I hadn't been to the range in about 5 months. I have been reloading since about 1966 but had never loaded 9mm para before. I loaded up about thirty rounds with lead bullets and went off to the Range to see if they functioned properly in my 3913. I payed my membership dues for another year but when I turned around to choose a lane to shoot on this is what greeted me.

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Sorry it is out of focus but....
At first I was shocked, then angry. What was a prestine range in November was now a wreck. What had happened in the last 5 months? The sound insulation on the ceiling was all shot up from just in front of the shooting station all the way down the range. The painted concrete floor was bare down the middle as if it had been subjected to heavy foot traffic. Surely this is pure vandalism. There just can't be that many people shooting that badly. Makes me wonder what the range officer is doing when all this is going on. Now I wonder if it is safe to shoot there.

I went ahead and shot but the shadows cast by the lose hanging sound-board is annoying. I was pleased that all my rounds functioned flawlessly but quickly vacated the range when other shooters arrived. .

Did you ask?

I don't shoot at indoor ranges any more. I have never been to one where the ceiling wasn't all shot up. These days, I prefer private outdoor ranges that require membership, with range officers that aren't shy about ejecting idiots.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Makes me sick to think people would be so destructive.....

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Even older, even crankier....

I would get my money back and find another range. I went to my local outdoor range today to shoot my Glendfield 20 and my M&P 15-22 and had a great time at a great range. I am a member of this range.

Our local indoor range is starting to look like the range in your pic. Here you pay by the hour.

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Rick
M&P 15-22, G27 Gen4, G23

New to shooting...but...how, in the heck, do you hit the ceiling at 3 yards?

At our club if you miss your target area and take a paint chip out of the shield/backboard you get to stay late and climb a ladder with a spray can
What happens at your club is wrong, get yourself on the board of directors or become a rso yourself. C'mon all the cool kids are doin' it.

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the rules? there are no rules

This doesn't surprise me because people are selfish pigs. It would surprise me more if it WEREN'T torn up.

You ARE joking right? If there was an RO on duty he must have been blind/drunk/ or both. I'm not a fan of these private indoor ranges, open 24/7 often with NO SUPERVISION, that a bunch of jack wagons can go to after the bars close. It looks like a prime example of one.

I was planning to go into Law Enforcement when I was 19 back in the mid '80s. Took Police Science at a local Tech school. They had an indoor range for the firearms course. We shot 4" M10 S&W revolvers with powder-puff wadcutters. A few of the lanes were not to be used. Apparently bullets had bounced back on the shooters.
I took my CCW course there, and warned the instructors about it. They were shocked.
Jim

That's unfortunate. Happens way too often. I know of a local range that closed because the guy got sick of replacing target stands, sound boards, lights, paint and everything else that got shot up.

The sad thing is, most of what he dealt with wasn't intentional, the people shooting were just that bad at shooting. Factor in hardly anyone cares about fundamentals anymore, and you get fools trying to draw and double and triple tap who can't even hit the target in the first place. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen a wannabe operator put a hole where it didn't belong, I'd have a lot more guns than I do now.

Another problem I notice is that a lot of people shoot at targets so close that they don't notice where their bullets have to be going. I've seen tall fellas shoot up the floor down range. I've seen short fellas shoot the ceiling. If someone has to point their gun down or up at a target, their bullets aren't going in the trap. And the closer the target, the more pronounced the effect.

Mostly, I am thankful everyday I have my own range... Saves me a lot of frustration. Honestly, if I dealt with the people who did that every time I wanted to shoot, I would probably give up the hobby out of despair.

I can't remember the poster, but they posted pictures of the outside range walls with bullet holes in them.

Run...don't walk and never look back! That's criminal, whether intentional or not, no way would I consider shooting around folks that shoot like that. I've grown to like all 7 of my fingers!

if i saw that i would turn right around and ask for my money back and go someplace else where the owner take care of his stuff thats a joke

Looks like a range in Bubbaville, USA

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

There is a beautiful gun range here on the coast that you can shoot all weapons up to fifty cal. It is open from daylight to dusk 365 days a year.
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All the different ranges are cement walks and covered and kept very clean. The road is paved right up to the place that you want to shoot from. This is the notice on their website posted this week after bullets were found on the property behind the range.

