Any places that shoot close to Trenton NJ?

[duca]

Hi all, I’m in Hamilton, NJ. I shoot at Colliers Mill wildlife management area range..about 30 minutes from me. It’s a nice Range but a lot of Modern Guns showing up lately. Was wondering if anyone one lives close by that has land to shoot on or clubs close by that have shoots?
Thanks
Anthony

[P.W.Berkuta]

Are you related to Joe or Mike Duca? I went to school with them back in the 60's. When I lived in NJ I belonged to two gun clubs one was Citizen's Rifle & Revolver Club on 571 East Winsor and the other was Central Jersey Gun Club in Jackson. Both are private clubs and if you become a member you can shoot when you want except for days that are restricted. Central Jersey has the most land and is a very good club for rifle, handgun, and shotgun you can also shoot bow there. Bucks County PA. has a gun club which is not far from you.

[duca]

hey I have a brother Mike but he wasn't in school yet. I belonged to CRRC but it got way out of hand. To restrictive, management change. I ran the Blackpowder shoot there  for a few years in the Fall for the family Fun shoot. Citizens in Jackson is a Great facility! way to expensive. I have friends that belong there and do shoot there once in a blue moon.   

[Eric Kettenburg]

You know asking about a place to shoot near Trenton - you're just teeing that one up, right?    hahahahahahaha. I'd say anywhere IN Trenton!

I grew up in Hopewell.  Sourland Mtn sport club is long gone, don't know if Sohiwe deer club outside Hopewell still has a range or if they even still exist.  They used to have a very quiet little range up a ways behind Hillbilly Hall, don't remember the name of the little road there off Greenwood ave.  Probably have to be a member though.

I have good friends who still live in Lambertville; I'll ask if they know of anything in your area or out toward Ewing, Hopewell, Pennington etc.  I assume you're looking for somewhere quiet and out of the way.

[P.W.Berkuta]

hey I have a brother Mike but he wasn't in school yet. I belonged to CRRC but it got way out of hand. To restrictive, management change. I ran the Blackpowder shoot there  for a few years in the Fall for the family Fun shoot. Citizens in Jackson is a Great facility! way to expensive. I have friends that belong there and do shoot there once in a blue moon.

Last time I was in Jersey was 2015 visiting family. I went to the Fall Family Fun Shoot/Turkey Shoot and took home two turkeys one at the shotgun splatter board and one at the indoor .22 rifle targets. I also was the grounds keeper when I was a member. A lot of the past older members are long gone now - it was a great club with great people. That club was started in 1938.

[duca]

Wow! That’s to cool! Did you know Ron Carazin? Also I was at a Sourland mountain meeting once, that is where I met Bob Winters. @!*% that had to be the 80s.

[P.W.Berkuta]

Wow! That’s to cool! Did you know Ron Carazin? Also I was at a Sourland mountain meeting once, that is where I met Bob Winters. @!*% that had to be the 80s.

Yes I knew him (Ron Carrazi - spelling) very well along with Frank Grace, Carol Katona, Rick Finn Frank Fields (probably spelled his name wrong also) and a host of others. I started shooting trap there with my dad in the mid 60's. My brother and I would pull trap duty for the men then they would let us shoot for free at the end of the day. Back then it was a mechanical trap machine that was activated with a tall vertical iron pipe sticking out of the ground back behind the 5 firing positions and you had to push the pipe forward to cock the trap machine and then pull back on the pipe to launch the clay bird - a LOT of work then there was the guy in the house that had to put the clay bird on the machine - he had to be quick. I don't remember when they got the electric trap machine but I was glad when they did!

[duca]

Wow! That’s some history… me and Ronnie went to breakfast just before the Holidays. He’s getting up there. Sadly he can’t see to well so can’t drive OR shoot! ☹️. There was also a fellow named Chick Blood. He would announce at the family fun shoots,  really nice guy. He passed a few years ago. I was very sad. Supposedly he wrote for a gun magazine or something. anyway, I guess all things change now, and not necessarily for the best. Stay well and keep on a shoot’n

[P.W.Berkuta]

Thanks for the update and please say hello to Ronnie for me - he is a nice guy. I knew Chick well - kind of gruff but a $#*! of a nice guy. He showed me a lot of M1 shooting techniques that help me out a lot firing the M1 rifle. Ronnie and Frank Grace were very close. I sure do miss that club and those guys and gals.
Stay safe and happy shooting! 

[Eric Kettenburg]

Wow! That’s to cool! Did you know Ron Carazin? Also I was at a Sourland mountain meeting once, that is where I met Bob Winters. @!*% that had to be the 80s.

