What Makes for A Great Range Day?

50 ft, slow fire



Buckmark with a Tactical Solutions barrel and a Fastfire

Sorry, just remembered that this is a Rifle Forum, but it was still a great Range Day

Not losing my brass

My worst day at the range is better than my best day at work.

Tough to have a really bad day at the range (though Ive not experienced any kabooms, I guess that would constitute a bad day).

There are lots of factors that can make one range day better than another...
-good company (wife or good friends)
-good shooting
-a new toy that behaves
-fixing an older toy that has been misbehaving

My best range days in recent memory have all involved big smiles on younger folks and/or new shooters faces.

I would say it is to be there a hundred percent. Good ammo also helps.

just being there.

Hitting what I'm aiming at and not getting muzzle swept is a good range day.

A good day at the range is just being there.
A Great day at the range is finding a spot where I'm not getting hit with neighbor's AR brass, then finding my new handload is just what I've been looking for.

Being able to do everything at your own pace. Not being rushed or hurried to get in and out. Not having to wait forever to get a cold range so you can go down to the targets. No unexpected malfunctions.

A good range day for me is taking my grandkids out and having them hit 12oz pop cans at 50 and 100 yards with very entertaining results. Generic soda cans are a great reactive target. I took two twelve packs of generic King Soopers soda to the private range we are able to use and they had a great afternoon using a 10-22 and a Marlin 22 mag. Those of you who poo-poo the ability of a civilian force to resist an organized force should take note of the size of the targets an average shooter can hit at 100 yards or more.

Bringing a friend with me (so he can help carry all the stuff we need) always makes for a good day.

No crowds or groups of people relaxes me and I'll get my choice of shooting benches. Between 60-80 degrees with no wind really sets the stage for a great day on the range.

No emails or phone calls from work. Ok... That may be too much to ask but WTH.

Mr. R - Nice Rig

A great range day for me is everyone going home safe and sound afterwards due to the Four Cardinal Rules Of Firearms Safety being followed.

With that said, when you are testing/shooting/fine tuning your handloads and you get groups half the size of factory ammo, that is a great range day .

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Getting a chance to burn up some ammo with my son who's home from college for the holidays.

Not raining, new gun, exploding targets, bikini girls, and lots of ammo!

Good company, lots of ammo, and not being rushed on a crowded day.

I like to be leisurely. A couple hours. A couple guns. A couple good friends and a whole lot of ammo.

Not having to listen to an oldtimer blowhard that wanders over to scrutinize and desparage over my FAL stg58, while extolling his life experiences as a shooter of benchrest firearms.

Cold bore hits, on 2 moa targets, at 600+ yards. Guaranteed to put a smile on my face.

Rusty59 said:

Not raining, new gun, exploding targets, bikini girls, and lots of ammo!

Click to expand...

I want to visit your range

I enjoy all range days but a great range day is taking my
young son shooting, I mostly watch / coach him and I
don't even shoot I work with him on marksmanship and
safety.

You traded a tired used chainsaw for a used bolt action with litterly no bluing on it, and it shoots 1/2 moa.

About 82 degrees, partly sunny, no wind, an empty range, several guns to test/try, suppressors, a boatload of ammo and nothing else to do for the rest of the day.

Hitting the target on the first round is a big plus.

Edit: Sorry, I described my IDEAL range day rather than a just a great day. Add some wind (5-15 miles per hour) and it's a great day.

Shooting one of my open sight military surplus rifles making a smaller group than the guy next to me shooting his scoped Remchester.

Involving a new shooter. I took a kid from church muzzleloader hunting a couple weekends back and he snapped 6 bad caps on a doe at ranges 30yds to 15 ft. He was bummed when she ran and cap #7 went BOOM. So we walked to my fun range and I taught him proper stance, aim, and technigue for a revolver, then handed him 6 44 mag shells one at a time. 13 years old and I'm pretty sure he is hooked...missed my 2ft square hanging plate at 10 yards every shot from flinching but wanted more of it.

Warp and Locogringo nailed it for me -- good weather, and the ability to take my time, NOT be rushed. I've shot too much in temperatures in the teens with a wind in the teens -- no fun. 90+ degrees and 70%+ humidity is no fun either. Temps. 60-80 with a light breeze and mostly sunny skies is ideal plinking weather for me. A somewhat deserted range so folks aren't calling "hot" and "cold" all the time. The ability to place my various targets at various distances and attempt to hit them at various ranges from various shooting positions with different rifles, including off a bench rest. NO MALFUNCTIONS or breakages. Building up my confidence, being thankful for the opportunity to own and shoot firearms.