East Alabama Gun Club

East Alabama Gun Club sits off Highway 169 on the edge of Phenix City, Alabama, a few minutes from the Chattahoochee River and well outside the noise of town. The club has built a reputation among shooters in the Columbus and Phenix City area as a serious, well-run facility that still feels like a family operation, because it is one. The owners live on site, and that hands-on presence shows up in how the range is maintained and how newcomers are treated at the front gate.

Russell County has long drawn hunters and target shooters out of the city, but a lot of them never had a single property that covered rifle, pistol, archery, and axe-throwing under one membership. That gap is part of what makes this club stand out locally. Rather than driving to separate ranges for separate disciplines, members show up once and move between bays as the mood strikes, which keeps a Saturday morning trip from turning into an all-day errand.

The property is built for range time rather than a quick stop. Members can work a 300-yard precision rifle range with a covered prone shooting platform, or choose between two separate 100-yard precision rifle ranges depending on what they are sighting in that day. Pistol shooters have 25 individual bays to spread out in, including four dedicated steel plate stations for faster, more dynamic practice. Shade structures cover much of the firing line, which matters during an Alabama summer, and steel targets and a bore sighter are available for members who want to dial in a new optic without bringing their own gear. The layout is spaced generously, and sightlines stay clear even when the property is busy with a weekend match.

Beyond firearms, the club rounds out its grounds with a 3D archery range and an axe-throwing range, so a family outing does not have to revolve entirely around a firing line. There is a fitness bay and a set of props for defensive scenario training, plus a cowboy-town facade that gets used for competitions and themed matches. On weekends when the weather cooperates, members bring their kids along, use the on-site grills, and let them run off energy on the playground while the adults rotate through the bays. It is a small but deliberate detail that separates a range built purely for serious shooters from one that also wants to be a place a whole family can spend a Saturday.

East Alabama Gun Club operates on a membership model rather than day passes, which keeps the property quieter and more predictable than a pay-per-visit range. A general membership covers a household with full, unlimited access to every range on the property, and the club also offers discounted rates for active-duty and retired military. Certified range officers are on duty during all shooting hours, and every new member sits through a safety briefing and a short rules quiz before stepping onto a line, a policy the owners treat as non-negotiable regardless of how experienced a shooter says they are. Eye and hearing protection are mandatory at all times on the property, no exceptions made for visitors who consider themselves experienced.

The club also runs monthly competitions that draw shooters from around the region, along with an on-site pro shop and a mobile pro shop that shows up for bigger events. Staff handle FFL and Class III transfers for members who need paperwork processed without a special trip to a dealer, and a brass exchange program gives regulars an easy way to recycle their spent casings. The pro shop is open weekends, while the office and shooting hours run daily, including holidays, which is unusual for a facility this size and speaks to how central the range is to the owners’ daily routine. Corporate groups can also arrange discounted outings through the same booking process.

For visitors who are new to the area or just curious, walk-ins are welcome between 9am and 4pm to tour the grounds and ask questions about membership before committing. That open-door approach, paired with the range’s scale, draws shooters from across east Alabama and west Georgia looking for a place that treats both rifle precision and casual family time as worth taking seriously. Given the daily hours and the range of disciplines on the property, it tends to reward members who come back regularly.