Dublin shooting range badly needed

_ricochet_ · 14-02-2012 2:59am

That rate wouldn't be exactly correct, units are zoned, the shop front/window space might be €7 but the rest wouldn't be. Typically zoned into A,B,C and D and the rate falling the further you move to the back of the unit.

Gaz2010 · 14-02-2012 7:09pm

A practical pistol setup would be good or a kill house type job against the clock.
Heard of a place in england were you start the coarse in a toilet cubical and have to leg it round clearing every room.

Skirmishing is good crack but we really need something a bit different, personally i'd love some way of getting proper use out of my pistols especially. Surely airsoft is big enough here now to support some sort of similar venue.

The practical side of airsoft shooting is pretty big in other countries i dont see why here has to be any different

sharpy2010 · 15-02-2012 5:34am

_ricochet_ wrote: »

That rate wouldn't be exactly correct, units are zoned, the shop front/window space might be €7 but the rest wouldn't be. Typically zoned into A,B,C and D and the rate falling the further you move to the back of the unit.

Yes but I am open for correction on this also and I'm not shooting down your response straight out but it is what was advertised, and with the current practice with most places these days they say "starting from €X a month" or "from only €X a month" so if what your saying is correct they could have advertised it at €1 per square foot instead.
This particular premises though was very well situated for this kind of business as it was 5mins walk from main shopping street in the city, across the river from the main bus station, 5-10 mins walk from main train station, 5-10 walk in another direction your at the cities main Airsoft shop and site and for those that drive 3 car parks within 5 mins walk aswell.
but even going back to it and if I am wrong and it cuts rent you still have all the heating, lighting, wages and start up costs but if you couple this job with a couple of techies manning the range then you can also open another door for those people who have trouble with their guns and want to check them out, get work done and try it out and even offer out chronic for guns etc. I do think it is a good idea for more a shop than a site though.

sharpy2010 · 15-02-2012 5:37am

Gaz2010 wrote: »

A practical pistol setup would be good or a kill house type job against the clock.
Heard of a place in england were you start the coarse in a toilet cubical and have to leg it round clearing every room.

Skirmishing is good crack but we really need something a bit different, personally i'd love some way of getting proper use out of my pistols especially. Surely airsoft is big enough here now to support some sort of similar venue.

The practical side of airsoft shooting is pretty big in other countries i dont see why here has to be any different

That could also be a very good idea as there us alot of talk of all these teams, friend and colleges wanting to compete against eachother where if you could run some type of a one sided scenario event against the clock and keep a monthly comp going that could also boost sales

Gaz2010 · 16-02-2012 10:08am

sharpy2010 wrote: »

That could also be a very good idea as there us alot of talk of all these teams, friend and colleges wanting to compete against eachother where if you could run some type of a one sided scenario event against the clock and keep a monthly comp going that could also boost sales

Set up cost would be minimal once you have a building with enough rooms. A few 12' square metal plates stuck to life size cardboard cut outs, with one or more in each room and job done.......insert lads with guns (pistols or otherwise) and you'll have a great laugh. Really don't understand how nobody's done it here YET.

Skatedude · 16-02-2012 10:14am

Anytime i need to test out my aeg, I'll fire it into a target in my back garden. But i shoot from inside the house through the open backdoor so i dont have the aeg outside where it can be seen.
Not always practical depending on the layout of your home.
But i do like the idea of been able to use proper targets. the man shaped ones are so much better then a bulleye one.

the main problem with a range would be the length. very few commercial units would have a space long enough without renting something huge.
One way, but not the best would be 2 containers joined together, but bring the ear plugs.

sliabh · 16-02-2012 11:48am

Gaz2010 wrote: »

Really don't understand how nobody's done it here YET.

The flippant answer is "so do it yourself then! :-) "

But as people have said before, this is actually quite expensive to set up and run. And while you just want something long and narrow for a shooting range, most industrial units (retail ones would be far to expensive) are not that shape, so you will be paying for a lot more than just your shooting lanes.

I have to say as well that people's suggestions you can charge €10 an hour are, em, surprising. People bitch about paying €25 for a days skirmishing, or €20 for 2 hours gaming in an indoor site. There is no way they will pay €20 just to be able to plink. If you got €5 you would be doing well, and I would be surprised if there is much demand even at that.

The only way this will happen is as an add on to an existing site or shop. It will never work as a stand alone.

