Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center

After posting some videos, and write ups about the matches at the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center, I have had a few questions about the range, who operates it, where it is located, etc.

I hear time and time again on the web forums that there isn’t anywhere to shoot a rifle in the Triangle area. This is 100% false. Wake County operates a large indoor firing range called the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center (FETC). This range is open to the public, and is paid for with tax dollars, so everyone should utilize it! FETC is located in Apex, at:

3921 Old Holly Springs-Apex Road

Apex, NC 27539-9147

FETC offers 4 indoor shooting ranges. Two of them are 50 yard pistol ranges, along with one 50 yard rifle range, and a 100 yard rifle range.

Membership:

FETC requires that all shooters attend a safety class/range orientation before they are able to utilize the range. I hear a lot of complaints about this, but it is really for everyone’s safety, and I think it is a good thing. Once you have completed the range orientation class, you will receive a range card with your picture on it, that you must have with you any time you plan to shoot at FETC. I believe there was a small charge to take the class, and there is a $10/hr charge to use the range for Wake Co. residents, and $15/hr charge for residents of other counties.

FETC also offers membership packages with reduced rates for those who shoot a lot.

Hours:

At first glance, FETC’s hours are the big down side to this range. They are open from:

6:00PM – 9:00PM Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

12:00PM – 6:00PM Saturday

1:00PM – 6:00PM Sunday

As you can see, the range is not open during regular business hours. This is because the FETC is also used by area Law Enforcement for training, and certification purposes. There are only so many hours in a week, so the hours of operation to the public need to be moved back in order to accommodate Law Enforcement. It is, however, nice to have a range that is open after work, and later into the evening, so there is definitely a plus side to the hours as well.

Competition:

FETC offers several different competitive shooting leagues, including Action Pistol, Action Rifle, Benchrest, Bullseye, as well as a Women’s handgun league. I have attended many Action Pistol, and Action Rifle matches at FETC, and I would very much recommend them to new shooters.

The matches (Action Pistol, Action Rifle, and Benchrest, I am not sure about Bullseye and the Womens league.) require pre-registration, so you must sign up via email, and get confirmed before attending a match. The matches were were getting too popular, and there were more shooters attending than the range could handle on a week night, so the email registration was setup to keep the matches down to a manageable number of shooters.

Generally the Action Rifle and Pistol matches have a round count under 100 rounds, but if you are like me, you can easily shoot more…

Here are a couple videos of me shooting Action Pistol/Action Rifle matches at the FETC.

This was from last night, I just got the scores back, and I ended up finishing first place overall, and on each individual stage. I’ll take it!

This was an Action Rifle match from earlier in the month:

Overall, this is a great shooting range, and it is one of the few rifle ranges in the triangle area that is open to the public. There is a large focus on safety at this range, which is a good thing. For more information, check out the FETC’s website here.

As always, be sure to follow Triangle Tactical on Facebook, and if you have any questions about the range, or anything else, I’ll do my best to answer them, or I will find someone who can.