Shooters of Columbus

I just purchased a new concealed carry pistol and the price was fair. The first visit, the employee was helpful and knowledgeable on every aspect of the 6 models I was interested in. I narrowed the models down to three, about to decide, when another customer walked in the store. I was mid-​sentence asking a question and the employee said, «I’ll let you think over these models while I help another customer.» He put the guns away and walked off. I was a minute away from deciding and buying, and got bumped for another customer.
My second visit I got an older gentlemen, extremely nice, but obviously new and not experienced with weapons: (i.e) I ask for a 9 mm model and he gave me a .40 & I ask for a CZ P-​07 and he says «What’s that?»
I haven’t shot the range yet so that will be another review, but based off simple employee interaction the staff seems indifferent that you are even shopping there.
The range is good; only one minor complaint. Rental fees are cheap, much cheaper than other ranges I’ve visited: $ 0.50-$ 1 for targets and less than a $ 1 to rent eye/​ear pro. Not bad! The lanes are close though; so much so, that the guy shooting next to me his brass kept flying over the divider and bounced off my heads/​arms/​table — very annoying.

I do not concur with the negative reviews this place has received. The staff was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Their selection of reloading supplies is awesome.

Horrible experience!
–No air conditioning
–No supervision
–Small selection
Would not recommend.

I choose to leave a 4 for Shooters because I can’t leave a 3.5. I LOVE the facility and the amazing variety of firearms, accessories and the size of the indoor range. Even on the weekends you can usually get a lane.
My only complaint is with the staff… On my most recent trips (the last just yesterday) the staff member helping you is usually either totally awesome to work with (goes above and beyond to answer questions, enjoys talking firearms, has no condescending tone, quickly assists with any problems) or is just terrible (acts like a superior gun authority, like he invented any and every firearm, if the rented gun jammed, YOU did it).
We were at Shooters with my Mom yesterday, and we rented a couple of Ruger .22 cal pistols for her since it was her first time shooting. I have shooting experience and am a gun range regular, my husband and father are also avid shooters. My husband and I brought a bit of our arsenal: My C&CW, a Ruger LC9s, a Taurus Judge Revolver, my husband’s C&CW, A S&W 9 mm M&P Shield and our S&W SD40. My Dad brought his Ruger SR9. We brought good, quality ammo.
My Mom finally mustered up the courage to shoot the first .22. My Dad shot a couple of «range» rounds through it, and it jammed. Then I tried it out, cleared the rest of the mag and reloaded it for Mom… No misfires for me. I fired the first shot, and then I handed it off to Mom. She was obviously a little worried about the faulty gun. Then she began shooting, and after about 4 shots it began jamming again. I thought maybe it was from «limp-​wristing», but with a .22 and no recoil that wasn’t the case. I also checked her grip again. My Dad tried to reload the gun, and it jammed again. We returned it.
The first employee we were working with was so helpful! He was awesome. He quickly switched it out for another .22. It didn’t take long for that one to start jamming too. Unfortunately Mom loved that gun! She became even more unsure of firearms and their reliability though.
When we returned the weapon another employee was behind the counter with the helpful one. He was VERY condescending…“Well… I can’t say for sure it’s the gun that’s the problem here. I need to evaluate all the circumstances before I make assumptions here.“
Uh… What?! My husband had to walk away. I questioned the quality of the range ammo and the cleanliness of the gun. The helpful employee looked over the gun and noticed the excessive buildup in the .22 was and admitted that it hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. His hands were coated in black grease. He removed the rental fee and ammo from our ticket without me even asking.
My Mom spent the rest of the time shooting 9mms with our ammo in our guns. I think the fear of jamming guns was worse than her fear of recoil. She shot the SR9 best and even hit a few bulls eyes!
This isn’t the first time I was treated in a condescending way in this shop or I was treated very well (exemplary service, over the top, better than expected), but it’s just been so drastic. I almost purchased my Ruger LC9s from Shooters, but the associate behind the sales counter wasn’t very quick to answer questions or assist me. He wasn’t friendly. The prices were very competitive, but my experience shopping was terrible. I purchased mine back in Macon at Firearms Warehouse, and they did price match. On that same day I was renting guns to make a decision on what to purchase, and the guy behind the rental counter (a different guy from yesterday) was another absolutely incredible guy to work with!
Your experience at Shooters will depend on who you deal with. The best thing to do is use Shooters as it’s best purpose: a gun range. Bring your own guns, ammo, targets, etc.
As a plus, they have plenty of guns to rent to help make a purchasing decision, but the condition of the firearm may or may not be good. It may be excessively dirty, and depending on the person working YOU might be blamed in a passive aggressive way. Or you might get a super star of a customer service associate… I mean stellar, amazing, very knowledgeable, eager to help, and will make your experience pleasant.
It might help to start getting names of the people working that are nice and see what days they work or ask for them by name.

