[mondocomputerman]

I just went to the local range for the first time on Saturday and noticed their rules of only loading 6 rounds max into your mags. Is this a common rule, and what purpose does it serve? Is it so you don't shoot as fast or as much?

[cidirkona]

Not sure, I know that when I teach new shooters (or people that have shot with me before), I only allow them 1 round per magazine for the first 10 shots, then two rounds per magazine -- just to make sure they get all their safety rules down.

-Colin

[4v50 Gary]

Teach shooters to count like in the old days when revolvers ruled?

[SDC]

Some "bullseye-only" ranges have this rule as a way of saving what's left of some of their shooters hearing; a lot of older shooters have gotten into the habit of hearing a set number of "bangs", then removing their hearing protection :rolleyes:

[fix]

Does the rule apply to 7 or 8 shot revolvers?

Looking for wheelgun bigotry. :D

[George Hill]

Real easy fix for this... Go to a different range.

[kimbernut]

That's the first time I have heard of that. The only rule out of the ordinary at one of our local ranges is 2 seconds between shots which I can understand with the variety of experience there but it interfers with drills.
I'd respectfully quiz the rangemaster or the manager to find out the reason for the rule. I know locally some of the younger rangemasters impose their own understanding of the rules which may or may not be the actual ruling until they are corrected by their supervisor.

[migoi]

range has a 5 shots at a time rule. My understanding is the rule is in place to lessen the chance of a ND. The theory, as explained to me, is that when the round of shooting comes to an end (at 20-30 minute intervals) the two commands are: finish firing (shoot the rest of your ammo in your firearm), followed by: cease fire (don't pull the trigger again, make your firearm safe, step away from the line). Since this range has no safety qual check prior to allowing you to shoot this rule is apparently in place to reduce the number of ND's while someone is attempting to unload a firearm. Not my theory, this is just how it was explained to me.

The problem here (Hawaii) is that, this is the only public range (at least as far as I can find). The price is right, free, except at the metal silouette range (which is $3 for as long as you got ammo), but there is a bit of nonsense to put up with. I'm also amazed at the number of "experiments" shooters at other places seem to get to do. Here it's strictly: put up paper target (no humanoid shapes), put holes in target, take down target. The silouette range will let you get by with a few golf balls sprinkled around but that's about it.

migoi

[RON in PA]

At my gunclub they have the same rule for the indoor range. A rule that is often ignored.

[Brian Williams]

Pennsylvania Game Commision ranges have a 6 shot rule as well.???? must be left over from round gun shooters.

[WhoKnowsWho]

I would expect it is to disuade people who want to just burn ammo in 30 round mags which disturb other people. You know, since those guns are loud and bad. :rolleyes:

Just load your mags like normal, switch them in 6 round intervals, it'll give you extra mag change practice!:D

[Kodiak AK]

Anti GunnerWell maybe they should have made the limit 5 instead of 10? End Anti Gunner.


Seriously that kind of rule makes us look bad and makes it all that much easier to ban hi caps .

[HankB]

I used to be a member of a gun club that had some "interesting" rules. After being a member there for a number of years and getting to know some of the old timers, I finally reached the conclusion that the guys who were on the board were bitter retirees. Now, I have nothing against retirees - heck, I hope to be one myself one day - but in this case, I found out that the guys were strictly blue-collar all their working lives, always at the bottom of the heap, and were always being told what to do.

And they still resented it.

So now that they had a gun club, they were in a position to tell OTHER people what to do. So . . . they made rules, some of which were silly. Not because they made sense, but just because they could.

[Highland Ranger]

Prudent to limit number of rounds for a new shooter or a new gun (i.e. 1 at a time.)

Can't see why you would want to otherwise.

Re Other range rules: here in NJ, the ANJRPC (Assoc of NJ Rifle and Pistol Clubs) has similar rules - no rapid fire, no shooting at anything other than paper target in their target frame (wood) and no shooting at anything thats not a plain old target.

Rapid fire rule is regularly ignored, balance are not.

[12 Volt Man]

I prefer the nothing over a 100 round Beta-C mag rule. ;)

Seriously there should be no need for a rule of this nature other than the teaching and educating of new shooters.
At a range you should be able to shoot what you want and how much you want until the cease fire is called. There is a range I frequent here in Utah that functions like this. There are times when I have seen people will full autos shooting next to the bolt action guys. This has got to make a bolt action target shooter really good to function under those conditions. LOL.

[CZ-100]

No at any of the ranges that I got too. I load 15 in to my CZ every now and again.

[DougCxx]

Well now this is odd to me--where I live, there are no outdoor ranges at all, only indoor ranges <30 yds.....-but you can shoot as fast as you can pull the trigger, if you have a FOID card to rent the lane or are with someone who does. You can even shoot shotgun slugs and rifles up to 30-cal in the "rifle" lanes, anything except for steel-core or other military ammo (no tracers or incendiary except with special permission). Any-capacity magazines that are legal for you to own/posess are OK with the range, fill 'em up.
-Preferably with range-reloaded ammo, they'll say.
:D
--------
The range itself is unattended, but has closed-circuit TV cameras on each lane, but I don't know that anyone sits and monitors them. If you trigger finger gets tired and they think you don't look too suspicious, you can rent one of a few different full-auto guns (while a range officer stands behind you) and waste even more ammo till the gun starts to glow or you run out of money for range-reloaded ammo (you are restricted to using their reloaded ammo in rental guns).
~

[BlkHawk73]

Proberly the best way to find out is to ASK whoever runs the range. I do have to agree that those people that have the need to blast down 30rnds over and over can be a bit annoying especially when you're trying to concentrate and sight in a gun of your own right near them. respectful shooters would realize what you're doing and wait a few minutes.

