, above-ground, public range in the nation (the current record-holding indoor above-ground range is 101 yards); and its equipment will allow activities from digital video game style shooting in a simulation room, to tactical live-fire exercises against programmable moving targets on the pistol and rifle ranges. Manager Doug Long foresees CSS helping Cullman become a regional or even national center for shooting sports.
The range, which is already under construction, will be located at the intersection of Alabama Highways 157 and 69.
The Tribune toured the CSS site this week with Long, who shared information and pointed out coming features as we walked through the different areas under development. The facility will include:
- Climate-controlled ranges with air filtration. Long: “The air handlers are massive, the air conditioning system that also filters out the lead, the gunpowder, and everything else in the air. What you breathe inside this place will be cleaner than anything you breathe outside. Because the air handling system actually puts a negative pressure in here so nothing in here ever gets out, you have to pass through an airlock to get into the pistol chamber or the rifle chamber.”
- Eight 110-yard rifle lanes. Long: “These are 6- and 8-inch tilt-up concrete walls; they tested these at about 6,000 psi. No real worry about anything getting out. Our bullet trap down at the end is rated for .50 BMG (.50 caliber Browning machine gun cartridge), though we’re not going to allow .50 BMG; .338 Lapua, .308–that’s fine.”
- Nine 25-meter lanes for rifle or pistol use. Long: “The pistol range is also rifle rated. We’re using the exact same materials in there that we are in (the rifle range).”
- The ranges will feature automatic target movement and retrieval systems. Long: “We actually sunk the main amount of money (for range equipment) into our retrieval system. We went with their (Action Target brand) absolute top of the line all-wheel drive retriever system that’s wireless, so it goes down, it’s got the turning targets: it’ll do tactical training, it’ll do shoot/don’t shoot targets, it will rush you. You can tell it to do whatever. It’s a very, very cool system.”
- The ranges will also have adjustable firing benches that are 3-feet deep to accommodate rifle sleds, with lips on the leading edges to accommodate bipods. Long: “Something completely different from most ranges: our tables will actually adjust in height, all the way from prone up to sitting. It’s going to have touch screen controllers on all of these in the rifle and pistol ranges.”
- Noise reduction built into the structure of the building. Long: “Outside of these (range) walls, we’ll have about a 6-inch air gap in between the walls, and then we’re putting up block walls all the way around this. That’s for noise. That vapor barrier is the perfect noise killer. We’re trying to do everything above standards. We’ve spent extra money to purchase sound-absorbent material; all the way around behind the firing line and about 12 yards in front will be sound-absorbing material. There’s no noise ordinances out here, but we want to be good neighbors.”
- Two virtual firearm training simulator rooms, using immersive and interactive technology from Ti Training Corporation. Long: “Kids can go in and pop balloons with a plastic gun that’s almost like a Nintendo; but the parents can go in there, and I can put them in a home invasion situation.”
- Firearms rental for onsite use, for customers who want to try before they buy. Long: “If you’re coming in and looking to buy a firearm, you can rent the ones you want to try out and see if you actually like it before you buy. The last thing we want is for someone to buy a gun, get it home, and go ‘Oh, I hate that.’”
- Conference rooms for classes, as well as private and corporate rentals. Long: “It could be for a church group that wants to come in and have a party, or a birthday party; we can have it set up for a bachelorette party! It’s for team-building; it’s for corporations. You come in, we cater in a meal, and they all go out on the range together or the simulator room. Those will also serve as our larger classrooms for hunter safety, or AR-15 maintenance, or beginners’ shooter classes. We can configure it in just about any format.”
- Lounge where shooting enthusiasts can just hang out and socialize. Long: “We’re hoping to partner with local restaurants to come in and do catering; maybe food trucks to come in. Our lounge area is just a place for people who love guns to sit down, drink a cup of coffee, talk and watch videos. We’re not going to have a lot of paper signage; we’re going to have digital screens all around.”
- Retail store featuring most major firearm brands. Long: “We’re going to have six pistol cases that go all the way around. They’ll be fully walk-around cases, and then we’ll have rifles on the wall. A whole different feel of a gun store. We’re not going to have counters. You’re not going to walk into our place and have two guys with their arms crossed, looking at you like ‘Let’s see how we can humiliate this one.’ This is going to be very new shooter-friendly, very woman-friendly; plus we’re going to make the established shooters feel right at home.”
- Eventually a 25-meter tactical range, where shooters don’t have to stay on a firing line. They will be able to fire from a regular firing line, and also move downrange all the way to the bullet trap while engaging targets at multiple ranges in the same firing exercise.
CSS is a subsidiary of Arming Freedom, a longtime Cullman firearms corporation.
“This is a dream of many years,” said Long. “We’ve done a lot of research, a lot of diligence, finding out exactly what we could do, making something that’s going to be the best facility available. Cullman deserves that. Cullman should be the shooting destination for the Southeast, if not the nation. This is going to be the premier training facility in the Southeast. This is going to be the place where you can learn how to shoot, or learn how to shoot better. No wasted ammo here.”
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