KW Defense — Local services in August

This is a review of the shooting range, not the retail store.

I shot there for the first time yesterday. My niece was in town and asked me to take her shooting. Went to KW Defense because the local outdoor range was shut down due to weather.

I seriously don't care for indoor ranges, but I was really impressed with their facility.

They are busy, but they offer online reservations. We were drop-ins at mid-day on a Saturday, so we had a 45 minute wait for a spot. Their "lobby" is rather small, but they do offer a table with chairs and two well-maintained bathrooms.

The staff were friendly and professional. Sadly, I find this to be the exception at most ranges, where they look at you when you walk in like you were the guy that brought their daughter home from prom at 5am.

The shooting space was two separate rooms of six lanes plus what appeared to be a single lane setup for handicapped shooters. The target mechanisms were modern, with touchpads that could take your targets out to pre-set distances, or you could enter in the exact distance you wanted. Max distance was 22 yards. A cool feature that I (sadly) didn't know about until I was leaving was that they had sequence programs in the touchpad that would run automatically (targets moving to/from certain distances, exposing/turning for pre-set amounts of time). That would add quite a bit of benefit/fun over traditional static line shooting.

They post that rapid-fire is not allowed, but you are allowed to do controlled pairs/triples if you clear with the RSO first. I asked what the difference was, and they said that "rapid fire" meant more of mag-dump style shooting.

The environmental conditions in the shooting area was really good. Not freezing cold. Not too noisy. But it felt like the air was being effectively circulated.

I'm old. I'm cheap. $25 lane rentals with $12 for an extra shooter seems pricey to me, but I gather it's the norm now.

Overall...definite thumbs up. You walk in and think, "Damn, this place is little." But once you get on the range, it's really a...

Horrible Customer Service!

Range - 10/10 Gun Store - 0/10

I wish I could leave two separate reviews. The range is amazing, its super clean, climate controlled, and never overpacked. The guys in the range are awesome, they're super helpful and truly care about customer relations and experiences. I visit the range at least once a month and book the VIP room every single time.

The gun store on the other hand has horrible customer service. I truly believe the gun store employees are allergic to answering the phone. I have purchased 3 firearms from them and do not think I will be returning to their store. I have had multiple bad customer service experiences with their staff.

getting them to answer the phone is impossible.

private party transfer was refused due to availability, but was told if I purchased a new firearm, they could take care of the paperwork

purchased ammunition online from a third party and used KW as the FFL to ship to. The ammo dealer emailed them multiple times asking for their information, they never received a response. When I called the store, I got an answer after the fifth call and was rushed off of the phone and was told I would get a call once my shipment arrives.

I understand that the store can be busy and someone may not be available to answer the phone. But over the past year of being a KW customer, I have called at different hours of the day, I have called multiple times. I have personally seen employees ignore the ringing phone, as they stood there talking to each other.

KW Owner/Manager, if you are seeing this. Please talk to your store staff and explain to them what customer service is. Your guys' range is awesome, from the staff, to the experience. But every interaction I have had with your store staff, has felt like I was inconveniencing them. Majority of the time someone calls, it is to ask a simple question, about pricing or available stock. Your staff is too busy to take 30 second call, or even answer and say "hey, we're busy right now, please call us back in "_"...

If you're reading this, then i applaud you for taking the time to read about places of business, but more so for learning about local firearm ranges and business in our area. This is going to be a long review, so here is the short summary for those who want the quick and dirty... Professional, friendly, knowledgeable staff. Excellent facilities, too notch best indoor range in Stockton ever... They have classes as well with Chuck Fields, if new to shooting sign up it's worth it My Advice is to fill out the stuff online ahead of time, and be safe follow instructions and range rules. They get very busy.

Ok so if you made it this far let's go deeper into the review. I'll start off with safety first, because I am the type of person who does not like to go shooting at public places for my own safety. I trust myself, but not strangers. The safety of this facility has been great. There are many new shooters and they don't know the rules or safety of firearms in the muscle memory sense. So that being said range officers have been good at monitoring and adjusting situations. Cameron, Kyle and Jacob have all been great in my experience.

The range is nicely set up, and allows for efficient use of ones time at the range. They have private lanes and a bench for rifle use. The digital lane controllers are nice and easy to use. The protection from your neighbor's lane is nicely done using lexan protective glass. Good lighting and 20 yards of distance.

The staff, especially Amy have been nothing but professional and kind. Show them respect and they reciprocate. Remember too they get busy and they deal with hundreds of armed people daily... That's a lot to deal with.

The shop next door is top notch they have a great selection and deliver good service and knowledge.

Don't sell yourself short on this facility, check it out and you will not be disappointed. If you are then you have no respect for a hard working and professional...