THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606170229
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL
Staff Writer
LENGTH: 96 lines
OVER ON Dare County's mainland, there's a new sound joining the whistling of the birds, the croaking of the frogs, the whine of radio-controlled airplanes at a hobbyists' field and the roar of trucks dumping debris at the landfill.
It's the loud crackle and pop of gunfire.
The Outer Banks Gun Club's shooting range, the only public range on Dare County's portion of the Outer Banks, is open for business.
For a fee, visitors can shoot handguns and rifles at stationary targets, or blast shotguns at small, moving targets in a game called sporting clays.
``It's a quality place for shooters to come,'' said William H. Beadling, a retired Army colonel who has lived on the Outer Banks for 22 years.
Beadling, a former captain of the U.S. International Muzzle-Loading Shooting Team, helped establish the gun club about seven years ago because there was little outlet for Outer Banks gun enthusiasts. There were 100 charter members, who began working on getting a range established.
As the club's membership grew, so did county officials' recognition that gun owners needed a place to shoot. The only range was a small one, reserved for law enforcement officers, in Nags Head.
County commissioners agreed to give the club 25 acres outside of Manns Harbor, adjoining the landfill and a field that radio-controlled aircraft owners use as a mini-airport. In exchange, county sheriff's deputies can use the range for free.
The club also got $50,000 in federal money to improve the property, which paid for a graveled driveway and for club members to erect some shelters over the shooting stalls of the pistol and rifle ranges. Club members contributed the money to purchase a metal tower, with mechanical arms mounted all over it, for launching the clay disc targets used in sporting clays.
The range opened in July 1994.
Tourists are starting to find the place. Beadling said he's received calls from vacationers, wanting more information about the range. The Tourist Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce are advertising the range as one of Dare County's attractions.
Gradually, Beadling and his club are carving a first-class shooting facility out of the barren fields, with the rugged moonscape of the landfill visible in the distance. There is a covered picnic area where shooters are offered hamburgers and hotdogs on weekends when there are tournaments.
The club invested in realistic, life-sized rubber animals - bears and deer and other species - which are placed in a field and in some nearby woods for archery targets. Archers can ``hunt'' the fake beasts.
Sometime in the near future, club members will complete construction on a small building with restrooms that will have running water. The only toilet now is inside a rough trailer that the club uses for storage. The trailer is not hooked up to a water system, so flushing requires hauling in water in a bucket and pouring it into the toilet bowl.
One of the highlights of the place is the sporting clays range.
Sporting clays is similar to skeet shooting, except the clay discs are thrown by a mechanical arm to mimic the running and flying patterns of wildlife, such as ducks or rabbits.
The challenge for shooters is to react as they would in the wild, lifting the gun to their shoulders, zeroing in on an unpredictable target, firing and hitting it. The difference is that most of the clay targets are only about as big as a saucer, smaller than a real animal would be, and sometimes faster.
In a typical round of sporting clays, shooters take aim at 50 targets. The goal is to hit as many targets as possible.
It's not easy.
Beadling takes a bit of perverse pride in the fact that the best score for male shooters was 43 targets; no one's come close since. The women's record is 35 targets.
``It's fun because we get some hot shots in here, skeet shooters, saying, `I can shoot 49 or 50,' '' Beadling said. Afterwards, ``They're crying, `It's not fair.'
``This is challenging,'' he said. ``This is different.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color] Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Larry Roush, 61, of Manteo, takes aim at a target at the Outer Banks
Gun Club Shooting Range on the Dare County mainland.
SHOOTING SPOTS
Where: On the Dare County mainland outside of Manns Harbor, off
of U.S. 264.
Cost: For shooters who are not members of the Outer Banks Gun
Club, it's $5 per day to shoot at the pistol or rifle ranges.
Targets are free. It's $15 for non-members to shoot a 50-target
round of sporting clays. Club members, who pay $25 in annual dues,
can use the pistol or rifle ranges for free and can shoot sporting
clays for $10 per round.
What you'll need: Bring your own gun and ammunition, if you have
them. If not, gun club volunteers working at the range generally
have guns for people to borrow. Also bring eye protection and some
kind of ear plugs or muffs. Bug spray is a good idea.
Hours: Most of the range's business is on the weekends from 8:30
a.m. to 5 p.m., although club volunteers will accept reservations
for shooting parties on weekdays. It's a good idea to call ahead and
let volunteers know you're coming.
Phone: Col. William H. Beadling, Outer Banks Gun Club president,
at home, 441-6512, or at the range, 473-6655. by CNB