Dumbest thing you heard/saw in a Gun Store or at the range.

[Avenger]

I'll have to throw another one in here, and it's mostly a joke on me.
I went to the range the other day with my younger brother. Now, my brother and I are pretty much living examples of stereotypical siblings, I.E. we joke on each other all the time.
I was shooting with my Dad's old Remington 514 (single shot .22 bolt action) and after about 20 rounds I noticed that not only was it a tack-driver down-range, but the extracter would ALWAYS throw the brass to exactly the same point. Now, my younger brother sitting to my right....and after about 40 rounds he realized that I was moving the rifle around so that when I cycled the bolt the brass would land on hs head....the impressive thing was that he was about 7 feet away right then.
What makes it "dumb" is that I KNEW he would get his revenge later. On the way home, he was the first to realize there was a VW show in town, and the bugslugs began....and it turns out he has better eyes than me!

 

[Wes Janson]

A friend and I were shooting at an outdoor ranger here in Texas that allows you to bring your own targets...that what the signs say, but of course that means you can use your own PAPER or CARDBOARD targets on their backstops. Pretty common sense to most humans, but unfortunatly that is not the world we live in today. Anyway, after shooting for about 30 minutes a couple of kids in their lat teens early 20's come in and take a seat at the 50 yard rifle range nest to us. They unpack an AR and a bolt action somethign-or-another...they line goes cold (there were only 3 rifle lanes out of 8 in use) and we all get up to go change out targets. While we are swapping out ours when one of the kids comes out and sets a bottle of tannerite on the freaking backstop! I tell the guy that Tannerite is not allowed here and he says "Sign says we can shoot our own targets"...I tell him that's not what they mean and that they really need to put that away here...kid bassically rolls his eyes at me and gives me a go to hell look.
We all head back to our stations and I start to wonder....do I go tell the RO right now, or just let the kids be stupid and get kicked out and banned? I decided that getting them out for good would be worth it so I let them go (some may call me an a-hole for this, but sometimes the best lesson is the hard one). They sit down pull out the AR and my friend and I jsut stand there ready for hell. A couple of seconds later BOOOOM, Backstop is blown to pieces kids are lauginh their asses off, folks at the pistol range are coming over to see what the hell jsut happend, folks at the 100 yard rifle ranger ar stepping back, and old Ranger Officer comes hauling ass out of his office holding a first aid kit just KNOWING that someone had a gun blow up in their faces. When he gets out he sees everyone standing back looking at 2 kids who are laughing their asses off and sees pieces of cardboard backstop still floating down into a mass of white smoke...it instantly hits him. He starts screaming every profanity in the book at them while running towards their station swinging the First Aid kit. Kids stop laughing and grab their 2 rifles and cases and jump up..they start hauling ass back to their truck with old RO in tow...obviously he has no chance in hell of catching them so he does the next best thing...he hurls the first aid kit at the kids who jump into their truck and haul ass out of the parking lot. About this time the entire range is over the initial shock and is laughing uncontrollably...old RO gets his kit goes inside (where he has the licenses of the two dumbasses) and uses them to make big print outs of thier faces to pin behind the counter banning them for life. After everything had calmed down folks were coming up to me asking what the hell they shot. I told them it was Tannerite and explained what it was, where to get it, and its legality...I'm guessing Dan Tanner got a few extra sales that week.

So in other words, they bought Tannerite, brought it out to the range, and some random person says they shouldn't shoot it. They do anyways, and in response are physically chased off the range by an RO who assaults them in the process? Shooting Tannerite at 50 yards isn't optimum, but on the side of a berm on an outdoor range, it certainly isn't unreasonable. IMO, the RO's conduct on the other hand, most definitely is.

 

[bg226]

Woman was aiming her pistol, with her face about to touch the back of the slide.

I guess you can figure out the rest.

 

[brentn]

I was doing my firearms licencing course for restricted/non-restricted and our instructer, a 53 year old ex police officer was teaching us.

He seemed to know enough, but some things I found that he didn't know in terms of gun terminologie etc. Not that it really matters, I was there to learn, have an open mind, and know my **** when it came to gun safety after I left. Thats all I cared about.

