Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks has granted the Laurel Rod and Gun Club (Club) a $90,000 grant for the construction of a new shooting range in Laurel. According to Club President Irv Wilke most of the range has been built already, but the Club still has plans for expanding the range. With ranges in Laurel and Silesia, the Laurel Rod and Gun Club, founded in 1923, has been a longstanding organization in the Laurel community that has provided a place for members and students to practice and learn about firearms and firearm safety. One group, Laurel Shooting Education program, has used the Club’s ranges for teaching and practice for quite some time, even sending seven kids to nationals last year where they won third in the nation as a team. The Club has faced some challenges over the last ten or so years, though, as the 2011 flood and the annexing of riverside park into the City of Laurel left the club with only their range in Silesia.
Volunteers finishing up construction of the new enclosure for the long-range rifle range that opened July 15th of this year. (courtesy photo)
The Club has been looking for somewhere to establish a clubhouse and range in Laurel ever since the 2011 flood on the Yellowstone River forced the City of Laurel to condemn their longstanding clubhouse at Riverside Park. The City then annexed the park a few years later forcing the Club to find new ranges due to city regulation banning shooting. It was then, according to President Wilke, the Club was able to secure a 90-year lease for a property on Danford Rd. and Yard Office Rd. in Laurel and began construction on a long-range rifle range a few years later. The club is excited to announce that the long-range rifle range on Danford Rd. and Yard Office Rd. in Laurel opened on July 15th and provides a few covered shooting-ranges for various types of range practice. The long-range lanes are … Read full story here.
