Gun shop and range idiocy

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Not a nice thought.
Was at country range just a bare spot in the trees. Was helping a leo learn how to shoot a revolver she always had semis. I called a cold range to check targets made sure all guns were down called check targets everyone starts down range da on other side of me waits until everyone is moving then pulls his cc 1911 and opens up spraying the whole range. Then screams how the blank d blank was I to call the range he stops and looks at me I've got my blackhawk out pointed at him wating for a reload.
The girl I'm helping almost knocked me down jumps this guy it takes 4 men to get her free .she grabbed her radio call an officer involved shooting 2 min. Later we have no fewer then 30 cops city county and state there. we are no where close to any town .this guy is on the ground with 2 guys protecting him. Never saw some one so scared. he wet his pants.he was covered in blood.so many charges were leveled at him .but sad to say that was the end of a nice shooting spot
 
Not really "idiocy" but pretty funny. I think I posted this a while ago, but to me it's worth the repeat.......
I did my Basic in the IDF back in the 1980s, along with a bunch of new Ethiopian immigrants. Great bunch (mostly), but very little modern technology knowledge. First time for the unit at the range and the sargents had us clear weapons and led us down to the targets. The went down the line and one of them, through a bit of sleight-of-hand stuck a loaded 5.56 round into one of the holes of Darage's target. Some of us almost died laughing as the "magician" sargent berated Darage for 2-3 minutes for not pulling the trigger hard enough.
His face was shocked......and priceless.
 
theotherwaldo said:
I'm trying to nerve myself up to rejoin my local outdoor range.
I'm not sure that I'll succeed.
This range is on the flood channel for the Rio Grande, within howitzer range of Mexico. Local folks take their relatives from across the border - and their kids - to the range as entertainment.
Normally there is no range officer present.
Screaming, running kids.
Beer cans being used as targets.
Everything is perforated.
No. Just no.
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Honestly, this sounds a lot like what my local range used to be before our old president moved out of state and the VP became the new club head. Before it was beer cans, 2 liters of generic soda, cheap cardboard targets, and even an old car too shot up to be recognizable as any specific brand. Hood and tailgate long since removed to be used as seperat targets and doors barely hanging on by the hinges. No we have proper rubber target mounts and sand back stops. Ad hoc targets are allowed but if you bring them out you have to clean them up. No Tannerite or Propane bottles allowed like they used to be and clay pigeons are only allowed on the skeet lane. I swear, the VP really turned the place around.
 
Went to the range today. Not my normal one. First time at this location. Go in tell them I need a lane. Sign paper work and chat for a few. Went in unloaded all my gear. Started off w my Ruger PC9, Wrangler, LCP ll, and finally my 590. Some one else walked in half way through. He was popping rounds two lanes down. I load up my 12 and boom. I happen to look over and saw a broken light next to other guys lane. So I stop firing. Owner runs in and says this is pistol only. Shotgun is on other side. No one told me, no signs. Think I gave the other shooter a mini heart attack. Apologized for my mistake. And asked why no one told me. Owner said the lady that helped me was new. And should have checked paper work and asked what I was firing. Just glad guy next to me didn't do more then shoot out a light.
 
BSA1 said:
Well a little while later I checked the range and notice that after every shot he is racking the slide to chamber a fresh round. So I approach him and ask to check his gun and ammo. It is a PPK and he is using the 32 ammo I sold him. Then I check the caliber of the gun and it is chambered for .380. I explain to the customer why his gun isn’t working properly and show him the rather interesting looking 32 fired brass cases from his gun.
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It's interesting that the PPK was actually able to fire .32 ACP in a .380 ACP chamber and that the firing pin lined up with the primer. It seems odd that someone could buy a pistol in the wrong caliber without knowing it though.

