About

About Us

We are a local family-owned Licensed FFL firearms dealer in Princeton, West Virginia, in Mercer County. Our business is an Authorized Service Center by the American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) and an authorized Powered by Silencer Shop Dealer.

We specialize in Master Gunsmithing & Armorer Services; firearms transfer and NFA transfers via our in-store Powered by Silencer Shop Kiosk; LEO and First Responder tactical sales and outfitting; professional NRA and USCCA firearms training by our certified instructors; and personal one-on-one firearms coaching at our outdoor pistol, rifle, and shotgun shooting range.

Beginning in the summer of 2026, we will offer WV DNR Hunter Safety Training and WV Hunting License and Stamp purchases at our storefront and range facilities on Unity Road in Mercer County, WV.

Our mission

We are a local family-owned business. Our mission at Whispering Pines Tactical & Gunsmithing and Whispering Pines Outdoor Range is to provide our guests with the greatest possible experience. We do this with an emphasis on gracious service, the broadest selection of trusted products, and by operating the most challenging, cleanest, and safest shooting facility in the region.

Our purpose is to equip our members and our guests with the products and knowledge essential in preparing them for life-enhancing, life-changing, and life-saving moments. Our goal is to create a safe, exhilarating, and entertaining environment while promoting firearm safety, responsibility, and proficiency in Mercer County and surrounding areas.

Engineered range safety

Because the range sits near adjoining residential properties, design and construction took months of planning, with oversight from Lockton Affinity (an NRA partner and a major firearms-industry insurance provider), so limited risk was a paramount goal. Engineered safety principles, intended firing angles and bullet trajectories, and exclusive backstop designs follow inherent ballistic characteristics and the laws of motion.

• Certified NRA Range Safety Officers monitor all live fire. See our range rules.
• Everyone is empowered with cease-fire authority for any recognized hazard anywhere on the range.
• At 30 yards, lanes one and two are used for initial optic or iron-sight alignment so projectiles strike backstops. Shooters with firearms new to the range start on these lanes. If alignment is off the paper, laser bore-sighting and optic zeroing are required before other lanes.
• The lower bench shelter sits above backstop ground elevation, so shots travel at about a 10–15 degree downward angle. Bench tops are about 7 feet above backstop ground level, directing projectiles toward the bottom of the backstops.
• The upper bench level sits 8 feet above the lower bench, creating about a 25–30 degree downward angle for additional stopping power into the ground in front of the backstops.
• 72-inch backstops are angled to the wood line to match the bench shooting angle, so bullets strike targets at a downward 90-degree angle.
• Backstops use two offset walls of creosote-treated 7" × 9" × 9' oak railroad ties, with 4½-foot forward-angled wings at each end to catch stray fragments. 50-pound concrete sand-filled sandbags stack behind the backstops.
• Targets sit low in front of backstops. Pass-through ricochet-free self-healing targets are used for the first 100 yards. AR ½" or SR ⅜" steel targets are used thereafter, hung at a 6-degree forward tilt so projectiles are directed downward into the ground.

Combined controls — zeroed optics, forward-winged backstops, precise shooting angles, and reciprocal target angles — are meant to keep stray fragments and high shots off the range. The range field slopes away from adjoining properties, with higher ground to the left of the backstops. The field also sits atop a 20–25 foot sandstone cliff along the right side.

Noise reduction matters too. Rental and training firearms (including Sig Sauer, Taurus, Shadow Systems, Glock, and others) are suppressed, reducing noise on the order of 85 to 114 decibels. Subsonic ammunition is used in rental and training firearms to limit bullet crack after the suppressed muzzle blast.

We have designed and built the safest range we can for members and adjoining neighbors, and we continue to consider additional engineering controls.

We are the premier dealer for the top brands you are looking for. Powered by Silencer Shop Dealer. In-store Silencer Shop kiosk coming soon.