Had to check this place out for myself and it’s a pretty nice spot. Despite the recent uproar about the target, which they do have others of different nationalities to choose from. Most of the employees seem to know more about guns and rifles, well more than I do & the one that helped me did ask another employee answers to some questions I asked that she did not know. The range isn’t that big maybe 16 lanes I believe for small caliber ammo only bad con is its big boy rules so you have to hope the person next to you is safe and not flagging you with their pistol. Ordering is rather simple for items they don’t have

Charged me for a box of ammo that was sitting by their register when I was paying for my items. When I tried to return it they told me that they don’t accept returns on ammo. I explained the situation and was told that it is against federal law for them to take the ammo back, there is no law that states that. I ask for a credit in the amount the ammo cost and was told that they would not do that because I bought the ammo. Need less to say I will not be going back and I would suggest that you steer clear also. Worst part is I don’t even own a gun I can use the ammo for.

I just received a message from Unilocal stating they were removing my review because it didn’t describe a personal experience. So here is my personal experience, and below it I will post my previous review:
Shooters is a great range to practice shooting. My husband and I have been here probably a dozen times in the past 2 years. We’ve purchased 2 guns from Shooters and we are very happy with both of them. I have no complaints about this business or the employees.
My previous review posted in response to all the negative media attention:
Figured I should come on here and write a properly deserved 5 star review for Shooters. All these people posting pictures of the young black man as a target are absolute idiots. To paint a place as racist because of ONE of the MANY targets you can choose there? How about telling the truth? There are targets of every race to choose from (white, black, indian, asian, etc.), males, females, people with hostages, zombies, cartoons, etc. Stop playing the race card. It’s sad, pitiful and pathetic.

Here ye! Here Ye! I, the humble Duke of Shooters, find it necessary to provide an update.
There have been many people who have never been here that are posting false reviews because 1 in 8 targets has a black guy in it.

Just to clarify. My 1 star review has nothing to do with any targets that some idiots are posting reviews about. I personally choose to use the Catholic priest with children target.
My one star review is based on the lack of safety on the range compared to better quality indoor ranges. I often see people handling weapons in an unsafe way. There should be a person at the range monitoring for range safety.
The other reason they get a poor rating is because of the very poor selection of CC accessories. No good options available there.
Then finally, some of the salesman are not very knowledgeable. I have overheard some that are very knowledgeable talk down to other customers.
That being said there are a couple (2) of salesmen that are great. Unfortunately, overall, they are the best in the area only because there is no competition.

Glenn and Jacob helped me out and showed me al the different things I wanted to see IRT modifying my glock. Plan to return. Not sure why all these people are writing bad reviews, perhaps all the people who have good reviews aren’t writing. Anyways, seems like a good place with good military discounts. Would recommend.

This is a poor gun range which I will not return to. The trouble is that it is your only option in the area unless you own a large plot of land and can shoot there. The range is poorly ventilated and has no air conditioning. The moment you walk in you immediately realize it is very hot! There is absolutely no safety monitoring from the employees, and we observed several unsafe behaviors which should have been addressed. The eye/​ear protection you rent does not appear to be sanitized. The service behind the range desk has no people skills and did not even check our IDs. If another gun range opens in the area, it won’t take much to put these guys out of business.

Some of the staff members are rude and disrespectful. Granted not everyone who works here is rude but most of the staff is difficult to work with.