We got into the discussion, somehow don't remember, about disposing of extra or 'found' ammunition safely. A few of the students were asking what was the best way, and he told us, no word of a lie the following:

"the best way to dispose of any ammunition, rifle, shotgun, handgun, is to throw it in a fire. Throw it in, and the case will crack open, and the powder will just 'fizzle' out"

I kind of just looked at him, then looked around, saw maybe one smirk, but we kept on going with the course.
I dunno about you, but throwing in a rifle shell into a fire doesn't sound like a great idea to me. The primer alone makes a significant bang, enoughe of a bang to throw the casing around, now your throwing that in, with a powder charge backed behind a sealed lead bullet. The only thing I see out of that is a small explosion and a round flying off at lethal speeds in pretty much any direction!

 

[HammerBite]

Actually, an unconstrained round doesn't do much of anything when cooked off. I'm not an advocate of throwing a round in the fire, but the result isn't all that dramatic.

 

[brentn]

I've actually done some dumb **** myself.

Brought my shotgun to the range. The thing doesn't have any decent sights, and just has pistol grips and no stock. There is a 'bead' sight on the barrel and thats it, so aiming this thing is a joke, let alone trying to aim without a stock. Its more of a novelty and and amatuer thing I did, my first shotgun wanted something cool, etc.

Point being, i'm aiming at these paper targets, unload about 16 or so slugs. Go for my third reload and fire the first round, target falls along with the whole cable and pulley system on the ground! I felt like a retard, but moved onto the next stall. Friends laughing, I aimed again and shot, first shot blew the pulley system down again!
Range officers were watching us on the security cam, came in there pissed as hell and told us to go to the next range next to us so they could repair. On the next range I started to only use the handguns at this point and put the shotty away, range officer comes in and says
"just checking to see if you had wrecked any of the targets on this side too".

Smart assed comment noted

Point being, I'm not going to shoot this thing anymore until I get a stock and some sights for it.

 

[JohnKSa]

Shooting Tannerite at 50 yards isn't optimum, but on the side of a berm on an outdoor range, it certainly isn't unreasonable.

Setting off explosives at a range without asking permission qualifies as unreasonable in my book.

Intentional destruction of range property (regardless of how one manages it) is also unreasonable.

 

[Regolith]

I don't do a whole lot of shooting on gun ranges (I prefer heading to some public land and setting up some targets; its cheaper and relatively easy if you live in the right place), but the one of the scariest things I saw was when my High School PE class went to the shooting range, which was an annual tradition, at least when I was still in school.

Now, neither of these things were caused by an obvious lapse of judgment on behalf of the shooter, but were rather simply freak occurrences. The first was when a ricochet from a Ruger 10/22 bounced off something or another and headed straight back into the probably overcrowded shooting bench area where we were all standing, miraculously managing to hit no one.

The second was when another ricochet hit an unfired round that had been carelessly left out on the range and detonated it. It sounded like an M80 firecracker going off. I think it was probably a large caliber pistol round, as the shoot was taking place at the pistol portion of the range.

 

[mfetty77]

This one happened at work. There's a guard who was in the Military, retired now. He tried to tell my dad and I that 50cal sniper rifles didn't exsist. "Theres no way, the recoil would be to bad." he said. We told told him yeah they do. We know 3 people that own one. He still don't believe us.:banghead:

 

[Archibald Tuttle]

A know-it-all acquaintance at the range thought I needed some help and forcefully 'assisted' me. He says "Before you aquire your target, never put your finger on the trig(BANG!)" The scope cuts right into his forehead. I pulled the rifle away from this person so as not to get his blood on it.

 

[tommytrauma]

budney;

Well, consider the intelligence of the average person. And then consider that half the people out there are dumber than that.

It's a bell curve. Most people fall within the average range.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

Just last weekend I saw a guy that was such a bad shot (I mean he was shooting 18" groups with his Glock at about 5 yds. Anyways, he shot the steel target holder with a loud clang and his target dropped to the range floor. I cringed just waiting for the ricochet to hit me.