Yes I knew him (Ron Carrazi - spelling) very well along with Frank Grace, Carol Katona, Rick Finn Frank Fields (probably spelled his name wrong also) and a host of others. I started shooting trap there with my dad in the mid 60's. My brother and I would pull trap duty for the men then they would let us shoot for free at the end of the day. Back then it was a mechanical trap machine that was activated with a tall vertical iron pipe sticking out of the ground back behind the 5 firing positions and you had to push the pipe forward to cock the trap machine and then pull back on the pipe to launch the clay bird - a LOT of work then there was the guy in the house that had to put the clay bird on the machine - he had to be quick. I don't remember when they got the electric trap machine but I was glad when they did!

OK now I have to ask - where specifically are you talking about?  The old Sourland Mtn Sport Club had the exact same setup with the traphouses and the big pipes with the knobbed ends.  That property was up outside of Hopewell on Greenwood Ave on the way up toward Hillbilly Hall.  The club property was just about 40 acres and was operating at least as early as the 1940s.  By the mid 70s I believe it basically shut down.  They had a small clubhouse with a bar in it, it was down a semi-long driveway in off Greenwood Ave to the left if you were heading up out of Hopewell.  I'm not sure if Sourland Mtn Sport Club was associated with Sourland Mtn Muzzleoaders which I think was still going at least into the late 1970s.

Central NJ used to be a really great place.

[P.W.Berkuta]

Wow! That’s to cool! Did you know Ron Carazin? Also I was at a Sourland mountain meeting once, that is where I met Bob Winters. @!*% that had to be the 80s.

Yes I knew him (Ron Carrazi - spelling) very well along with Frank Grace, Carol Katona, Rick Finn Frank Fields (probably spelled his name wrong also) and a host of others. I started shooting trap there with my dad in the mid 60's. My brother and I would pull trap duty for the men then they would let us shoot for free at the end of the day. Back then it was a mechanical trap machine that was activated with a tall vertical iron pipe sticking out of the ground back behind the 5 firing positions and you had to push the pipe forward to cock the trap machine and then pull back on the pipe to launch the clay bird - a LOT of work then there was the guy in the house that had to put the clay bird on the machine - he had to be quick. I don't remember when they got the electric trap machine but I was glad when they did!

OK now I have to ask - where specifically are you talking about?  The old Sourland Mtn Sport Club had the exact same setup with the traphouses and the big pipes with the knobbed ends.  That property was up outside of Hopewell on Greenwood Ave on the way up toward Hillbilly Hall.  The club property was just about 40 acres and was operating at least as early as the 1940s.  By the mid 70s I believe it basically shut down.  They had a small clubhouse with a bar in it, it was down a semi-long driveway in off Greenwood Ave to the left if you were heading up out of Hopewell.  I'm not sure if Sourland Mtn Sport Club was associated with Sourland Mtn Muzzleoaders which I think was still going at least into the late 1970s.

Central NJ used to be a really great place.

Citizens Rifle and Revolver Club is the gun club I am referring to. It was on rt 571 in West Winsor which is between Princeton and Hightstown. Back in the 60's they had the OLD-style trap machine that had the pipe that you had to push forward to cock the machine and then pull back on the pipe to launch (or visa-versa) the clay bird. I know where Hopewell is (rt-206) and it is north of Citizens Gun Club. I've been to the Sourland Mtn's are as I did a lot of fly fishing from Flemington to the Big Flatbrook up in North Jersey - Stokes State Forest area. Very pretty area. There was a black powder gun maker around Spruce Run Reservoir or was it Round Valley Reservoir - forgot his name. I met him at the Neshanic Station Depot where I went to buy parts sometime - Charley Stone ran the place.

[Longshot]

A flashback for sure.
I too shot at the Citizen's range.  My father and I were members and used the indoor range most weekends.  I shined shoes and delivered newspapers and TV guide in order to buy a Winchester 52 w/Lyman super targetspot.  Could get blocks of Winchester Xpert rounds very affordably thru the club.  Shot thousands.  I recall that the membership in general was always supportive and friendly.
Neshanic Depot was another chapter.  Besides being an arsenal it also seemed to be a community gathering place, with any number of 'the boys' clustered around a large pot-bellied stove discussing things.  I was very young at the time.  Charlie, an 'original' in every respect, eventually relocated the Depot to a hilltop in Ottsville Pa.  I got a near mint GPR out there some time back.
Like it was yesterday.....

[duca]

Wow! I was at Neshanic Depot once, it was shortly before it closed. I did meet Charlie and he was up there. Citizens is still up and running. I think I was at the Hillbilly Hall once, was that a bar with all kinds of animal heads on the wall?

