Ever damaged an indoor range?

Status
Not open for further replies.
F

funbob

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
37
Location
ABQ, NM
Visited the indoor range today and decided to take along the AR-15. I knew the place would be deserted on a Thursday afternoon and it's a lot closer than the rifle range. So I'm shooting away with the target reeled out to 25 yds when all of a sudden *snip* I slice the target carrier cable right in two. Bummer. I guess it was a freak ricochet (it wasn't my shooting :D ). In any case, I informed the range staff and they were real cool about it. I simply moved to another lane and they even gave me a new target. I did have to pay a $20 range damage fee though. Oh well, guess I'll just stick to the outdoor range for rifle shooting :D
 
Well, I have shot my share of those target arms that hold the target in place in a indoor range & I've shot a few clips off the target as well. Outdoors, I've shot the wooden frames a couple times. But recently (last few years since I learned to shoot straight), the ranges I go to are safe while I play.
 
I personally haven't. But while shooting a ROTC match at U of W at Madison a girl on my team shot the target holder...

The damn thing peppered the lead bullet and made it look like she hit her bullseye target with a frangible. However... nobody knew that for sure... so they scored the target... good for her since there were about 40 holes on that target... so they picked the best ones...

:D
 
Not to hijack the thread, but....

Tom, are you coming with one of the ROTC teams from Purdue to the match at OSU this weekend?
 
I was a Captain for Purdue NROTC Pistol... and I think they're going there this weekend.

Unfortunately I'm no longer NROTC - had an accident that saw my way out of the program... but now I'm an Aviation Officer Candidate.

However, not to hijack, did you attend the shooting clinic in Quantico last October I think it was, with the USMC shooting team?
 
Not exactly but...

I went to the "gun store" off the Vegas strip last year
to try out their submachine guns.

My first choice was the Thompson "of course"
The range instructor clipped the sillouette to the wire with
a pair of those black paper clamps and reeled the target out to about 15 yards.

Not being familiar with the sights on a WW2 Thompson
I aimed and fired off a short 5 round burst.

The next thing I see is my sillouette laying on the ground.
I had obliterated both metal binder clips and the hanger
they attached to.

The range employee was cool about it and just laughed it off.
I ended up spending over 250 bucks firing 4 different vintage
guns that day...
 
Word of advice, dont shoot a full auto M11/9mm in a Weaver stance without the stock extended. My first and only attempt was rewarded with a "snow storm" of ceiling tile pieces coming down in front of me. I did get the target with the first round though. :)
 
I was at the local indoor range a couple of months ago with my brand new stainless steel Ruger Super Blackhawk (with the 10" barrel) and a box of my "non-magnum" 44 Mag reloads. Shooting in the bay comes to a stop and all eyes are on me as I prepare to shoot it for the very first time (talk about pressure!). I roll the 8.5" X 11" paper target out to 20 yards and take aim. BANG! The target carrier is doing a wild dance on the cable, but the target remains attached. I wait for the carrier to stabilize, then take aim again. BANG! Again, the carrier is gyrating wildly, and this time loses the paper target AND the metal attachment clip. At this point, I am thoroughly embarrassed, and roll the target carrier back. My friends are snickering at me at this point.

Turns out that Ruger revolvers are calibrated at the factory for a "6 o'clock" sight picture rather than POI (I would have known this had I read the manual thoroughly). Upon realizing this, I readjusted the rear sight so the revolver would shoot to POI (like all my other pistols). The SBH is now good for 2" offhand groups at 25 yards.

DL
 
Range damage

A friend of mine was shooting my SIG P228 at an indoor range and was unfamiliar with the light SA trigger. He was pulling back from his shooting stance and ND'd one into the ceiling uprange. A few minutes later, one of the neon light fixtures came apart and fell to the floor. I strongly suspect it was his shot.

While he has been shooting pistols longer than me and is at this time a better marksman, his handling habits are not good. He should not have had his finger on the trigger anyway. The gun was at least pointed downrange though, albeit high.

PS when hanging around his house and handling the pistols I make sure to take the magazine out of his pistol because he routinely has his finger on the trigger or sweeps all around the room.
 
PS when hanging around his house and handling the pistols I make sure to take the magazine out of his pistol because he routinely has his finger on the trigger or sweeps all around the room.
Click to expand...

I always hand over guns w/out mag and the slide locked back, no matter who it is. Just a good habit.
 
A few years ago, I was shooting an Erma PPK copy in 22lr. It had been developing a slamfire problem that I thought I had fixed before that trip to the range. After about 20rnds, it slamfired and cooked off about 4 shots like an autopistol. In doing this, it managed to rise up and put one round into the ceiling about 5ft in front of me.

