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I’m from the South, not the Deep South, but the South… Ok, maybe just below the Mason Dixon line, but I lived there long enough to have an appreciation for good barbecue, sweet tea, and firearms. Fortunately for me, I can get barbecue and sweet tea in the area. But it’s harder to find a good place to target shoot. In NYC, you can’t just go to your friends’ back yard and shoot 22s at tin cans. Probably more so because it’s harder to find an actual back yard. This is where Manhattan Shooting Excursions can help. But before you call the FBI, and tell them a dark-skinned bearded man is talking about guns online, I have to say this is all legit. Really.

Manhattan Shooting Excursions organizes safe shooting events for corporations, clubs, and individuals in the New York City area. They focus on providing a safe and fun environment where you can learn the shooting sports. And no, they don’t do events in any of the five boroughs, but they do provide transportation to their ranges upstate, in New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania. Their credentials include:

• Licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut
• Certified to instruct 11 shooting disciplines, 5 since 1986
• Instructor Training Certified since 2000
• NYS Armed Guard Certified
• NYS Hunter Training Instructor since 1993

They offer open excursions that teach various techniques and use a wide range of arms. They recently held an event where participants learned to shoot and reload from cover and on the move, using several 9MM carbines and 12 gauge shotguns. If that doesn’t suit you, they also offer events in handguns, trap and skeet, civil war arms, and cowboy action arms.

What this means to you: You can learn a fun new sport with out attracting the attention of the NYPD.

Cost: varies from $235 -$1000 @ Elite Shooters