I recall that I bought an FN Browning 1910 in .32 ACP that I really liked. Since one of the local gun shops was clearing out some Browning parts, I picked up a spare barrel in .380 ACP, a spare magazine, and a couple of spare strikers for it.
All that you needed to do was swap barrels. The same magazine and breech face were totally compatible because of Browning's genius design.
The pistol worked perfectly in either caliber, although .380 ACP did have more recoil. The striker was designed to project about 1/4" from the breech face and was long enough that it functioned as a spring-loaded ejector, which solved the problem of lining up with two different cartridge cases.
Not only that, but the strikers were interchangeable with my 1908 Colt .25 auto, which was also the Browning FN 1906 design.
 
Out at the local public range today with my .22lr. There's an older couple on my right also with a .22. Scraggly looking guy comes in with a pile of gear and sets up on my left. At the next cease fire he drags a target frame out 100 yds. Line goes hot again and I'm all lined up and ready to fire when... BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! I nearly drop the rifle. He's firing a .300 Win Mag. Ok, not exactly what I need right now, just gotta suck it up and go. So he keeps at it, every few minutes... BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

After a bit tower gives the one minute warning and then calls 'Cease Fire' over the loud speaker. 'Unload, open actions, then step behind the yellow line, etc.' So everyone starts to comply and the RSO's begin to walk the line and verify it's cold. I'm just about to take my ears off when I notice scraggly guy is still sitting at his station intently sighting on his target. So I quickly put my ears back in place when suddenly... BOOM! Mass chaos ensues! RSO's come running and descend on his station!

Angry RSO: 'What the hell's the matter with you?!'

Scraggly: 'Huh, what?!'

Angry RSO: 'Didn't you hear them call cease fire?!'

Scraggly: 'Oh! Well, I'm kinda hard of hearing....'

 
357 Terms said:
I worked at a gun shop/indoor range for 5 yrs...saw all kinds of things.
The one incident that sticks out most was, a "new" co-worker of mine sold a customer a Taurus Judge. He sold him some 45 Colt ammo, some 410, and..some 454 Casull...! The customer was on the range when this guy (who wasnt with us much longer) mentioned he sold the 454!
I ran out to the indoor range with NO ear protection screaming "cease fire" until I found the guy who bought the Taurus!
He still hadn't fired the 454's...whew!!
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No P/A system?
 
One day was at the range (where I no longer belong). A guy shows up with his young son. I mean YOUNG - probably 4 yrs old. He puts some stuff on a bench. Then the dad proceeds to walk toward the storage shed to get some items and leaves the kid at the shooting station where their stuff had just been deposited. At this point I was closer to the son than the dad was.

Do you think a 4 yr old knows the concept of a firing line? :what: I notice the kid has wandered about 5 ft in front of the firing line. From a practical standpoint he wasn't in danger. There was myself (40' down the firing line) and another shooter (another 40' down the firing line). But holy cow I was calling cease fire and up and running to the kid before I knew it.
 
I mostly shoot on private land i own, and by myself or a small selected group, so I can control safety better. of course legally by county and state laws. I rarely do ranges anymore. seen way too many almosts.

problem i see at ranges is folks treat it as a group social outing. lots of chit chat, no focus and attention on safety and many many mistakes. I pack up and leave. sometimes management stops it.

what I figured out over the years its not just beginners that can be dangerous. folks who are very comfortable around guns or have learned bad habits are often just as dangerous, sometimes more.

this ain't the worst but is a really bad one. fella I know, but dont shoot with for obvious reasons, keeps his pistol in a backpack not in a holster loaded. along with lots of other clutter. he'll leave it unattended sometimes and swings his backpack on and off and I'm waiting for that one time. I offered to get him a high quality holster to eliminate half of his bad habits and he chuckled and said hes never had a problem and thinks I'm over cautious. you cant fix stupid, I know I tried many times.
 
The most idiotic and also disturbing thing I ever saw at the range was when a guy was down range changing his target and his shooting buddy shot him. The guy that got shot was behind the target stand and his friend said he didn't see him. The wound was to the arm and was bleeding badly. The casualty was medivaced out. He survived.
 
