Last weekend I happened to be in Los Angeles on a business trip and was driving back to LAX from Palmdale when I decided I would make a quick stop at Oak Tree Gun Club to see how it has changed since I left LA. I half expected to see Richard still limping around the Skeet field and Booge or Chris in the office, but instead I got a different surprise. Wow, has that club gotten a make-over! The new paint everywhere, the Sporting Clays course, the Pistol range and the full service Pro-Shop. THAT IS NICE. Then I asked at the window how much for a round of trap - $8.00. Now I know how they paid for all that nice stuff.
As I left and drove to the airport I took a trip down memory lane of what trapshooting in Southern California consisted of back when;
1) Golden Valley Gun Club – where Ben DiOrio ran a great operation (if you admit to remembering this club I promise not to ask you your age).
2) San Fernando Gun Club – where Betty charged $1.25 per round.
3) Calabasas Gun Club - where the targets floated off the cliff (can you fathom the thought today that they would actually allow a shooting range in the city of Calabasas?)
4) Winchester West, Long Beach – now they had a nice lounge that actually served alcohol.
5) Laguna Beach
6) International Trap & Skeet Range – where Floyd Davis squeezed out every available penny (I can actually remember waiting 45+ minutes just to shoot a practice round on a Saturday).
Speaking of driving to LAX – it was Saturday ~2pm and it was literally bumper-to-bumper from the 101/405 all the way to Century Blvd. No accidents. No Stalls. No Construction. Is it always like that on a weekend???
As I left and drove to the airport I took a trip down memory lane of what trapshooting in Southern California consisted of back when;
1) Golden Valley Gun Club – where Ben DiOrio ran a great operation (if you admit to remembering this club I promise not to ask you your age).
2) San Fernando Gun Club – where Betty charged $1.25 per round.
3) Calabasas Gun Club - where the targets floated off the cliff (can you fathom the thought today that they would actually allow a shooting range in the city of Calabasas?)
4) Winchester West, Long Beach – now they had a nice lounge that actually served alcohol.
5) Laguna Beach
6) International Trap & Skeet Range – where Floyd Davis squeezed out every available penny (I can actually remember waiting 45+ minutes just to shoot a practice round on a Saturday).
Speaking of driving to LAX – it was Saturday ~2pm and it was literally bumper-to-bumper from the 101/405 all the way to Century Blvd. No accidents. No Stalls. No Construction. Is it always like that on a weekend???