Most embarrassing moments at the range

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The 2nd time I shot my Shield 2.0, hinged trigger design, shot 2-3 mags and for some reason began pulling too high on the trigger not de-activating the safety feature. Couldn't understand why it "locked up" suddenly. Finished the day with my 2nd pistol and realized later at home how dumb I was.
 
Again, not me. but like so many others, I have a chronograph story. it was a number of years ago. I watched this guy roll up with all brand new gear, like in the box brand new. Clearly either just getting started, or just spend a bonus check.

He unpacks all his gear and gets set up. he sets up the chrono and makes several passes lining up his rifle. Clearly taking his time. I watched him line up the rifle at least 3 times. and the one time he decides to shoot, he lowers it - a little too far. first shot blows the chrono right off the table and into more pieces than I can count. To his credit. he said nothing the entire time. He sets his rifle down, looks at the chrono pieces. looks down. looks at the rifle. sighs, cleans up what he can of the mess and packs up and leaves.
 
Cant really say I have had any instances other than the normal leaving targets at home, ammo at home, rest, etc. But, some of these others guys I tell ya...

Electronic ear muffs
High dollar spotting scopes
Half and full boxes of ammo.
Guns
One thing I will never understand is leaving empty cases laying on the ground. :)

I yelled for a guy one time who drove away with his muffs laying on the bench. The spotting scope one was probably the worst and it was the same guy too. One guy left and the other went to the pond with another adult and his son or grandson, maybe 12yo. After yelling at them to come back they forgot muffs on the table I went back in the 100yard shoot shack and saw a black case laying there by the target tacks and used cardboard. I opened it and it was a spotting scope. I remember they had one setup when I arrived so I walked up to the pond and said you forgot something else. The guy tore that poor boy a new one. I said well next time you should pack up your own stuff and I walked away. The entire time they were there they used that poor kid as their pack mule, target changer, and verbal punching bag. The muffs belonged to the kid and the spotting scope to the guy who drove away and completely left the club grounds but according to them the kid was the dumb a.. for leaving the muff and someone else's spotting scope behind.

I like when I find boxes of ammo. If no one else is around or signed in/out within the last few hours I either shoot it up or take it home. I only do this if the box doesn't look beat up like its reloads put in a factory box.

I have never seen it but heard from other club members guys left guns in the racks or in a case on the bench. How someone can leave a gun or bow behind is beyond me. That's the first thing that goes in the car when done hunting or shooting. On a state hunting page I belong to I see guys posting they left their bow on the ground, leaning on something, etc. and drove away hoping someone would return it. One guy said he left an 870 on the bed cover of his truck and drove away.
 
It was a IDPA shoot at our local club that I saw a hole appear in the sleeve of the hostage that I was trying to free from the bad guy. Thinking that I was disqualified I pulled the sights up and shot the hostage between the eyes. Closer inspection showed that I had only shot through the sleeve and had not touched the hostages arm. Oh well, maybe the hostage was really with the gang.
 
Two times last year our son-in-law used his cell phone to call me from the gravel pit (our range) to ask me if I’d drive down and give him a “jump” because his truck battery had gone dead while he was there doing some shooting. The gravel pit is only about 2 miles from here, so it wasn’t a problem except for the fact I don’t have jumper cables, and neither did he.

So, the first time he called, I told him I’d call around to the neighbors and borrow a set of jumper cables. Well the only neighbor I found at home was the older, widowed lady that lives down the road, and she said she didn’t have jumper cables either, but she DID have something called a “Jump-Starter” that her daughter picked up at Costco. She said she’d never used it, but it was charged, and I was welcome to give it a try.

In honesty, I didn’t think that little device had a prayer of turning over a truck engine. But I hooked it up anyway. Walla! Our son-in-law’s truck fired right up! He stopped by the house for coffee before heading back to town (where he and our daughter live), and the next day I went to Costco and bought a “Jump-Starter” of my own - which I charged and stuck under the seat in my truck.

Just a week later, our son-in-law called me again from the gravel pit. So I drove down and used my brand-new “Jump-Starter” to get him going again. When he got back to town that time, he went straight to Costco and bought himself a new truck battery AND a “Jump-Starter.”:D

We bought yet another "Jump-Starter" at Costco for our other daughter (the one in Missoula) for Christmas last year. Of course they were on sale by that time, and we got it for $20.00 less than what our son-in-law and I paid for each of ours.:mad:
 
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When reloading my Henry 30-30 using the loading tube, the tube will sometimes slip out of my hand when putting it back in the magazine. It's under spring tension at this point, and always goes flying down range some 15 feet past the firing line.

After looking like a bumbling buffoon, I'm usually too embarrassed to call a clear to get my gun part down range, so I just shoot single shots until someone else calls clear. Lol
20200623_185330.jpg
 
I was with a couple of guys at a range having a good time with a couple of different pistols. I picked up my 1911 .45 ACP and began loading the mags. After shooting a round and having to do remedial action to get it back into service, I looked down and picked up some blown out brass. I had no idea why the pistol wouldn't cycle and why it was blowing out the brass, so, I took it to the front desk and innocently asked what might be causing this. They immediately looked at the headstamp on the brass and pointed out to me with a look of disgust on their face that it was .40 S&W ammo. Yep, I felt pretty stupid. I was sure I'd kept the ammo separate.
 
