People at the Gun Range

[scooter123]

I guess that I'm fortunate. I have 2 local indoor ranges that I like to use.

One is only 60 feet but when the range isn't busy they allow me to do some rapid fire drills provided I ask first. Generally at this range I do most of my practicing at 25 to 30 feet. Downside to this range is that in the past the staffing on the range has been spotty, so weekends can sound like a machine gun shoot. In addition it has trapzoidal traps and it's short enough that those who miss the trap will throw debris back to the firing line. However, overheard a conversation yesterday that a shooter managed to shoot 2 fingers off and part of a third finger, as a consequence I noticed that the range was now staffed with 2 RO's.

The other range I like to use has a 50 yard rifle range in addition to a 25 yard pistol range. Normally here I use the 50 yard side and pay pistol rates. I've noticed that at least 70% of the shooters on the 50 yard range are shooting handguns like myself and I have yet to see one shooter that I would consider inexperienced. Downside is that the lighting is poor at 50 yards so I do most of my shooting at 35 yards where the target is well illuminated. They are also quite rigid about a minimum firing rate of 1 shot per second, exceed the firing rate and you get one warning, do it again and your done. They also expect and enforce that every shooter use an area on the target that will assure that rounds downrange will impact the trap, which mean NO head shots under 25 yards, hit the ceiling and you're instantly ejected. I've heard some complain that they're Range Nazi's, that doesn't bother me at all because the effect of that strict enforcement is that I feel perfectly safe shooting there any day of the week.

 

[mkk41]

Hopefully , I will never have to shoot at a public or rental range ever again. Seen to many dangerous clowns who probably shouldn't even own guns. I've got rural private property to go to and I've belonged to a private club for 15yrs and will be a member as long as I live. Ya have to be sponsored by a member in good standing or voted in after an interview by the board of directors and year probationary period.

 

[wheelgun28]

The best one was some guy holding two autos of some kind, one in each hand. He then shot them both bang, bang bang. most are misses not even on the paper.

One guy shows up with a Desert Eagle in 50 ae, shoot 100 rounds as fast as possible and splits.

Some of these guys buy expensive nice targets, skeleton, X-ray and so on. So now I salvage the targets they get rid of, they only have holes on the edges and a few here or there.

 

[MotoShot10R]

I went to Shooter's this morning I had to wait a few minutes for a lane same thing happened last 2 times I went. See a lot more women there not sure i would go on a weekend to busy and to many people I don't know.

I usually go on my days of or before or after work depending on what shift i work. ran into a few County Deputies doing the same thing on Friday.


I shoot about 200 to 300 rounds from different handguns and leave. This Saturday is a machinegun shoot.

I like Shooters and their employees, I bought my first pistol there and have frequented the establishment on and off for years. Having said that, Shooters can get downright scary. It gets too packed on the days I tend to have off (weekends).

10 lanes with up to 2/3/4 people per and each tend to have an accumulation of pistols/rifles/shotguns. Add to that the fact that there is so little room to move around and nowhere to really set up, and it gets bad quick. I love nearly tripping over rifles/pistols/cases/ammo/etc...yikes. As a matter of fact I turned down going there just yesterday...you can't hear yourself think with all the rapid-fire and it just gets downright unsafe in my honest opinion. I do not mean this as a knock against Shooters but I am looking for alternatives.

 

[venomballistics]

Im stuck with the indoor public range option for now.
Ive seen quite a few 10 yard wonders ... the range is 75 long so I quite enjoyed running a target to the back wall and putting some in with a 629 .... I like to think Im helping them to realize guns are capable of so much more.

 

[hsguy]

I am a NRA certified RSO and work once per month at a local range and certainly see a wide cross section of shooters. The majority seem to be quite responsible and safety oriented. I used to think that young males trying to impress their girlfriends were the most dangerous until a group of men from a 55 and older community showed up and were the most undiciplined, dangerous bunch I ever run across in my life. Guns waving around, muzzles pointing all directions etc.. We shut them at once and had a private safety briefing and explained either they follow the rules or would no longer be welcome. Don't believe we have seen them since.

 

[GUNMIKE]

People at the gun range

It is interesting to read the posts here. The indoor range that I frequent is very strict about safety (one small issue "ok" but #2 & your are out). It seems that some have an issue with women shooting, which I have problems understanding. My wife, after shooting her remmington 25-06, decided to try pistols. She started out (her choice) with a 6" S&w model 27 (357 mag) with 38 specials and enjoyed it so much that she traded my brother for it. She enjoys pistol shooting eough that she has five pistols now & if we have not been to the range enough, she ask's to go. Right now she is frustrated because she cannot get the groups that she wants from her glock 19. To me it seems that women take instruction better than men as they do not haave to prove that they already know how to shoot. Well, thats just my two cents worth.