ATTENTION:
RANGE 3 WILL BE OPEN STARTING AT 8AM SUNDAY MORNING APRIL 27TH.

THE RANGE WEEKLY SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:
MONDAY THRU FRIDAY CLOSED

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY OPEN FROM 8AM UNTIL 6PM

THE RANGE WILL BE SUPERVISED BY AN RSO AT ALL TIMES.

What a shame having to close the rifle ranges five days a week for someones stupid and careless behavior.

It seems shooters are their own worst enemy.


guns, Coast Rifle and Pistol Club BILOXI, MS Home

If the ceiling and floor were that bad what was the air quality like? Thats a major health factor. Is there adequate ventilation?

Look's like some one couldn't hit the target, and throw a handgrenade instead

Just checked the link. NICE range!!

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Forum consigliere

Every time I go to the range, I take note of the ceiling, which is usually pockmarked with dozens, if not hundreds or rounds, many of them dangerously close to where you stand.

This is my home range also. The board of directors is looking at other ways to return the center fire rifle ranges to the old schedule of daylight to dark/365.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

Local ranges are slim to none. There is a range run by the Wildlife & Fisheries some 60 miles away. I typically have to shoot at my brother's place about 180 miles away. It's shoot here or not at all. That is one reasons I shoot pellet rifle. The moto of our state is "Sportsman's Paradise, provided you don't shoot"

By practicing warning shots.

The things I saw when instructing at Glynco.
I still have flashbacks to some of them!

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Hold my beer and watch this!

Actually it's quite common. It is the result of two things; bravado and inexperience. Bravado because, "I'm a man. I don't need no instruction!" and inexperience because they're not ready for the recoil.

When I take a new shooter to the range (never fired before), the first shots are taken with only one round in the magazine. They have no idea how the gun will recoil and only a little bit of trigger control through some dry firing we did just prior to live firing.

If the shooter doesn't trap the trigger back as the gun recoils, they can accidentally press the trigger again. Thus, the first shot goes on the target and the second into the ceiling. If you give them a full mag, the third, forth, fifth and so on, can go in completely random directions. Yes, I've seen that at my local range. We even have at least one hole in the cover at the pistol range. It is directly above the shooting station. So, yeah, even closer than 3 yards.

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Freedom isn't free.

I refuse to use indoor ranges, and I refuse shoot at outdoor ranges with folks I don't know. Neither one of them are too safe in my opinion, so I skip them both. I do shoot a bunch though, just not under those circumstances.

This is exactly why I buy guns just to fondle and look at them!

You know; the backstop sand pit and it's catch shield are designed to deflect the ammo so it is least likely to come straight back toward the shooters.
No- really. I have remodeled a range, and was instructed very specifically how to set up the backstop, and why.

Ever wonder why- with so many hundreds of rounds an hour at an indoor range you really never hear a zinger going over your shoulder??? It's not by accident.

As such, the ceiling is a depository for the rounds which were squirrely and feeling their nuts. Better the ceiling than YOU. It's also worth noting that you do not have rounds kicking down and into the floor- which would send all kinds of mayhem ammo in your general direction.

It's not cheap to replace the ceilings, as they are usually a soft, thick material designed to be acoustic in nature, not really designed in most cases to be a bullet-catch. Which means they do not last long in many cases once they are subjected to lots of abuse beyond their original intended use. So; after a while, a range can get run down and look shabby, like anything else. While I understand a rental shop space in Conroe Tx. might be rather affordable..... I bet the owner of the shop does not make a fortune running a firing range. And conversely..... in Los Angeles, rents are sky-high, and regulations are oppressive..... so making a good living with a range here is a near impossibility. So take it in stride, and be glad there is a place to go shoot in winter when it's too snotty and cold to shoot outside.

Joe Biden at the gun range??!!!

Our local 24/7 range has security cameras and is in good shape. We are just a few miles from former GE Plastics world headquarters (now Sabic) so we have a serious amount of Lexan lining the ceiling and protecting the lighting.

There is a public range in an old warehouse in the Ship Channel area here in town, it has always looked like it was a vandalized industrial wasteland, and run by polite but large menacing looking guys, but has prices to match, I like it.

The ranges I go to don't have a RO but it also doesn't look like that. Not even close. Could it be water damage from a leaky roof?

