Just a quick note to get the results of Saturday’s match out.

Impressed would be an understatement with the turn out. Total shooters/guns ran through was 101 on the score sheet (I had 104 count..) so that was 16 more than the first competition in December…WOW! Although that impressed me a bunch, the thing that impressed me the most was our newly added Junior Division. ALL the Juniors that competed were VERY well disciplined  on the firing line and during their wait time to shoot! Great Job! WE welcome you back for our next competition in February!

Have to run for now but at least wanted to get the results out for you! Have a great day!

First I want to thank all of for a fun, exciting and great year here at Thunder Alley, without your support and patronage we could not have made it this far! So Thank YOU ALL!

Here are some number from last year that I thought were exciting. These numbers are just from daily use of the range and do NOT include classes, special events or training.

Total customers for 2011 – 7421

Total NEW customers in 2011 – 2303

Average customers per open business day in 2011 – 25 (Highest month average per day was 35, lowest was 17 per day)

Largest amount of customers through the range in one day was December 28^th when Cruze and I were able  to get 78 shooters through in eight hours (we were pooped) And for those that visited us that day, THANKS for your patience!

These numbers excited us so much I just had to share them with you.

Now for some FUN news for our youth shooters.

Myself, Cruze, Chris Zeeb & Roger Terrell have been talking (scary I know) but we all agreed that we should somehow involve youth shooters in Rock’N Thunder….So here is the plan.

Starting with the Jan. 14^th event we will allow youth shooters ages 11-18 to compete, (18 and over are in the adult field). This will be a trial run for something New and Exciting here at Thunder Alley.

• The youth shooters will be in their own division (Junior Division) and will only be allowed to shoot a .22 caliber pistol (can be either semi-auto or revolver). (this does not mean adults can shoot a .22cal sorry RT)
• ALL Junior Division shooters MUST be accompanied on the firing line by a legal parent or guardian on the range, there won’t be any exceptions to this. Junior shooters will adhere to all range rules and course rules the same as adults. ANY non-compliance with safety rules will be cause for elimination and/or removal from the range.
• Junior Division will be timed and scored the same as the adult division. Juniors will be worked through the stages the same as other shooters so parents/guardians be prepared to be here for two or more rounds for you both to compete. Parents/Guardians be prepared for your time slot by having your youth shooter’s safety gear, magazines etc. ready when their names are called.
• Junior Division will NOT be eligible to win a firearm (there will be separate prizes for the Junior Division if they are here two of the next three events).

We want this to run as smooth as possible. As I said at the beginning this will be a trial run. If it does not work at first we will adjust accordingly as we go so your support and patience will definitely be helpful.

I feel this will allow us to properly introduce our youth to competition and give them a positive perspective with firearms that they are not able to get anywhere else. Let’s make this a positive experience and have fun!

Since the Holidays are over please note the range schedule on our website. Things are picking up for training and classes again so be sure to check the Home Page or call before you drive down on the weekends. I will be having some week day classes in the near future also that will utilize the range so keep and eye out for that too.

See you on the 14^th!

I hope this finds everyone well and ready for the Holidays!

Attached are the results of the first Rock’N Thunder indoor match we held
last Saturday. Please do not look at my score (I shot really, really poor) I
think over all the match went very smooth thanks to Chris and Roger! I
appreciated the HUGE support in getting our first Rock’N Thunder match with
a bang. We had a total of 85 shooters with an array of different firearms.
Thanks for coming in and having a great time with us. For those of you that
could not make it to our first match our next match will be January 14th and
registrations will start at 7am and go to 10:30am. Come in and join in on
the fun….Oh RT RP shot a 500 today during practice! Just and FYI…..

Just in stock today we now have 3, yes only 3 Semi-automatic Saiga 12′s..
These units are in high demand and come with a 5rd mag and a 19″ threaded
barrel. These have been retailing for around $1,200.00 and I have these thee
for only $899.00. Early bird will get the worm so to speak…Come down and
see them first hand!