[rich pierce]

I used to sell guns and accoutrements at Charlie Stone’s place. And fished the South Branch and the Muskenetcong (spelling?) for trout. Hunted at Spruce Run and Round Valley Reservoir. Got several deer there with bow and muzzleloaders in the late 70s and early 80s.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Wow! I was at Neshanic Depot once, it was shortly before it closed. I did meet Charlie and he was up there. Citizens is still up and running. I think I was at the Hillbilly Hall once, was that a bar with all kinds of animal heads on the wall?

Yep, kind of a weird "hicky" bar back when Hopewell was more of the 'hick' town and Pennington was all the rich folks.  I don't know if it's still there as I haven't been back to Hopewell now in probably 15+ years.

Hopewell was majority 'working class' whatever that means up until the early 1980s, when professionals working in NYC or Philly began buying up everything since commuting was pretty easy.  When I was a kid there were still a lot of working farms in Hopewell twp too.

[P.W.Berkuta]

I used to sell guns and accoutrements at Charlie Stone’s place. And fished the South Branch and the Muskenetcong (spelling?) for trout. Hunted at Spruce Run and Round Valley Reservoir. Got several deer there with bow and muzzleloaders in the late 70s and early 80s.

I LOVED fishing the Ken Lockwood Gorge, the Musconetcong, the Pequest, the Paulins Kill and MANY other smaller streams throughout Northern NJ. - still dream of it today. Nothing better than wading a trout water with a good fly rod in hand - I'd take off work during the week and start out early sometimes I'd be the only one on a particular stretch of water with only the birds chirping - it was GREAT!!!!

[P.W.Berkuta]

The muzzle loader rifle builder I was thinking about in one of my messages above - I think his last name was Mc Cann or something like that. He had a wooden sign on the side of the road along 206 (I think) advertising his business.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Oh you mean Tom McCann.  I may be off on the spelling but I'm pretty sure that was his name.  He was before my time (  ) but I remember the name now that you mention it.  I talked to him a couple of times at events at Washington's Crossing when I was in my teens.

Bill Kennedy also started out in the Flemington area and was there for quite some time in the late 60s/early 70s before he and Selinda moved up here to Muncy.

[duca]

WOW! cool stuff. I guess all you guys moved away some time ago.?. I'm still here in NJ for a few more years. Hope to move on soon to Greener pastures! I talked to a friend of mine and he said that Hillbilly Hall is still there. Anyway I guess no one has any Land to shoot on here by me. would love to be able to shoot in my yard. Thats the goal when I get out of here. guess im lucky to have Colliers-mill WMA to shoot on,It's about 30min from me.

Anthony

[Jimmyino]

 Duca,
 Attached is our schedule for 2023, we shoot in Northeast Philly, about 30 minutes from Trenton

Jim

[rich pierce]

Oh you mean Tom McCann.  I may be off on the spelling but I'm pretty sure that was his name.  He was before my time (  ) but I remember the name now that you mention it.  I talked to him a couple of times at events at Washington's Crossing when I was in my teens.

Bill Kennedy also started out in the Flemington area and was there for quite some time in the late 60s/early 70s before he and Selinda moved up here to Muncy.

Tom McCann was a nice fella. He had a nice portfolio of different model muzzleloaders he liked to make. Likely a starting point for discussion.

[duca]

 Duca,
 Attached is our schedule for 2023, we shoot in Northeast Philly, about 30 minutes from Trenton

Jim

Thanks Jimmy

[Jimmyino]

The first match is Sunday March 19th.
Sorry for any confusion.

Jim

[P.W.Berkuta]

Oh you mean Tom McCann.  I may be off on the spelling but I'm pretty sure that was his name.  He was before my time (  ) but I remember the name now that you mention it.  I talked to him a couple of times at events at Washington's Crossing when I was in my teens.

Bill Kennedy also started out in the Flemington area and was there for quite some time in the late 60s/early 70s before he and Selinda moved up here to Muncy.

Tom McCann was a nice fella. He had a nice portfolio of different model muzzleloaders he liked to make. Likely a starting point for discussion.

YUP -- that's the guy ----I moved out of NJ in 1998 - work moved me to CA - could not pass up the job promotion and money increase - beside I had 30 years with the company at that time or I would still be in NJ.

[Bob Roller]

The muzzle loader rifle builder I was thinking about in one of my messages above - I think his last name was Mc Cann or something like that. He had a wooden sign on the side of the road along 206 (I think) advertising his business.

Tom McCann bought a number of locks and triggers from me in years now long past.Is he still alive?
Bob Roller