Let me tell ya about the Pine Tree Pistol Club...

I guess it all started at the Annual GAT Guns Factory Shoot in early March 2006. Per usual, Dave and I eagerly attended because where else can we try out dozens of guns for a few bucks (ammo) each?

While I normally despise GAT Guns' Range because unsafe firearm handling runs rampant there, their cost is high (almost $20 for an hour), and they're not the friendliest bunch. I always look forward to the factory shoot every year so I can meet and talk with some of the reps and see what's new for the year.

At some point, amongst all of the new 2006 catalogs I acquired, I ended up with a flier for a website called iCarry.Org.

Since it's a site about getting concealed carry in Illinois (a cause I feel deeply for), a few days later I checked it out.

Whilst reading many posts on their forum, I noticed some talk about a Pistol Club in Rockford. Apparently iCarry had their first meeting/discussion there prior to me finding the site.

Having absolutely no experience whatsoever with Gun Clubs, I decided to post and PM a barrage of questions. Those questions led to a phone conversation with the site's founder Shaun Kranish. He was probably sick of typing to answer my incessant questions so he PM'ed me his phone number and asked me to call him. I did so and learned even more about this place called Pine Tree and was extremely eager to check it out.

The following is some of the Q & A I've gleaned from the posts, PM's and the conversation with Shaun about the Pine Tree Pistol Club...
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Q: What is the annual membership fee?
A: $120 (raised to $156 in 2007)

Q: How many members do they have?
A: Somewhere between 350-400

Q: What's the minimum age to shoot? (can I bring my 9 or 12 year olds to shoot?)
A: The minimum age is nine.

Q: Per the Pine Tree Pistol Club Website... PTPC has no set hours of operation. Keys are issued to full members who may use the facilities at their convenience. Wow this is really exciting! Holidays and everything?
A: Once you are voted in as a member you are given a Proximity Card (like a key card) to get access to the facility. The card will unlock the door, and arm/disarm the alarm system. Members have 24 hour access to the ranges.

Q: So you can't shoot .22 Magnum, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .17 HMR, or .357 Sig? What do they have against magnums?
A: Magnums aren't allowed mainly because of the sound/concussion and wear on the backstops.

Q: After becoming a member is it REALLY free to shoot? or is it one of those "please donate" things?
A: Members pay annual dues. The only other fees are the $3 fee for each guest you bring (raised to $5 in 2007) You are encouraged to help out at the club if you can.

Q: Controlled Rapid fire allowed? Shooting at multiple targets allowed?
A: It's all about safety. Rapid fire is fine as long as you do it safely.

Q: The PTPC's Website mentions that you need to be Be voted in by Membership. How does this happen?
A: After you complete the NRA Basic Pistol Course, you can go up for membership vote as early as the the next General Meeting (First Tuesday of every Month). Pretty much as long as you are considered a safe shooter and no member/instructor has any issues with you joining, you will be voted in.

Q: The website mentions that you need to complete a minimum of 2 hours service at the Club. Doing what?
A: The 2 hours of service are part of the first year. After you become a member, you can volunteer at monthly work days (cleaning, changing light bulbs, fixing things, etc). You can also work gun shows, and help teach the NRA basic pistol class. There are unlimited opportunities for work hours. You can finish them whenever you want -- it's very easy.

Q: Some years ago I took an NRA Basic Pistol Class... can I use that certificate instead of having to take the class again?
A: No. You have to take the class at the club.

Other things of note:

They don't sell ammo but they do have plenty of targets for .10 each (honor system). They also have eyes and ears in case people need that or forget theirs.

It's a cold range, so guns must not be removed from their cases unless you're at the Safety Area or in the range... and when not shooting they must be unloaded and muzzles facing downrange.

Effective Sept 1, they are going to allow pistol caliber carbines on range 1 and 3.
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Based on this info... I was really interested to find out when the second iCarry meeting would be there so I could see this place first hand. That second meeting at Pine Tree never happened (different location) so Pine Tree was pretty much pushed to the back of my mind.

Then there was a post about a Utah CCW class in Rockford on Aug. 26th. Rockford you say? Hmmmm, I seem to recall Pine Tree being in Rockford. I was a little disappointed to learn that Pine Tree wasn't hosting the class but I decided to sign up for it anyway. The class was hosted at the home of a guy named Charlie, who also happens to be the V.P. of the Northern IL Rifle and Pistol Club. Yet another club I've never heard of and would like to check out.

The price of the class through iCarry was $85.00 and you had to add an additional $10.00 if you wanted to use this class as a requirement to getting the Florida permit as well. That part includes a live fire exercise at NIRPC so, of course, I wanted do it to see the range. $95.00 for both parts is quite the bargain actually when you compare the same exact class with the same exact teacher at GAT Guns for the price of... $150.00 with the Florida part.

A few days before the class I PM'ed a guy on the iCarry forum named Bob. He's the Treasurer for Pine Tree and agreed to meet me there after the Utah class and give me the grand tour.

I headed up to Rockford bright and early and thanks to my GPS I was able to find Charlie's house with no trouble.

