Camp Allen Shooting Range Unsafe?

[Eric F]

Last weekend my brother want to go shoot his new glock. He is still a dependant by virtue of being a colledge student. So he suggests signing me into the range. The facilities are great and the staff was cool upfront. I am not sure what the max range was likely 25 meters we were just shooting at 12 feet, my brother is a new shooter and I figured he did not need to shoot distance yet.

On to the problem. The range has the lanes set up on one side and some tables setup behind to load mags and such. When we first got there there was a father son team and us thats it. We were doing our thing and then about 30 minutes into it it starts getting crowded. I am loading mags on the table for my brother and a person comes up and starts loading a mag next to me for a smith auto loaded of some sort puts the mag in the gun holding it sideways pointed in my general direction and drops the slide sweeps everyone on the line as he walks up to the line and starts shooting. The father of the father son team sees this looks at me and stops his son from shooting unloads packs up and leaves. I was unsure what to do so I thought he was just not paying atention so I dismissed it for the time. We continue to shoot and another guy comes in with with a tac-ed out ar again I am loading mags this guy takes the rifle out of the case sets it on the table locks the bolt back and loads a mag. I did not think much of it as there is no room to place rifles on the table with out pointing them up the line in one direction or the other. So just as I finish loading the last mag this guy puts a magin the rifle and releases the bolt again with the rifle pointed in my general direction so I had to say something. So as I try to mention it to this guy his reply is hey My finger wasnt on the trigger your fine. I think what is the problem here. I went to the Facility staff and explain the concern and this guy tells me to give them a break, most of them just got back from Iraq and I am safer with them pointing a loaded gun at me than I am with a civilian pointing an empty gun at me........WHAT? I did not argue or say anything else. I stood and watched behind the glass and watched for a minute and saw numberous accounts of 4 or 5 guys sweeping the line each other ect with loaded guns. I went in got my brother and left. Last time I think we will be going there, some how I think this hapens all the time. Just for the record I never saw any range rules posted either does not mean I did not see them.

Am I wrong or this just unsafe?

 

[dm1333]

Releasing the bolt on an AR while it is pointed in the direction of another person is unsafe. There has to be somebody further up the food chain there that you can complain to. Plus the answer given to your compaint was disrespectful and total <deleted>!

 

[TEDDY]

unsafe

I would have told the range officer in no uncertain terms to clear them out.and report him to who ever has control of the range.never fumble with safety.It is gun owners responsability to see that safty is maintained at all times.a fatal discharge gets coverage that we dont need.ARs can slam fire do you want to recieve the bullet?:banghead:

 

[Bruenor]

I am more concerned that people with military training are doing this than I would be if it was a civilian. If someone was trainined in the military to handle a firearm, they should know better.

I would have reported them, and if I got the answer you got, I would have went higher up the chain.

 

[freebird60]

When I purchased my gun at the MCX there I was told about the gun range on the base. After a quick stop at home to clean up I headed out to shoot my new gun for the first time. While standing at one of the tables loading I was swept like FOUR TIMES by other shooters! I packed up, ask if I could get my money back(they said yes), and haven't been back since. This was in 2004. I usually shoot at the pawn shop on little creek road now.

 

[Tribal]

Sounds like the RO's need to get off their duffs. If this were something like them smoking while shooting or breaking range etiquette rules (maybe shooting longer than their time when others are waiting), that'd be one thing because letting it slide is just an inconvenience rather than a true danger.

Loading a gun, and especially chambering a round, behind the line is absolutely unacceptable. Shooting tracers or other potentially hazardous ammunition usually is, too. Unless they clean up their act, it's not worth it. Bob's is nearby, and the Lafayette Gun Club and Airfield Shooting Club aren't abominably far away.

 

[jayofthejungle1985]

Theres a real lack of good places to shoot in this area.... luckily i found someone with a private range... and they are all gun nuts too... no getting sweeped for me but some of them dont wear any hearing protection OUCH!

 

[xjchief]

I don't like to shoot at the range I belong to unless it's pretty much empty. Luckily, I'm off during the weekdays when the range is a lot less busy. There always seems to be one yahoo that makes me nervous. I just don't like the idea of getting shot.

 

[RIPMIKE]

NO it is NOT safe

I would say that it is NOT safe at Camp Allen Shooting Range. February 8, 2007, my cousin went there to shoot. At first we were told it was an accidental shooting. Later, it was clear the NCIS was taking the suicide route. November 08, the case was closed as such. In the report though, they wrote that the video on the range was NOT working and, hadn't worked in 2yrs. No video of the shooting. Also, my cousin, the only one there at the time, according to the report, LAID for an hour before the NEXT CUSTOMER found him. A worker didn't find him but a customer did. The customer noticed him at the end of the range.
Does anyone know if it is the norm for nobody to be at the range on a Thursday, around 1pm? There is no witnesses, no video. Another thought, question that I have, if you were going to commit suicide would you really care about wearing ear protection?

 

[callsign.BULL]

Update

This is an old thread (by 20 DEC 13), but the latest news is that the Camp Allen indoor range is closed UFN - a significant fire has just recently burnt it out.

Otherwise, I have used the range and have not seen an ongoing problem, though I do note a bullet hole through the top of one of the stainless tables across the back of the left firing bay. As far as use of the tables goes, my guidance was that un-casing and re-casing may be done on the tables, but the unloaded weapon is to be brought over to the folding table in the lane and ammunition handling is to be done there.

Allan is 50 miles from Williamsburg, but I would make the trip. Now that the range is closed, I will be going 50 miles in the other direction to the Ft. Lee outdoor POW** range (Sundays 1000-1600). Lee keeps a man in the tower, and both a roving RO and SO on the line, and they are very strict - more staff than Allen. I did once belong to Lafayette, but they cut me off for non-payment of dues while I was involved in Indian Ocean activities. To get back in, they wanted all of the dues in arrears paid, plus another initiation fee. Nah. There is a public indoor range near Ft. Eustis, but it is physically crowded and, hard to make out the mall ninjas through the excess gun smoke.

** POW = "Privately Owned Weapons"

BULL

 

[gamestalker]

I quit doing public shooting ranges long ago. I got sick and tired of being swept by inexperienced or just plain careless individuals. It's absolutely unacceptable for anyone regardless of how much experience or training they may, or may not have, period. I have had my head nearly blown off countless times by careless handlers, so I'm just a little bit nervous around individuals who I don't knwo anything about in the first place. Then put me in the company of multiple shooters that I know nothing about, and I'm too nervous to enjoy the experience. If you are going to try and do something about this go to the top, don't pass go, and make sure someone hears your voice, loud and clear. But don't think for one moment that the problem won't arise again, it's a public range.

I have now made sure I have everything I need to set up in the middle of no where and can shoot without having to be concerned about that type of garbage ever again. I have had an 8mm round impact no more than an inch from my head against a concrete wall from about 8 feet away. Shotgun go off so close to my head, that I got powder burned. Had AR rounds flying over my head at a public range while myself and others were down range changing targets, and the idiot who was shooting acknowledged that we were going to go cold, oh I saw you guys, I wasn't shooting in your direction, and the list goes on, stick a fork in me, I'm done with public ranges.

GS

 

[docsleepy]

Wow, those are the most amazing stories I have ever heard at public ranges!

I honestly don't know what I would do if someone fired an AR while I was downrange. I think I would hit the dirt, and yell loudly: Ceasefire! Drop the weapon and come out with your hands up!

 

[medalguy]

Shoot back?

 

[Al Thompson]

Thanks for the update.