A day at the range

[venomballistics]

Took the wife out to an indoor range to partake in the great American tradition of spreading heavy metal.
Yup its a public range of course and yes there are a few of "those" ranted about in a different thread. but rather than rant about the OCD firing drill guy in the next lane. Ill tell you how I had fun with him.

I started out with a 30-06 using cast lead round nose ammo to dial it in ... being a country boy and well seasoned that only took three rounds to put it center of the bull ... its a Browning BOSS Abolt .. and yeah .. she barks
being a courteous individual I fired only those three to get the job done before moving on to the 1911.
thats when he came in ... Ever imagine what it would be like to see either Howard Hughes or Adrian Monk on a gun range? Its much easier for me to imagine.
He'd draw, flick the safety, fire, flick the safety, reholster, shake it off like a prize fighter before the bell for the next round and repeat the firing routine.
Now im all for muscle memory and supporting form and all but his target didnt get the memo as he pretty well covered the whole sheet as well as "lending assistance" on mine ....
whatever he was drilling .. it wasnt working.
so I kept pounding away with the 45 and oozed into my own little zone before exploiting his competitive nature.
he ran his target out to 25 .. I ran mine out 35.
this called him out cause then he ran his to 35 ... after mine came back with a respectable group and two flyers .. the Springfield was waking up.
my next target was run to the back wall where I put 5 through the 06 with nice clover coming back
This really shook up "Monk" for the blast of this boom stick.
last target back to the 75Y wall where he surely thought I'd rattle the walls with the 30-06 ... no .. one shot from that SA1911 for a shot I could not possibly repeat ... dead center of the bull .. Monk went home

 

[TACC1]

That's a good story. Sounds like he needs someone to take
him in-hand. I'm sure someone would.., for money! Doesn't sound
like anyone I'd like to know. You did well!
TACC1

 

[Rule3]

I hope he had one of those dang timer/beeper things. We have a bunch of those folks at my range. Even with foam ear plugs and passive ear muffs I get annoyed by those things.

Most of the time they do not even shoot. BEEP, draw, reholster, draw, change a mag, etc, etc BEEP! All at 10 yards.

 

[RYNO]

VB, Were you in Omaha? Just curious where you found a 75y range. IIRC The Bullet Hole is 25y, I'd like to find somthing with a bit more distance.

 

[venomballistics]

He was creeping people out just a little to be sure.
his gun handling was good, no sweeps but the "religion" part was a tad freaky.

The BOSS abolt is one of those guns Im sure bystanders dread. Im sure they are glad I kept it short and sweet too.
I must not have been alone in my thoughts since all the others looked far more amused than offended when it came up for another mag full to see Monk get flustered.

the next too the back wall target was purely psychological. Even if the 45 couldn't do it at that range .. I was willing to try it. and honestly I was looking for bullet stability issues as in another thread someone with a higher grade SA1911 gets keyholes at shorter ranges.
Yup I was testing bullets again.
I suppose to someone stuck in the philosophy that handguns are 25 or less weapons, 75 yard attempts are intimidating

 

[venomballistics]

VB, Were you in Omaha? Just curious where you found a 75y range. IIRC The Bullet Hole is 25y, I'd like to find somthing with a bit more distance.

drat ... my story needs correction .. divide by 3 folks.
as I recall the distance cues of the brass on the floor being about a body length forward and the 25 mark being about 4X that for 24 feet instead of yards it would seem you are correct and the backstop geometry makes it look like a mile.

 

[ErnieDeBord]

Well It sounds like he was there to practice and maybe have a good time? If he was handling the handgun safe, why such a concern and shooting a "boomer" next to him? Maybe I dont understand

 

[venomballistics]

Well It sounds like he was there to practice and maybe have a good time? If he was handling the handgun safe, why such a concern and shooting a "boomer" next to him? Maybe I dont understand

Lets talk cabinetry for a moment ...
a fine craftsman will produce an eye pleasing product that is square, all joints glued and screwed for integrity, and not one screw, nail, or glue booger will show.
this is all that is required.
I can assure you that the screw heads do not stop at 90 degrees nor was the glue measured to .001mL to gain this result.
such things would be misery and wholly necessary.

this dude was probably (I wasnt going to look too close) aligning the head stamps of each cartridge in the mag.
his meticulous routine for each and every shot, without exception, yeilded something far short of a "Quality cabinet" with his rounds showing up on the targets of others at a range of 25 feet.

the craftsmanship I'd let slide for any newcomer ... the routine on the other hand was a scary list of details far too numerous to write.

 

[ErnieDeBord]

As a Welder/ Engine builder and Auto tech.......and a Benchrest shooter I do know a little about precision. I was just curious that in your 1st post that you where pleased that you where shooting a "boomer" while he was practicing his draw with a handgun. If he was shooting-handling his firearm in a safe matter what the hay? I shoot in comp Benchrest, we give each other the utmost respect. We even have a laugh or two. Thank God I have my own private shooting range.........Ernie

 

[venomballistics]

I used to have my own range ... I miss it.
not to say I havnt seen some scary things there too, but I had the authority to intervene.
I saw a Marine with a 44 mag get shell shocked by his own gun in rapid fire .... after his six he kept pulling the trigger with his teeth clenched like he was under fire.
when he realized at the "18th shot" that his gun was silent he looked down the barrel to see if anything was coming out ... still clicking the empties.
You bet I stepped in and corrected that problem real quick.
in this case where the subject had a similar "this aint right" vibe its probably best to run them off to collect themselves and avoid what could have happened to my Marine friend.

 

[kennyb]

hmmmmm....

 

[sgvegaas]

That is why I avoid indoor ranges. Very scary.

 

[pilgrim6a]

It always amazes me how the guy shooting the Tacikool Vundergun with the Sci-Fi sighting system can put holes in my target 3 lanes away.
I guess the odd flyer is to be expected when shooting at three and one half yards.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

This type of activity does not occur at our indoor shooting range-- Sportsman Hixon, Tn. We do not allow well seasoned country boys with high power rifles or Quick Draw McGraw on the range.