 

[Atticus_1354]

In high school I went to the local indoor pistol range to shoot some .45 with my dad. The two lanes next to us had another father son pair shooting some 9mm at about 10 yards and doing a horrible job of it. So during a break to load up mags we started talking and the other dad says something about the sights being of on the guns since they are new. My dad offers to sight them in and proceed to get the guns on target in no time. After they take their guns back the other dad proceeds to shoot the carrier from 10 yards. Turns out he wasn't so good at aiming and the only thing saving the carrier before was the low aiming sights. I did end up swapping guns with the other kid and helping him on his shooting some.

 

[NCLivingBrit]

"the best way to dispose of any ammunition, rifle, shotgun, handgun, is to throw it in a fire. Throw it in, and the case will crack open, and the powder will just 'fizzle' out"

I used to do this with the empty hulls on a clay pigeon shooting ground I worked at as a young'un. That is, until some loaded shells with bad primers ended up in the mix. Normally they just melt open and flash, but this one must have ended up under something heavy (there was a lot of scrap metal in the fire pit, it looked like someone dropped a white phosphorous round in a junkyard, this hole was nearly three feet deep and six across) and it threw the shot just hard enough for me have to to spend some time digging it out my skin with a pocketknife.

After that, all hulls got burned in a metal rubbish bin, with the lid on, in the hole with me standing off behind one of the straw/sheet metal trap huts. No more poking the stuff with a stick and laughing when the ammo went sizzle.

 

[Jason_G]

I heard a sales clerk at the handgun counter at Bass Pro the other day tell a customer "No... there's no such thing as a double action/single action with a decocker and a safety." There were several in the glass display.

Jason

 

[wanderinwalker]

Well, late to the party, but here it goes:

While at work a couple of weeks back one of my coworkers and I were talking to a couple of "old timers." One of them mentions he has his brother's old pre-64 Winchester Model 70 Supergrade in .30-06. The other gentleman turns to my coworker and says, "That's nice, but I've always preferred the .308 myself. Smaller case, less chance of jamming, and smaller, faster bullet with more punch."

My coworker and I just smirked and let him go. Mr. .308 had been in the day before looking at shotguns, and I had mentionaed how not all of the chokes on some of the guns are rated for steel shot. Mr. .308 looked shocked, "But you have to use steel shot for duck hunting! Isn't everything steel shot?" Even though I gently explained how hunting pheasants, grouse, rabbits, squirrels, clay targets and turkey doesn't require steel shot (in most areas, esp. around here), he still walked off shaking his head. "If you can't hunt ducks with it, what good is it?"

 

[AJMBLAZER]

It's a bell curve. Most people fall within the average range.

Honestly I sometimes feel that he had it right and it ISN'T a bell curve...




Oy...where to start...

The instructors when I was in the Marines who used to make the M-16 sound like some kind of combination of a howitzer and Klingon disintigrator pistol. I partially think it was to keep the non-savvy from getting lax about their safety.
"Dude, don't point that thing at me...all that would be left was a pair of boots!"


Similar subject was this goofy guy in my bootcamp platoon. Weird black Muslim mofo from somewhere down south who was going to be a cook. Not to besmirch cooks, the south, black people, Muslims, or weirdos either...I've known plenty of all and qualify as weird myself.
His name was Abdulah and the DI's proceeded to nickname him "Ab-dool-ah the Moo-lah". Hey, it's USMC bootcamp.
This kid just could NOT get his mind wrapped around weapons safety (and a lot of other things). I'd say he flagged people with his M-16 a couple hundred times BEFORE we made it up to Camp Pendleton and actually used the things.
He finally got dropped from our platoon to a later platoon after a particularly bad incident on the line on Thursday of qual week. Thursday is qualification day and if you shoot a qualifying score you're all set for the week. Amazingly he shot pretty good, actually better than me...
He had already qualified by the 500 yard line but forgot to change his dope from 300 yards...completely misses his first couple shots and his range coach corporal yells loudly for him to get up and come back and give him his rifle...