Back in my HS days, my cousin came home from his 2 weeks of summer National Guard duty.
Unpacking, he found a .30-06 tracer round in his field pack
He didn't have a .30-06, so he gave it to me. (smart, right)

I worked at a paint store. Saturdays, we closed at noon. I got a metal can, gallon of lacquer thinner and put in the trunk of car.

The gravel pit, where we went to shoot, had any old refridgerator somebody dumped. We set the hot can of lacquer thinner in the fridge. Stepped off 100 yards and prepared to shoot.
Looking through my scope, I am thinking that can looks awful close.
Decided we should back up a little more and step off another 50.
At the shot, the fridge created a shaped charge. A huge fireball erupted. We were knocked to the ground, smelling burnt hair. We had "sunburned" faces and no eyebrows.
Hearing hysterical laughing, we see a Hy-Po parked at the top of the pit. When he quit laughing, he asked if we had any more tracers?
He told us he wished he had a camera because nobody was going to believe him.

10 years later, mid '80's,opening morning of duck season. Sitting on a duck blind, 30 minutes before sun up, I load my 870 and discover, a don't have a plug.
I unscrew the magazine and using pocket knife, pry out the retaining cap.
Yep, just as the cap comes out, my finger slips. I hear s sproing and then splash, In the dark.
Had a single shot that day.
 
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Seedy Character said:
Back in my HS days, my cousin came home from his 2 weeks of summer National Guard duty.
Unpacking, he found a .30-06 tracer round in his field pack
He didn't have a .30-06, so he gave it to me. (smart, right)

I worked at a paint store. Saturdays, we closed at noon. I got a metal can, gallon of lacquer thinner and put in the trunk of car.

The gravel pit, where we went to shoot, had any old refridgerator somebody dumped. We set the hot can of lacquer thinner in the fridge. Stepped off 100 yards and prepared to shoot.
Looking through my scope, I am thinkink that can looks awful close.
Decided we should back up a little more and step off another 50.
At the shot, the fridge created a shaped charge. A huge fireball erupted. We were knocked to the ground, smelling burnt hair. We had "sunburned" faces and now eyebrows.
Hearing hysterical laughing, we see a Hy-Po parked at the top of the pit. When he quit laughing, he asked if we had any more tracers?
He told us he wished he had a camera because nobody was going to believe him.
Click to expand...
I wish he had a camera phone and a YouTube account! I'd pay to see that!
 
Twice on the same trip to the range today. Not sure what cause the case separations but I think it fired out of battery both times. No damage other than lots of smoke and a dirty hand. Glad I had eye protection.
Blown cases_edited.jpg
 
Told this before. I went to the range I shot at a couple of times a week with my just bought Dan Wesson 15-2 in 1977. I had picked up a set of used Zebrawood grips at a pawn shop about 2 hours after buying the gun. When I got to the range, I put the new grips on, not knowing about the problems the gun can have when the grip screw is overtightened. I loaded up the gun, cocked it, and with the muzzle pointing up a little bit, the hammer just dropped. BLAM, a 110gr JHP cut the target cable, and blew a hole through the roof! I was shocked, and confused, as the run showed no problems when dry firing at home a few minutes beforehand with the original grips. After I paid my $25 "fine", I figured out why those grips were in the giant pile they had at the pawn shop. A couple of washers and it was cured. If I had tightened up the screw a little bit more before I tried to cock it, it wouldn't have let me cock it at all. I got it on the "breathe on it and it fires" spot. A couple of the DW guns I've bought over the years had the grip screw too tight and I would guess that had something to do with why they sold them.
 
Not really gun related but my dad had one yesterday on the way to the range.

He has a bridge from an old surfboard injury that got damaged again...front two teeth.

We got all our stuff in the car.

Got the truck out of the gate, and when my dad went to close it he started grumbling because he launched his teeth out of the door handle pocket of the 4runer.
We spent 10-15 mins looking for them under the car, in the car, in the grass, I even looked inside the rims on the off chance he kicked them or something.
'bout the time I'm gonna ask if he's SURE he brought them, he looks over and says...."oh found them....they were in my mouth".......

He also thought he forgot our earmuffs, but had actually just put them behind his seat and didnt check there when we unloaded most of the gear (I didnt check either). Found while reloading the car to head home...the teeth thing was way funnier tho.

He made up for it by putting his first three shots of the day into a 10" plate at 980yds......
 
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I was teaching a friend how to shoot, use, and clean an 870. At the range, I was teaching him how to load it. I was stressing that you need to press the shell far as you can into the magazine to be sure to get it past the catch so that the shell will not come back over the carrier. No, I didn't do it, he did. Not on the first mag full but the second, so I got to take the trigger group out. For some reason, I felt really embarrassed for him. I tried to make out like it happens once in a while, but it has never happened to me. I just felt badly that he thought he really screwed up. Fortunately, I always have a range box at the range with basic tools for working on a gun, cleaning kit etc. Everyone should have one.
 
