Vandalia Range and Armory — Local services in Vandalia

If zero stars were an option, I would have opted to choose that, however the women working the counter were super friendly so I’ll give credit where it’s due. I, hands down, had the worst experience of any range I’ve ever been to at this particular location today. So much so that I made the decision to write a negative review (and I never leave reviews). Honestly, if there were more that I could do, I certainly would. Firearms are a very big part of my life, I love them, I own many, I USED to shoot frequently up until last year when I had a very tragic, traumatic experience that left me unsure of anyone else handling firearms around me and I decided to take a break. My long time best friend has since encouraged me to try to get back in the range, as perhaps a final step in my recovery process and after much persuasion I found that it was time to face my fears and go. I have been to several ranges, I used to live by Point Blank in Miamisburg and I’m partial to the staff there, however this range is now closer to me and my friend has been there several times, he expressed how much he liked it and I decided to give it a go. My anxiety was high today, going back to a range after being shot, bullet still lodged in my shoulder, was no easy task for me. I was quite certain I may vomit in the parking lot, but I still forced myself to go in. Again, the ladies behind the counter were friendly and inviting. The range officer. NOT AT ALL. He was rude from the beginning. It was my friend, my daughter and myself. We paid for our lanes, and walked to the door to put on our gear and the RO walked out and stared with such an attitude that my daughter asked me who that man was and if he was okay.. My friend had walked back to the counter to switch our time in the pistol lane from an hour to a half hour so that we could then do a half hour at the rifle range. Immediately the RO asked in a such a nasty manner if I had the lane ticket, to which I explained that my friend had it around the corner. As my friend was walking back, the RO stopped him and asked for the tickets and told my friend in the most unwelcoming way to put his glasses on, mind you, he was coming from the counter, had no time to even make it back to his range back, the RO then proceeds to walk through the door and I told my friend, then, that I would rather leave and go to point blank. Obviously the RO has no idea the battle I’m fighting just being there, but it was completely unnecessary to be that rude regardless. My friend asked me to just give this place a shot, no pun intended, and reluctantly I go inside. The RO is already sitting there and his annoyance of us, for no apparent reason, radiated. He was rude in telling us not to mess with firearms at the table, rather inside the range, and I get it, safety first. It wasn’t what he was saying, rather how he was saying it. My daughter was uncomfortable, she no longer wanted to shoot, but I calmed her down. I had never been to this range before or used the digital targets, and the RO was at least halfway nice in explaining that, but then hovered over my friend nearly the entire time, and at one point even asked him “where did you get this piece of shit” as he had trouble pulling the slide back on his freshly cerakoted Kahr cm40. I was floored. And over it. I’ve never in my life experienced such terrible customer service. Granted the RO may not be obligated to be friendly, more so focused on safety but come on, the way this particular gentleman acted was absurd. I’m not even sure my paragraph could accurately detail the way this man made me feel. Towards the end, another RO came in and this man was very friendly, much like the ladies at the front. Had he have been our RO I’m not sure I would have had such an issue.. 30 minutes in the range was far too much for me and I was adamant that we not shoot the rifles we had brought at this location and instead traveled down to Miamisburg and went to point blank. Overall I will never visit this range again on the off chance that I have to be paired up with...

FIRST EXPERIENCE IN A GUN RANGE FOR MY 19 YR OLD AND I ( born and raised in Chicago).....WE WERE HONORED TO HAVE FOUND THIS BUSINESS.......This place could of been a corner diner, or a grocery store.......the staff was kind and courteous......laughing with each other,bs back and fourth.....sweet lady behind the counter with a young man who was very helpful...at the door there was a big tall dude, maybe there security , ironically he was soft spoken and respectful.....he was security...everyone was security....there were hundreds of guns in clean display cases....everything was clean.....they literally walked us thru everything.....first we filled out some waivers and they checked our information thru a gov database to make sure we were legally able to shot guns....VERY PROFESSIONAL.....then we choose the weapon to shoot first with baby steps in mind ....it was obvious we were rookies......once we went to the range,we were given a lesson what to do and MORE IMPORTANTLY what not to do.....THIS IS NO GAME AND THEY REMIND YOU......ITS ALLOT OF COMMON SENSE, BUT PEOPLE MAKE ALLOT OF MISTAKES ......there was an older gentleman there who helped us at the range once we had our guns.... because he was a TRUE PROFESSIONAL, and we listened carefully, my son and i were loading/unloading /shooting 9mm hand guns and a 12gauge shot gun for the first time in a matter of 10minutes,with professionals around you at all times.......I had a eye opening experience with my son.....2nd amd rights should be protected...starting my classes soon for conceal and carry.................if your ever driving thru ohio...to /from cinn and Cleveland.....if you want to meet some cool people , practice in a safe,clean environment for all , and maybe learn a thing or two about respect for life and the right to protect your family and loved ones then go to this place......WE WERE LUCKY TO BE...

I have been to VRA a number of times over the past year to shop, shoot, and handle NFA transfers and purchases. I recently took a friend there to try and pick out his first handgun. When we arrived, a salesman (Mike) greeted us almost immediately. I told him that we were just trying to get an idea of what type of handgun my friend may be interested in and that we would not be purchasing it today. To my surprise he was more than happy to talk to us and help figure out what features we were interested in even though he knew there was no chance of sale. Mike spent the next hour pulling out dozens of handguns for us to look at. He listened and provided advise while not being overbearing nor did he try and push a particular firearm on us. On many occasions he even suggested firearms that were well below our stated budget. Having previously had horrible shopping experiences in other gun shops, I greatly appreciated his assistance and lack of continual sales pitch.

After we narrowed down our selection, we proceed to the range to rent a few of the ones we liked. The lady at the counter was very nice and helped us get everything we needed. Once on the range, the RO explained the range rules clearly. We got our targets set up and started shooting. The RO was personable and obvious very knowledge, but not overbearing or disruptive to our experience. He offered opinions on the guns we had chosen but he only did that while we were loading mags or waiting for the other to finish shooting. All in all, the range session was quite enjoyable.

VRA is one of the best gun shops in the area. Not only do they have a wide selection of firearms but the staff is friendly and helpful. Prices are decent and the entire facility is kept quite clean. I have been shopping at local gun stores for years now but the VRA experience blows all the others out...