Gaz2010 · 16-02-2012 12:16pm

sliabh wrote: »

The flippant answer is "so do it yourself then! :-) "

But as people have said before, this is actually quite expensive to set up and run. And while you just want something long and narrow for a shooting range, most industrial units (retail ones would be far to expensive) are not that shape, so you will be paying for a lot more than just your shooting lanes.

I have to say as well that people's suggestions you can charge €10 an hour are, em, surprising. People bitch about paying €25 for a days skirmishing, or €20 for 2 hours gaming in an indoor site. There is no way they will pay €20 just to be able to plink. If you got €5 you would be doing well, and I would be surprised if there is much demand even at that.

The only way this will happen is as an add on to an existing site or shop. It will never work as a stand alone.

I wasn't talking about a stand alone job......a normal 'range' would be pretty lame in all honesty and very, very boring. There are skirmish sites already open that would have the scope for a killhouse type timed coarse. No need to go on the 'glass is half empty so i smashed it and slit my wrists' buzz. I've never heard anybody bitch about the price of a skirmish here to be honest, how or where else would ya get a full day out for the price of 40 smokes and a cupa coffee!

Full_TiltKeith · 16-02-2012 12:21pm

Me and a couple of business friends were actually thinking about this.

I have personally seen the huge uptake in Airsoft over the past 2 years in Ireland.

What I'm having difficulty in finding out though is numbers.

How many are casual players and how many are hardcore?

This is what we are thinking:

We could have access to an 21000 square feet warehouse in Dublin.

We were thinking of converting it for this purpose.

Including:

Shooting Range
Indoor Senarios
Professional Training
Monthly Leagues
Ammo Shop

etc

To be honest we have a lot of research to do and the start up costs would be a bit big.

Gaz2010 · 16-02-2012 12:33pm

If its one big open space it will cost a nice few grand to put up some sort of structures.

Look at the big successful indoor sites elsewhere in the world, very few are warehouses. Would you YOURSELF go out of the way to play in a plywood jungle or rather a proper building??

Full_TiltKeith · 16-02-2012 12:43pm

Gaz2010 wrote: »

If its one big open space it will cost a nice few grand to put up some sort of structures.

Look at the big successful indoor sites elsewhere in the world, very few are warehouses. Would you YOURSELF go out of the way to play in a plywood jungle or rather a proper building??

That is true.

Looking at CQB, I see a lot of variety.

What we were thinking was dividing the warehouse into say 5 "zones".

We would also have a killing house etc.

What we would need to really think about is the zones.

For example a house assault, mock up of an airplane interior, bus assault, a booby trapped assault course etc.

TBH we're not even sure if there would be much demand for this sort of thing which is why we have been a bit apprehensive.

sliabh · 16-02-2012 12:46pm

Have you played in the 3 indoor sites in and around Dublin?

That would give you an idea of how much demand there is (if they are empty there is no need for another), and what is currently on offer.

Full_TiltKeith · 16-02-2012 12:49pm

That's what were planning on doing in the next few weeks.

I suppose what were trying to do is be an indoor venue plus;

Have a shooting range
Have an onsite airsoft shop
Have an onsite restaurant etc

make it more "corporate" friendly I suppose.

Gaz2010 · 16-02-2012 12:56pm

Good idea about different kinds of scenarios but how are you going to jam 40 lads into a bus!
Maybe it would work as a sideline to 'normal' game but otherwise it would get messy as you'd have people sitting it out, you could have multiple games running at the sametime and have a rotation type deal going.

Still, personally i'd rather an actual building. I played a tester game in a double 3 story georgian house which was converted into flats in the city centre at night a long time ago. Easily the best game i've ever been to, lots of little snakey spots and 3 floors to run around

Boa.Prinz · 16-02-2012 11:47pm

Full_TiltKeith wrote: »

Me and a couple of business friends were actually thinking about this.

I have personally seen the huge uptake in Airsoft over the past 2 years in Ireland.

What I'm having difficulty in finding out though is numbers.

How many are casual players and how many are hardcore?

This is what we are thinking:

We could have access to an 21000 square feet warehouse in Dublin.

We were thinking of converting it for this purpose.

Including:

Shooting Range
Indoor Senarios
Professional Training
Monthly Leagues
Ammo Shop

etc

To be honest we have a lot of research to do and the start up costs would be a bit big.

Hi Keith,

I too am a businessman and have a deep interest in all things Airsoft. I would be interested in meting with you to talk about options. PM e if you think it's worth pursuing. I was going to approach the Vacant guys with a view to what you mentioned but a dedicated venue could be more viable.

