Ever have a bad range day?

[LVSteve]

As it was, when I experienced a "M" split with the round in the chamber, I only got a dose of gas and brass in the face.

You mean the blowup squeezed brass past the closed bolt? That's a new one on me. I can only guess that the brass bits were channeled between the bolt and the receiver where sufficient pressure can build up to launch the bits backwards at high speed. One thing that can be said for the SMLE design is that the base of the case is so near open air that when something lets go the pressure is released almost straight away.

All the same, a great reminder as to why we must always wear our safety glasses.

 

[JPriest]

All the time. At least now I can usualy figure out why. Sometimes I start to lose concentration and that's when I get a flier. Patience is key and sometimes I lack it. The good news is that the bad days now are better than they were a year ago.

 

[Grimjaws]

I took my son shooting our Christmas Henry .22 Golden Boy and my .380 colt. I could not hit the side of a barn with that .22 but my 13 year old was knocking down 10 steel plates out of 12 shots. I blamed the new bifocals but I know I did not focus on the front sight. I also carry a .380 and for the first time had stove pipes and failures to ignite even when each primer had a decent dent in it. Some rounds took three or four pulls to touch off. They were reloads but still - I am now looking to get a new J frame as my carry gun and relegate the colt to be a safe queen. I felt lousy when I got home plus I was freezing. Still a bad day at the range with my son was better than a good day at work!

 

[Alnamvet68]

Almost every time I go to the outdoor range, all the nitwit Dirty Harry's with mail order ccw's, and internet training are always there, pointing the business end of their weapons wherever their eyeballs are looking, and typically it's not down range. Thankfully, these miscreants get no warnings from the rangemaster, who promptly has these yardbirds removed from the line and banned from ever returning. I've been to a few "conflicts" during my service, and have lost a few aircraft, and have come close to entering Valhalla, but I'll be damned if some snot nosed dilitante wannabe gets my arse killed because of his/her lack of experience and training.

 

[Cyrano]

Drove to my range 35 miles away one morning to work on some loads for my Remington 700 .308.
Uncased my rifle and realized I'd left the bolt at home.

With me it's usually the ammo, bench rest or the targets.

 

[Ezekiel555]

All the time! Whenever i go to an outdoor range a few towns over one of the range employees sits at the benches near you and watches you shoot. You would think its not a big deal until he starts calling out every shot. BANG..about 2 inches to the left". Turn and look at the guy..BANG.."about 1 inch high", turn and look at the guy again, he looks back at me. BANG.."i wasn't watching, shoot again"....i get up and leave.

 

[TACC1]

I was trying to remember a bad day at the range.
Couldn't do it. I always take enough firearms/ammo that
Something will go "Bang". On the days I can't have a firearm
with me, I'll scavenge empty brass, just to see what others are using.
I Did go hunting once w/o a magazine for my semi-auto.
It's all a matter of perspective. JMHO,
TACC1

 

[Fishslayer]

It's about 40 miles to the range I go to.

Twice I forgot the key to the locks to my pistol & ammo boxes. (It was on the other vehicle's key ring)

Forgotten magazines.

Forgotten ammo.

Brought wrong revolver once. Friend said I could play with his 629 any old time so I took him up on it. He handed me a SS revolver, I quick checked the cylinder & stuffed it in a rug. Got to the range & found that .44 ammo into a 627 does not go.

 

[ChuckRogers]

The indoor range I go to is about 10 miles from me. The only bad day so far was me and my wife showing up on a date day to shoot with limited time, due to my wife's more important plans for us , and there was a take a number wait for the range. If I had a tail it would have been between my legs as I walked back to the car.

 

[Thuer]

I attend the big-bore competition with my Smith and wesson 681.
It is a very good accurate and sturdy revolver which give me good scores in the past. The maximum score you can get is 200 points on two paper ring targets.
I am embarrassed to say that my score was last week a historic low of 137. The distance is just 25 meter. This is the worst score ever for me. In my good day's I reached 188 out of the 200.
The diabetic finally gets me. I can't hold the revolver steady on target very often.
Ho well. I am getting old.
Tonight I will give it another go and take my 681 and Colt SAA to the range.

 

[1911a2bphil]

Nope, never. My worst day at the range was better than my best day at work. Just my opinion

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

not really, except when you don't shoot as well as you'd like too

 

[brucev]

You mean the blowup squeezed brass past the closed bolt? That's a new one on me. I can only guess that the brass bits were channeled between the bolt and the receiver where sufficient pressure can build up to launch the bits backwards at high speed. One thing that can be said for the SMLE design is that the base of the case is so near open air that when something lets go the pressure is released almost straight away.

All the same, a great reminder as to why we must always wear our safety glasses.

The rifle was a standard WWII era M-98 Mauser in straight issue military configuration. The ammunition was Yugoslavian 8mm ball. I have previously fired several cases of the same ammunition with excellent results. This was a different lot number. I'd bought a case of it at the LGS.

I was firing prone as as normal I was crawling the stock. The M-split was extreme extending from the primer pocket through the rim and about 3/4 of an inch up the side of the casing. Amazingly the bullet hit in the 10 ring of the 100 yd. bullseye at which I was aiming.

I do not know how the bits of brass came to be embedded in my forehead/eyebrow. it is possible that it was ejected down the receiver rail or somehow was deflected by the bolt shroud. Possibly it came out between the bolt and receiver ring. I just don't know. And believe me, I gave the matter a great deal of thought. My hat is off to the Mauser's who designed the action and the Germans who produced it. That rifle took that defective round without a hiccup. It simply was not in any way damaged. After a normal cleaning with attention to the interior of the bolt normal for when corrosive ammunition has been used, the rifle was returned to service with standard 8mm ball ammunition. There were no further issues of any kind.

I've had occasional case-head separations but this has only happened using factory ammunition. I've not ever had but one M-split. I do not ever again want to every be behind a rifle if or when a M-split occurs. At the time I was not aware of how very close I came to being blinded. As only my left eye works, it would have ruined me as my right eye is blind due to a birth defect. I was so badly shaken up that I loaded up my equipment and rifles and drove straight to the LGS where I'd bought the rifle and the case of ball ammo. When they saw my face and the casing they immediately refunded me all my money as well as offering to accept return on the rifle, etc. I kept the rifle. The owner of the LGS took up the issue of the ammo with the distributor from which it was shipped.

Since that day when I go shooting I wear my normal prescription glasses with a pair of Gargoyle shooting glasses over them. Admittedly it looks odd. But until I can do something about prescription shooting glasses, it is at least one way to protect my eyes from any possible injury due to a faulty round, etc.

 

[msinc]

How about two bad range days in a row...took my brand new Hi Power out one day and had a squib load. I couldn't hear the "pap" of just the primer with my hearing protection on so I thought it just failed to chamber and racked the slide. Didn't notice a case flying out {dont know how I missed it} and loaded a fresh one on top of a stuck bullet. Promptly blew the barrel and wasted the slide. Not to mention it was a Bar-Sto {they dont give those away.} I was lucky it didnt hurt me. Gunbroker had a complete slide so the day it showed up I went back out and...you guessed it, the case that got the squibs load and was a double charge was not next, but in the next three or four. Another blown barrel, wrecked slide and this time I wasn't so lucky...several stitches later and some not needed brass shards removed I was back home ordering parts again. No, they weren't reloads. I might not own the nicest Browning Hi-Power in the world, maybe not the most expensive, but I'm pretty sure it's in the top three!!!! Bar-Sto likes me.

 

[CallaoJoe]

I have had days when I go to my gun club and try out a set of new loads, and not one of them makes me happy.... But, it still beats working....