I had never seen truly dangerous handling until I pulled obligatory duty in Washington, D.C., a buddy invited us to an outdoor range in Maryland, not far from the District line. There were about eight pistol firing positions, all taken, so we waited sitting on a bench well to the rear. There were families mostly ...the single range officer seemed attentive enough ...suddenly a young lady of about 15/16 let go with an absolute shriek and started yelling -- I GOT IT! I GOT IT! ...while waving around a pistol and wow! She cleared the firing line. Two hit the dirt. Her father and the range officer snapped her up about the same time ...my buddy turned his face to me and said, I think we can get up now.

I taught and trained my daughters and nieces to be proficient in firearms with never a problem. The casual approach so many obviously have to teaching others even begs the most obvious observation, that firearms are not a game.

That's was my first and last outing with strangers.
 
I do most of my shooting at my backyard range and also a member of an outdoor range, but a new indoor range opened here about 3-4 years ago and I had heard was a first class facility. Only rainy Saturday I decided to check it out. I had a couple of new to me revolvers I wanted to check out. When I was signing in, the guy behind the counter wanted to know what kind of guns I had. He put that on my card and then asked me what brand of ammo I was shooting. When I told him my brand (reloads) he said NO RELOADS ALLOWED HERE. When I inquired why, the owner came over and proceeded to tell me that reloads were dangerous and most range accidents happened because idiots didn't know how to load ammo. I told him I had been loading over 40 years and was very careful and had never had a problem and he sort of laughed and said that he would never allow reloads at his range. I think it was a ploy just to sell ammo and when I looked at the shelf a good bit of it was remanufactured ammo! I was annoyed big time by then and when I pointed it out, he explained it was loaded by a professional company. Since I really wanted to shoot a few guns and did have a few boxes of factory ammo in my truck, I did decided to go ahead and stay. When I got to my stall, the guy beside me was completely confused with his gun. He had just purchased a new .40 Glock at Academy Sports and didn't even know how to put bullets in the mag. Mr Safe Range had not even questioned him at all about any training or if he understood any rules of a range. I took the time to show him how to load the gun properly and insert the mag. Well long story short, in about 5 minutes, the guy had put one in the ceiling and then proceeded to shoot the floor right between his feet thinking the gun was empty. I packed up and left immediately but only after I spent 5 minutes questioning the owner about who was the safest, me with reloads or an untrained idiot that almost shot his own foot off.
 
1. Taking my CHL test - some older folks bring out one Colt 1908 380 from their grandpa to use. They have all their mags loaded backwards.

2. I score a perfect 250 (that is no accomplishment for anyone who shoots a bit). The TX test is easy. A guy says I shouldn't have done that because, if I get into a DGU, I shoot so well, I will be asked why I didn't shoot him in the leg. He says - he knows because he is a sniper. I thank him for the advice.
Well, they don't report your score, just a pass/fail anyway. Interesting, I commented on this to police buddies and they said that such advice was not unknown in the older days of police training. Of course, not now.
 