We shouldn't just focus on Irish participants. If this is a professional setup and the right events are run then folk might travel from the UK and mainland Europe for competitions. This venture could, if positioned right, set the standard for a new Airsoft outlet.

Thx Boa.

Boa.Prinz · 16-02-2012 11:56pm

It has been some time since this community got fired up on these boards. This topic seems to have energized people again.

So, maybe there is something in a range type venue....:rolleyes:

Puding · 17-02-2012 12:01am

Boa.Prinz wrote: »

It has been some time since this community got fired up on these boards. This topic seems to have energized people again.

So, maybe there is something in a range type venue....:rolleyes:

You have only about 20 posters and half of the discussion is completely off topic, you might want to look again at your conclusions.

Zomg Okay · 17-02-2012 12:22am

Puding wrote: »

You have only about 20 posters and half of the discussion is completely off topic, you might want to look again at your conclusions.

Exactly. You can't use something like Boards for your market research - thats where all the failed airsoft shops in this country came from!

gerrowadat · 17-02-2012 12:25am

Between this and the other thread, I'm actually very encouraged that the economy may be picking up, the Airsoft fly-by-nights are appearing out of the woodwork with money to burn again.

Jimkil · 19-02-2012 1:40pm

I did some planning on this type of venue not to long ago. The concept was to create more of a airsoft hangout than a full blown range.
There would be a small reception with coffee and stuff along with a couple of computers to surf. The plan would be sell a small amount of airsoft goods and targets. Offer wall space for lads to sell their stuff. There is also opportunity to rent some aeg's to walkins.
This would be located in the top floor of an industrial unit with parking. Its located Baldoyle. Its along narrow unit. Not the most ideal but not to bad either. I reckon it could take 2 lanes with motorized pulleys for targets. Another area would be a small CQB space. I had an idea to make the internal partition walls on wheels so the format could be changed to create a different space at ease.
I still think it a nice idea but there were two main reasons for not going ahead. Hard to see how it would make much money in that its opening hours are very limited ie: how many airsofters are going to use it on Tue mornings. The labor cost is too high also.
The some things that could make it work. If it had a resident teckie of if a retailer was to take some space for a small fee or commission.
This is very rough outline and an idea i have not put to bed yet. If anyone out there has a interest in pursuing it or joining forces let me know.

ironclaw · 20-02-2012 2:46pm

Jimkil wrote: »

I did some planning on this type of venue not to long ago. The concept was to create more of a airsoft hangout than a full blown range.
There would be a small reception with coffee and stuff along with a couple of computers to surf. The plan would be sell a small amount of airsoft goods and targets. Offer wall space for lads to sell their stuff. There is also opportunity to rent some aeg's to walkins.
This would be located in the top floor of an industrial unit with parking. Its located Baldoyle. Its along narrow unit. Not the most ideal but not to bad either. I reckon it could take 2 lanes with motorized pulleys for targets. Another area would be a small CQB space. I had an idea to make the internal partition walls on wheels so the format could be changed to create a different space at ease.
I still think it a nice idea but there were two main reasons for not going ahead. Hard to see how it would make much money in that its opening hours are very limited ie: how many airsofters are going to use it on Tue mornings. The labor cost is too high also.
The some things that could make it work. If it had a resident teckie of if a retailer was to take some space for a small fee or commission.
This is very rough outline and an idea i have not put to bed yet. If anyone out there has a interest in pursuing it or joining forces let me know.

A great concept but as its stands, as your rightly said, not a money maker. Forget notions of membership etc. People won't pay for it. You'd also have insurance to contend with. Your overheads for tea, coffee and PC's would be high alone. And selling targets won't keep your solvent. What you have there is a great add-on to a shop (Thats doing a decent turn over) Would be perfect. However I personally feel the market is saturated. I think players need to form good connections with the decent retailers, and from that, these type of concepts can be explored.

Also be wary that having such a venue will encourage people who just want somewhere to lounge, while not necessarily spending any money. Thats a major problem in venues that offer R&R locations for no cost. Having 200+ footfall per day sounds great, but you need those people spending money.

Boa.Prinz · 18-04-2012 12:19am

The lads in Corrib even have one...

Boa.Prinz · 18-04-2012 12:21am

Here's the Donegal one for completeness...

Dublin shooting range badly needed

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