About lost it at the range!

[FEENIX]

It was open range and was helping out an Airman break-in/sight-in his new rifle. Too many crazies despite 2 range safety officers.

Anyways, I was watching a guy shooting a Remington 7400 in .30-06 at a small target at 200 yards with nothing but the good old elbow support. Not really sure how he managed to hit the backing but apparently he was ~ 4" high but ran out of down adjustment on his elevation. He was trying to force the coin slot on a Leupy. Told him he bottomed out because of his see-through scope mounts.

He grabbed a pair of gloves and a vise grip off his truck and start adjusting his scope. It hurts too much to watch so I left.

[shooterfpga]

Wow. What kind of person does that. It obviously hit a mechanical stop. I hope it wasnt a very expensive leupold because i doubt theyre going to warranty that and i DEFINATELY hope it wasnt someone elses rifle.

[Nandy]

I have seen so many crazy things in ranges but I dont offer advice anymore unless the person ask or looks like they want it.

I think the worst thing I have seen was this guy at the right end of the fire line having problems with his ak or was it an sks (been too long). The rifle has jammed and he was trying to open the bolt so he follows to put the fully loaded (not that it makes a differende if it was empty) rifle in his lap with the muzzle pointed to the left....... The amount of cursing that follow from the shooters should have gotten this guy attention... NOPE, he just looked at everyone in disgust and continue to tinker with the rifle in his lap. I took my stuff and left....

[D.ID]

You can't fix stupid.
.
But you can run away from it if your lucky.
Between retarded range officers in panic because someone is approaching the line with a slung rifle that is not cased or an imbecile waving around there malfunctioning whatever.........You will never see me at a "proper" range, shooting with people I do not know..........Never again.

[Nandy]

You can't fix stupid.
You will never see me at a "proper" range, shooting with people I do not know..........Never again.

I wish I had that option but it is not possible at this time. In a few years I might be able to sell this house and get a little place in the woods. One of the goals is for me to be able to have my own shooting range.

[Fenrir]

I wish I had that option but it is not possible at this time. In a few years I might be able to sell this house and get a little place in the woods. One of the goals is for me to be able to have my own shooting range.

Yep, that would be the ultimate.

I have belonged to a number of shooting clubs around the country and have witnessed some bad behavior. A few of those observations are as follows:

The guy who brings his dog to the range and lets it run loose, including out in front of the firing line.

The guy who’s too lazy to put up a target at 300 yards so he shoots his Mosin-Nagant at a rock on the berm, frequently shooting over the top.

The guy who shows up with a .50 BMG caliber rifle and blows multiple holes through the steel gongs.

The guy who goes down range to change his targets, and then runs out of sight behind the target berm to take a pee.

The two guys who showed up drunk and burned up all their ammunition attempting to sight in, and failed. Then they got mad at the gun complaining that it was a piece of junk.

The guy who attempted to open his frozen bolt by beating on the bolt handle with a big rock, and broke the rock.

And my personal favorite...the “Bench Hog”. This is the guy who thinks that he is entitled to do anything he wants and spreads his stuff out on two or three shooting benches, no matter how busy the range may be. This is also the guy who becomes irritated when other shooters request to go down range.

These are my observations over many years of membership at a number of clubs. 99 percent of the members have been good common sense folks with just that 1 percent making things unpleasant or difficult at times for the rest of us. I suspect it’s that way in most anything we do in life.

[basshawg42]

Thank god I have my own place that I can shoot out 1300 yards. All by myself don't have to worry about any crazies.

[BillPa]

I'd say 99f% of our members are pretty good following the rules, safety and are mindful of other shooters. For example, when someone wants to go down range to hang, check or retrieve targets everyone on the line will give the all clear, actions open and no one handles a firearm. By the same token before firing a round they'll look to see if everyone else is behind the line and if they have their ear protection on.

But, we do have our version of Comedy Central! I have 31 pieces of 30-30 brass. The guy who fired them would shoot, adjust his scope, shoot again, adjust, shoot....but not ne shot was one paper at 50 yards while he was instructing two other guys how to sight in a rifle!:p

Another time a guy couldn't chamber his ammo. He was trying for all he was worth to get the bolt closed. After awhile he grumbled "*&%#$^@ Remington bullets"! To make a long story short he was trying to chamber 280 Rem ammo in a 270Win. When told him 280 and 270 weren't the same, "Is too, its just a bigger bullet. Don't you think I know what I doing!" ( No, I never "Thought" that at all.:p)

If I felt like typing I'd tell the tale of "String Bean" and his 300 UM, a scope, a bloody beak and paper towels soaked in Butch's. Its a classic!

Bill

[olddav]

I loudly proclaim how intelligent I am all the while openly defining my ignorance.
I assume he really didn't want you to answer his question, "Don't you think I know what I'm doing".

