man have you guys got to hear this story

[silverlance]

I should have posted this earlier, but I kept running out of time (as a teacher I have to be in bed by 8:30). someone posted something about "rapid fire" and "clays on berms", so here's my story.

Last Sunday, my gf and I went to an outdoor range in the Los Angeles area (i won't tell which, insurance might be listening). It was great - they sell dogs and chili there, and as a member my gf shoots free. After a few hours of good shooting for both of us we sit down behind the line to chow down.

Mid-bite, she looks over past me and asks, "What are those guys doing?"
I look over and see four scruffy Mexican cow-bangers (no disrespect to mexicans - you kinda have to live in CA to get this but if you do you have an instant mental picture - imagine guys who wear cowboy boots all the time, big belt buckles, hats, .25 autos in their boots, drive big trucks, and do all this while living in the middle of downtown LA... supposedly a lot of them are mexican mafia but i'm sure a lot just act it up) planting clays all over the range.

Having seen it before, I tell the gf, "Eh, they're just shooting clays... kinda hard and a pain the ass to clean up."

She nods, and keeps watching.

The rangemaster comes over and the three of us start a brief chat. He declines free chili.

Then the line is hot and as i put my muffs back on i notice that the CB next to me is wearing cleaning patches for ear protection!! I watch kinda bemused as the guy and his little brother who's probably 12 or so (and also wearing patches for ears) immediately start rapid-blasting away with very nice kel-tec ca su16s. the rounds go all over the place and as the two empty the kid yells, "I win!" apparently they were trying to race to empty.

their ass, not mine, i figure, and after friendly grin to them i turn back to my gf and table and shoulder my sks.

just as the front sight post gets into focus, i decide to try shooting with both eyes open. i do this a lot with the p228, and wanted to see if i could hit black with the heavy yugo.

as the other eye creaks open, i am absolute SHOCKED to spot a head suddenly pop up downrange !!!

i immediate lower the gun to safe and yell out loud like a parade marshal just goosed, "CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!"

the RO comes running and then all chaos breaks loose as Loudspeakers blare and everybody quickly safes their guns and fall back.

apparently, some idiot decided to plant clays right on top of the far berm, then fell over to the other side. his CB friends didn't notice because there were so many of them and they had gotten caught up in the excitement of mag-racing. after hitting the dirt (and probably getting a lungful of lead dust), the bloke and gotten up, dusted himself off, and climbed back up top just as a hail of bullets went every which way.

the RO proceded to yell the ???? out of him as he stumbled his way back down the berm and of course he got immediately ejected along with his friends / family. the one guy in their family who seemed to know what he was doing was an old mexican gentleman who had missed the idiocy because he had been sweeping brass while the others were monkeying around with the berm.

Bejezus, if I hadn't opened my other eye there's a really good chance I could have put an round right through paper and then through him.

--------------

point of the story:

1. ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS, EVEN AT A RANGE! idiots are everywhere and we who are wise need to look out for them.

3. keep a close count of your party when you are handling firearms. don't leave one behind... or a firearm, either.

4. line cold -> line hot (and vice versa) is a VERY serious time. don't do what i did and distract the RO with chili. one should be helping him keep order instead - and guarding possessions.

...

anyway, that's my story that's loosely related to mindless rapid fire, berm clay-laying, and getting caught up in the moment.

 

[Lupinus]

Its a good thing you caught it before one of the idiots racing to empty their guns reguardless of where their bullets went and that one of their friends is missing had a chance to reload for another race agian without noticing their little friend was missing.

Though I have to ask....why in the heck are they putting clays THAT high on the berm and did the oen downrange try and yell to stop shooting?

I bet they jsut went to another range too...with a group liek that it is a serious injury or death WAITING to happen. And not to sound insensative to a tragedy if/when one of that group gets their head blown off (or someone else if they are putting clays that high or ontop of the berm from the sound of things and the bullet travles got knows how far depending on what they are firing) someone getting their head blown off at the range doesn't do wonders for the image of the sport.

 

[realmswalker]

I have a feeling I may know this range. Maybe this range could also be called "Donkey Valley." Apart from this being almost a tragedy, I couldnt help but smile at the story.