I also have a bunch of new TUFF products in stock and the new  VEXOR brand
pepper spray which a portion of the sales go towards supporting our troops
so everyone needs to purchase one for their spouse or girlfriend to have in
their purse!

Have very safe and Happy Holiday!

So here it is December and raining and almost 50deg! Beats the heck out of last week’s snow that is for sure!

The range has been staying pretty busy! So definitely check the home page of the web site before you come down on the weekends to make sure we are not closed to the public during certain times due to scheduled classes. It might save you a wasted trip or a long wait time.

Targets for the Rock’N Thunder competition are in stock so you can practice….sorry this is so late getting out, seems I mean well and the times seems to slip away….go figure. But you do still have time to get in and do some practicing before Saturday! And speaking of Rock’N Thunder………………..Drum roll  please…………..

Well its finally getting time for Rock’N Thunder! This Saturday registrations will start at 7am and we continue until 10:30 for the final registration. Average time on the range per round will be about 15 minutes (as far as we can tell) Depending on the wait time and how many shoot two guns I would expect most everyone to only be tied up about a ½ hour or 45 min. (but don’t hold me to that J)

If you are unfamiliar with the targets, times and point systems please go to www.thunderalley.us and go to the Rock’N Thunder page and download the information. I want to thank Chris Zeeb and Roger Tyrell in advance for doing Range Master duties, without them we could not do these events! THANKS GUYS! Shortly after the competition I will send out another email with the results of the first ever Rock’N Thunder match……for some reason Roger T. I am thinking that Cruze will get you this weekend

For the ladies we will have concealed carry handbags and purses from Gun Tote’n Mamas in stock around the middle of January. These bags and purses are all leather and in several different designs and fashions. Most will have access for left and right hand shooters when carried on either shoulder which is a huge plus when and if the time of need would ever arise! For the men they have concealed carry briefcases also (some you guys would look good with a zebra design with your business suit…Ha!) I have one catalogue to view if you are interested in seeing what they have to offer or you can view online at www.guntotenmommas.com also.

Our gun case is starting to fill up since the last run on firearm sales during Thanksgiving week. We have the new Mossberg 22lr model 715T AR style rifle in stock, the all new ATI FATBOY pistol in .45acp, the Ruger LCP with the new Laser Max laser system package, a Walther P22 in Desert Camo and several others! Don’t forget to order your spouse a new toy for Christmas! Just log on to the Thunder Alley site and go to the Range Info Page and click on the available inventory tab and search out the toy you want, click add to cart and presto you will have their gift in time for the Holiday giving!

I hope to see you at Rock’N Thunder I am sure it will be a fun time for all. If I don’t see you by Christmas weekend or the first of the year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

What a change in weather the past few days. Rest assured that the heaters on the range have been tested and are working so when the weather gets ‘colder’ they will be up to snuff.

All lanes have new cables thanks in part to my son Cruze and his assistance so  they should, repeat ‘should’ work a lot better, being the equipment is 30 plus years old who knows what will happen next. HA. The lanes use cable that is 3/32” and/or 1/8” in diameter and only come in 250’ and 500’ rolls and they only take about 150’ of cable so I have a bunch of partial rolls of cable that will not work on the lanes. If you or you know of anyone that is looking for some cable let me know I will cut them a deal on some partial rolls. I am unable to splice them due to the cable runs around two pulleys and a splice is too large to travel around them unless anyone has a different idea on how to do it.

ROCK’N THUNDER is less than two months away. All the rules, regulations and how it will be done is posted on the web site, I will try to attach a copy to this newsletter also, have to see how that pans out with my limited computer knowledge. I hope everyone is ready to have some fun! With Springfield Armory’s support of our competition I have decided that one of their firearms will be the give-away. We are also in the process of getting help with promotional items from Tuff Products, Pro-Shot, Ruger, Glock, Mossberg and few more so if they all come through we should have quite the array of prizes to divvy out in March!

