Shooting aimlessly.

It’s a thing. I don’t do it. I don’t shoot things just to have them go bang unless I’m checking the function of a used firearm. And even then it’s only a couple rounds. Then I’m shooting for accuracy/consistency.

I might mag dump once in a blue moon. But rarely won't have targets....sometimes i am lazy and opt to not walk the target stand to rifle lengths and will blast at rocks.

Some people go to the driving range and just hit balls in the general direction of the backstop.

I've seen people shoot an ar-15 without sights.
It's a thing that makes no sense.

There are a couple of stumps along side of my range at home that have a few pounds of lead and copper in them. Someday when they rot I will have more lead to cast with.

If all they want to hear is a bang, think of the $ they could save with cap guns.

Sometimes, if the wind is right and I know the sound will carry to my liberal neighbor down the road, I will do a mag dump on my AK. It's a legal semi-auto civilian gun, but I am quite proficient at bump firing using my index finger alone. I can dump 30 in about three seconds. This irritates her and amuses me. She used to call the Sheriff but she gave up on that when he told her to move if she didn't like it. He thought it was pretty neat and he came over to my place and I taught him how to do it! The cops in Henry County , Illinois are pretty cool. There are a lot of firearms manufactures in the area and the sound of machine gun fire does not cause the sheriff or any of his deputies to so much as raise an eyebrow.

So....to answer the OPs question, Yes, I think AKs WERE invented to make bloodcurdling noises and only occasionally to actually hit what one is aiming at. That's what ARs are for.

I DO love to occasionally just walk out the back door and mindlessly blast away at nothing in particular. My liberal neighbor knows this, too.

And THAT irritates her even more.

Seen small boulders turned into gravel at a public range when it first opened.

d2wing said:

Literally shooting aimlessly

Click to expand...

They get out of the car, blow a couple 30 round magazine down range, then leave. Never go down range. (Safer) All good fun.

I see it all the time and it drives me nuts.

I learned to shoot on a single shot rifle and a revolver. A mag dump for me would have been one or six shots. Needless to say, unaimed shooting is not something that I would do.

In the (Bulgarian) Army I qualified with an AK 74, hitting a man-sized target at 400 yards. Repeatedly, at full auto. So no, I don't think that AKs were meant for "mag dumps".

P.S. We don't have a word for "fun" in Bulgarian, thanks for asking...

The more ammo used, more money from the excise tax , going to the Wildlife Restoration Act.

d2wing said:

I was invited to go shooting with some people in another state. Much of it was in the general direction of stumps etc. No targets and no way of knowing where you are actually hitting. I guess just shooting for the fun of it. I was a little surprised because I shoot with the intention of hitting something and I like to know how accurate I am shooting. So is this a thing? Is this why AK's are popular? Literally shooting aimlessly. I guess if you don't hunt and just like the bang has merit. What do you think?

Click to expand...

I've done it before, for about 90 seconds. I got bored real quick. It's similar to riding a jet ski.

I grew up with ammo to shoot....but we didn' go to town back then like we do now. If i wasted it, i might be out for a while.

I own an AR pistol...

But I do at least aim at something. Pumpkins, stumps, rocks... I really like hedgeapples and pears. I only cut loose like a madman when shooting down into a one of several sinkholes around the family farm. I need to get that little pistol dialed in for what I built it for but so far, no luck. I might actually consider a brace before long.

Mizar said:

In the (Bulgarian) Army I qualified with an AK 74, hitting a man-sized target at 400 yards. Repeatedly, at full auto. So no, I don't think that AKs were meant for "mag dumps".

P.S. We don't have a word for "fun" in Bulgarian, thanks for asking...

Click to expand...

In Bulgarian Army, AK-74 has fun with you.

Hmph. I was taught over 40 years ago that every shot fired was for record score. No point in doing anything else...unless you liked losing matches. Which I don't.

At our local public range about 25% of the AK shooters don't bother putting up targets. I think this is because the range rules prohibit shooting at beer kegs, propane tanks, TV sets, and home appliances. They also seem to believe that russian steel case ammo is biodegradable so don't bother to pick their cases up when they run out of ammo. One good thing about them is they don't hog up range space since they run out of ammo pretty quickly. They also keep the local gun stores in business and it makes the woods safer having them shoot here. To each his own!

Fire_Moose said:

I might mag dump once in a blue moon. But rarely won't have targets....sometimes i am lazy and opt to not walk the target stand to rifle lengths and will blast at rocks.

Click to expand...

That's what hanging steel targets are for. Make them small enough/far enough away to be a challenge, it's gratifying to hear a 'plink' a couple of seconds after the report, and no paper to walk after when you're done.

I don't think I've done a mag dump since back when Uncle Sam was buying the ammo.

ATLDave said:

Some people go to the driving range and just hit balls in the general direction of the backstop.

Click to expand...

Last I checked, a bucket of balls was a lot cheaper than a box of ammo. If I shot like I hit golf balls, I'd just quit.

ColtPythonElite said:

I see it all the time and it drives me nuts.

Click to expand...

me, too.

Larry Ashcraft said:

Their gun, their ammo. As long as they do it safely, who cares?

Click to expand...

A lot to be said for that, but it shows a real lack of purpose, just pointing at nothing and blasting away. Why not try to be good at it, for all the expense?

Isn’t that the definition of “plinking?” We used to wander through the woods with our 22’s looking for targets of opportunity.

Mizar writes:

In the (Bulgarian) Army I qualified with an AK 74, hitting a man-sized target at 400 yards. Repeatedly, at full auto. So no, I don't think that AKs were meant for "mag dumps".

Click to expand...

What would be cool is if you had been in long enough ago to have been issued a PM, and that one of us somehow found out he now has it (like me.)