Not only does John Ross of Unintended Consequences fame still conduct CCW classes in person at the infamous quarry (including UT CCW, btw — see Phil’s post below for why that’s cool) — but if you’re looking for gift ideas he’s got a great list of his favorite adventure/thriller fiction authors.
More on that quarry:
The range is John’s private facility, a 15-acre rock quarry that he owns. It is cut into a hillside (you enter at the lowest spot–it holds no water) and has vertical faces hundreds of feet high to catch projectiles, which is how John can offer classes in shooting aerial targets with rifles and machine guns. It is a safe place to shoot any gun that is small enough to be brought in by a deuce-and-a-half (i.e. 105mm howitzer.) The quarry is in Illinois, up the Great River Road thirty miles north of Alton. John gives exact directions during class, or by email if you are doing the range session first. The range is not open to the general public. It is a very pretty drive on excellent roads with little traffic (a great run if you ride a motorcycle.) It takes an hour to an hour and a half to get there from St. Louis, depending on where you live. The range now has toilet facilities. You no longer need to stop at the Amoco station in Grafton on the drive up.
My criteria for our vacation/retirement home/retreat has just expanded. How the hell do you search for “quarry” in property listings?
“Quarry, no Illinois.” Gotta be in a gun-friendlier state than Illinois. I’m amazed he does that there.
300 foot high granite cliffs work quite well too.
One of many reasons I’m moving to Idaho, and buying a good quantity of land.