Eddietruett said:
I do most of my shooting at my backyard range and also a member of an outdoor range, but a new indoor range opened here about 3-4 years ago and I had heard was a first class facility. Only rainy Saturday I decided to check it out. I had a couple of new to me revolvers I wanted to check out. When I was signing in, the guy behind the counter wanted to know what kind of guns I had. He put that on my card and then asked me what brand of ammo I was shooting. When I told him my brand (reloads) he said NO RELOADS ALLOWED HERE. When I inquired why, the owner came over and proceeded to tell me that reloads were dangerous and most range accidents happened because idiots didn't know how to load ammo. I told him I had been loading over 40 years and was very careful and had never had a problem and he sort of laughed and said that he would never allow reloads at his range. I think it was a ploy just to sell ammo and when I looked at the shelf a good bit of it was remanufactured ammo! I was annoyed big time by then and when I pointed it out, he explained it was loaded by a professional company. Since I really wanted to shoot a few guns and did have a few boxes of factory ammo in my truck, I did decided to go ahead and stay. When I got to my stall, the guy beside me was completely confused with his gun. He had just purchased a new .40 Glock at Academy Sports and didn't even know how to put bullets in the mag. Mr Safe Range had not even questioned him at all about any training or if he understood any rules of a range. I took the time to show him how to load the gun properly and insert the mag. Well long story short, in about 5 minutes, the guy had put one in the ceiling and then proceeded to shoot the floor right between his feet thinking the gun was empty. I packed up and left immediately but only after I spent 5 minutes questioning the owner about who was the safest, me with reloads or an untrained idiot that almost shot his own foot off.
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I've related this story in the past here. I was at a public range once and an individual was shooting a 1911 pistol which had an extremely loud report when fired. I watched the guy and he had a failure to extract. He pulled out a short cleaning rod and a small ball peen hammer and beat out the fired cartridge case. He had to do this four more times before he quit. He had the rod and hammer in his pocket so I assumed this was a common problem for him. I asked him what was the problem with his gun and he said his reloads were so hot that the case was sticking to the chamber. The range is a typical outdoor facility with no barriers between shooters positions. Had his pistol blew up it could have very easily injured a person next to him. Ranges have to contend with the few intelligent and experienced shooters and the idiots with no sense. Also if a commercial round caused a catastrophic event the injured can file a suit against the ammo manufacturer as the company has the money. A home reloader isn't normally a millionaire so in the instance of a reload round going bad they won't sue the reloader they will sue the gun range because they have insurance and a deeper pocket.
 
The range I mentioned doesn't allow reloads, you buy there or show new in the box commercial ammo. You are free to go elsewhere. At matches, lots of failures to run come from reloads. Saw a squib about three weeks ago - reload.
 
This one just involves a FUDD, not a gun safety issue. Picking up at LGS my recently arrived consecutively numbered pair of 2nd gen Colt SAA's, man behind the counter (not the owner) could not understand why I wanted 2 of them??? I was sort of speechless, mumbled something and he went on for what seemed like 10 minutes about how it didnt make any sense to buy 2 guns the same. Felt like telling him it didnt have to make sense to him, only to me, but saw that it would be a waste of my breath. Havent been back there much since then.
 
GEM said:
Saw a squib about three weeks ago - reload.
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Saw a squib yesterday - factory.

I stuck two cases tight enough to break extractors.
I figured the first one just had to be a worn or faulty part so I kept shooting bad ammo. Handbook loads but exposed to adverse conditions in house fire. No doubt cooked the powder to give an accelerated Slamfire Effect.
 
That happens too. Most I see though are reloads. I had a factory round make a weird sound instead of a bang. So I stopped shooting to see what was up. Nothing is perfect. We have one guy, who must be three sheets to the wind when he reloads - sigh.
 
GEM said:
The range I mentioned doesn't allow reloads, you buy there or show new in the box commercial ammo. You are free to go elsewhere. At matches, lots of failures to run come from reloads. Saw a squib about three weeks ago - reload.
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Same with my regular range. Not sure how well enforced it is all things considered. I've not had a problem with any gun. Yet. Except the very first time I fired and the Beretta almost took my thumb off. I learned quickly.
 
There was a guy here known to staff and customers at the FFL as "Scoops."
Apparently semi-literate, if it said "rifle" on the powder can he figured it was good for any rifle, those numbers did not mean anything to him.
And by his logic, if they had wanted you to use less powder, they would have made the cases smaller.
So he just scooped them full of whatever powder with "rifle" on the label was handy.
He had blown up two .300 Win Mags before the dealer put it all together, and thereafter sold him nothing but H870.
 
GEM said:
2. I score a perfect 250 (that is no accomplishment for anyone who shoots a bit). The TX test is easy. A guy says I shouldn't have done that because, if I get into a DGU, I shoot so well, I will be asked why I didn't shoot him in the leg. He says - he knows because he is a sniper. I thank him for the advice.
Click to expand...

I always dropped a point or two when I qualified with my Department just for this same reason. I was very worried that the Administration would throw my perfect range scores at me if I ever had to shoot someone.
 
We don't have CCW "training" or "qualification" hereabouts, but I am a competitive shooter. Would a left liberal lawyer throw my IDPA Expert card in my face?
 
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