Beginning April 1, 2011, those who shoot firearms at one of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s State Game Lands public shooting ranges must possess and carry with them either an annual $30 range use permit or a current general hunting or furtaker license. Individuals without a range use permit or hunting or furtaker license may be fined.

For your shooting enjoyment and to make you a better hunter, the Game Commission maintains numerous public shooting ranges across the state.

Unless otherwise posted, these ranges are open year-round, from 8 a.m. until sunset, Monday through Saturday, and noon to sunset on Sundays. And with stable benches, large backstops and well maintained grounds, they're great places to sight-in your rifles, test ammunition and hone your shooting skills.

Especially prior to the bear and deer seasons and on weekends, these ranges can be busy places. Users should review and follow the posted regulations, and be considerate of others, too. Of course, all rules of safety need to be followed, and by all means wear proper eye and ear protection. Also, anyone under 16 must be accompanied by someone 18 or older.

Users should also practice good shooting etiquette. The regulation, for example, that limits a shooter to having no more than three rounds in a rifle (six in a handgun) may not seem to make much sense.

What it does, though, is give shooters a chance to check their targets without having to wait for those who may want to shoot long strings. This same regulation prohibits people using firearms with large capacity magazines from monopolizing time on the range, and also causing inordinate damage, particularly to backstops.

The Game Commission has completed lead remediation and safety upgrade projects at all public shooting ranges.  However, routine maintenance at these ranges will require closing them for several hours every month.  This routine maintenance includes rebuilding target-line stations, cutting grass and other clean-up activities that vary depending on range use.  Please contact the appropriate agency Region Office to check the daily status of the range(s) you wish to visit.

Shooters also should show consideration for others waiting for an open bench. It's not uncommon, especially leading up to the bear and deer seasons, to find an adult teaching a youngster how to shoot, or to find someone having difficulty sighting-in a rifle. Show some patience in such circumstances, and if it seems appropriate, offer some assistance.

Groups may reserve ranges from January 1 through October 1 by calling the region office at least 20 days in advance. The range is closed to individuals when it is reserved, and signs may be posted at other times indicating a closed range.

More than $200,000 is spent annually on shooting range maintenance. So providing this service is not cheap. To help keep maintenance costs down, which will allow these funds to be diverted to other projects and programs, there are some things we, as users, should do:

First, don't shoot up the framework used to hold the backstop material. Second, clean up your spent cases, remove targets from backstops, keep shooting benches clean and dispose of all other litter.

Offering shooting ranges is a valuable service the Game Commission provides. Use them, take care of them, and by all means, enjoy them. After all, they're provided for your shooting enjoyment.

			Rifle		Handgun
Region/County	SGL	Access Route	Firing Points	Yards	Firing Points	Yards
Northwest Region
Clarion	72	SR 1005	6	100	---	---
Erie	109	RT 97	10	100	3	25
Forest	24	SR 3004	3	200	---	---
Southwest Region
Allegheny	203	RT 228	20	100	10	50
Cambria	108	SR 4025	2	100	3	25
Fayette	51	SR 1055	4	100	---	---
Greene	179	SR 3005	7	300	---	---
Greene	223	SR 2011	5	100	---	---
Indiana	248	Chestnut Ridge Rd	4	100	5	50
Somerset	50	SR 2031	6	50/100	4	10/25
Washington	245	RT 231	6	100	---	---
Westmoreland	42	RT 30	4	100	---	---
Westmoreland	42	RT 711	6	100	3	25
Northcentral Region
Centre	176	RT 45	25	200	25	50
Clearfield	77	RT 219	6	100	---	---
Southcentral Region
Cumberland	230	RT 34	9	300	25	25
Northeast Region
Carbon	141	RT 93	7	100/200/300	11	25/50
Columbia	58	RT 339	7	100/150	4	25
Lackawanna	300	SR 1012	17	50/100/200	6	25/50
Luzerne	91	RT 2035	10	50/75/100
Luzerne	206	RT 118	10	50/75/100	8	25
Monroe	127	RT 423	12	50/100	6	10/25
Pike	183	RT 6	11	25/50/100	6	25
Wayne	159	RT 4007	11	25/50/100	12	25
Southeast Region
Chester	43	Rt 23/Rt345	12	50/100	---	---
Berks	106	Pine Swamp Rd	10	100	---	---
Lehigh	205	RT 100	13	50/100	---	---
Dauphin	211	RT 325	8	100	---	---
York	242	RT 74	8	100	12	50
Region/County	SGL	Access Route	Firing Points	Yards	Firing Points	Yards