Pretentious, condescending assholes with noses so high in the air they would drown if they ever stepped outside. You would think these potbellied delta farce wannabes had single handedly killed Osama the way they strut around their shop. These clowns are definitely the best of the best according to them. I can only imagine that the uninformed, desperate, or delusional keep these killers of good sense in business. I beg you to go anywhere else to purchase your weapons and ammo. Hell, even Tyrone Biggins near Booker T. Washington can provide you with a more informed, more pleasant purchasing experience. I was a patron early on after PCS’ing from Germany, and after I had grown tired of Shooters Sadomasochistic scene of being tongue flogged by barely literate high school dropouts who can no longer extort lunch money from the nerds who used to fear them, but now make 50 times what these clowns do, I decided to branch out and see if I can find someplace else to screw over my buying experience. Most of the pawn shops in the area have new and used guns, and all of them are going to have better service than Shooters. Hell, even if you ask the man behind the counter to Roshambo you before he helps you, you will end up way ahead in customer service. If you are military, the gun club on post can order weapons for you and can do so at a considerable discount. Ordering online and having weapons delivered to reputable gun shops (not Shooters) is another option. Finally, asking crack dealers after 2 am in our lovely ghettos will leave you much more satisfied than an excursion to Columbus’ finest store, home of 30% less shootings and suicides than last year, Shooters. I hope your purchasing experience is better than mine, but if you look at the reviews, you will see that everyone here can’t be wrong, and there must be some truthiness in there somewhere.

I’ve been to this establishment several times to go shooting, browse the firearms, and transfer a firearm. This review will cover the range, the store, the employees, and the worst firearms transfer.
The range is awful as it has steel walls and the echo is so very loud. The range is also not air conditioned so in the summer you are dripping sweat and in the winter you are freezing cold.
The store itself is rather large and seems to have everything you would need to purchase to include title II firearms like suppressors and short barreled rifles. What has kept me from purchasing any firearms from here is the fact that everything is ridiculously overpriced. Being in a military town and the largest gun store in Columbus, they must feel that they have the ability to inflate prices. This includes claiming Blue Label military/​police pricing on Glock Pistols when they are only a sub-​distributor and price the items well above blue label price.
The employees here are a hit or miss. I have had good experiences with a couple, but horrid experiences with the rest. The less knowledgeable people are all too happy to help and provide you obscenely incorrect information about firearms including bad legal advice about NFA items and opinions in place of facts about firearms. The employees who DO have the experience and knowledge cannot be bothered with you. This includes a sarcastic and rude manager named Jonathan Williams. You will spot him by his beard and tattoos. This guy will treat you, and his employee, like you’re stupid and you owe him gratitude for doing his job; you’re money isn’t enough.
I recently had a firearm transferred through this shop and they lost part of the order. I ordered the item, with two accessories, from the manufacturer and had it shipped to Shooters of Columbus. The manufacturer emailed me to confirm that all three items had been received by Shooters. I called Shooters to ask if the items arrived and the employee on the phone became very agitated. Very rudely, he told me that I shouldn’t have called, that when they receive it they will call me, and to not call again. A couple hours later I received a call from Shooters and they said my firearm was in. He confirmed that all three items were there and that I could pick up one of the accessories when I came in to fill out the paperwork. So I went in, picked up the accessory, and filled out the paperwork. The gentleman told me he would attach the second accessory to the firearm so it wouldn’t be lost. A few months later I got a call from shooters to pick up the firearm. I completed the transfer and was given the firearm with no accessory. I immediately inquired about the location of the accessory and was told that I would have to contact the manufacturer. I told the employee that there must be a mistake since they verified the accessory was received months prior. He told me to wait until the following week to speak with a manager. I called the next week and spoke with a manager named Jonathan Wilkes. He was very polite and promised he would clear up the issue by finding the accessory, and if not then he would give me one that they have in stock. The next day he called and informed me that he «spent several hours investigating» the incident. His conclusion was that they did not have the accessory, likely never received it, and even if they did receive it: «You didn’t buy it from us so we don’t owe you anything.» I called the manufacturer and they again verified everything was sent. To avoid any further mishaps they took my information to mail me a replacement accessory directly. They asked if I received the invoice and shipping manifest they sent, with the firearm, from Shooters. I had not, so I again called Shooters to ask for this information. The manager, John Wilkes, became angry and said they likely kept the paperwork, but I should instead get it from the manufacturer. I made it a point that the original invoice and manifest would indicate that they did receive the accessory, but furthermore, it was their responsibility to furnish me this information as the transferring agent. Mr. Wilkes abruptly stopped me and said that he would not waste any more time on this issue and would discuss it with the General Manager the following day. I have learned from this experience that Shooters does not take its federal firearms license and authority to transfer weapons seriously. They were upset that I purchased directly from the manufacturer instead of paying them 25% more for the same item. I thought Shooters would likely be better and more experienced at transfers and worth paying more, but I was clearly wrong. My advice is to not transfer anything through them because they will likely mishandle your purchase, like mine, and not care because the $ 75 transfer fee you paid them isn’t worth keeping track of your property.
I am disgusted by this company and hope to never set foot in there again.

