Do you have "range idiot" story to tell?

[cliffdropover1]

This may be similar to a couple of other posts I have seen, but the stories are never-the-less very interesting. All of us have seen the "range idiot" that just can't learn from his mistakes or shows all of us just how dangerous someone can be. We all seem to know a "range idiot". Share your stories here and maybe we will all learn from the mistakes of others, or at least have some interesting reading.

 

[Thumper]

Yes!

I love these:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6743&highlight=range+idiot

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141399&highlight=range+idiot

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=128472&highlight=range+idiot

 

[cliffdropover1]

Thumper--very interesting stories. Our local "range idiot" is notorious for overloading and blowing up guns. For some strange reason, he has never been seriously hurt, so he uses that excuse to tell us how wrong we are to reprimand him. We all say that "some day" he will eat a slide or some other gun part. During a competition he threw his first revolver down on the table so hard it bounced on to the floor. When I came out later to RO I reminded him that I would throw him off the range if I saw him do it. He whined that the dropped gun was pointing down range when it stopped spinning. What an idiot! But then, I am sure others have even better stories.:banghead:

 

[Kahr carrier]

Our local range idiot likes to gunsmith his own guns with a Dremel and a Hammer. And on top of that he is an avid reloader the only problem with that is sometimes his progressive reloader runs out of powder and he doesnt catch it and he is shooting squib loads. He carries a metal rod to pound the bullet out of the barrel.

 

[TechBrute]

I shoot next to Camp Pendleton. A jarhead in the next land decided it would be really manly to shoot the DE .50AE as fast as he could and impress his buddy. The first shot went into the floor at 20 yards, the second into the ceiling about the same distance. The third went into the ceiling about 10 yards out, and the fourth one took out the range trolley over his head.

 

[Chairman Meow]

I was at a local range last fall sighting in my Browning A-bolt for the mule deer hunt. It's a run-down range up against the Wasatch Front mountains on the east side of SLC where my father and I have shot for 20 years, but I have never seen anything like this before.

I had just arrived when another shooter walked in behind me. He had posted a target before securing a shooting bench because the range is arranged such that you have to drive past the targets to get to the lanes. This is aparantly against some un-posted rule so the range master politely mentioned it. The man apologized, the range master seemed satisfied, and everybody went about their business.

Half an hour later, as I was letting my barrel cool, the same thing happened again. This time it was a latino man with his wife and two small children. The range officer came out looking very angry. He snapped at the man very rudely and raising his voice enough that everybody stopped shooting and looked over to see what was happening. The man kept his cool, apologized, and like the other customer he pointed out that this rule was not posted anywhere. The Range officer said that he was a "f#@king idiot" (in front of his wife and children) and stormed back in to his booth at the end of the range. Everybody was a little stunned, especially the latino man. He asked me, "What was that all about?" I shrugged, as bewildered as he surely was. Immediately, the Range officer came storming out of the booth saying, "Are you two talking about ME?! Well you sir" (pointing at the other guy) "can just get the f#@k out. NOW!!"

What ensued was a scene unlike any other I'd ever witnessed. I thought this old range officer was going to blow a gasket. He was redder than any beet I've ever seen! Screaming and throwing insults like a junior high kid in the locker room. And over what? A breech of a rule that didn't endanger anyone? Not likely. If that were the case he would have gotten upset at the white guy that did the same thing. No, this man had some kind of anger management issue coupled with some pretty blatant bigotry.

So to make a long story short, the police came and sorted things out. They explained that the range officer could run the business any way he wanted and that the latino man had to leave and never return. The police took took me aside and asked what had really happened and I told them. They didn't look surprised. They'de been here before.

You know, people like that range officer don't help our image as firearm enthusiasts. Talk about a range idiot! But as my father always says, "a$$h@les come in all shapes and sizes!"

 

[Brian D.]

Hey gang!

I shoot with cliffdropover, and he ain't exaggerating a bit about the idiot he mentions--and no, wise guys, that idiot ain't ME! Mr dropover and I range officer at local matches, and have each had to DQ this clown a time or two. Unfortunately, neither of us owns the shooting venues in question, or we'd have permanently banned our moronic "pal" long ago. I do believe that I will at least banish the jerk from MY presence once and for all the next time he has a gun go bloowie or something else which rises to a similar level of danger. Think I can make that policy stand with the owner of the one indoor range anyhow, don't know if one or more of us longtime safety officers have enough clout to carry that rule over to the other places we shoot. Really hoping it would never come to such a thing, but I may just have to round up a "posse" of fellow shooters to bodily eject "idiotboy" off the property, or something similar. Any (legal) suggestions would be appreciated, thank you very much. This is one of those dudes who just can't be reasoned with, or shamed into changing his ways, it seems!:banghead: Help!

