I hadn't fired a rifle since I was in basic in 1970. In July I picked up a Smith & Wesson MP 15-22 at a shop in Apopka. It's a very nice gun shop called
http://www.shoot-straight.com/ that has an indoor range, the shop is about an hour away on 441 just inside Orange County. The rifle was only $379, Dick's Sporting Goods in Ocala had it for $400 and Gander Mountain in Ocala for $450. I have since added a UTG Scope, a new stock, bipod, an angled foregrip, rail covers over the front quadrails, a sling and a rubber pistol grip and a nice military style canvas case. I bought the scope and sling from Amazon and everything else from a place in Texas called 'Cheaper than Dirt'. They have a lot of AR stuff at good prices in stock and ship quickly. With a 22 the biggest benefit of course is the cost of the rifle plus the cost of the ammo, I get Federal Brand box of 550 rounds at Walmart for $20. I should post a real photo of it, it's all black and looks really neat.
There is another gun shop very close on route 44 near Leesburg that has an indoor range. I haven't been there but I've heard the range is not air conditioned and the owner is somewhat unfriendly.
http://www.impactguns.com/data/defau.../sw_811030.jpg
I've only been out twice. The closest range is in Eustis down 441 to 19, took about 40 minutes or so. I went in July as a guest of some members on my softball team, cost only $5 a guest but you're limited to 4 times. When you join it's $165 a year. It's a nice setup with many lanes but they have a long dirt road for an entrance and the day I went it was all mud due to rain. A place with 1500 members charging that much they should at least pave their road.
I went in October with a neighbor to the Ocala Nat'l Forest Range which is free. Aside from the shotgun and skeet area they only have 11 lanes for rifles and pistols and no rangers or staff. I had heard of some stores of yahoos going there and you need to watch when going down range or have someone watch your weapons so they don't get lifted. The day we went everybody was nice and we all cooperated together. We found two lanes rightaway on the end and shot for a couple of hours, it was a lot of fun. I haven't been back, it's a hard place to find and the guy I was with had a GPS and I haven't really located it on the map, but it's east of Ocala on route 40, we went up route 25 and made several turns.
I just ordered a Crosman pellet rifle yesterday from the Crosman website Custom Shop. Since they have a .177 caliber pellet range and club right here in the TV I figured it would be a good way of getting practice until I figure out what I'm going to do about the rifle range. I'm not into hunting or killing animals, just target shooting and most of the people I know are into hunting. This is the pellet gun I just ordered but in camo stock.
I would be interested in connecting with some of you guys if you're into target shooting rifles at one of the ranges. There is also a nice looking rifle range in Dade City, at least from their website it looks as good as Eustis. That's down I-75 toward Tampa about an hour. They are $100 a year except first year is an $100 extra to join.
http://www.crosman.com/img/custom-shop/2400KT-gun.png
I never considered having a concealed weapon permit when I lived up north because of all the hassle. However it is so easy here, especially if you have a military DD214. I got my permit about a month ago and picked up a Ruger LCP 380 at Shoot Straight for only $279, and I have yet to fire it. So I'm also anxious to go to a range and get use to it. It's the most popular pocket pistol out there and only weighs about 10 oz without the mag.