 

[silverlance]

realms

I don't know what you're talking about

 

[PCGS65]

This is what the anti gun people look for. There's always a few bad apples that spoil the whole bunch. Someone that stupid might deserve............ :banghead: :banghead:

 

[c_yeager]

So what you are saying is that you guys went to a hot range while someone was setting up targets on the berm?

Sounds like the range itself has some issues that are not going to be fixed by kicking out the funny looking people...

imagine guys who wear cowboy boots all the time, big belt buckles, hats, .25 autos in their boots, drive big trucks, and do all this while living in the middle of downtown LA... supposedly a lot of them are mexican mafia

...who sound a lot more like displaced Texans than criminals.

 

[Oldtimer]

The RANGE personnel were at least partly at-fault for not paying attention.

Back in 1966, when I was in USAF "boot camp" at Lackland AFB, Texas, we had a full-auto "familiarization" shoot at the firing range. The paper targets were tied to bales of hay, and there was a tall berm of dirt behind them. Everyone on the firing line was being commanded by the rangemaster over a loud P/A system, and everything seemed to be safe....and the eventual command to fire was given. After just a couple of seconds of full-auto fire, two men in uniform came out from behind the hay bales....and got RIDDLED! They turned out to be AWOL's that had slept on the hay before attempting a daylight dash to "freedom"!

The RANGE personnel were held accountable for that incident, for no one had visually inspected the target area beforehand. Of course, the two AWOL's would have been blamed, too....if they had lived!

 

[jsalcedo]

When I first started shooting I went to range and saw people dressed almost exactly the way you describe sighting in their deer rifle.

Uncle stood down range next to the target while nephews fired.

After each shot the Uncle would point at the hole in the target.:banghead:

This range is well known for being retarded in its set up but I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Luckily an off duty cop I knew came up, gave them a reaming and ejected the whole bunch of em.

 

[Missashot]

Guess I'm lucky. The range where my husband and I go has an excellent RO. He's pretty good about having everyone follow the safety rules. Guess they post those rules on every shooting bay for a reason.

 

[AnthonyRSS]

I love my range. I shoot by myself most of the time and if not, the other guys are usually as safe as me. We take turns holding each other's targets. Makes it easier to see that way, but we are good enough shots so neither of us is scared.

Just kidding. I really don't like shooting with anybody unless I know them really well, gun-wise.

 

[R.H. Lee]

"they're just shooting clays... kinda hard and a pain the ass to clean up."

as the other eye creaks open, i am absolute SHOCKED to spot a head suddenly pop up downrange !!!

Eh, I'd rather clean up the clays.

 

[simon]

Something like that happened at a range outside of LA,(I think it was pigion ridge,long since closed) where some of said cowboys were shooting and one of the bunch DID get shot. His 'pards continued shooting until out of ammo, I heard about an hour, and only then did they leave to take him to hospital.

 

[TrafficMan]

good grief! silverlance, since we live in the same area, i'm pretty sure i know which range you are speaking of. we should get together and go shoot sometime...

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Okay, so you tell us that we have got to hear this story, and then you have us read it. You won't tell us what range where this supposed event occurred because insurance might be "listening."

Do you own the range? If not, then why do you care if insurance is "listening" or not?

Okay, so maybe you don't want the range to suffer higher rates because of making this incident known. Why would the range's rates go up? Because the range and its ROs are not paying attention to what is going on and that is a huge liability risk. They were not watching the range and allowed shooters on the firing line w/o proper hearing protection and the RO was not watching the range after calling the line hot.

I am really glad to see that you have so much concern for the range, but you apparently don't have any concern for your fellow shooters. You did nothing to try to stop your cowboy friends from using cleaning patches for hearing protection or to at least educate them about the fact that such improvisations are very poor at sound suppression. As you said, their ass, not yours.

So a moron appears down range and you call a cease fire. Strangely from your post, it seems that you were less concerned about the moron down range getting harmed than the fact that you might have been the one to shoot him.