 

[larry_minn]

Brian D.
Hate to see someone get into trouble but if you really have tried everything else...
Get folks together who are bothered by this guy and document some of his worst actions. Then sign it. Meet with this guy and inform him that this is his last chance. Show you mean business and if he does not fly right you will present this to Range owner AND his insurance carrier. They will have no choice but to ban him. This will truly be his last chance.

 

[bogie]

Might be kinda hard - if the guy blows up a gun every so often, he's gotta be buying 'em somewhere...

 

[JamisJockey]

Chairman Meow:
Which range? I'm thinking Holladay shooting club....
I'm in Sandy and haven't been to that one yet. Let me know so I know not to go there!!
I personally prefer Lee Kay. Usually the RO's there are quite nice and very helpful to new shooters. I did see one being very impatient with an obviously new shooter and his new 10/22 rifle. The guy had locked the slide back on a full magazine preparing for a cease fire. When the RO said 'magazine is suppossed to be removed', the guy went to remove it. RO said 'don't touch your ing gun until after the cease fire!'
One of the other shooters talked to the new guy later and clarified rules and etiquite in a much more patient manner later....

 

[TheFrontRange]

I sometimes shoot at an unsupervised outdoor public range. Most folks I've encountered there have been very safe and very friendly. There have been some exceptions, however.

Once a vanload of distinctly foreign-looking individuals wheeled up to the firing line while maybe ten or so shooters were occupying five of the six shooting lanes. A gaggle of people of all ages disgorged themselves from the van...there could not have possibly been adequate seating to accomodate the multiple generations of folks coming out of this thing. Men, women, children, this was the whole family line.

Two or three of the menfolk were packing iron...an SKS, a shotgun of some sort, and a revolver IIRC. They stepped on up to the line and later set up targets when the range went cold. The rest of their party milled around the van somewhere behind the line.

A few minutes later the range was declared hot. I was the first to commence firing...and was greeted after one shot with a chorus of shrieks from behind me! Some of the women and kids had meandered back up towards the firing line and were maybe ten yards or so to my rear...no hearing protection, no nothing, and by their reaction I'd guess they'd never heard a weapon discharge. I stopped shooting and watched as the women and kids fled. Then I looked at their men, who were conveniently set up in the lane next to mine. I'd heard them speaking a foreign tongue so I didn't even bother attempting to talk with them. I sort of shrugged and waited for a response...not a great way to communicate, "Do you think your people back there are okay? Can we maybe all start shooting now since this after all a range?", but I had to try something.

They gave me nods and grins and we were back on our way.

Their range discipline was a little suspect. I'm all for blazing away with a semi-auto from time to time...great stress relief if you ask me. But the SKS-armed guy was planting lead in almost everbody's lane and he got some nice "clanks" when he zipped rounds through the steel target supports, too. The shotgunner managed more than once to blow birdshot across the face of my target, too.

Ugh...I shoot when I can at an indoor range now and am on the lookout for a nice parcel of open land somewhere to do some more private shooting.

 

[Quartus]

Chairman Meow, please tell us if that is Holladay. That's maybe all of 10 minutes from my house. I've only been there once, and wasn't impressed, but it IS close...


My 'favorite' range idiot was driven there by...

me.


A high school girl friend, of the Saran Wrap variety. I took a junior police course, so she did.

So picture this: A bunch of high school kids with old worn out S&W Model 10s, and these funkyt Bianch clamshell holsters. In the entire class, there's one kid who can keep them all on paper. Not great shooting, but at least on paper, which amazed the rest of them. (Uh, yes, it was me.)


Then there's this.....


....airhead.


Slow fire, single action, and she manages to put a round in the roof. (Indoor range.) That got the attention and displeasure of our instructors, who were off duty police officers. Head instructor was a detective, IIRC.

Then we went to draw and fire.

The first round she capped also hit the roof.




After richocheting off the floor next to her right foot!



She was uninvited from the remainder of the live shooting.

(And uninvited from my life not long after!)

 

[Chairman Meow]

You guessed it guys. My father and I have shot at Holladay since I was old enough to hold a .22. The range is on land leased from Qwest (IIRC) and the lease ran out last year. The land would sell for many millions to developers and there was talk of the lease not being renewed. Holladay sent the check anyway and somebody at Qwest cashed it. Oops! Looks like we got another 5 years! Someone at Qwest probably got fired over that...

