How Guardian Guns & Ammo Turned Training Into Engagement with EV-R

By Alex Hague, Founder & CEO, Evolve Range Solutions

I’ve spent years watching great range owners hit a ceiling they didn’t see coming. Their lanes are full, their systems work — but something’s missing. The experience feels the same year after year, and customers start to drift.

When I met Matt Seifer, owner of Guardian Guns & Ammo Indoor Firearms Range in Long Island, I knew right away he wasn’t going to be one of those owners. He saw what was coming and was ready to evolve before the industry forced him to.

Matt operates in one of the most restrictive firearm markets in the country, but that hasn’t stopped him from building a range that sets a new standard for what training can look like.

He isn’t the kind of owner who just puts a range in and calls it a day. He promotes his training programs, highlights his students, and uses his platform to show what’s possible when you bring innovation into the range industry.

The Challenge

When you’ve been around shooting ranges long enough, you learn that there’s more than one right way to train. Traditional lanes still matter — we use them ourselves — but I’ve also seen how easily things can start to feel repetitive.

For Matt, the question wasn’t about replacing what works. It was about creating something that engages people beyond the basics. He wanted Guardian to offer real value to law enforcement, security professionals, and civilians while adapting to how people learn and train today.

The Solution: A Hybrid Range Model

Matt decided to split his lanes: half traditional, half EV-R digital target systems. That gave him the best of both worlds.

On one side, his students could still train with paper and fundamentals. On the other, they could access interactive scenarios, decision-based drills, and real-time performance data. The hybrid setup let Guardian serve both serious training and casual recreation without losing efficiency or authenticity.

Because EV-R can retrofit into existing range infrastructure, the installation didn’t require major construction or downtime. That’s what I call a modern range upgrade — enhancing the shooter experience without overhauling what already works.

According to our data at Evolve Range Solutions, facilities that adopt EV-R technology typically see:

• A 40% increase in ammunition sales, driven by higher engagement and repeat use.
  
• Up to a 67% reduction in annual maintenance costs, since there’s less mechanical wear and downtime.
  
• A 20% increase in returning shooters once digital lanes are introduced.

These are the kind of results we’ve consistently seen across partner ranges that have integrated EV-R into their operations.

The Results

The response at Guardian Guns & Ammo has been exactly what we hoped for. People gravitate toward the digital lanes because they’re more interactive and provide instant feedback. Instructors like that they can coach with data, review patterns, and measure progress over time.

Matt has turned that engagement into momentum. He’s showcasing his students’ achievements, promoting his EV-R lanes on social media, and positioning Guardian as one of Long Island’s most advanced real gun ranges.

What I admire most is that he’s doing this in a market where innovation isn’t easy. That says a lot about his leadership and about how EV-R helps range owners compete by improving both training and experience.

The Bigger Picture

There’s always going to be a place for traditional training methods. But for the industry to grow, we have to give shooters something that connects with how people learn today.

Systems like EV-R build on tradition. It is possible to have the best of both worlds. EV-R can reduce downtime, provide measurable results, and make it easier for shooters to come back again and again.

That’s the future of this business: not bigger ranges, but smarter ones.

A Few Questions for Range Owners

If you’re running a range today, here are a few questions I’d challenge you to think about:

• How often do your customers come back and why?

• Are you tracking engagement or just attendance?

• Does your range experience feel different from your competitors’?

• What could technology help you measure, improve, or simplify?

Sometimes, the next level of growth is about reimagining the gun range experience within the walls you already have.

About Alex Hague

Alex Hague is the Founder and CEO of Evolve Range Solutions, a company dedicated to helping range owners bridge the gap between tradition and innovation. With decades of hands-on experience operating one of the most successful indoor ranges in Ohio, Alex created the EV-R Digital Target System to help facilities increase engagement, safety, and profitability through smarter technology. He’s passionate about helping range owners modernize without losing the values that built the industry — safety, skill, and community. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

About Evolve Range Solutions

Evolve Range Solutions, based in Vandalia, Ohio, develops digital target systems that modernize firearm training and entertainment for ranges across the country. From custom installs to scalable retrofits, our EV-R technology combines data, engagement, and reliability to help ranges operate smarter.

Learn more at evolverangesolutions.com