Speaking of new products…..New at Thunder Alley are products from Pro-Shot. We have tactical cleaning kits for a variety of firearms along with lubricants, patches, wipes, jags, brushes and much more, stop in and see what we have. Also I have just acquired the Tuff products line of Pocket Holsters, Multi-Mag Pouches and 1 & 2 Point Slings, I was selling this stuff as I was unpacking it the other day, WOW!  All are in stock and ready for you grab on your next visit. I do have the Remington Model 500 Mini Dehumidifiers in stock for you home gun safe for only $33.99 and they are 100% renewable when they get saturated, pretty neat product!

With the Holidays fast approaching these new products will make great stocking stuffers for that special someone. I also have gift certificates available that can be used for range time or accessories that I have in stock. Don’t forget to get everyone in the family a Thunder Alley T-Shirt or Hat too!

Don’t forget that you can order firearms directly off the Thunder Alley web site. Just go to the range info page, scroll down and click on the available inventory link and order your early Christmas present from the wife or hubby …hehehe I won’t tell J

Our new Billboard is up! Next time you are driving east on Superior Street take a gander just past the stop light at the gas station there (about 33^rd street or so) on the south side and see! I personally think it looks pretty darn cool, but then I am tad bit bias I am guessing.

If any of our subscribers are carpet installers give me a shout some time I would like to bend your ear on an issue I have at the range.. thanks in advance.

One last note. Be sure to check the web site home page for range closing times on the weekends. With the colder weather coming I have a lot of classes scheduled and would hate to have you disappointed by showing up and finding out the hard way and wasting a trip only to find out the range is occupied. Thanks.

Happy Halloween everyone – Don’t forget to come in and shoot your favorite Zombie target! Rumor has it that they are going to take over the world ya know!

I hope everyone was able to get out enjoy this wonderful weather this past week what a difference a few days makes here in Nebraska! As fall quickly approaches we are fine tuning the Rock’N Thunder  competition and have everything just about ready to go. Chris has been working on the shooting/timing portion and will fine tune that in the next couple of weeks by doing a trial run. I did a quick run through myself last night and I think it will be challenging and fun all wrapped up in one (Of course I stunk it up and would of placed last but then again I was shooting my Glock 36 so I DO have an excuse- HA)

I do have to give Kudos to my G36 for extreme accuracy yesterday morning though. To make a long story short I ended up playing animal control in Malcolm yesterday morning and had to eliminate a Raccoon that appeared to be rabid or had distemper (it just was not right if you know what I mean) Having this animal in the city limits right where children walk to school was not a good thing. (With law enforcement permission and using EXTREME Caution with the Surroundings) and impatiently waiting for the critter to get in a safe area to shoot I was able to make (what I think was a good shot) at about 20-25 yards. As you can figure by the time the critter finally got into position I had attracted a small audience and at 7:30am one shot with a 45ACP makes a LOT of noise and echoes through the neighborhood. The jokers that my customers are at the store of course heard the shot (about 6 blocks away) and had hung the flag in front of the store at half mast before I had returned (aren’t they funny).  ++++++ With that story being told please NEVER EVER discharge your firearm within city limits or in any area that is occupied or surrounded by buildings or other structures that you do not know what is inside. ANYTHING can happen once you pull the trigger and once you do you can’t call that bullet back. The situation I was in is rare and I only acted because we had checked with local and county authorities and I did NOT pull the trigger until I was absolutely sure of my surroundings and the path the bullet might take. I would not of done this if it had not been a safe situation to do so…Nuff Said.

Next week Tuesday the 13th, Wednesday the 14th and Thursday the 15th the range will NOT be open until 5pm. We will be open regular hours on Friday the 16th from 12-8pm. Craig Schnieder will be the range master Tues., Wed. & Thursday. I have some issues at our other business that have to be taken care of. Thanks Craig for covering in my absence.

We will also have our own Thunder Alley billboard on Superior Street at about 32nd street area as you are driving east, keep an eye out for it when you are cruising around, it will be pretty cool. A few customers the last few days were polled on 3 different designs and have chosen the design that you will see. See I told you fun things are going to happen!

