Sneak peek: Inside the new high-tech shooting center coming to Raleigh

RALEIGH – Shooting ranges today are stuck in a bygone era, using 1970s technology, says Houck Reed, CEO of OnPoint. But that’s all about to change.

The Raleigh startup is getting ready to launch a new high-tech, “family-friendly” shooting center in town this summer with its own proprietary gamification technology.

Among the offerings: auto-scoring targets, immersive audio guidance with electronic headsets and its own mobile app.

“We identified a need, and are leveraging lots of different technologies to create a user experience that is essentially second to none,” he told WRAL TechWire in a phone interview.

Source: OnPoint

To give a little sneak peek: Players can select the challenge, drill or game they wish to complete on OnPoint’s lane consoles and receive virtual guidance through headsets.

Scoring, performance and participation data are stored in real time to the participant’s digital OnPoint profile. Players can then refer back to that data for historical reference, group competition and skills assessment.

They can also opt-in to community-wide game competition or simply use the stored data for personal performance benchmarking.

OnPoint’s mobile app, meanwhile, allows participants to reserve lanes, experiences, training in advance, track performance, compete in games and challenges, make purchases and be rewarded for community participation.

“We’re bringing seriously fun competition into live-fire reality,” said Reed, adding the firm currently has a number of applications pending to patent its technology.

The Raleigh OnPoint facility is currently under construction at 3501 Spring Forest Road. It is now expected to be open this summer.

In addition to its new tech, the center will feature a communal area, 18 live-fire lanes , “dynamic target systems,” custom movement-based training programs

So far, the company, founded in 2019, has raised around $1.35 million in the last year towards setting up its facility. But it plans to expand quickly.

Reed said studies show that two thirds of Americans approve of recreational shooting.

“That’s a pretty good-sized market, and that’s what we’re going after.”