Chris
 
My wife blew the target clip on the holder off at the indoor range in Albuquerque. The range staff were pleasant about it. They were impressed that she was shooting full house .357 magnum factory loads out of a Taurus 605. Little lady with a little gun that really roars.
 
I have damaged a lot of those pieces of paper they hang down in the shooting range.
Put all sorts of holes in them :D

HS/LD
 
I spun the target hanger at a local range with a friend's .41 magnum last weekend. It'll really get to spinning when you do that. Later he put one just below the center clip. Tore the paper almost completely loose from the hanger, but didn't put a scratch on the metal.
 
The CHP put a bullet hole into the side of a Presidio Army Base indoor range that used by many LE agencies. The range was shut as a result. We could have had a few more years of use at that range but for the incident. Eventually, it would have been closed when the Base closed. :(
 
I've not done it but, was a witness....

To some extreme damage. The names are changed to protect the guilty.

In a city in SoCal, to remain nameless, at an indoor range that had three, fifty foot long by eight bays wide, shooting ranges, I watched this happen.

The last shooting bay could be used for rifles when the business was slow. The calibers were: 22 LR, 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP, all clearly posted on the far wall of that particular shooting bay.

Well, "Eddie" was the young college student who was at the counter at the time. I had gone in and was shooting in range 2, bay 8, just close enough to see the guy with the rifle take a bench rest solid position and fire. Ka BOOOOOM!!!! Followed by another and another and another. This was NOT any of the calibers posted on the wall.

I went to Eddie and asked what was going on. He said it was OK. I knew better and called the owner "Vince" and told him to get down here soon as there was a guy putting holes in the back stop!

Vince did get there in record time and sure enough there were 17 holes in the 1/2 steel plate and LARGE pock marks in the concrete wall in back of that.

When Vince found out the caliber he raced to Eddie and asked why he let the guy shoot on the rifle range. Eddie said, "well, you told me that if the rifle caliber was smaller that 9mm they could shoot. Isn't 7mm smaller than 9mm?"

Needless to say, that was Eddie's last night at the counter and Vince had to fork out over $3k to have the back stop rebuilt.

:what:
 
Since I don't frequent indoor ranges much, I can honestly say I haven't personally damaged one.

However...

I did on one occasion take a couple of clients to shoot my full-auto Thompson, and one had never fired a gun before. Walked him through the safety rules, but didn't think to start him out in semi-auto mode. Well, he started firing and I could see the splinters falling from the ceiling. The other client and I were yelling "cease fire! cease fire!", but it wasn't until the drum emptied that he stopped.

We left without saying anything. I just hope the owners of that range aren't reading this tonight.:uhoh:
 
Have never damaged the range, but had the jacket portion of a .45 ACP CorBon Pow'rBall round from my 1911 zip back uprange and strike a shooter two bays over in the chest! Thankfully it had lost most of its velocity and didn't hurt him. The other shooter was most pleasant about the whole thing...said he'd been shooting at indoor ranges a long time and that this was not at all uncommon...told me he'd been hit like that a few times!

Once *I* settled back down we resumed firing...I just set the rest of my hot little CorBons aside and stuck to FMJs after that. :)

Call it a mighty good case for protecting the eyes as well as the ears while shooting, too!
 
I was with a friend of mine at Target Masters in Milpitas one afternoon shooting semi auto's. I believe I had a .38 Super in my hand. We were conducting regular business when I fired a few shots at my target. On of the overhanding lights from the lane over fell into out lane and shattered.

We both looked at each other, realed the target in and counted all the holes. Every bullet was accounted for.

Walked outside to tell the rangemaster and he asked me if I knew how to shoot a gun. :fire: HEHE I said sir, you line up the target with the sights on the gun and fire. He said okay dont worry about it and laughed, "We'll have the rookie here come out and change the light later" :neener:
 
Doesn't involve guns, but I was with a guy at an indoor archery range once. He cranked his compound bow up to 75 lbs or so, let an arrow fly and missed the target board. The arrow went through the sheetrock and the side of the metal building.
Owners drew a large black circle around the hole and wrote his name next to it.
 
None that I know of or reported.

I'm mainly worried about some yahoo muzzle flashing me and having to yell at them to stop point that gun at me unless they want me shooting back! :cuss:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

K
  • Locked
Are there advantages to an indoor "Square range"
Replies
17
Views
773
zombienerd
Z
S
  • Locked
gun noise and indoor range etiquette
2 3
Replies
64
Views
6K
Jumping Frog
J
O
  • Locked
Indoor Ranges - Please help me out!
Replies
19
Views
817
Owen Meany
O
B
  • Locked
Indoor v. outdoor ranges
2
Replies
43
Views
1K
xjchief
X
D
  • Locked
(KY) New indoor range offers a state-of-the-art facility
Replies
13
Views
1K
mrstang01
M
Back
Top