Pro Gun Club – Desert Hills Shooting Club

A brief history lesson:

In 1988 the Eldorado Cartridge Corporation purchased a large section of property near Boulder City, NV. This property was outfitted to manufacture products for their better known company, PMC Ammunition. Although the PMC facility has long since been closed, the employees there laid the groundwork for what was to come.

As legend has it, the employees of PMC wanted a place where they could relax and do some shooting after work so they somehow managed to put together a shooting range on the property a few hundred yards behind the main building. As you glance around the area you can find signs of what once was. There are a couple of underground bunkers which were once used to store primers and powder and the PMC logo can still be found on some of the metal work.

Primer Bunker

Powder Bunker

Around 2003 the property was taken over by the Desert Lake Shooting Club and all sorts of fun things were added. They continued to develop their club into a five star world class shooting facility which came under the present ownership in 2009. As with most businesses, with new owners come new changes. One of those changes included renaming the business to Desert Hills Shooting Club. Since this article was initially published, the club has yet again changed names. Currently it is known as Pro Gun Club.

Current day:

So what sets this shooting club apart from the rest? Well, to start with, they have a pretty impressive 21 station sporting clays course and when they call it a “course”, that’s exactly what they mean. The 21 stations are set up along a one mile paved trail which shooters can either walk or travel via golf carts which are outfitted to hold shotguns and carry 4 adults. The views from this trail are amazing and if you pay attention, you will find all kinds of wildlife running around.

The stations themselves are set up very well. You will find stations that throw the clays high into the air and others that sling them across the ground as if you are hunting wascally wabbits. (See what I did there? ;) ) As an outdoorsman, I was happy to see that not only are they using bio-degradable clays but the electrical system is completely run off of batteries and solar panels that keep them charged.

Each station is color coded to indicate if it’s a “Hunter Station” (blue) or a “Master Station” (red). They are also each equipped with Promatic Claymates which keep track of the number of clays purchased and used as well as allowing the shooter to select how they want the clays launched. Options include a delay timer which is perfect for single shooters.

Other ranges include archery, multiple dirt pistol/rifle ranges, covered and paved pistol ranges with both paper and steel targets, trap and skeet, and a covered rifle range which is currently undergoing expansion to include more options for machine gun shooters.

Speaking of machine guns…Yeah, they rent those as well as shotguns too. Although there are many places around the Las Vegas area where you can rent machine guns, the selection here is what one might call more “manly.” To be honest, I don’t know what all they have but if you want to shoot an M60, this is the place to go and I know for a fact that they have even larger class III firearms up to .50 cal machine guns.

We talked with Beau Booker who is a Range Safety Officer at Dessert Hills. Beau was kind enough to give us a complete tour of the facility which ended in their appropriately decorated Club House. This Club House features restrooms, a Pro Shop, a well stocked bar with all your favorite top shelf brands, and a comfy sitting area featuring leather furniture.

We caught up with a family from Henderson who had relatives in town and decided to spend a day out shooting. Although not everybody picked up a gun, it was clear that all were having a great time. You can see in the photos that they had a young boy with them and he was having a blast driving the golf cart and shooting a shotgun, with a little help from his father.

Whether you need some alone time with a cigar and a shotgun or the use of the entire facility for a corporate event, this place is a nice choice and only 25 to 30 minutes off the Las Vegas strip.

DHSC is now offering discounted rates for Nevada residents.

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