Gambling at the Gun Range

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czhen said:
I don't gamble period. Was tempted many time for an easy win with bragging co workers etc.
It's not my thing I should sometimes.
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Got news for ya my friend. Just about every thing in life is a gamble.

And nothing wrong with gambling money as long as your are prepared to loose and can handle the loss when making the bet. It is when you cannot handle the loss is when it is wrong to gamble.
 
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SHOOT1SAM said:
How so, exactly; to one’s wallet? Don’t think anyone’s talking about a William Tell-type competition.
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A bunch of folks with dangerous weapons making bets? Not everyone has good sportsmanship... Some fool will take a bet they can not afford to lose and not react well at all.
 
With everyone else armed, I suspect all will be on their better behaviors.....
 
Not hardly, but then i don't hang with folks with bad tempers either..............Not for you? Don't participate; SOME folks don't have an issue with it like you seem to do.
 
jamesinalaska said:
Some of the funnest times we have when we get together at the range is when we start taunting each other with money.

The baiting usually goes something like, "Billy you've been bragging about that rifle for quite a while now. I'll bet you fifty dollars you can't hit a soda can at 300 yards a single time in three shots." And that dare gets accepted and everybody is in on the howl.

Anybody else gamble with their friends at the range?
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Closest to the bulls' eye off hand for a frozen turkey - one dollar to enter is as close as my rifle has come. (it won)
 
Hokkmike said:
Closest to the bulls' eye off hand for a frozen turkey - one dollar to enter is as close as my rifle has come. (it won)
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Don't see many turkey shoots anymore, but in years past, my favorite annual shoot was 3 shots for a buck, when the ten firing points were filled, each shooter had 3 ea. 6" balloons tied to a dowel @ 100 yards, offhand, any rifle any sights. Shooter who broke the most balloons won a frozen turkey. Club guaranteed a profit ( turkeys were cheaper back then :cool:) and it was fast moving. Any ties were broken, one shot at a time, last man standing.

Sounds pretty easy but on a breezy day, those balloons move around a lot; the trick was to aim at the top of the dowel.

Regards,
hps
 
Hokkmike said:
Closest to the bulls' eye off hand for a frozen turkey - one dollar to enter is as close as my rifle has come. (it won)
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I miss those old BP turkey shoots! Those were really a highlight of my time at the old gun club. I can't remember if they were monthly or seasonally (quarterly).
One time they did a shootoff where the target had a black spot maybe 3" or so in diameter and anyone not in the black was eliminated, then they'd move it 10 yards further away. Lather rinse repeat.
I remember someone proposing something he supposedly read where you shot at an axehead hoping to split the bullet and hit spots on either side of the axehead. I don't believe he ever managed to talk anyone into doing that, but then I did go in the Army in 1980 so who knows. I just wonder what he was reading when he saw that.
 
When I started going to Canada on fishing trips, they had daily bets on first fish, and biggest fish of the day. It descended into a pissing match almost immediately. I won both the first day and refused the money. I’m not ruining a trip and maybe a friendship over a piddly bet

They no longer bet and everyone gets along better
 
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whm1974 said:
This is likely due to my great-grandparent's and mother's strong dislike for gambling.
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And that's OK..........I lived in NV for 23 years..........only time I would go to a casino to gamble was when family came in from out of town - not really my thing either, but I don't care if folks want to do it.
 
redneck2 said:
When I started going to Canada on fishing trips, they had daily bets on first fish, and biggest fish of the day. It descended into a pissing match almost immediately. I won both the first day and refused the money. I’m not ruining a trip and maybe a friendship over a piddly bet

They no longer bet and everyone gets along better
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try to find more mentally stable friends.
 
jamesinalaska said:
Some of the funnest times we have when we get together at the range is when we start taunting each other with money.

The baiting usually goes something like, "Billy you've been bragging about that rifle for quite a while now. I'll bet you fifty dollars you can't hit a soda can at 300 yards a single time in three shots." And that dare gets accepted and everybody is in on the howl.

Anybody else gamble with their friends at the range?
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Not with the grandkids. All other donations (either way) welcomed. With friends, usual bet is a whole dollar.
 