Be sure to check out our new and improved web site. Some new and exciting things are happening thanks to Myron and we are sure you will like it. Here is a brief look at one of the new pictures that will be on the site soon. Pictures are courtesy of Daniel Bergquist taken of his brother while shooting at Thunder Alley —–Awesome capture of the slide moving and the flash!!!

Have a great weekend and Go HUSKERS!

Bergquist shooting at Thunder Alley

I wanted to send out a quick note to let everyone know that the range will not open until around 5pm on Thursday due to a loss in our family and I will be out of town at the funeral that day. Craig Schnieder will be your range master on Thursday. Thanks for your understanding. Normal business hours on Friday 12 – 8pm.

I have a quite a few accessories that have not been picked up that were special ordered. September 1st I will put them out in our stock inventory if they have not been picked up by then.

Thanks to everyone that refers or brings new shooters to the range. It is great seeing all the new shooters that come in to hone their skills. I had someone comment the other day how nice it was to see so many young shooters and women shooters here at Thunder Alley. I believe the exact comment was ‘what a nice change in environment to see all the young shooters and lady’s here’ , which of course brought a smile to my face thinking how right that comment was. Although I would like to the take credit for this I really can’t because it is YOU the customers that have made such a huge difference in Thunder Alley over the last year and half. The courteousness and professionalism that you bring to the range is what has made the biggest impact. No other venue that I know has such wonderful people. I hear such positive comments from customers that go to competition shoots,  cowboy action shooting, Rock Your Glock shoots and more. We should ALL be proud that the shooting community is so well blessed. Thanks for making each and every experience everywhere in the shooting community a positive one!

Well I need to run, but just remember…’Without a smile on your face and happiness in your heart you’re just a sour old fart’ !

Shoot straight my friends!

Ok now for some FUN STUFF, (maybe you can make it back John to enjoy this ) Chris Zeeb and myself are working on a Rock Your Glock style shooting event that we hope to be starting in Early December and run through March of 2012. For those of you that enjoyed the GSSF Shoot last winter this will be A LOT more fun. Based on the Rock Your Glock set up that Chris hosted this summer the course of fire will be very similar (although there won’t be any steel targets – Duh!) The SUPER fun part about this is……drum roll please………It will be open to ALL Handgun Makes & Models!!! You heard it here first ALL HANDGUN MAKES & Models!!!!!!! To make it not so Glock specific (nothing against Glock’s they are welcome too hehe) I think we will call it Rock Your Ruger! ….Ha! Kidding Chris…… After much thought and wanting to keep it fun and similar to Rock Your Glock and in tune with Thunder Alley too I think we will start a new fad and have a ‘Rock’N Thunder’ competition! Of course there will be prizes and a gun giveaway etc., so it will be definitely worth your time to come to this all new indoor event. All the dates, entry fees, rules and regulations will be sent out at a future date in our newsletter and Chris will publish the information also with all of his resources. So keep an eye on your email.

The web sales through Davidson’s has really taken off and that makes me pretty darn proud to say the least. I have only seen a couple of instances that something was not in stock and usually that is the oddity firearms, so log on to www.thunderalley.us and click on the available inventory tab and see what’s out there. The order process is SUPER SIMPLE (too simple according to  a few spouses I have heard from) and build your “collection” up before some items become ‘extinct’ due to our wonder government regulations. Right now with the purchase of any firearm you get a free multi-bit pocket screwdriver with 8 bits and a clip to stick it in your pocket or on your range bag (oh it also says “Thunder Alley Indoor Shooting” on it with our phone number too)……pretty awesome hunh! Also with any Springfield purchase you get a free Springfield can Koozie….TOTALLY WOW you are saying…yup doesn’t get much better than that for sure…ok well……. Maybe…a tad….but for us that is doing pretty darn good!

If you are a member if USCCA I want to congratulate you. If not get there and sign up for your membership. USCCA is a group that caters to the concealed carry holder and it is has a wealth of information from everything from firearms, holsters, personal defense and home invasion plus a ton of other information available. The most recent addition is Self-Defense Shield for the concealed carry holder. It basically has three level of insurance coverage that you can sign up for (I did sign myself up for it). I could explain it all to you but it would be best to just go to    https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/index.php and check it out for yourself, I personally think it is well worth the investment and it also includes a membership to USCCA! Go check it out and see for yourself, I am sure you will be impressed with all they have to offer.

