All posts by Kevin

100 Yard Bay CLOSED this weekend & next week. 25 & 200 yard bays available on WEEKEND ONLY.

Alright folks, here’s the latest. Construction suffered a small delay initially on Monday and Tuesday due to some rain, but we continued with the work to get things moving. These photos are from Wednesday evening, before all the ghouls and ghosts came out to trick-or-treat. As you can see, a lot of work has been completed. I just got back from the range again a short moment ago, and the remaining concrete columns have been poured and are setting up now.

In order to make sure the fresh concrete cures correctly and is not damaged by bullets inadvertently, the 100 yard bay will remain CLOSED this Saturday and Sunday. Yes, this also means for the regularly scheduled Steel match this Sunday. The Steel match and general shooters are free to use the 25 yard and 200 yard bays, but NOT the 100 yard bay. There is plenty of tape across the length of the entire bay, so don’t go through it to shoot!

Resuming Monday, our construction crew will continue with the dirt work and completion of the project, probably on Thursday or Friday. What does this mean for you? We will still be shut down on weekdays until this project is complete. It’s a lot of dirt to move and a lot of concrete has been poured. Let’s not muck it up by putting bullet holes into the repaired infrastructure. 🙂

Our existing steel support framework was under some serious pressure and many of the connecting joints were damaged. Additional steel still needs to be welded in to support the connection points and ensure a sturdy and safe environment to contain all bullets when they go downrange.

This column might not look like much here, but it’s actually 8 feet tall and most of it is buried in the dirt. So once it’s complete, our roof should be anchored nicely and we shouldn’t have to worry about shifting footings any more.Look how straight it is now! Beforehand, it was sagging in a few spots and the steel in spots was under so much pressure, connectors had broken or were damaged. Backside view, showing just how much earth has been excavated in order to auger out an 8 foot column and get it lined up properly with our existing roof line. wider brackets installed to spread the load a bit more and ensure a more secure connection between the roof and the supports.  Here’s what the temporary supports looked like as the structure was jacked up and leveled out before columns were bored out for concrete Nice and straight now! Old supports, now replaced with 8 foot columns.

Upcoming Range Shutdown For Repair Work

Dear Club Members, 2 points:
 
1. The November scheduled meeting falls on Election Day, but I am not working this election cycle, so we will have our November Club meeting as usual on the first Tuesday of the month, November 6th @ 7:30pm. Doors should open approximately 7pm.
 
2. We have been working in the background on several projects for some time and at the October monthly meeting, we voted to allocate funds towards the repair work of the 100 yard backstop. This repair work will require heavy equipment and workers standing atop the 100 yard berm. As such, we will be shutting down the range completely during repair operations. This means no one will be allowed to use the facilities while repair work is ongoing.
As it stands now, we are planning on shutting the Club down October 22-26 and October 29-November 2. This will allow 10 weekday workdays for the construction crew to address the issue and hopefully complete the repair work. If the work is complicated by inclement weather or other conditions, we will have to extend this time frame.
 
Note that this repair work is schedule for WEEKDAYS ONLY. You will still be allowed to enter and use the gun range on Saturday and Sunday. Most of our Club members primarily shoot on the weekend, and scheduled matches will still occur. This shouldn’t interrupt too many people’s schedules, but for those who shoot on weekdays, sorry – no way around it. We have a safety issue and we’re going to address it.
 
Our hope is that this repair work will satisfactorily address the shifted pylons and sagging roof in spots of the bullet catcher down range.
 
I’ll review repair work periodically as it’s occurring and take pictures to share on the website so you may stay apprised of the ongoing work. Stay tuned for that.
 
REPEAT
RANGE CLOSED OCTOBER 22-26 & OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 2.
THIS MEANS YOU.
Saturday & Sunday Range will still be open for use.

CPR Certification Course this October 13th – SIGN UP NOW!!

October 13, Saturday @ 8:30am-2:00pm
Your Pharr Gun Club is happy to sponsor the American Red Cross certification entitled “Adult and Child First Aid/CPR”.  The American Red Cross First Aid/CPR program helps participants recognize and respond appropriately to cardiac, breathing and first aid emergencies. The courses in this program teach the knowledge and skills needed to give immediate care to an injured or ill person and to decide whether advanced medical care is needed.  Certification valid for two years.
 
Date:                                   Saturday, October 13, 2018
Time:                                   8:30 AM to 2:00 PM
Place:                                  Pharr Rifle and Pistol Club
Cost:                                    $65.00 Member, $85 Non-member
Prerequisite:                      PRPC Membership Card 
Maximum Class:               10 participants (Minimum 4 participants)
Program:                            Instructor Led
                                             Videos and Skill Drills
                                             Skill Competency
                                             Written Exam
 
Contact to register …
Instructor:                          Steve Shimotsu
Mobile:                               956-793-1164
Email:                                  shimotsu@swbell.net

3 points of interest

1:
We have completed the NRA Range Safety Officer course 2 weeks ago on July 28th and completed the Chief Range Safety Officer course yesterday and today. Your humble Club President was out at the Club all day yesterday and today and I have just completed the Club membership applications for the past few sessions and NRA forms for submission in the mail tomorrow. Following that will be a visit to the bank.
 

