The walls are up, the flooring is down and the parking lot paved so far as phase one in the construction of the indoor shooting range continues south of the Bismarck Municipal Airport.

The brainstorm of Bismarck-Mandan Rifle & Pistol Association members, the 70-foot by 260-foot building will offer a classroom, a target distance of 50 meters, or Olympics class, away, 16 firing lanes and plenty of other amenities.

"The classroom is the heart of the project," Sam May, president of the BMRPA, said over lunch last week.

"We will work with 4-H, the scouts, and hunter ed should have room (for guns) in our vault," said Leon Nesja, the association's secretary. The facility also could play host to additional junior and adult shooting programs and personal protection courses.

BMRPA members and the public would be able to use the range for a session fee. "Non-members would pay more," said Mike Barrett, the association's fund and membership drive coordinator. The range's opening is planned for mid-2008, May added.

The range's cost is estimated at $1.2 million, and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department awarded a federal grant of just more than $500,000 for the range. Association members are raising the rest through financial and materials donations, fundraising and volunteer labor or sweat equity.

The grant money administered by NDGFD comes through the Pittman-Robertson Act, which established an excise tax on rifles, shotguns, handguns, ammunition and archery equipment to fund wildlife and habitat restoration.

"A small piece of Pittman-Robertson goes to hunter ed or shooting ranges," Jim Carter, NDGFD hunter education supervisor, said Monday.

With trusses and other roofing materials expected to arrive this week, the goal is to have the building enclosed ahead of the upcoming cold weather season. That way, the association's volunteer laborers will be able to start phase two, the inside work, in relative comfort during the winter months. Although BMRPA is the main contractor, Ternes Construction Co. is doing the heavy lifting.

BMRPA members envision a "safe environment to shoot in," said May.

"We want to promote the safe, ethical use of firearms to counteract some of the garbage you see on television," said Nesja. "We would have safety classes and reloading classes."

The indoor range will complement the association's outdoor range west of Moffit, where members enjoy a variety of shooting sports such as high power rifle, cowboy action shooting, bullseye pistol shooting, rifle and pistol silhouette shooting, black-powder cartridge rifle shooting and smallbore rifle shooting. When matches aren't scheduled, members may sight-in their rifles or shoot for recreation.

The association also conducts a junior marksmanship program at the Bohn Armory and World War Memorial Building. And the BMRPA holds a sight-in weekend and open house ahead of the deer gun opener in which the public is invited to use the range. The dates this year are Oct. 6-7.

Some of the association's outdoor shooting disciplines will carry over to the indoor range during the the winter.

"It's not just going in and shooting pistols," said Barrett.

As one example, members envision a junior shooting night, a light rifle shooting night, a bullseye pistol shooting night and "probably one night of open shooting," said May.

Joining BMRPA involves more than mailing in a check and going out and shooting. In addition to paying the annual dues, prospective members must be National Rifle Association members, and a half-hour range certification session is required before shooting on the outdoor range.

"When we get done, they know what's expected of them," said May of members who are certified. "We're not catering to people who mow down target posts."

A certification session also will be required before anyone fires a round on the indoor range, May said.

Having the Olympic-sized, 50-meter range will create a centrally located facility capable of playing host to state Junior Olympic Shooting Championship, or similar, events.

"If someone from North Dakota wanted to try to go to the Olympics, that's the only range," explained Carter.

The building is located at 4667 Sky Way, which is just northwest of the intersection of University Drive and 48th Avenue South.

Having a classroom will allow hunter education instructors to include hands-on shooting sessions in their lesson plans, said May.

"Kids who have gone through hunter education are far more responsible around firearms," said Nesja. "With hunter education, shooting accidents have gone down. Hunter education has paid off. We hope that's the kind of thing we can accomplish."

Nesja, a retired Mandan High School science teacher, has taught a women's firearms class each of the past two springs, and that class, possibly including some range time, would be among the offerings in the new facility.

"We're progressing pretty well for a bunch of volunteers," said May.

(Reach outdoor writer Richard Hinton at 701-250-8256 or richard.hinton@bismarcktribune.com.)