UCM Celebrates Opening of New Rifle Range

Members of the UCM community and the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce gather for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the
university’s new rifle range on April 7.

 

The University of Central Missouri (UCM) has enhanced the university’s Prussing Farm and expanded its community offerings with improvements to the shooting range.

UCM’s Trap and Skeet Range, 454 E. Division Road, has offered archery and shotgun capabilities since 2006. However, recent upgrades have added a 100-yard rifle range.

The upgraded range was completed in March and Prussing Farm celebrated its opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, April 7, hosted in conjunction with the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce. Those in attendance included partners from Johnson County 4-H and the Warrensburg R-VI School District, along with UCM President Roger Best, Ph.D., Warrensburg Mayor Bruce Uhler and other UCM and Chamber representatives.

When planning for the project began, University Farm Director Travis Hume talked with partners across campus so that the range’s design would benefit multiple UCM programs.

“I talked with ROTC, Criminal Justice, Military Science, the Military and Veterans Success Center, the Central Missouri Police Academy and the Department of Public Safety,” Hume said. “We work with all four colleges across campus regularly, and we also work with Athletics and Student Activities a lot. This facility will expand on what we can do with our partners.”

Hume also credited Jeremiah Robison, former assistant director of Outdoor Education in the Office of Student Activities, as a driving force behind the range project.

The project was partially funded by a grant from the MidwayUSA Foundation in Columbia. The UCM Shooting Sports team is part of the foundation’s Team Endowment Program, which made the University Farm eligible to apply for a range improvement grant.

In addition to numerous campus partners, the University Farm also works with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Whiteman Air Force Base, Johnson County 4-H and FFA and other community organizations. 

Johnson County youth from 4-H and FFA frequently use the UCM shooting range, which aligns with MidwayUSA’s focus on youth shooting sports education. Hume said the new rifle range will also allow for conceal and carry courses and an expansion of the university’s hunter education courses.

“The rifle range is not only a benefit to the university campus but also to the local community and county,” Hume said. “It will offer a safe space to practice shooting that is protected for youth shooters all the way to experienced shooters. Anyone from 8 to 80 can use this range for learning potential.”

Hume said there’s also the potential for area law enforcement to utilize the UCM shooting range for firearms training and practice.

Rifles can shoot much farther than shotguns, so the shooting range requirements differ. The updated facility follows the parameters outlined by the NRA, including a 20-foot-tall berm that will allow for pistols, handguns and long rifles.

 

Opening the new rifle range isn’t the only good news for UCM Farms this spring. Last month, Lilly Dunn, a UCM trap and skeet team member, placed third in Women’s C-Class American Skeet at the 2025 ACUI and SCTP Collegiate Clay Target Championships in San Antonio, Texas. Dunn, a junior Economics and Finance major from Blue Springs, is UCM’s first national medalist. About 2,000 people participated in the competition, and Dunn was up against 40 in her class.

Other UCM team members who competed at the championships included seniors Conner Mosburg, George Isaacs and Brayden Talley, sophomore Will Weger and freshman Cooper Nally. 

For more information, visit ucmo.edu/farms.