Feasibility of Gun Store/Range in the Boise Area

[BTL BRN]

My wife and I have recently returned from a few day trip up the the Boise area and we left very impressed with what we saw, we loved the Boise/Eagle area quite a bit. One of our goals in visiting was to survey the potential of starting up a gun store/range; we only saw one indoor range (Impact) and it was fairly busy but only went out to 25 yards. We were impressed with Hawktech arms, but most of the other stores didn't seem to be carrying too much quality gear. Perhaps some locals could shed some light on whether this might be a fool's errand or not? Ideally we would be able to run an outdoor range and host IDPA, IPSC, etc; or at the very least construct an indoor range that would extend to 50 yards and have a bit more affordable rates.

Thanks in advance!

[2hand]

Might get more response on local forums.

http://www.idahoguntalk.com/forum/

http://www.boiseshooters.com/index.php?action=forum

[wigbones]

I'm in Boise and I will agree that there aren't many stores carrying quality gear. I've done several builds in the past couple years and had to buy most of my higher end parts through online vendors and forums. I've used hawktech arms countless times, mostly as an ffl. I've built with parts from Noveske, BCM, Daniel Defense, Geissele, battle arms, etc. Other than a few Noveske parts that hawktech used to sell, I've had to go outside my local area for most of my build parts. Magpul products are easy to come by locally, but there don't seem to be many places specializing in higher end parts. Places like cabelas and sportsmans warehouse don't offer much for ar15 accessories either. I couldn't even purchase troy sights in fde locally for a build. It was black or nothing. Obviously my preference may differ from others, but I rarely buy locally anymore for ar15 related purchases just because I can't find the parts and brands that I'm interested in.

[T2C]

Have you checked on prices of bullet traps, baffles and a ventilation system?

[Vandal]

I grew up in Boise, parents still there. Impact is the only indoor range in the area. They have a few outdoor ranges, mainly Black's Creek and the public range in Canyon County. I'm spoiled by having 2 indoor and several outdoor ranges in the Spokane metro area. Impact is usually busy and the range is one of the dirtier indoor ranges I've ever been in. You could likely do a good business in the area with a good, reliable and clean range.

For some reason Boise seems to be a black hole for good gear., I can't figure out why with the various outdoor ranges and shooting sports going on there. My Dad either has me pick things up for him or he goes through online vendors.