NRA - any chance of a proper online range booking facility?
Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 4:39 pm
I was just wondering whether there was any likelihood of the NRA/NSC adding a basic range booking page to their website? I mean by that a web page where you can see "live" availability of range slots, and then simply click and book a vacant one.
Currently there just seems to be the online bid system, which just enters data into an email. This gets answered - eventually. If its a "decline", then you have to have another wild stab in the dark, and so on.
I've just had a typical user experience over this Bank Holiday weekend. Something had cropped up at short notice on Thursday, so i wanted to book a Short Siberia slot for Saturday in order to set up a rifle. I entered a bid form on Friday. Now there are four potential options (100/200, am/pm) but there is no way of knowing what is available. However, the range office was of course closed, and the range bid wasn't answered until - Saturday evening.
It was a "decline", but helpfully included the link to the "range availability" PDF, which is "updated weekly". This was, of course, out of date - the slot I had bid for was shown as green/available. I expect that the vastly over-subscribed Short Siberia was in fact full, but if it wasn't then thats another potential range fee needlessly lost.
OK, now I accept that I should really anticipate my range requirements several months in advance, and book accordingly. However, life isn't really like that, and, in these days of universal e-commerce, it seems a bit daft that there isn't the option of a "live" system where availability can be checked and bookings made then and there.
Currently there just seems to be the online bid system, which just enters data into an email. This gets answered - eventually. If its a "decline", then you have to have another wild stab in the dark, and so on.
I've just had a typical user experience over this Bank Holiday weekend. Something had cropped up at short notice on Thursday, so i wanted to book a Short Siberia slot for Saturday in order to set up a rifle. I entered a bid form on Friday. Now there are four potential options (100/200, am/pm) but there is no way of knowing what is available. However, the range office was of course closed, and the range bid wasn't answered until - Saturday evening.
It was a "decline", but helpfully included the link to the "range availability" PDF, which is "updated weekly". This was, of course, out of date - the slot I had bid for was shown as green/available. I expect that the vastly over-subscribed Short Siberia was in fact full, but if it wasn't then thats another potential range fee needlessly lost.
OK, now I accept that I should really anticipate my range requirements several months in advance, and book accordingly. However, life isn't really like that, and, in these days of universal e-commerce, it seems a bit daft that there isn't the option of a "live" system where availability can be checked and bookings made then and there.