It looks like the game wardens are going to shut down the outdoor range I just found. They have big signs up stating there are cameras but people are simply being stupid. The last time I was there the guy who plows it came over to talk to me. Apparently someone moved one of the benches and shot it all up. Another was arrrested after being belligerent about shooting at the signs in the woods. He requested if I witness any bad behavior to simply get a plate number and report it.

The thing is I don't have much desire to go there when others are there. Too dangerous.

Kinman, Great looking range you have there!!! Congrats on a remarkable place. (I looked you up on google earth)

Invite grandmother to bring her grandkids down for an hour of shooting .22's.............that will stop their complaining!!!

Please tell me you're kidding about this, right? Seriously? PRACTICE a warning shot?


I'm the vice president at my local range. It's an outdoor private range. We lose at least $2K/year to people shooting up the range and equipment. They target the legs of the target stands, they shoot the trash cans, they shoot the signs, there are holes in every sign on the fence surrounding the range. We used to have lights on the pistol range. Guess why we don't anymore?

It used to be an easy place to join. You sent in an application and got a card in the mail. Now we require a "Range Orientation" class. This new class has helped a little, but we still have idiots.

This hole was made about 6 months after I put this sign up:


What really bothers me about it is the direction. Look at this pic:

The yellow arrow is pointing to the sign and the direction the idiot was shooting. Anyone have a problem with this?

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

Maybe if we were willing to sacrifice these morons to the anti-gun movement we could appease them j/k.We are our own worst enemies..

In response to ground strikes and they're bouncing off the ground...you better believe it and it doesn't matter how hard the ground is. Most of our "danger" groundstikes occur on the 200 yard line, we haven't quite figured out why unless they are coming from the 300 or 600 but just ahead of the 200 yard shooting benches at about 75 yards we have a collection of impacts from groundstikes, they are just grazing the surface and leave a one foot scar and no sign of a bullet anywhere, our hope is that with the bank ahead with a good 100 feet of elevation that the bullets are not getting out of the range. We have had a guy with a metal detector go out at night to try and locate any bullets, he has found some above the bank and in many of the trees, this range has been there since 1925 and has always been very active.
Muzzleloaders will occaisonally fail to put powder down ahead of the patch and ball, its referred to as "dry-balling", it requires the use of a ball puller or we even have a co-2 discharger, many guys just pull the nipple, pour a little FFFF priming powder in the hole, reinstall the nipple and pop the ball down the range. Usually by aiming at the 100 foot backstop you can make it if your charge is enough, often times the ball will make it about 50 yards before running out of steam and bouncing on the ground, by the time it gets down to the end of its energy you could stop it with your foot. That is still ruled a "groundstrike" and as such is subject to stern reproach by a "well meaning" but basically ignorant range officer, we accept this for for what it is and thank them for their due diligence, safety first...always.

I know a lot of old guys who are "ME". They are 50 and over.

Worse than any kid I have met.

We have had a long history of selfish people in the past.

It's not that he's ignorant of the danger, or lack of danger, of that particular round. He doesn't have time to make the distinction. Regardless of the cause, if a gun goes off and sends a projectile down range, it was fired. Every gun that is fired must be treated the same by the RSO or he's not doing his job.

Now, if you were to inform him ahead of doing the clearing procedure...

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Freedom isn't free.

Many so called gun experts have no clue as to what a bullet going 3000 ft/sec will do to steel plate. It worries me to see steel gongs all pocked to pieces because you have to know that some of that shrapnel traveled in directions not intended.
I am an officer at a small local indoor range and we had it posted conspicuously that it was .22rf only yet someone fired center fire .22 caliber rounds right through the backstop. It cost us several thousands of dollars to repair and re-install additional plates. Whoever it was never stepped forward to own up or offer to pay either. Many gun owners are worse than stupid.

We have the same problems at the Izaak Walton range. People shooting up the target stands, shooting into the overhead baffle, stealing toilet paper out of the john, missing 20 foot steel I-beams, etc.