Aside from schmoozing shooters and kicking out people, just what do the range officers do at your range? Shooter and range safety doesn't appear to be high on the list.

So there is some range in LA where the ROs do a poor job of supervising the firing line and range and you don't want to disclose this to us because you fear that there could be a problem with insurance. However, you don't seem to care about any of your fellow THR folks going to that poorly managed range or you would have included the name of the range so that we would know to avoid it. As you said, our "ass."

Amazing.

 

[1 old 0311]

I shoot 3-4 times a month. Every now and again I leave early because of some moron who doesn't respect rules or safety. I don't care if they get shot but not me.

Kevin

 

[Magnum Mike]

I've been going to the Ben Avery Range (formerly Black Canyon Shooting Range) just north of Phoenix, AZ, for the past 26 years and I've seen a couple of instances where somebody was asked to leave because of safety violations.

During cease fire breaks, you're supposed to stay away from the shooting table, but on any given day, you'll hear the range officers over the PA system telling someone to stay behind the "yellow line" and not to handle fire arms during the break.

 

[spacemanspiff]

had a family at the range a few weeks back, werent paying any attention to their toddler that ran about 10 yards forward of the line on a hot range. they didnt even seem too concerned about it as the RO's screamed for a cease fire.

 

[wingnutx]

Ben Avery is pretty darn strict, as they should be.

 

[Lupinus]

had a family at the range a few weeks back, werent paying any attention to their toddler that ran about 10 yards forward of the line on a hot range. they didnt even seem too concerned about it as the RO's screamed for a cease fire.

I know that some people start thier kids off early but toddler is just a wee bit early no?

But in all seriousness that is extremely scary. These are the same people that wonder why their kid gets hit by a car.

 

[silverlance]

just to clear up the air - and to make a firm point.

The range that I went to (and still will not name) is a GOOD one. They have been through hell and back dealing with kali folks who want to shut them down, AND several forest fires to wiped EVERYTHING out. They charge reasonable range fees, are honest folks who won't charge you for the whole frame if you bust a piece of pvc on it, and don't look down their nose at you if you don't happen to fit their picture of what a shooter should look like. I've been going there since i was 13 and it's always been a pleasure.

But while in the past the range could cater only to real shooters and leave the idiots in the valley below due to its 11-mile drive up twisting mountain roads to get there, the merciless campaign of politicians shutting down ranges has driver every jack dick and joe up to my range.

their RO did no wrong - if he looked away for a second, it was only because i asked him if he wanted to have some chili. the dumbass that nearly got himself shot wasn't seen by the RO because he flipped over (or maybe even climbed over) the berm and could no longer be seen. his FRIENDS didn't even notice him missing.

as for the ear "protection" they chose to wear - how the hell does a guy firing an su16 "not know" that his ear protection isn't good enough? doesn't the "BANG!" going off three inches in front of your face tell you that maybe rolled up patches isn't a good enough idea? for a lousy fifty cents they could have bought foam plugs that would have done just fine. for a buck fifty more they could have bought eye protection - and both from the range shack a minute's walk away! for the price of one less set of clays, they could have bought ears at least for the entire group of ten or so.

these were the same idiots, btw, who chose not to leave a $10 deposit for a frame (which you get back in full if you don't shoot it full of holes - which is what ppl like them were doing EVERY TIME when the deposit was only $2) and instead elected to shoot at air.

and by the way, you're damn right that I don't care if some idiot who chooses to walk 10 meters past the last row of targets, clamber over 6 meters of berm, and then futz around for ten minutes on the other side. bear in mind this is a berm that has been there for AGES and just the act of climbing it is probably enough to give you lead poisoning from inhalation. also bear in mind that climing berms is absolutely forbidden at every range i have ever been to. those things aren't easy to build and ppl are clumsy.

this idiot's actions nearly cost the range its license (and who knows how much in damages), everybody on the line emotional distress (i've never killed anyone, but everyone on THR who has imply that it's a traumatic thing no matter how tough you are), and who knows how much secondary damage to his own family.

if it had been china, or bulgaria, or even the us military, this guy would have been slapped silly i'm sure for being such a retard.