Happily, I am now a member of The Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen's Club. Although the name of the club reflect two communities right outside of Pittsburgh, the club is actually located very close to me. Naturally there isn't enough open land close to the city where the name sake communities are for a meaningful range. Lucky for me, the club is a short ten minute ride from my house.

The club's website is located at:
http://www.mdi.net/dml/

The facilities as this club are impressive and the grounds are in much better shape than those that belong to the Canonsburg Sportsmen's Club that my son and I visited a few months ago. Unlike the Canonsburg Club, which has cut off their membership level at 600, this club accepts new members with a smile.

The club offers a plinking range so you can bring along some pop cans or other non-glass targets to shoot at, plus a very nice pistol range, a rifle range and a bench rest specific range. Plus archery ranges and of course trap. The ranges are in very nice shape. It's clear that the club is cared for and loved by the membership.

I am so thankful that the Canonsburg Sportsmen's Club is not taking new members! This club is 1,000 times better for my needs of a place to hone my shooting skills. I'm looking forward to getting to know other members and to try my hand at trap shooting. It looks like a tremendous amount of fun to blast clay pigeons out of the air.

If you live in the southern communities outside of Pittsburgh and need a great place to shoot, you really need to check out this club. To join all you need to do is attend one of the member meetings which are held on the forth Thursday each month. Check the calendar available at the club's website to get the date. At this meeting, you can complete a membership application and attend the mandatory safety briefing. This briefing is quite complete and I was impressed with Bruce, the member responsible for range safety. Following the meeting, the board will meet and then you will receive your access card. It will take about a month and a half or so to get your card from the day you attend the member meeting.

New members are also required to participate in one of the periodic workdays. I'll be working the one on the 14th of this month. I'm not much for working with my hands which are basically like two left ones composed of all thumbs, but I'll do what I can to support the club and keep the grounds in such nice shape.

The club's website also badly needs an overhaul. It uses frames (yuck!) and looks like it has been time warped back to the early 90s. Hopefully I'll be given the opportunity to help out with this which is much more suited to my skill set than doing anything with my hands.

If you are interested in joining the club and would like to visit, drop me an email and I'll do my best to setup a time to show you around.