Dead Zero Shooting Park — Local services in Dunlap

It was a bit of drive from Cookeville but definitely worth it. I can't wait until they get the 1000 yard rifle range open in early June. This place is like no other range you have ever been to. Several 25 yard ranges with multiple lanes, two 50 yard ranges with multiple lanes several types of skeet/trap ranges, a awesome archery range where you walk down a path and stop at 12 different firing points and fire at 3-D animal Target's with the last several shooting from an elevated platform. They have a bunch of golf carts there but I don't know if they are only for staff or if you can rent them. Nice gun and supply shop. The range safety officer was great! Super helpful and friendly. They have a club house and pavilion and more. Safe but not overly restrictive. As long as you understand basic range rules and gun safety you will have a BLAST! Get it? Update 11/3/18 I've been critical of this range lately because of almost a year of delays and missed completion dates. I owe Justin (the owner) an apology. He was gracious enough to send me an email explaining the scope of the project building the rifle range. Now I understand the delays. I thought it would be the typical 5 or 10 lane rifle range with Shot Marker systems installed in a basically ready to go field. Again I was wrong. This is going to be a world class massive rifle range! 25 shooting lanes with electronic targets at 100, 200, 300, 500, 600, 800 and 1000 yards which is an awesome thing in itself but the things that set Dead Zero apart from everyone else is the Shot Marker systems at every single target frame and the fact that you can shoot at any distance target you want without changing lanes! Plus with the shot marker system you never need to go down range. You simply select your distance and all your shots will be displayed, numbered with velocity and trajectory on the provided tablet type display! A great asset for load development! You never have to wait to shoot because of a "cold" range. Thank you Justin for having the vision, tenacity and money to make such a wonderful facility possible. UPDATE The 1000 yard rifle range is open! Right now there are electronic targets at 100, 600 and 1000 yards. The manufacturer of the electronic targets is shipping more as they become available and eventually there will be target frames at many more distances. There are also steel gongs at some distances where targets are not yet available. I bought a yearly membership and it's a real value at $300 a year! P.S. in the pic showing my hits that's on a supplied android pad. I had one flyer/sighted at the bottom but the 3 shot group is about 9 inches at 1000 yards! That's sub m.o.a! I can't tell you how thrilling it is to shoot three quarters of a mile. If you enjoy precision rifle shooting then you've got to go to Dead Zero and...

This is the preeminent shooting park in the state of Tennessee if not in the region. They have it all from sporting clay lanes, skeet/trap areas for shotguns, archery(3D archery) lanes and the rifle/pistol bays. For rifle/pistol they have 8 bays each with multiple lanes and they run from 15 to 50 yards as well they have a 1000 yard bay that has targets running from 100 yards. The 1000 yard lanes have the ShotMarker Electronic Targets that let you see where your placement is on the target without having to run down range or reel in the targets. That means more time shooting and less time calling ceasefire to clear targets. I believe the 1000 yard bay has 25 lanes. I haven't had a chance to shoot on the long distance lanes as I believe they're still being finished.

A big plus for me was that all the shooting bays were covered. To many "ranges" are out in the open and while that isn't generally an issue, not everyone likes to shoot in the rain or worse the blazing summer sun.

The club house was laid out well with gun rentals as well as weapons for sale. They're also a place to do NFA transfers which is awesome. That means if your waiting on a tax stamp they'll have your suppressor,SBR, Automatic weapon etc...at the facility so you can use it on premises while you're waiting for the stamp to come through. That's a big plus.

For me however the topper was the staff. From my talking with Justin on the phone to Matt helping me out in the clubhouse to the gentleman doing maintenance on the bays(sorry I cannot recall your name), everyone was super professional. Customer service is just as important as what is being offered in my opinion. I left feeling that any issues or concerns would be addressed in a professional and curteous manner.

If I was to say I had any issues at all with Dead Zero there would be only one that comes to mind. The entrance is not well marked from Highway 111. I thought there used to be some "flags" lining the start of the driveway, but when I went last week they were not there. Another issue I had, and this isn't a Dead Zero problem but rather a GPS one, my Garmin had me turning a good 1/4 mile before the proper entrance(I was coming from the North) and where it had me turn was a dirt driveway, though blocked by a cow gate.

I'm looking forward to spending time...

"Open 7 Days a Week" is misleading.

I believe this location is ideal for corporate events and competitive shooting organizations. If you are not hosting a corporate event or competitive shooting event then I would suggest you research their calendar of events and make sure that you understand the ranges primary focus and utilization. Perhaps I am just unlucky but when you buy the best family membership they have and plan to go up the following weekend just to see "All Bays Closed For Event Oct 19-21" - that's a bad start. And after looking at the calendar of events for the next few weekends things didn't look much better. I contacted management about this and they assured me there would always be some bays for "regular" members (just not Oct 19-21). It does not seem to me that members have too much priority.

Please check out the calendar and talk with management before you pursue a membership because "Open 7 Days a Week" doesn't mean "Open 7 Days a Week to Everyone". In fact, it seems to me that even with a memebership you are always at the mercy of corporate sponsors or competitions. Personally, it kind of feels like you are buying an expensive card to be on standby to use the range. Besides a golf cart discount I am not entirely sure what the membership gets you in terms of range "access".

Again, if you are sponsoring a corporate event or a competitive shooting event I have been told the facilities are lovely, although, I have yet to see them myself.

Update: Management did issue a refund and I wish them the best. However, based on the response to my post from management I believe this confirms that this range is geared towards competitive shooting organizations and they will have priority. In summary, membership makes sense if you are also a member of a competitive shooting organization that holds competitions at Dead Zero. Otherwise, your access will be restricted. I do not recall anything in the Ultimate Membership package that required affiliation with competitive shooting or a disclaimer that stated range access is prioritized in favor of, or exclusively to, competitions or...