Range profile
Big Pine Gun Club
The short version
Big Pine Gun Club is a membership-based shooting organization in west central Maine offering indoor and outdoor ranges - including pistol, rifle, and shotgun facilities - along with educational courses, community events, and family-inclusive programming.
The hits
- Diverse indoor and outdoor shooting options, including a 50-foot indoor pistol range, 100- and 400-yard outdoor rifle and pistol ranges, and automated skeet, trap, and sporting clays.
- Family-inclusive annual membership that covers a spouse and dependents, with a dedicated 100-foot youth rimfire range and educational programming for young shooters.
- Active calendar of NRA-affiliated courses, hunters safety instruction, and community events such as an annual auction and gun show.
- All ranges advertised as handicap accessible, supporting broader physical accessibility across the facility.
- Emphasis on structured safety and orientation, with new member briefings and clear guest policies overseen by club officers.
The misses
- Limited casual access for non-members: guests must be hosted by a member, are restricted to two at a time, and are permitted a maximum of three visits before being encouraged to join.
- Shotgun facilities operate on a narrow schedule, generally open only Tuesday evenings at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m.
- Event scheduling and cancellation details are dispersed across multiple website pages, requiring visitors to cross-reference the schedule page, event-specific pages, and the Maine page for current information.
About Big Pine Gun Club
Big Pine Gun Club sits on Big Pine Road in Guilford, Maine, roughly six miles north of town along Route 150 in the mountains of west central Maine. Established as a community organization and now operating as a member-run club affiliated with the National Rifle Association, it serves shooters across central Maine with a broad mix of indoor and outdoor facilities rather than a commercial pay-per-use model.
The property includes a 50-foot indoor, nine-station pistol range, a 100-foot outdoor youth rimfire range with six stations, and outdoor rifle and pistol ranges at 100 and 400 yards. Additional dedicated spaces include an outdoor action pistol range, a cowboy action shooting range, and an automated shotgun facility offering skeet, trap, and an eight-stand sporting clays setup with seven traps. All ranges are advertised as handicap accessible. The club maintains caliber restrictions on the youth range, limiting it to .22, .22 Long, and .22 Long Rifle while prohibiting .22 Magnum and 22-250.
Membership runs $95 annually and covers the member, a spouse, and dependents for one year. The club is not a typical public range; guests must be accompanied by a member, are limited to two at a time, and may visit up to three times before the club encourages them to apply for membership. The application process involves a vote by the membership, and new members receive safety briefings and orientation from club officers.
Beyond open shooting, the club hosts structured activities including NRA courses, hunters safety instruction, and special events such as the annual Youth Foundation Bar-B-Que and Auction and an annual gun show. Monthly meetings occur on the first Tuesday of the month at the clubhouse - at 7:30 p.m. from April through November and 6:30 p.m. from December through March - with event details and course schedules published across the club’s website and its NRA page.
Reviewers regularly describe the atmosphere as welcoming and professional, citing well-maintained grounds and knowledgeable leadership. Several note the breadth of options for both young shooters and adults, with particular praise for the rimfire youth range and the educational environment. However, the shotgun range operates on a fixed schedule - generally Tuesday evenings at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. - and the club’s event and scheduling information is distributed across multiple web pages, which may require visitors to check several sources for last-minute changes. The rural location and membership-guest structure also mean casual drop-in access is limited compared to commercial ranges.
Recurring feedback
What visitors consistently mention
- Visitors and members frequently describe the club's culture as welcoming and professionally run, with leadership characterized as knowledgeable, approachable, and invested in safety orientation.
- Recurring commentary highlights the breadth of on-site shooting options, including long-distance rifle, dedicated pistol spaces, and youth-focused rimfire facilities, as a central strength of the property.
- Multiple sources point to the club's educational value, noting that courses and instruction are led by experienced staff who foster an accessible learning environment for both children and adults.
- Physical grounds and infrastructure are repeatedly characterized as well-maintained and efficiently organized, supporting a variety of shooting disciplines in a rural mountain setting.