Abdulah does NOT do ANY of the following:
Put the gun on safety, take the mag out, eject the round in the chamber, check the action and barrel to ensure they are empty, aim the gun at the sky while getting up, sling it over his shoulder, and then walk to the instructor all the while keeping his finger off of the trigger.

Instead he makes a big sigh, practically drops the rifle into the dirt...while keeping his finger on the trigger, pushes up off the ground with one hand on the gun pushing it into the dirt, grabs it up and again puts his finger right back on the trigger, flags half the range including the whole shooting staff, the tower, one of our DI's who is like 10' away, our company Sgt Maj, me, and a couple hundred other not so prestigious people like myself.
His range coach snatched that thing from him so fast I think Abdulah's thought "how'd he get a rifle?" before he thought "where'd my rifle go?"
He then proceeded to get an @ss chewing from about everyone on the range between the rank of Corporal and Colonel...Warrant Officers included. They dropped him that day.
The next time I saw him was several months later as I was completing combat training. Apparently he had been dropped from his second platoon after more of the same weapons handling stupidity. He seemed to have realized that this was making bootcamp VERY long for him and smartened up the THIRD time around.



The gun store clerk a few years back who butted into a conversation I was having with a guy who was looking at 1911's but commented to me that he just couldn't afford to have a 1911 like his granddad's. I pointed out the $310 RIA 1911 and told him about mine and how good of a gun it was and had been for me. Heck, I was about to sell a gun for the store!
Clerk walks over and proceeds to interject that no 1911 under $500 should even be considered as they are all foreign made junk...then tells the guy the minimum he should look at was a $600 SPRINGFIELD. Guy gets kind of dejected and says thanks anyways and walks off. Their ammo prices were good so I grabbed my .45 ammo and ran off after the guy after giving the clerk a "you're a f%^ktard" look.
I ended up giving him the e-mail address of the place I E-ordered my RIA from. Last I knew he loved it.

Only heard this one but supposedly a friend of a friend's favorite gun store up here in the 'sticks had a gentleman walk in and ask for a box of .44 Magnum. The clerks were suitably impressed and talked to the guy about the gun it was for. Guy says it's Ooooolllllllld. Figuring it's an original Model 29 or 50's Ruger they ask if he has it. He says yes and tells them if they give him a minute he'll go get it and they can see it on the "range" behind the shop.
The store employees quickly lock the cases and doors and put the "out back" sign up and get out back as they hear the first KA-BOOM!
Only to see the guy is shooting what appeared to be an ancient top break S&W...
...44 Russian
Apparently he'd done it a few times before.

Okay, last one...not so funny or dangerous, just annoying.

I was walking through the local Gander Mountain recently being amazed at their selection of overpriced everything and as I turned to leave overheard the big hay seed behind the counter tell a customer, "we only jist began to carry dem AY-salt Rifuls".:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:


Okay, now that I've gotten entirely two longwinded and over described everything I'll save the others...



Ooooh...there was the time I almost shot myself, my brother, and my cousin in the feet with an old bolt action .410...

 

[Hunter0924]

I was at one of the large hire anybody gunstores because they sell the Para 14 round .45 ACP magazine for $33 brand new and I use them in my Springfield high cap (reason for that is so yall know I had a real good reason to be there). I was at the counter looking at the Government Models when an attractive woman walks in and approaches the counter. I decided to hang around a bit and see where this was going.
She was there to buy a pistol for personal protection. She had the CCW class scheduled and wanted a pistol.
The young clerk recommended the NAA mini revolver in .22LR. Now I am not saying anything bad about the NAA but in my mind that would not be a great first choice for a primary CCW. She mentioned the fact it being a .22LR and here is the best part, The clerk told her the .22LR has as much stopping power as a 9mm.
I am not one to but in someone's business but I felt that this sort of misinformation could be dangerous so I spoke up. I am no expert mind you but I did explain about projectile size, weight, and velocity are key factors in determining stopping power and that a .22 caliber 40gr projectile at 1200 fps does not equate to a 147gr 9mm at a 1000 fps. She looked at me and said "thank you sir" handed the clerk back the NAA turned on her heels and walked out the door. The clerk gave me a dirty look and walked away.