There used to be several of us who would have a "shoot off" after the 3 gun match. We'd set up two silhouette targets fairly close to shoot with a shotgun. Then rows of knock down targets to shoot with a handgun. The first row was maybe ten yards away. There were three or four rows of targets each five yards behind the other. The last row only had two or three targets - a 3×4 inch piece of steel.

Two of us would stand in front of our targets and at the buzzer, start shooting. The shooter who knocked all the targets down first won. Sort of like Cowboy Action but there were two shooters. Think of some of the things Gunny Ermy did on his show. It was a buck a round. We seldom went more than three rounds before there was a single winner. It was fun. We were all similar in ability and the mental aspect of the competition really made it interesting.
 
Everytime we shoot with friends and family a single dollar is put up for single best shot at the end of session.

How this could be dangerous is lost on me because we dont let idiots shoot on our property.

Sounds like paranoia or prejudice overriding common sense.
 
I used to shoot for money every Thursday night at a small town trap range. You purchased a ticket to shoot a round for $3. There were about 10 rounds that lasted until 10pm when the locals shut it down. City ordinance I believe. It was what some call an Annie Oakley shoot. A line of shooters would stand about 30 yds behind the trap house and the lead shooter called for the bird. If he missed the next person in line took a shot at it. Generally 3 people might get to shoot at 1 clay before it hit the ground. If you were the first shooter and missed twice you took a seat. Last guy standing won the pot for that round. Somebody gave you a marker for winning that round and you cashed it in when the shooting was over. The last round was always about 50 yds from the trap. That one was a tough shot.

Generally there were at least 12 shooters. Summer nights sometimes went to 20 shooters. Pots could get pretty big. Not unusual that someone won $100 or more. I always thought I was lucky to win back the entry fee.

Legal, probably not. But the state police and sheriffs had no problem with it because they were there shooting with the rest of us.
 
CoalTrain49 said:
I used to shoot for money every Thursday night at a small town trap range. You purchased a ticket to shoot a round for $3. There were about 10 rounds that lasted until 10pm when the locals shut it down. City ordinance I believe. It was what some call an Annie Oakley shoot. A line of shooters would stand about 30 yds behind the trap house and the lead shooter called for the bird. If he missed the next person in line took a shot at it. Generally 3 people might get to shoot at 1 clay before it hit the ground. If you were the first shooter and missed twice you took a seat. Last guy standing won the pot for that round. Somebody gave you a marker for winning that round and you cashed it in when the shooting was over. The last round was always about 50 yds from the trap. That one was a tough shot.

Generally there were at least 12 shooters. Summer nights sometimes went to 20 shooters. Pots could get pretty big. Not unusual that someone won $100 or more. I always thought I was lucky to win back the entry fee.

Legal, probably not. But the state police and sheriffs had no problem with it because they were there shooting with the rest of us.
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Local club out West did the same thing after Thursday night fun league.......Pots could get decent like you mentioned, especially because everyone was allowed a buy back in for one time
 
Enfielder said:
...it's not gambling if you know how to shoot.
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Reminds me of one of the few times i caved and accepted a bet involving something other than who buys lunch.

to prevent the wall of text that a proper full account would take, i'll shorten it thus. Guy showed up at my local range one afternoon, with one of those Iron Brigade Armory "Product improved M40s" that started at about $3-4K at the time, that he'd had less than a month. and he'd swallowed the IBA Kool-aid hard , would not shut up about how great his rifle was. and then started talking ****e about my Savage that i'd just spent the past 9 months working up a load for and "getting to know", without having seen me shoot it :scrutiny: (and i'd seen his 100yrd groups, this was obviously his first "precision rifle"). I laughed, he got pissed "threw down a gauntlet" and bet his rifle... :evil:
Ten minutes later he'd shut up, learned a lesson, was white as a sheet, and packing his gear (I had mercy and cleaned his wallet in lieu of taking the rifle).

Moral of the story: never make a shooting bet against someone you've yet to see shoot.

HB said:
Doesn’t hurt that most guys think a .22 falls out of the sky at 50 yards.
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Last time I took my 10/22 to the range, I amazed the two 20something AR-dudes by ringing their 100yard gong 29 out of 30 times. the whole "if you know your hold overs..." :thumbup:
 
I would say it probably is not a good idea to gamble at the range if you are not worth a damn at shooting.
 
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