2:

we only have ONE remaining renewal date left in August. That date is August 19th, the regular 3rd Sunday of the month at 1pm, which is NEXT WEEK. If you have not yet had the chance to renew your membership, try to make it on out that Sunday, or you will have to wait until September. Avoid the rush! There are no further Express Renewal Sessions that were originally scheduled for 10am on Saturdays. Instead, we are holding different NRA certification courses for those interested. The NRA changed their registration process for courses, and our original plans for classes in July got pushed forward to August instead, conflicting with some of the Express Renewal dates.

 

3:

Upcoming NRA Certification courses are available as follows:
August 18: NRA Basic Rifle Course @ 8am-5pm
August 25: NRA Instructor Rifle w/BIT Course @ 7am-7pm
August 26: NRA Instructor Rifle w/BIT Course @ 7am-5pm
 
You will NEVER get a lower price for these courses than these particular ones. Take advantage.
 
In order to attend, you MUST register online! To register for these classes proceed to https://www.nrainstructors.org/Search.aspx and click each course box desired. 
 
In the RIFLE section, check the 
We still have a few seats available for these two courses, but we really need to max them out so we can recoup the costs for the NRA materials and ensure we have a good class of students. In order to take the Instructor Class on the 25th & 26th, you MUST also have taken or schedule to take the Basic Rifle course on the 18th.
 
Good night and Godspeed.
 

August Calendar

All Club Members,

 
It has been a heck of a month! As a reminder for those who didn’t see the prior email, the Club newsletter had a typo that didn’t get caught until after printing. The August 1st date was listed incorrectly as Tuesday. This means all the dates for events were wrong. Well, here is a clear and concise listing as best as I have been able to gather to show you all the functions we are having in August. It’s a BUSY month. The NRA changed their Instructor registration system, so all the courses we had scheduled for July had to be pushed forward to August. The Saturday morning Express Renewal Sessions conflict with some of these dates. On the days of conflict, the Express Renewal Session will be CANCELLED for that day, but I’ve still got 4 dates for renewals and brand new joining members.
 
So, here is the schedule for people wishing to renew their membership or join in the month of August
 
August 4: Express Renewal Membership Session @ 10am
August 5: 1st Sunday Membership Session @ 1pm
August 7: 1st Tuesday Monthly Meeting & Membership Session @ 7:30pm
August 12: Express Renewal Membership Session @ 3pm
 
If you want to renew your membership in August, these are the ONLY dates you will be able to do so. If you can’t make it, see you in September!
——————–
 
If you are interested in taking the NRA Certification courses, here are the August dates for the currently scheduled classes. 
 
 
July 28: NRA RSO Course @ 8am-6pm
August 11: NRA Chief RSO w/BIT Course @ 8am-6pm
August 12: NRA Chief RSO w/BIT Course @ 8am-2pm
August 18: NRA Basic Rifle Course @ 8am-5pm
August 25: NRA Instructor Rifle w/BIT Course @ 7am-7pm
August 26: NRA Instructor Rifle w/BIT Course @ 7am-5pm
 
In order to attend, you MUST register online! To register for these classes proceed to https://www.nrainstructors.org/Search.aspx and click each course box desired. 
 
In the RIFLE section, check the 
and under SAFETY
specify your zip code and mile radius and click the SEARCH button. You should see the available listings and you can fill out the required online registration info.
 
In order to take the Instructor courses, you must take or have already taken the previous course. We will follow up for payment once the class lists are complete.

Range Is Open Again

All Club Members,

 
The Range is open again. Damaged electronics that were under water at the gate have been replaced and reinstalled. The 100 and  200 yard bays are sufficiently dry that you can walk down the bays, though there is still a small bit of water in the 100 that is lower than our drainage pipe so has not drained away. There’s a bit of mud walking up to the 50 yard backers, but not much.
 
The 25 yard bay is still wet and muddy. You’re welcome to try it out yourself, but I’d still give it a week to dry out fully So you don’t tromp mud around.
 
Mosquitoes have not been a big issue. There are a metric ton of baby frogs inside near the muddy spots, so as long as they are around, mosquitoes won’t be too bad, but you should still have some bug spray handy just in case. Take some baby frogs home to the kids and watch them grow up.
 
Caught a typo in the Calendar after printing. The August frame is correct on the days, but off by one on the correct date numbers. Just shift it forward by one.
 
See you Tuesday.

Water still in the 25 yard bay but the road is clear

Ok, so we still have water in the pistol bay, but Rancho Blanco Rd is clear now. The adjoining properties and low spots on ours still have water, as well as the borrow pit behind the 100 yard bay, which is a veritable lake right now.

I also heard on the radio coming home today that Hidalgo County Health department is expecting 6-8 weeks of standing water which means… mosquitoes Mosquitoes MOSQUITOES! And, other wildlife. You have standing water outside and you will be getting all the local fauna.

Here’s the pistol bay and 100 yard bay, which is mostly clear of water except for a small pool on the left.

 

Here’s the borrow pit lake behind the bay right now as of Monday.

 

And yeah, we had electric damage up front, but I don’t want to even get into that right now.

Range closed until further notice due to flooding

Ok, posted on Facebook 2 days ago when it happened, but didn’t get it up here till now. Probably another couple days of drainage needed, as Ranch Blanco Is still shut down in front of us while crews are pumping water out of the area into the spillway. Well, here are some pics of the flooding. Check back in a day or two for updates.

The Clubhouse didn’t get any water damage on initial inspection, but the low points are still under water.