A Day At The Range, What's A Good "Dollar Value"?

[HI629]

A local charitable organization has approached myself and my hunting buddy and asked if we would donate a our time, use of our firearms and ammunition. They would like us to put together a "Day At The Range" that will be put out to bid as a "once in a lifetime" type thing for their silent auction. The event is an annual one that raises money for scholarships for area children. We have a bunch of ammunition that we have no problem parting with, as well as a nice collection of firearms. There has been increased interest in community members wanting to shoot various handguns, shotguns and rifles that they hear about and see on television. We do have liability waivers and will do our best to ensure that they aren't "prohibited persons".

We're wondering how to price such an experience, as we're not in the business. Local ranges charge a rental fee per gun plus the cost of ammo. We were thinking of letting them choose several guns and shoot for half the day at an outdoor range that we have access to (no range fee for use of the range). Any ideas on how to put a dollar value on what we have to offer? Most times the winning bidder pays just under the retail value of a product or service if it's something that they use on a regular basis, and for "once in a lifetime" type events, have paid twice the "estimated value". For example, last year I attended the event and bid on a hunting adventure in a foreign country. One of the organization's board members owns a huge piece of property and offered the experience for a hunting party of 4 or less. My buddy and I bid on it for the estimated value. We were shocked when the winning bid was double what we had bid, and were told that this is common for "once in a lifetime" type offers.

We'd like to see the organization get as much money as possible, but at the same time want to be accurate in pricing. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

[Iowa #1603]

A local gun dealer did this as a way to get people out to shoot and possibly buy guns.

$50...............................got you 5 rounds through any of about 50 guns from Glock's, Kimber's, and about any pistol to AR's in .22. It turned out to be a rainy day so I didn't attend.

Plus they had lunch on grounds


My problem with doing something like this is insurance. ...............people are very litigious.

[M1garand]

I and my fellow instructors have donated time, classroom lectures, equipment and ammo to local 4H and Scouts (our club donated range time and range officers). It turned out to be a huge success and became pretty much yearly thing.

I've never charge any money, so can't say I can guide you to the right direction, but this is something that you should discuss with folks who are running the event. Also, depending on how exotic your toys are, people will bid on their own to get prize up high.

Good luck and great to hear that there are others spreading the good preachings of gun-fu.

[PaxSR9]

You might put one price on for shooters with experience and a second price for people who "want to test the waters" by adding in the First Steps Pistol class. The classes I team teach at are only a cost of $40 (which includes ammo and pistols). If they've never shot before then you may have frustrated people on your hands. The First Steps classes are only four hours and the shooting portion of the class is seated. After the class you can take them out and shoot for a couple of hours.

Make sure that you have the winners sign a waiver before they even touch eyes and ears.

You might want to factor in the initial cost of the ammo, your time later in cleaning all the weapons used and how much interest there is in your area for shooting. If you come from a shooting city/state then the cost might not be as high. But if your area isn't then you might be able to get a couple more dollars for the event.

You might also want to think about a women's only event as well. Women's only classes are hugh in my area. We always fill our classes. When women find out that the class is taught by women for women they get very excited about the idea.

[just joe]

Is this a private range or a police range? Do you have permission to do this? In addition to the waiver, check with your insurance carrier.

[HI629]

Is this a private range or a police range? Do you have permission to do this? In addition to the waiver, check with your insurance carrier.

It's a private range for a gun club that I'm a member at. They're cool with us doing this as long as we're doing it for charity and cleaning up after ourselves. I'm a NRA TC and my buddy is a NRA Instructor in several disciplines. We checked with our insurance carrier and they said we should be covered as long as we get the appropriate waivers signed and follow the standard procedures as if we were doing a class or other exhibition.

Some of the requests we had were to shoot our S&W .500, H&K MP5 (semi-auto version) and my buddy's Barrett .50 BMG. I was amazed that some women have asked if we would offer the opportunity to shoot the AK-47 and Tommy Gun since they saw "Athena" shoot them on "Top Shot".

It looks like it will be a popular item. As a separate item, we're offering several NRA Basic classes (Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun and Muzzleloading Rifle).

[just joe]

Just trying to make sure you get all of your CYA bases covered. Good luck with the event.