 

[cjw3]

I retired from a facility that had a public range. Some of what we have had:

Muzzle sweeps and handling guns with people downrange: routine.

People going downrange while shooting continues: not too frequent but it does happen. One guy was lingering at his target while the range was called cold, but was not noticed by some goober on the far end of the shelter. That one fired a rifle and a small bullet fragment flew 90 degrees and hit the other guy in the left love handle. He was not happy.

Ceiling shot (with me standing 15 feet away): once. Evidence of it happening other times: many.

Posts of shooting shelter roof shot: 3 or 4, one of which I saw happen. Kid with .22 auto pings 10 rounds into it. I charged him with damaging/destroying Department property and he got buzzed $270 for it. $27/round for .22 LR must be some sort of record.

Blow-ups/injuries:
-Year before last somebody had a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt let go. A piece of the cylinder flew back and hit a bystander in the upper arm, severing the brachial artery. Quick thinking by an off-duty LEO kept the guy from bleeding to death. Another piece of the cylinder was picked out of an 8X8 post. It is thought the top strap made it into low earth orbit.
-I saw a Springfield .45 scatter last year....too much fast powder.
-A few weeks ago, some guy was clearing a jam and managed to put a bullet through his arm/hand. Nobody really knew exactly what he did since he went slinking off to the emergency room on his own.
-Weatherby eyebrows are a perennial favorite, particularly just before hunting season.
-Now and then somebody lets the slide on a semiauto pistol groove the meaty part of their thumb.

Tracers (illegal) have resulted in a few fires on the back side of the berm.

There's more, but those are the highlights , and RETIRED is a good thing.


This place is now staffed with RO's and is safer than it used to be. That said, I only go during the week and typically get there just as it opens, do my thing and then hang out at the range house. I am also nowhere near bashful about calling somebody out when they are doing something dangerous and I watch everybody like a hawk. Thankfully, I also have access to some other property where I can shoot so don't have to use this range exclusively.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

Thanks Bullseye.

Factory 168 Sierra MatchKing. Barrel is 1-10 so I may try something a bit heavier.

That 168 is good for 600 yrds., and if the gun shoots good with it, it will shoot better with some range work on loads. I would prep my cases with primers, take two or three load books, two - three types of power, scales, and the press with adjustable seating die.

 

[BruceHMX]

Guys I have said it before in these threads. I will NEVER again shoot in an indoor range or a range where I feel unsafe. I have sacrificed to have my current home with range off the deck. My next home is going to be a custom log home with range. Started looking at property today. In the mean time if anyone on here is in the Northern Va area and would like to drop by for some casual pistol or rimfire rifle shooting the Caledon Ranch is open. But not only will yo shoot we will fill you up with hot coffee, dutch oven cooked chow and a cold beer/spirits once done on the range.

My son Ed shooting his first reloaded 32 S&W Long ammo

Me with press on the deck I now have a reloading room in basement as well but nice on pretty days to reload and try them out.

With Sebago Son's Son (DJ) Shooting a SIG 226(Ed was 7 then)

With his Lithgow 22 Enfield.

Our firepit off the side of the range.

A mad min with the 30/40 Krag. Being fired with a chamber adapter that shoots 32 S&W (shorts).

After 20 yrs on military ranges and more than that on civilian ones I got tired of them all. Watching a 70yr old guy shoot himself through the calf with a Bersa 32 then a local yahoo blow his fingers off with a Glock(way too much Bullseye) time to shut it down.

Ed is 9 now and much bigger. He is now reloading 44 Specials, 32 S&W's, and his 30-06 with the infamous 10 gr's of Unique with a 100gr Speer Plinker.

Home Ranges Are The BOMB!!!

 

[mg2112]

Great thread. Although I live in the peoples republic of Massachusetts I belong to a great gun club. 24x7 key card
access. Since it's a private club most of the rif-raff stays away. Most shooters are friendly and knowledable. I have
not had a single bad expereince in my two years being a member.

 

[The Highlander]

I've left more than once. Don't EVER go just before a hunting season opens, except for the entertainment value of watching Bubba "sight-in."

My new pistol range is on family owned land, about a 5 minute walk or 45 second drive from my door. As soon as a little more work is done, it will also be a 200 yard rifle range! Cool!