[quickkillaught6]

Seen a guy shooting handguns at the range once. I was facing at the rifle target shooting groups back towards the pistol range, they pulled up seemed like nice folks after ensuring they had their "ears" in I proceeded shoot wait 5mins shoot. Once they were all set up (man and a women) I noticed he'd grabbed his targets I cleared my weapon and politely waved him to the targets as I took a break. He acknowledged and went down range.
He came back gave me the thumbs up while me and my shooting buddy were sharing BS. Back behind the rifle I go to finish my testing. I fired the first round and as I was filing my brass and grabbing another loaded cartridge I hear bang, bang.......bang-ding!* SON-of A :$;@:' I think I just shot myself.... My shooting buddy and I look at each other with the WTH face, clear my weapon and go to his aid... Sure enough jacketed hollow points out of a handgun at 30yards at a flat steel target no good. He caught the shrapnel didn't hit anything significant. After finding out he was ok they decided to leave we stayed finished out shooting. If he hadn't of left we most definetely would have. I explained to him the 25 signs and the ill effects of jacketed bullets on flat steel. "I'm not saying harm the unsmart, I'm just saying we need to remove all warning labels and let things work themselves out for a while"

[Dennis]

This is not funny, but here it goes. I had a couple set up next to me and proceed to set up 12" targets @ the 50 yard berm (first mistake). They needed to borrow my stapler as our range uses plywood backboards. They told me they just bought a new pistol (glock 9mm or a 40) and was going to try it out. I asked if they had experience handling semi handguns. The acted insulted, so I kept doing my thing.

I noticed they came back and didn't say anything. After seeing "blood", I had to investigate. It turns out he held my stapler backwards and he put a staple in his right forehand. It had to have hit one of the bones, or he must have hit a big vein.

Anyway, it was obvious they both were quite embarrassed by this incident. Instantly I said it's time for me to load up and leave. As I started to do so, his wife brought my stapler back while wiping the blood off of it. She thank me and wanted to know if I would assist them on their next visit.

Trying not to laugh, I said sure, just let me know and I will be glad to show both of you how to handle and use your weapon, as long as they listened. To my surprise, they did call and I did help them. They had different attitudes and were very humble. One was a Pharmacist, I don't know the others profession. Obviously it didn't involve shooting a pistol.


The two guys who showed up drunk and burned up all their ammunition attempting to sight in, and failed. Then they got mad at the gun complaining that it was a piece of junk.
PS: I have bought several rifles very cheap at the range because the above. Everyone of them were tac drivers. One person saw me shooting his old rifle at the range and he asked how that piece of junk was shooting. He walked down to set up his target, I told him which target to look at, it only had 3 holes in it. A dime covered all three shots. Not kidding, he walked back and loaded his stuff up and never fired a shot. I haven't seen him since.

[BillPa]

Well, now that I'm rested here is the saga of "String Bean".

Another old goat and I were at the range when we saw a vehicle pulling in with a brush painted camo job,loud exhaust, rattling and pretty sure by the sound of it it was only hit'n on six of it's eight cylinders. String Bean had arrived, dressed head to toe in well worn camo. He is maybe 6'-5", as skinny as a rail and probably tips the scale at 130-140 pounds. He reaches in the bed of his his truck and pulls out a rifle wrapped in a blanket.

His first words out of his yap, "This is a 300 Winchester Ultra Magnum, the most powerful rifle made. I don't shoot deer under 500 yards". OOOOOK!

SB hangs a target on the 100 yard backer, pulls a sweatshirt out of his ride then rolls it up in a ball for a rest....he's ready to do battle with a piece of vicious man eating piece of paper.

Now picture being tall, setting on the seat and his rifle down low almost touching the shooting bench his upper body was bent to almost at 90 degrees. SB touches one off. His head goes back and his hat flies off. When he turns he has a nice little gash on the bridge on his beak!

SB asks if we have a screwdriver, he needs to move his scope forward so the scope doesn't smash him in the face. I gave him one, he moves the scope and fires round number two..

Now the gash is a little wider, deeper and leaking pretty good so I pulled a paper towel out of my cleaning box ( probably with Butch's on it) and handed it to him to mop the blood. He tears a small piece of it off, sticks it on his nose and moves the scope forward again.

Shot number three. Now the gash looks like it will need stitches. He replaces the red target dot on his nose with another piece of towel and moves the scope a third time. Shot number four he escapes further injury or at the best well could tell. By this time the towel was soaked and dripping blood!

With that SB proclaimed success, packs up up his "gear" and as he is drive'n off yells "See you guys next year" , a piece of red towel still stuck on his nose

BTW, he had two shots on paper about 8" apart.

Bill

[JTCrl]

And the worst part is that all these people reproduce!:confusion:

[savage2014]

One thing happened to me at my local range. On my left was a guy shooting a shotgun, when it didn't fire, he tried to tinker with it facing to his right which was myself. I moved back and stared at him, he saw me and he carried on doing his thing. After he got sorted and range went cold, i packed and left. Therr are days when everyone shooting are great, sometimes all the idiots decide to come at the same time.

[Uncle H]

My favorite trip to the range, was the time my daughter and I were at a Game and Fish Public Range ( State Operated ) two couples showed up, husband wife couples we assumed, neither speaking English, both couples had just bought pistols and were there to shoot for the first time in their lives, it got bad real quick, and we left.

[Nandy]

two couples showed up, husband wife couples we assumed, neither speaking English,

Yeah, peep that dont speak English knows nothing about gun safety or guns....

[jonbearman]

I was at a local range and a young woman was shooting a .380 and after each shot she rested it under her chin off safe and ready to fire. I sent the range officer over to stop it. How can anyone be that stupid.

[foxx]

Dang - near "mind blowing" how stupid some people can be!

[BillPa]

How can anyone be that stupid.

Some things come naturally! There is a old saying, "Time wounds all heels"

Bill

[Hallbilly]

Up until a few days ago I thought all people knew and more importantly understood the rules.
The range was closed, folk were forward at their targets, I was on the mound when a chap picked up and started to toy with his rifle.
I told him to drop the weapon and stand away, he stared at me as if I was from Mars and stood his ground.
A much younger and less polite fellow physically disarmed him.
I went home.