[Justin]

There is a simple reason for why some ranges have this sort of rule:









Because the owners hate fun.


And that comes from me, a devotee of the cult of Bullseye.

[HunterGatherer]

[BILL RUGER]No honest man needs more than six rounds.[/BILL RUGER]

Or maybe ol' Bill said ten rounds. Either way, the problem has the same root, irreversible brain damage. :rolleyes:

[artherd]

At a range you should be able to shoot what you want and how much you want until the cease fire is called.

God damned right.


The idea that gun owners who rapid-fire are inherantly unsafe, is THE SAME as the idea that all gun owners are potential mruderers.

I can put 3 rounds into a 2' circle at *100yds* with my rifle, in less than a second.

And it's a .30-06.




If unsafe behavior is observed, be it some jackass slow-fireing AT THE GROUND 3 FEET INFRONT OF ME, or someone dumping rounds way off-target at any rate, I am all for jettisoning them from the range.

But I take some issue with anyone telling me what I cannot do because it 'may lead to me doing something dangerous'.

All that said, if you know the range owner, or even just talk to him, he'll ususally say "Oh, sure, practice your FTS drills, that 2-second rule is just for newbie morons."

[stans]

It is unfortunate, but I have seen a large number of shooters go to my range, load up a Glock or Springfield XD or any other semi-auto and send the whole magazine full down range as fast as they possibly can. Usually one to three rounds hit the target, the rest are in the dirt in front of the line or, and this makes all of us cringe, over the top of the berm and towards some new houses. The range owner has specific rules against shooting into the ground ahead of the target and no round is to go over the berm. He has constructed ports located about midrange through which all bullets must pass, but about a week after the barrier was erected, bullet holes appeared and the rounds may have gone over the berm. This is what is going to close this and many other ranges.

[Son of John]

My range requires hearing and eye protection on before you enter. There is a small "mud room" you go through before you enter the range so noise won't enter the shop area. Once inside you shoot it as fast or as many as you like at a time. If you are acting in an unsafe manner they come and get you and youwon't be allowed back in.

Regarding the 5 or 6 shot limit limit, we can rent a full auto MP5 anytime and blast away. It's kind of startling to hear that BRRRPPP after listening to single shot pistols for a while.

Strangely enough, I rarely shoot up a full mag of 15 or 10 at once. I normally load and shoot 5 at a time so I can study my groups better and change my loads and grip to see what works best.

[caz223]

In the CCW class that I took, we loaded no more than 6, because the class was "Wheelgun friendly".
Maybe the range adopted the same policy for the same reason.
The "count your shots" thing is a good thing to do, rather than waiting for your slide to lock back.
Who knows? Not I.

[Trebor]

Michigan DNR ranges have had a ONE ROUND rule in effect for several years. It didn't matter if it was a rifle or pistol, you could only load one round in at a time. In the last couple years though, I've noticed that they've relaxed the rule to allow up to five rounds to be loaded, at least at some ranges.

[artherd]

It is unfortunate, but I have seen a large number of shooters go to my range, load up a Glock or Springfield XD or any other semi-auto and send the whole magazine full down range as fast as they possibly can. Usually one to three rounds hit the target, the rest are in the dirt in front of the line or, and this makes all of us cringe, over the top of the berm and towards some new houses. The range owner has specific rules against shooting into the ground ahead of the target and no round is to go over the berm. He has constructed ports located about midrange through which all bullets must pass, but about a week after the barrier was erected, bullet holes appeared and the rounds may have gone over the berm. This is what is going to close this and many other ranges.

And you think silly rules like "don't load more than 6" is going to stop this?

That's like saying "do not murder people" is not enough, and we have to start taking their tools too.


How about this; "$5,000 FINE FOR ANY ROUND THAT GOES OVER THE BERM, PLUS POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CHARGES. ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS"

Enforce it.

[stans]

The problem is these guys are loading up their mags and shooting fast and not deliberate. If you can load only one round at a time, it eliminates the spray and pray types. I am not saying these rules are right, I think the right thing is to take the responsibility for your own actions. Range owners do have a huge liability potential, so they are protecting themselves. If people did not practice spray and pray at the range, then there would be no need for these silly rules. Do I shoot fast? Sure, but I do not exceed my accuracy limits and send rounds to who knows where.

The rules at the range where I shoot are enforced as much as possible and a number of members have lost their memberships.

[silent one]

I belong to three shooting clubs. Each has their own range. Two of the ranges are indoor NRA sanctioned. The third is outdoor, with a 50,100, and 150 yd rifle range, with a seperate 25 yd pistol range with a heavy concrete devider wall. This range is also NRA sanctioned. Each range requires that you first be qualified by a certified instructor before you can utilize them. The most important requirement is safety. None of them limit the amount of rounds you have in your weapon, as long as you are safe, use common sense, and have respect for others on the range. Rules are posted at all ranges, but none have a limit on how many rounds you can have in your weapon. All the anti's have to see is somebody with a rule stating you can only load five or six rounds at a time. They would have a field day with that. As it is , they're trying to limit mag capacity. PLEASE, lets not give them any more ammo [pun intended] to fight with.
good luck, and be safe.


SILENT ONE