 

[RancidSumo]

I saw some dumbass at the range show his dumbass friend the slide on his Beretta and tell him that it is the first gun to use the slide to load the round.

 

[Arkie]

How about this one. I was at a pawn shop a couple days ago (Just like to look at the guns and pick up a movie or two) and a lady walked up to the counter and wanted to know what is a good pistol for a her and she wanted to get her CHL.

The guy reached in and pulled out a .25 cal something. I didn't see it too good and said this one is about all you can handle cause it's pretty powerful.

I almost choked on the pop I was drinking. I went over and told her that you cannot even take the test for a CHL with anything under a .380 and the .25 cal is not what she wants.

The guy looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about.

I told her that when the counter guy left for a minute while putting the gun away to go to a real gunshop where they will not treat you like a little kid and gave her the address to the one I go to.

 

[RancidSumo]

My dad did one of the dumbest gun things I've ever heard of. When he was a teenager he heard that a .45 would crack and engine block so he went to the junk yard and shot one with his .45. It bounced off the engine and hit him right in the groin. He was down for quite a while.

 

[DacoRoman]

not the worst thing in the world, but a little pathetic: I had a gun store high speed low drag counter operator trying to convince me that a Bersa .380 had "better ballistics" than a 38+p J-frame..

 

[tkendrick]

Several years ago, I'm at a local range. Only one there other than the RO. Guys comes in with a brand new Remington 700, shooting gear, bino's the works. All brand new. Pulls out several MTM ammo boxes, also new, full of reloads. I wait while he sets up his target, then get back to own business. After a while it occurs to me that I'm hearing funny noises from his bench, so I stop and watch. He loads a round, shoots, then picks up a large leather mallet and has to beat the bolt open. He's red faced and starting to cuss. I wander over and ask wht's the problem. "D@#N Remingtons are crap" he tells me. After a couple of minutes of talking it turns out that:
1. he's using his own hand loads
2. he's loading "copper bullets with some kind of grey stuff" on the point
3. he's using "the stuff that comes in a green can" for powder
and finally
4. he's sure he isn't overloading because he was careful to "leave room for the bullet" when he "filled the case".

When I asked what loading manual he was using, I got a blank stare.

Crappy Remington!!!!

 

[The Soup Nazi]

About a year ago, when I first started shooting, an older fellow who hilariously looked like a hippie (Tie die shirt, slightly shaggy gray hair) brings out his SKS in one of those black Dragunov stocks. Now, I was shooting my Russian SKS, it was the rifle my dad bought me for raising my grades, so I pretty much knew just about everything from extensive research and lurking Survivor's SKS board for a while. The guy noticed me firing my Russian SKS and he walked over to me and asked, "Hey, can you help me out?" I say sure, we walk over to his bench, and his handguard looks like its popped off and hanging by a hinge. "Everytime I fire, it pops up." "Thats not good." I look at his ammo thinking thats the culprit, but then I notice, steel case, red sealant, wolf MC just like mine. I look the handguard area and notice the gas tube latch is awfully high. "Did you shove down the gas latch all the way?" "What?" "The gas latch." "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about, I never figured out how to disassemble this thing." I ask a range officer for a flathead and shut it off for him, "Oh hey! Its working fine now!"

If you can't disassemble SKS, I wonder how he treats all his more complicated guns.

 

[Red Mist Effect]

Where to start=on the range
A pistol club 35mile from my home had a old member that was doing some load testing with a 358 win rifle but was unhappy with the 50m range so he thought "like so many people do" that he would move his bench out to the carpark and shoot through the club house.
lucky no one was in the club house at the time but when asked why he did it he's respose was i knew where everyone was. he needs a sign

In the local gun shop one day i heard a bloke tell my mate the shop owner that if you take out a 22LR pill and scrape the red stuff off a match stick in to the powder you get a extra 1000 fps out of the little 22
The best advise i ever heard.