 

[bgrafsr]

I belong to a club, so don't see too much "cowboy" shooting or unsafe practices. If I or another member does though, we admonish the person and show them the correct way and don't try to be a jerk about the admonishment, and if help is asked for, any member usually will do that just for the good of all and to assist a new shooter.

Speaking of ranges, there was an outdoor pistol range at Webb Air Force Base in Texas, that I used a couple of times, but it was rather unnerving to be shooting and hearing the rattlers shaking their rattles at you due to the noise. I was always looking around for them rather than concentrating on shooting.

 

[K38]

that's why I have a very nice Morini air Pistol (162 Ei) I can shoot it in the house when ever my wife is out. It is a little expensive, but the trigger and sights are the best you will find anywhere. It is also so accurate that there is no reason to talk about it. I think working with a good AP will help you more than anything and you never have to deal with yo-yos at the public range. I think it's almost impossible to have any kind of a decent range public or private if you don't have a range master on duty the whole time it is open. At public ranges so-called sportsmen seem to feel the need to shoot up everything from the roof of the shooting house to the the chairs and even bring old televisions to make the range nice and safe with lots of broken glass, I am sorry to say, but our hobby brings out some very bizarre behavior much of which if it was seen by the antis would be nails in our coffin.

Respectfully,

D.L. Brown (K38)

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=SH1_TczGK7OM0QGgy7D2CA&ved=0CDAQ9QEwBQ

 

[Frailer]

I'm happy to shoot here behind the house.

Amen to that.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Conversely the only time I have ever encountered rudeness and hostility from another shooter was at a private club. The owners of the gun shop/range I shoot at have thanked me for helping other shooters there.

 

[CL21376]

Wow...Glad I'm not the only one. I was scared at the range recently.

My local indoor range has 2 sections, one is 20 yard and is open to anyone, pistol calibers. The other range is 25 yards and you have to qualify to shoot on it. RO needs to observe safe handling and you have to put 2 loads into a B27 @25 yards.

I used a 4" 686-1M. No problems. The RO told me only 1 in 4 qualifies. And that I was the first he qualified to shoot DA only

The public side is scary. I shot last with my father in law. They were too busy to qualify him.

The stall next to us was 2 guys and a 642. The best of the 2 was getting 3 of 5 on a B27 @ 15'.

Next lane...two guys with a Beretta 92. Maybe getting half on target at 15'. Then they broke out the Judge. We left when they hit an overhead light.

And why do people point cocked revolvers and 1911's at the ceiling with their finger on the trigger??

 

[Badkarma 1]

While I do go to a public range I must say that since the management changed hands it's a lot better!
On one occasion I went and at first had the place all to myself, then a couple of African Americans showed up with a Ruger P90 and I was distracted by their hoots and hollars as they attempted to hit the B27 at 10 yards. I was shooting my new Henry Survival Rifle and my SIG 226 (I was home on leave) when one of the gentlemen in question came over to check my target. He became very excited in finding that I was hitting center at 25yds and asked if I could check his gun as it wasn't shooting straight! So I went over and explained that I wasn't shooting a .45 but a 9mm, he shoved a loaded mag in my paw and said "It's ok man just check my pistol". So I fired the first shot and it hit at about 11 o'clock and high, so I adjusted and put the rest if the mag in the heart area. He and his friend were dumbstruck and listened as I explained some of the basics. They left after finally hitting the target swearing they were going to get a "9" instead!
Then there was the young lady who became annoyed because my pistol was to loud! And that it distracted her .22 from hitting the target!! I literally howled with laughter when the then RO explained this too me!
I still go there. Dale

 

[computeruser]

A lot of what has been said sounds like what I've seen, but I'm going to take the contrary position to many of y'all: I don't want range officers or other staff minding my business, offering tips, or any other such thing.

I don't go to the range to socialize, to BS, or to bench race, and I surely don't want advice on shooting or gun laws or anything like that from someone who could rise no higher in the world than to be a range officer. A minimal degree of safety policing is fine, but beyond that, I'll pass every time.

 

[blujax01]

Our pistol range is only 50 feet long so we don't have to worry about being ashamed that we can't hit anything at a mere 25 yards. Most of the folks (all kinds of dash - Americans, including a lot of couples with women in them) are interested in self defense practice and set up at 15 feet, then out to 20 feet and maybe 25 or 30.
There are veteran shooters and raw rookies. If you are not a member, regardless of your pedigree you have to view a 10 minute safety video. And the range is monitored by three cameras from the desk. One employee's sole job is to run the range and monitor the TV's.
Lots of good times and polite folks.

That's the people at my gun range.