The instructor, Paul Horvick, was absolutely outstanding. When he's not teaching about concealed carry or firearm safety, he's a teacher somewhere in Minnesota. You can learn more about him and his company here.

The live fire exercise was extremely easy. We shot 10 rounds (5 at a time) at NIRPC. That club is really in the middle of nowhere.

I was late getting out of the live fire exercise and I confused Rt. 20 with Bus. 20 but I eventually made it to Pine Tree... albeit almost a half hour late!

Thankfully, Bob waited for me. I was there for about 15 minutes. Towards the end of the tour, while I was asking him questions, there was a knock at the door. Some guy driving by saw cars in the lot and wanted to get a little tour himself. Bob obliged. I tagged along so I could look around some more. After, I thanked Bob and headed home. Confident that Pine Tree was right for me.

The next day I sent an e-mail to Pine Tree checking on availability for an opening in the upcoming Basic Pistol Safety Class ($75) on Sept. 9th and 16th. A couple days later, I was told there were still openings available. I sent off the $25 deposit and was officially locked in. Then it was just a waiting game till Saturday.

When the day finally arrived, I woke up earlier than I normally like to and headed West. After the hour ride (almost to the second) I headed inside.

I was the second one there. After 10 or so minutes the remaining students showed up. There were 7 in all... but Greg said there was supposed to be 8.

After filling out all of the paperwork and paying our money it was time for the class to begin.

We were given a Basic Pistol Shooting Handbook, NRA Gun Safety Rules Brochure, Basic Firearm Training Program Brochure, Flyer, and a Marksmanship Qualification Program Booklet.

We began with the NRA’s three fundamental three gun safety rules...

1. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
2. Always keep your finger off of the trigger until ready to shoot.
3. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

About an hour into the lecture, Student #8 showed up. He was positive that the class started at 9am. Greg explained that class always has started at 8am and pointed out that everyone else showed up on time... Greg sent him packing.

We went over Pine Tree’s range rules & they gave us a tour of the range.

We learned about the parts of a revolver and a semi-auto, we learned how a single action revolver, a double action revolver and a semi-auto pistol all work.

After a break we learned about the 6 fundamentals of pistol shooting... Position, Grip, Breath Control, Sight Alignment, Trigger Squeeze and Follow-through.

After a dominant eye exercise and a safety inspection of our handguns, it was off to the range.
We watched a cool demonstration on muzzle flash of a .38 vs. .357 (fun stuff with the lights out!) One proving the recoil of a .45 Auto is not so bad, and a kick ass demo showing us the difference of how smokeless powder burns compared to the way black powder burns.

Then it was time for hands on... we had to prove that we knew how to safely load and unload our handguns with snap caps and after practicing dry firing it was on to our first live fire exercise.... While sitting in a benchrest position we did a bit of load one, fire one, and repeat.

Once the instructor determined that we were safe enough to move to the next level we were then instructed to load five, shoot five, and repeat from a standing position.

Soon it was back to the class for some review discussion on ammunition, some talk about transporting firearms and the purchasing of firearms. We took a break for lunch somewhere in there and after some more range time and a section about cleaning, Day 1 was over. (I'm sure I'm missing some stuff but most of this is from notes I took and from memory)

On to Day 2...

Again... I don't like waking up that early! I headed to Pine Tree with a horrible stomach ache so I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Belvidere to get something to make it go away.

After a short review of the previous week, we headed to the range for some shooting fun. We learned about shooting sports, the NRA Qualification Program, Bullseye shooting, and got to watch a really cool IPSC demo. (as you can tell, I took less notes on the second class and can't remember the details of every section that was taught... and it doesn't help that I'm writing this a couple of weeks later.)

After our last round of "Shoot 5, reload, shoot 5 more, change out target" it was time for the test. There were 50 questions on the test. Multiple Choice & T/F. After the test we traded with our partner to grade. We all passed. Soon after we were given our Course Completion Certificate & Basic Practical Rocker. The class was over. Greg shook each of our hands and we were on our way.

So with the class behind me, I headed home. Actually, I think I went to Dave's afterwards. The wait began till October 3rd so I could go to the members meeting and get voted in.

On that Tuesday, I drove directly to Pine Tree from work. That drive, in rush hour took 90 minutes. Since it was only 6:30pm and the meeting didn't start until 8pm, I killed a bit of time in the parking lot with a cigar and Tom Gresham's Gun Talk on the iPod.

After the cigar I headed in and read the Pine Tree manual to kill time. Soon the room filled up with about 40-50 people and the meeting began. After the Pledge of Allegiance, last months meeting minutes were read, items on the agenda were discussed and after about an hour it was time for the new member canditates to introduce themselves. I was first to introduce myself. There were three total at this meeting.

After the introductions, we were sent to Range 2 while the members decided our fate. A few minutes later we were called back into the classroom and were congratulated and greeted as new members.

After the meeting was over, the head of membership showed us how to work our Prox Cards the alarm system.

After that, I headed home. A new member of the Pine Tree Pistol Club.

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(and yes, I probably used the word "After" 10,000 times... deal with it!)