The actual risk was several years ago, at the huge private club nearby: Memphis Sports Shooting Association.

It really surprised me how very seasoned rifle shooters (this exclusive club has thousands of members) seemed Unfamilar with 8mm Mausers (Yugo), .303 unmolested Enfields and 7.62x54R Mosin Nagants. Or any one of those.

One or two of these seasoned guys started reaching for the wrong ammo, as I mistakenly had the three Separate stacks of similar-sized, but Different 'chamberings' all within an approx. 4' - 5' area on the bench.
I never again put more than a single chambering on a bench if I was with somebody only familiar with modern hunting rifles and ARs, so to speak.
 
The first time I took my brand new Remington RM380 to the range I was at an indoor range in Oregon. The place was full of shooters. I fired a couple of magazines.
I had read the manual where it said not to tilt the gun to the left and work the slide slowly or the slide retention pin may fall out.
I had forgotten that and had the gun tilted to the side and I pulled the slide to the rear slowly watching how the round in the magazine reacted to the slide. I was concerned about a hitch I felt when racking the slide with the first couple of loaded mags.
Everything looked okay so I let the slide go.
And it went…about 10 yards down range. :confused:
The pin had fallen out.
Needless to say I had to request a cease fire to make the walk of shame to retrieve my slide. :rofl:
 
Pat Riot said:
The first time I took my brand new Remington RM380 to the range I was at an indoor range in Oregon. The place was full of shooters. I fired a couple of magazines.
I had read the manual where it said not to tilt the gun to the left and work the slide slowly or the slide retention pin may fall out.
I had forgotten that and had the gun tilted to the side and I pulled the slide to the rear slowly watching how the round in the magazine reacted to the slide. I was concerned about a hitch I felt when racking the slide with the first couple of loaded mags.
Everything looked okay so I let the slide go.
And it went…about 10 yards down range. :confused:
The pin had fallen out.
Needless to say I had to request a cease fire to make the walk of shame to retrieve my slide. :rofl:
Click to expand...
Wow, that is crazy... I can't believe you have to hold a firearm a certain way inorder to prevent unintentional disassembly... I take it to be a small compact handgun in 380ACP? I've never heard of the Remington RM380 so I'm curious.
 
270OKIE said:
Wow, that is crazy... I can't believe you have to hold a firearm a certain way inorder to prevent unintentional disassembly... I take it to be a small compact handgun in 380ACP? I've never heard of the Remington RM380 so I'm curious.
Click to expand...

Yes. A .380. It operated perfectly if I followed directions. If you tilt it to the left and rack the slide normally there were no issues. That little gun was 100% reliable with every type of .380 ammo I shot in it. 800 rounds with zero malfunctions…except the slide launch. ;)
 
Pat Riot said:
Yes. A .380. It operated perfectly if I followed directions. If you tilt it to the left and rack the slide normally there were no issues. That little gun was 100% reliable with every type of .380 ammo I shot in it. 800 rounds with zero malfunctions…except the slide launch. ;)
Click to expand...
Huh. Interesting. Im glad to hear it was fine when operating it normally. 800 rounds downrange out of a compact 380? That's a lot! I don't think Ive put that many through any gun I've owned.
 
Seedy Character said:
Back in my HS days, my cousin came home from his 2 weeks of summer National Guard duty.
Unpacking, he found a .30-06 tracer round in his field pack
He didn't have a .30-06, so he gave it to me. (smart, right)

I worked at a paint store. Saturdays, we closed at noon. I got a metal can, gallon of lacquer thinner and put in the trunk of car.

The gravel pit, where we went to shoot, had any old refridgerator somebody dumped. We set the hot can of lacquer thinner in the fridge. Stepped off 100 yards and prepared to shoot.
Looking through my scope, I am thinking that can looks awful close.
Decided we should back up a little more and step off another 50.
At the shot, the fridge created a shaped charge. A huge fireball erupted. We were knocked to the ground, smelling burnt hair. We had "sunburned" faces and no eyebrows.
Hearing hysterical laughing, we see a Hy-Po parked at the top of the pit. When he quit laughing, he asked if we had any more tracers?
He told us he wished he had a camera because nobody was going to believe him.

10 years later, mid '80's,opening morning of duck season. Sitting on a duck blind, 30 minutes before sun up, I load my 870 and discover, a don't have a plug.
I unscrew the magazine and using pocket knife, pry out the retaining cap.
Yep, just as the cap comes out, my finger slips. I hear s sproing and then splash, In the dark.
Had a single shot that day.
Click to expand...

With the old style retaining cap, you can just shove the thin end of the green plastic plug in the cap, then push the cap down with the top of the plug enough to start the mag cap, then screwing that down will push it down.

Or just find a stick small enough to fit in the hole in the retaining cap, about 6" long.
 
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