Northern VA Pistol ranges that...

Does anyone know of any pistol ranges in Northern VA that have handguns to "rent" and try some out? Im turnin 21 in 2 weeks and my present to myself is to get my concealed carry. Dad has a 9mm that im not particularly fond of. i have a 357 that i love but that has a 6 or 7" barrel and would not be suitable for concealed carry. he also recently came across a glock 9mm and a beretta 45acp for 100 buck total that im going to shoot when i get home. basically i just want to shoot some other pistols and find out what i like. i couldnt find any ranges online that said they had pistols to lend out. unless they just dont advertise it online?

And i know im treading into dangerous water here but would you rather have a 45 or 40 to carry? recoil is not too much of an issue since i have been shooting anything that goes bang since i was like 6

 

It's well known that I'm a .45 guy (mostly because I really like the 1911 platform), but I know a lot of competition shooters using the .40 for higher mag capacity. I hear they're nearly equal when it comes to stopping power, but if you can't put rounds on target... well, let's just say there is no second place. If you CAN hit well with your weapon, you probably won't need 15 rounds.

Bottom line is to first find a platform you're comfortable with, then a caliber you can shoot accurately.

 

I know these guys have rentals:

http://www.blueridgearsenal.com/

 

just looked at the site. it looks like you have to be a member to shoot there. i did not realize it was so expensive to shoot at an indoor range. used to just goin to an outdoor range and just shootin.... this is also a weird feeling to be looking for a gun to rent....

 

I know here in TN there are several ranges. You can pay by the hour or half hour and they all offer rentals.
The membership usually gets you a discount or makes the range cheaper if you average out the number of times you go.
For example. I was able to get a membership at a local range for $145 for the year. This allows my wife and I to use two lanes at the same time and if lanes are not full we can shoot as long as we want. IF they are full it is hour time limit, but I don't get paid enough to shoot longer than hour unless it is a .22. Normally it is $12 a lane per person and we go about 2x a month. Also get 5% off anything we purchase. (Half tax basically for us).

 

i dont think you have to be a member but i think you will have to wait til your 21st to even rent one but not sure bout that.

 

When I lived in VA, I shot a couple of times at Blue Ridge Arsenal. I was not a member. That was a long time ago tho...

 

You don't have to be a member to shoot at Blue Ridge, I think range time is around $20 an hour.

 

I shot at Blue Ridge as a non-member a couple years ago and remember them renting pistols. Not as nice a facility as the NRA range down the street, but then they don't rent guns there.

 

Still the case... A few folks at work went there a month or so ago. Guns are well used, from what I was told. You looking for something specific to shoot?

 

Does anyone here still go to Blue Ridge? I'm a member there. If you ever see the blue tacoma with the spidertrax sticker on the sliding glass window thats me.