Freedom Shooting Center ATL — Local services in Atlanta

Like most of the general public, my girlfriend & I knew about firearms only from what we saw from the movies & T.V. shows. Little did we know that many of the representations and demonstrations of firearms we had seen used in Hollywood and other forms of entertainment are mostly greatly misleading, inaccurate, and misrepresented as opposed to real life use. A commonality between all of our visits at Stoddard's from beginning to present is that we were greeted politely and treated well by all of their respective staff. Customer service at the Midtown location is top notch! Everyone that we had spoken to were knowledgeable about the products that they sold and I particularly made sure to ask many questions because of my genuine curiosity.

Safety is #1 priority to everyone there and this was the 1st thing we were taught and were constantly reminded of with every visit. They are very particular/strict about keeping you & everyone around you safe while handling + using any type of firearm (whether loaded or not). As evident in some reviews, some people find this annoying and a negative, but I welcome it as they are simply trying to make sure that everyone walks out alive out the door the same way they walked in.

My girlfriend & I both signed up and paid for 5 1 hour couple's instructional courses of how to operate and effectively use a pistol at the "Stoddard's Range & Guns" Midtown location. Our wonderful instructor was a gentleman that works there who is known as "The Cannon." With each lesson, we received and were taught in our own private section in the range separated from others to heighten our focus and have fewer distractions.

Cannon was phenomenal! He was extremely patient, thorough, and understanding with teaching both my girlfriend & me. It is important to keep in mind that we both had never used a firearm before so everything was completely new to us. We were naturally taking it very slow in terms of handling & using the firearm from our 1st - final course. It was frankly rather scary and intimidating in the beginning for both of us. Cannon didn't mind our slow approach and actually encouraged it as he wanted us to take our time and to move at our own pace. His teaching style is positive reinforcement and he will take his personal time and effort to show you how to perfect your technique and help you in your problem areas. With each lesson, he builds upon the last lesson to ensure that you advance further and get better!

Cannon's personality made it easier and surprisingly more eager to want to go back to the range to learn more from him! He is a youthful, easygoing, friendly, and funny person instead of the standoffish, abrasive, and elitist "tough guy" your mind could conjure up in terms of when you think of what a firearms instructor would be like. You can tell by the way he talks and acts that he genuinely loves his job and the passion is there when he's training you! With anything you're trying to learn, you have to be careful about who you learn from. My girlfriend & I can both confidently say that Cannon is the man to go to!

The amount that we improved in regards to our technique, self-confidence, and knowledge was nearly unbelievable to us by the end of our final instructional course. If it wasn't for Cannon, we would've stayed missing high and low to an unpredictable direction! The lessons weren't cheap, but in my opinion it is worth the money to learn from highly experienced individuals who can teach you their ways like...

I came here a couple of times this week to pass the time as I waited to meet some family at the nearby Piedmont Hospital. Overall, the staff runs a pretty tight ship to ensure that the occupants here are responsible and that they maintain a safe and controlled environment for people here to learn and shoot. I've had the chance to interact with Justin on both occasions and the rest of the staff seemed nice enough. They were even able to handle a return for me as the holster I had bought wasn't quite the right one that my mom wanted to use (unfortunately).

That said, my only complaint about this place is the pricing and quality of their rentals. The price for renting a firearm and a lane is fair, but I'm not a fan of their ammo pricing nor am I a fan of being required to purchase hearing protection rather than be able to rent hearing protection. No other gun range that I've been to requires you to purchase their hearing protection, and $50 for one box of .223 Remington seems a little ludicrous considering that the average price per cent for .223 Remington is about 40 to 45¢ per round if you know where to look. $1 per round is COVID-era pricing and frankly at that price these days, the bullet should hit the bullseye for me automatically with every trigger pull (it did not lol).

They do have a great selection of firearm rentals and again, the pricing for them is fair and what you'd typically expect, but I wish that they were better maintained. I rented a Cobalt Kinetics AR-15 Pistol with a Dead Air Sandman S suppressor. Great gun, very fun to shoot and lightweight! But the gun felt like it hasn't been maintained in a long time. The bolt carrier group was very dirty, and the buffer spring felt very weak. When I loaded my very first round into the chamber with a closed bolt, the bolt didn't go into battery so I had to clear that malfunction and try again. I realized that I'll need to feed fresh magazines with an open bolt as there's a lot of slop with the charging handle and bolt carrier group. I can't imagine how it would feel if you were a first time shooter that needed to clear a malfunction the second you try to shoot, especially one as dangerous as an out of battery malfunction. However, it's understandable that rentals can be in rough condition, especially the more popular ones.

That said, I have a simple proposal. I'm bored on weekends and love guns and don't have any ammo funds. Y'all should just call me to come in on a non-busy weekend and have me clean your rentals periodically - one box of the appropriate ammo for every gun that you want me to clean. I'd be more than happy to do it. LOL

Jokes aside (unless 👀), overall, I like this facility - it's a pretty good shooting range with some really interesting modern technology that frankly none of my gun ranges near me has. It has a vestibule with locking doors, modern target carriers with neat little terminals, and target carriers that you can actually tape your targets to. Pretty cool! If you bring your own ears, ammo, and guns and avoid as many fees as possible, you'll have a great time! The pricing isn't terrible, but compared to other ranges that I've been to,...

Great range and excellent people they make the difference. Great advantages if you get a membership. One surprise I found was the excellent gunsmith Serigo he is smart, fast and cares about his work. His prices are very competitive. He is an example of the super people at Stoddard's. They have an excellent stock of guns for sale and rent. It is a one stop shop for gun owners needs and their family fun.

I have an update to Stoddard's advantages --They have a great guy in charged of the Silencer program, Chris. He helped me jump thru the hoops of buying a silencer. They have the ability to take the finger print data and paperwork right there. Chris held my hand thru the process and I now have a silencer for my Sig. Super product and service from Chris at Stoddard's!!

I keep finding reasons why Stoddard's is a great Range and supplier of guns and accessories. The answer is "great people". They have several women that can help your wife, girlfriend or daughter feel at home at the Range. CeCe, Rose and Mary can assist and explain much better than the guys sometimes. The men and women are exceptional-add that to a great show room and range and it equals great safe fun.

Teaching an old dog new tricks--This May I found another thing great about Stoddard's Midtown. Some people can and others teach, I found a person who can do both. I found a great guy to teach me to be a better and safer shooter. He is fantastic at identifying problems and presenting solutions. He presents practical shooting tests you can build upon making you safer and better trough practice. The teacher is "The Cannon". If you are lucky enough to get a session with him you will be better in many ways. He takes both member and non members for lessons. This old Navy dog recommends him highly!

UPDATE: 2025 --THE GREAT GETS GREATER Stoddard's has been bought by Freedom Outdoors and is now Freedom shooting center. The on line order program is larger and easier to use. They have sales every month for different companies like Glock, Sig Sauer and Daniels Defense. They also run sales on ammo. Freedom has many excellent training programs and will be expanding their offers to Atlanta soon. This is a great expansion of Atlanta and has been going on for several months. Key and Cannon are still here for excellence in private lessons and also CeCe. They are great instructors and you will be lucky if you get an appointment with them. I have my annual membership for 2025 and looking forward to a fun year. Come to Freedom you will be glad you did. The Great...