I don't know whether the actions or opinions of the RO in question reflect those of the owners or not. The police treated the man much the same as the RO had, which I was disappointed with. After expelling the poor guy and his family, the cops stayed and gossiped with the RO. Apparantly they were friends or something.

I try to support small businesses, and I guess I have been making excuses to myself as to why this is not a reason to stop bringing them business. I live very near by, and Holladay is one of the last remaining pieces of my childhood. However, if there is one thing I can take out of the whole inceident its that tradition is not sufficient reason to continue a practice. I'm personally sick and tired of people like that RO making the rest of the world think that white gun-owning men are all bigoted a$$holes.

Incidentally Atc1man, I believe I know what RO at Lee Kay you speak of and he has done such things in my presence as well. It really makes me nervous to hear people speak violently when I am at the range. Just not the best idea.

 

[cliffdropover1]

Sorry to hear there are some RO's out there that go a bit overboard. Now don't get me wrong, I am not defending him. I wasn't there. But I have often told guys at the range, I would rather have them pissed off than shot. I am referring to safety breaches here and when they occur, for whatever reason, the person does often need to get *** chewed.

 

[Greg L]

Range idiot? That would be me one day while in the Army.

I was RO during qualifications for the BN and we were wrapping up for the day (long day, we had pushed 1/2 the BN through that day). As we were getting set up for the last round of the day someone mentioned that I still needed to qualify and that he would take over so I could. Nodding I grabbed my rifle and left the tower to jump into the first empty foxhole. The first popup came up and I let off a round at it and promptly howled in pain. Ooops, those little ear plug thingies hanging off my shirt work better in my ears. I missed the next 4 as I was scrambling to get them put in. Still managed to qualify at SS . Oh well, live and learn.

Greg

 

[Archie]

In my mind...

there are two kinds of range idiots.

One type I met was this fairly nice kid with a new SKS. After firing between 40 and 60 rounds into a PPC target at about 35 yards, he asked me if I thought his shooting was any good. He had holes from one end of the target to the other, both axes.

I suggested that he fire a few less rounds between evaluations. And I pointed out, gently, that normally rifles are shot at ranges greater then powder burn range.

I guess he really isn't an idiot, he just doesn't know much. We talked a bit longer and hopefully, I got him in the right direction, mentally.

The second type is the older nitwit who showed me his .460 Rowland.
During a range break of the "no handling weapons" type, he pulls this autopistol out of his bag. It's pointing at my son. As his finger is off the trigger, and he seems garrolously friendly, I get between my kid and the muzzle.
I don't want to yell or grab or anything. He didn't seem to be an intentional threat, just a natural hazard.
I casually mentioned it was pointing at me. He chuckled in that infuriating manner of "older, wiser" types and said it wasn't loaded. Then he handed it to me.
I locked the slide open and set it on the table, where it should have been in the first place.... all this time he's telling me how powerful this thing is and all that.

I got the kid away and back to a different part of the range.

Again, this guy wasn't intentionally evil, just a little goofy. Just a little too goofy. I didn't want to make a big deal of it. Perhaps I should have.

 

[Quartus]

Holladay sent the check anyway and somebody at Qwest cashed it. Oops! Looks like we got another 5 years! Someone at Qwest probably got fired over that...

They've stretched staff so thin over there that you can see through the walls! Somebody didn't care, just processed the paperwork like always. Doubt if anyone higher up even knows or cares what the property is worth.


Hmmm, if range idiot stories can include Army days, I've got the winner. My first platoon leader, in fact. Seemed like a nice guy, and in time he rotated out to another company. Combat Support this time, running the Four Deuce platoon. Had the boys on line with their stuff all laid in and ready to fire WP on target. Oh, the platoon sergeant was off tending to something or other. He came back just as they were hanging the rounds. (Getting ready to fire, for those who don't speak mortar.) One look was all he needed to start screaming CEASE FIRECEASEFIRECEASEFIRE!!!!!!

He's normally a calm guy, but I hear he was NOT calm that day.

Seems the Lt. had forgotten to convert degrees to mils. Oops. Someone figured out the likely impact area if they had dropped those rounds.

Main post.


This same idiot was the RO when some guys were cutting cheese INSIDE their PCs. Uh, no, that doesn't mean they were emitting bad bodily oders while inside their personal computers. They were preparing mortar charges inside their armored Personnel Carrier. Absolutely against regs and stupid. They had a fire: One trashed PC, two men in the hospital seriously burned. One of them badly enough for a medical discharge and permanent service connected disability.

His younger brother had some similar screw-up involving people getting seriously injured on his watch.