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After reading all of these posts, it makes me feel that much better that I have my own range out back. These are some scary posts.

UN-POSSIBLE. All that damage was caused by an individual with a 22. cal 1911 style gat bladed at 45 as he 'threw' the bullets downrange.

It's ALWAYS other peoples' kids who do this kinda stuff.
Quit using common sense before I report you to HandEjector for some discipline..................

When i was last there i was told along with the entire class that rounds were landing at some trailer park .....That was the only time in about five visits i had heard of that occurring ....

Don't feel bad. I recently heard a story from an instructor with a government entity who when doing remedial work with a horrible shooter and stressing watching the front sight, he found her shooting a rifle from the hip with front sight in her field of view. Whomever was the original instructor (she had in fact passed other training to be at this point) should have been introduced to severe percussive maintenance.

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NHI, 10-8.

You know, normally I would agree with you, but sometimes it's the student.

I'm a firm believer in the concept that there are no bad students, only bad instructors. Even so, a student who is doing what you describe is clearly beyond the average level of incompetence. I have no doubt that her response would have been, "But, instructor X told me to focus on the front sight!" She just forgot the part about lining it up with the rear.

I actually heard an exchange once. A new worker was filling out a form incorrectly and was being corrected by his supervisor. The new worker said, "Well, this is how [Rastoff] told me to do it." To my great satisfaction the supervisor replied, "No, he didn't. I know [Rastoff] and he wouldn't tell you to do it this way. Fix it." Sometimes students just don't remember all that you tell them. This is the failing of taking only one class and why continuous training is valuable.

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Freedom isn't free.

A long gun shot from the hip would be the first clue to me.

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NHI, 10-8.

I am a member of a conservation club in our area. Nice facility in that there are several handgun bays as well as long gun range. Also the membership cost is very reasonable.

Only issue is the how some members treat the equipment. The club attempts to provide target stands, gongs, etc. But it has become nearly impossible to provide these because they are so miss treated. Gongs are regularly destroyed because someone has shot them wiht high powered rifles, even when the gongs are in the pistol bays. Target stands are shredded. And people can't seem to find the trash cans, even though they may have just shot holes in it.

Club has considered installing cameras in an attempt to catch the perps. Access has been via a locked gate. They are planning to go keyless card entry in order to record who comes in.

It sickens me to think people treat things this way. Do their homes/cars get treated this way? No, don't tell me, already know they probably do.

The sad part is that they usually don't treat their own stuff that way. It's not theirs and that's why they treat it with a total lack of respect.

Maybe the lack of others renewing memberships or partaking in the range weekly, they have simply decided to 'let the place go'. A shame really.


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Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm

I was a Federal Police Firearms Instructor in a brand new 5 point Detroit Bullet Trap Range. State of the art at the time.

The local federal agencies had their own instructors and didn't want me there under orders.

The ATF broke the rules by firing a German belt fed MG 34. The armored piercing rounds went through the steel plate backstop like butter.

The Post Office, IRS and other gov't agencies fired into the walls and ceiling and overhead air circulation ducts rendering it useless and the bureau of Mines closed it down. It is now a storage room for Office furniture. GSA took it in the ear on this one.

Very comforting and what a waste.

By having your finger on the trigger while putting on your ear muffs.

The damage pictured is/was no accident and didn't happen in a day or two. Could the owner have been in on it? The range I frequent has some damage to the ceiling tiles, nothing like this. There are a battery of cameras in place also. Any careless actions are addressed immediately, and the person/persons in question are escorted out.

Without exception, every local indoor range I've been to has "marks" and scars to indicate some seriously deficient gun handling skills. Two of the ranges have serious camera setups and roving RSOs who aren't shy about correcting unacceptable behaviors. The third has cameras and an indifferent front desk clerk more intent on watching TV sports than range behaviors.

My outdoor range is 40 miles away and has target frames that bear more resemblance to Swiss cheese than range accouterments. I prefer to think we are the beneficiaries of a bunch of never properly trained "newbies" to the shooting sports rather than the victims of determined vandals.

Either way, I have long since adopted an asocial approach to my shooting activities: I seek out places and opportunities to do it without benefit of "company" at the range. As I'm retired, most of my range times are during the week when "Bubba" and his ilk are at work, presumably.