Congrats to Mike Feit and his son on earning Gold medals for their archery skills at the Cornhusker State Games — GREAT JOB Guys!

Thunder Alley is getting some pretty neat targets in lately you might of noticed. We have the Zombie Pizza delivery Guy, Zombieladen and Zombie Nazi too.. way to fun.

Craig Schnieder our in-house CCW and firearms Instructor has a page on the Thunder Alley Web Site now so log on and check it out. You can also send Craig an email or call with any questions you have about firearms or training. Craig does personal one-on-one training as well as Concealed Carry classes, Advanced Concealed Carry Classes and brings with him a ton of knowledge in all areas of firearms.

Come on in and brave the heat and have some fun I will be waiting for you!

Shoot straight my friends!

The heat is turning up outside which is even more reason to come inside and shoot! I have added a wall fan at the east end of the range to help cool things down. Yes I wish we could put AC on the range but unfortunately that is not very feasible, so hopefully this will help some.

I am going to apologize in advance but I need to close the range at 6pm today (Wednesday). I am actually going to have a date with my wife tonight! I hope this is not too much of an inconvenience but it is not that often that we get a chance to do this. Thanks Eric K. for your generosity.

For those of you on my list (and there are a bunch) for the Ruger SR1911 they are slowly starting to be delivered and I am guessing we should start receiving them in the next few weeks. I know I will be excited when I finally get to have one in stock for everyone to see. I do have more firearms on order for our display. A couple of examples are (yes I know I am such a HUGE Glock fan) A Glock G19 will be in the first of next week along with some more Springfield XD’s and XDM’s stop in a see what we have to offer and how competitive our pricing is.

I would like to thank everyone that has ordered direct from the Thunder Alley web site (WOW I never dreamed it would take off like it has!) Although I never dreamed it would be so simple to set up and use, I wish I would of done it at our store in Malcolm years ago. The really nice thing (although there are several) is the ability to search out, see a picture of the firearm you want, the pricing with shipping and sales tax and just click to order! When you click on the final step it will send me and email of conformation and will ship the same day (if ordered before 3pm) or the following business day. Really it is that simple! Thanks again for allowing me this opportunity to serve you!

I appreciate everyone’s cooperation with the High Power  line and taking the time to show me your ammunition before entering the range. That shows me that we are “A Range For Responsible Shooters” and it makes me proud to know we have shooters like you here at Thunder Alley.

I get several phone calls every week asking what age limit we have on shooting at Thunder Alley. Although I do not have an age restriction at the range a little common sense should be used when bringing young children  in to shoot. First, only persons 18 or older can shoot by themselves without adult supervision. Second if the child is 11 years old or younger it would be wise to bring them in for a trial run before planning an actual shooting experience. Bring them in with some muffs or ear plugs (or both) and allow them to experience the noise for a few minutes. Young children haven’t  got sufficient bone structure/density developed in the skull to block the noise like an adult can.  If they seem to panic or cover their ears with their hands (with proper ear protection in place) they may not be ready for a long session. The main thing is that children should be comfortable around firearms and not grow to fear them because ‘it was too loud’. Most of you that shoot here on a regular basis get  to see the number of young adults we have visiting the range and make the comment on how exciting it is to see the interest in firearms and practicing proper handling and safety.  With proper education and training young adults do become responsible shooters and I get the opportunity to see it on daily basis, what a thrill it is! For those that don’t know, 11 years old is the earliest children can attend a Firearms safety or Hunters Safety course.

Our business hours with the coming Independence day weekend will be the normal times. I will be closed as usual on Monday,  July 4th to celebrate with my family. I want to wish you and yours a Safe and Happy 4th of July!

Remember if you can’t have a smile on your face and laughter in your heart…then you are just a sour old fart!      Keep smiling, shoot straight and have fantastic weekend!