I was completely blown away when I walked. They have weapons, more weapons and all the accessories to make anyone look tacticool! Their indoor range is kind of hot, but a great place to go shoot pistol caliber weapons and shotguns year round. Lord willing; I will be a regular, repeat customer!

I feel the need to defend Shooters a bit.
Yes, some of the sales people can be unpleasant at times. However, the majority of the guys are very professional and helpful. I’ve bought two guns here, and both times from the same guy who will show me anything I could possibly want to see. Additionally, I was even given a free 6 month range pass with the purchase of the guns. Ammo prices aren’t even gauged anymore. Solid store and range, I’ll keep on visiting!

I went to use their range and had a great time. It was only $ 5 per hour for the first person, and $ 3 for the second. Great price! They provide everything (ear and eye protection, targets, amo, and guns), or you can bring your own to save a little money.

Wide variety of rifles and pistols. Just know what you are going into the shop to purchase because the customer service is just abysmal.

It’s not that their staff is rude it’s simply that they could care less that you’re a customer. I have tried on 3 separate occasions to buy merchandise. The first was a handgun. I walked in and said I’m new to all this and was interested in looking at a particular gun. The response I got was «sorry we don’t have it.» No advise, no suggestions on alternatives. Just no. 20 minutes later I purchased my first hand gun from another store just down the road. It wasn’t the one I was looking for but a great suggestion made by the clerk.
The second time I attempted to purchase spare magazines. Before I even finished my sentence the clerk at Shooters said «Nope. Oh wait. What kind? Nope». I asked if he meant nope they are out or nope they don’t carry that type. He just looked at me.
Today I went in looking for a shoulder holster. It was the middle of the afternoon so the store was not too busy. I’d say there were 4 customers including myself to 6+ employees. I stood over by the holsters for about 5 minutes scanning for help before I finally dove in and found a holster that looked right. I took it over to a clerk who was by himself. I told him what I was looking for, the type of gun I owned and asked if this was the right item. «No, this is for a revolver» followed by a staring contest. So I took the item back and found another that didn’t say revolver on it and took it back to him. Is this it? And without looking up he said yes. I waited a second for him to maybe ring me up. Finally I took the holster walked around the store until another clerk asked if I was ready. 20 minutes later I was home with a brand new shoulder holster that doesn’t fit my hand gun.
Going back to return it tomorrow. Each and every time I have tried to give them my money they have turned me down.
That being said, I’ve always had great service at their range facility. That is the one sole reason I continue to be a patron.
Update: I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to refund my purchase. They stuck to their «all sales final» policy. Even though their employee advised me wrong. After 10minutes they asked if I’d like to speak to a manager. I said I would. Never saw him. The guy I was speaking to just came back, opened the drawer and gave me the refund. Guess the manager was too busy or something. I did promise them I’d give them one more try.

I have to agree with Christopher and say he was pretty spot on with this place. There’s a wide selection of rental guns, and their selection of holsters, cleaning supplies are pretty impressive. The service here is a little snooty, gun enthusiasts are a pretty special breed but the counter service I’ve had in other places are usually pretty welcoming. The guys here are not very engaging for the most part.
The selection and the range and the proximity will keep me coming back though.

Good selection of weapons for purchase or to rent for use on their indoor range. Prices are in line with competitors. They don’t offer a military discount which is odd since many of their customers are Soldiers from Fort Benning. They’re also a little snooty which is common in gun shops. They need to remember that some people don’t have much experience with weapons and if they treat these people nicely they’ll become new and repeat customers.