The range is only open with a RO present but there are still problems.

The 100 yard beam does not have an overhead deflector which I think is needed to keep rounds from tumbling after they hit the dirt. At the IWL range in Loudoun County, we were finding bullets 25 to 50 yards behind the dirt backstop which meant they were tumbling after impact.

I try not to point to my attempts at humor with smilies and rolleyes and such.

OTOH, how do YOU explain holes in the ceiling?

There have been selfish navel gazers as long as there have been people. My FIL is one of the most selfish people I've ever met and he's over 70.

However, the ME GENERATION tag is still valid. The Gen X and Gen Y crowd have lot higher percentage of people who fall into this category than the what the Boomers and the Greatest Generation had. I'm sorry if that offends any of you younger folks, but it is a fact.

Necrothread raises a valid point: Why can't people just be cognizant of the fact that they're a guest on someone else's property and behave accordingly? If someone was kind enough to open a public range for my benefit and required me not to shoot certain kinds of ammo, I'd be happy to comply because 1) I want to see that place stay in business, and 2) I don't want to be "that guy" who gets thrown out.

Where I live, we have a small range on a relative's property. I have permission to go there any time I want as long as I respect the land and don't trash the property or stands. Every year, without fail, there are visitors who think it's funny to blow the stands to smithereens and leave their targets, beer cans and other trash all over the place. Burns me up, and I'm really surprised my cousin hasn't blocked it off and posted it yet.

I was approached by one of our "junior" RSO's last year while my daughter was shooting her pink Red Ryder in the pistol bay. It was slow, me and 2 other guys. He unloaded on me as to why she was shooting a rifle in the pistol bay. When I told him it was a bb gun, he asked me if "I have a problem with his authority?" At this time, the other 2 members started looking at him with the same look I was. I told him, "Well, I figured you, being an experienced RO, would be able to tell the difference between a pink bb gun, and a rifle. Can you tell me what the problem is?" He said, "fine" and walked away.....

Sometimes, RSO's aren't the brightest either.....

my only actual range experience is at PSA's in SC and a Gander in WI. Both indoor and both with range officers standing watch (along with video). Even with that, i've still seen folks get a stern talking to and once asked to leave due to their actions (in SC). Someone isnt handling a firearm safely and is new, they'll get quick instructions and perhaps closer monitoring. But from what i've seen, those who tend to infringe on the rules are not the beginners. Watched someone pretend he was "quick draw mcgraw" though rules stated no firing from a holster and he was upset he was told not to..... i was just a customer and wanted to tell the guy to get the hell out before he ruins it for the rest of us.



I agree its not just a range thing but a society thing.

Well I've seen enough stupidity at the range to know that it's certainly possible someone was practicing warning shots.

There is another explanation though. New shooters are generally not ready for the recoil. Some believe it will be more than it really is and some think it will be less. The first group grasps the gun with a death grip. The second doesn't grasp it tight enough. Consequently, the death grip group will fire the first shot into the floor, not everyone, but I've seen it a lot.

It's the second group that puts the holes in the ceiling. The first shot surprises them and they accidentally pull the trigger a second time before they recover from the recoil. Thus, the gun is pointed straight up as the second pull happens; hole in the ceiling.

This is why I follow this regimen with new shooters:

1. Load only one round. Once they demonstrate control...
2. Load two rounds. Once they demonstrate they can shoot two, and keep the muzzle down range...
3. Load to capacity and let them have fun.

Following this procedure I've never seen a round go anywhere, but down-range. Yes, the "death grip" people still tend to put a round in the floor/ground, but no wild rounds produced by recoil.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

We are infested with dummies. I think they should remove all the zombie TV shows and replace them with dummies bringing down society.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

They already have; they're called "reality shows."

Lots of holes in the overhead baffles of my gun club's indoor range.

I don't know how you could put a bullet in the ceiling, BUT, there seems
to be a lot of people who know how.