Gun in the face at the range

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Most public ranges suck. I belong to a private range and I shoot on weekdays, when there are usually very few people there.
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What's odd is that the closest call I've had was at a private range. It was on a nice private muzzle loading gun club range. There were only four of us there at the time, I didn't know the other three people. We had just come back from putting up fresh targets and the person nearest me decided to pop a cap on his percussion gun to clear it. I was at the firing line with my flintlock rifle. The next thing I know a .54 caliber round ball buries itself into the ground one inch from my left foot! The clown had forgotten he'd loaded his gun before going downrange to check his target. I packed up my toys and went home.
 
I am lucky to belong to a private range with indvidual ranges with 270 degree embankments. Multiple targets, movement, no speed limitations and I have a 50 or 75 meter range to myself. Too many scary incidents at ranges with standard firing lines for me. Now if there is a RO calling the shots, I feel a bit better.
 
I was at a range in KS one day when I got a rifle pointed at me while I was downrange. I had turned on the lights to signal that the range was cold and went down to change targets. When I turned around there were to kids at a bench and one of them was pointing a Marlin 39 down range in my direction. I hit the dirt! Apparently they thought this was pretty funny as they started laughing. :fire::cuss: I went up to them, took the rifle from them and ejected a live round from the chamber. I threw the rifle in the trunk of my car and asked them where their Dad was. They said he was up shooting trap. I told them to go up and tell him and if he wanted the rifle back to come down and talk to me. Not sure what story they told him, but he came down all red faced and p***** off. He changed his tune pretty quick when I told him what his kids had done.
 
A couple of girls were shooting to my left at Angeles Shooting Range one day. Complete newbies, from the looks of things. Boyfriends brought them there and just said, "Here, shoot." One boyfriend decides to stand behind and a little to the left of the girl immediately to my left. Whenever he gives her instruction, she turns and looks over her right shoulder, pointing her Glock right at my head! :eek: I didn't know Glock made .50 cals....

I gave both of them a "Whoa, keep that thing pointed downrange!" talking to, and the girl was embarassed enough that she didn't shoot much afterwards. Not really her fault as much as it was his, IMHO.

Then there's the dude that brings his newbie buddy to the range. Just hands him his S&W auto and lets him go. Guy can't even figure out how to load it properly, and when he does, he doesn't know how to turn the safety off. Hmm, gun's not shooting, let's point it to the left while pulling the trigger repeatedly. Maybe there are instructions printed on the slide. Thank God I was on his right.

I tend to be highly aware of shooters around me. If they give off "newbie" vibes, I step back and watch them shoot for a while before returning to the line. That's how it goes w/ public ranges, eh?
 
A couple of phrases I heard long ago.
Don't ever underestimate the stupidity of your fellow man.
Don't ever point it at anything you don't want to kill.
 
Started taking my little guy with me to the range when he was 9.

All I can say is thank god for the Boy Scouts, he already knew his safety rules and safe handling quite well from shooting air rifles.

No issues safety wise, we were able to concentrate on marksmanship and trying out many of dads (mine, one day his) toys.

BUT I have on several occasions seen some unsafe behavior at ranges, I try to calmly interject the rules....never had anyone get irate or mad at me yet. I would rather "school" someone...than pack up and leave, that does no good in my opinion. If I have the ammo (and I usually do) I will say, "hey, try one of mine", I will stand close and give some tips...hitting them with safety rules they are lacking also.

It is our job as older shooters to train and correct if we can and when possible.
 
Only thing I've seen at a range so far that I was uncomfortable with was a guy doing rapid draw and fire practice at the line with others on both sides of him. He had the gun on his strong side rear hip and a cover garment. He'd throw the cover garment back grab the gun and tap 5 rounds down range as fast as he could. There's no rapid fire rule at this range but you have to get permission to do rapid draw practice. I was surprised they gave him that permission with a full range. Personally I think drawing and firing should be practiced separately unless you are on a range line by your lonesome with a range officer supervising. Even then it wasn't even practical practice; 5 rounds rapid fire? Maybe a double tap then check drill but 5 rounds? Mall ninja. There's a new indoor range that just opened up at a gun shop about 10 minutes from here; they only have 4 lanes but they don't ever have more than 2 cars in front of the store at any given time. Might go check that out next week.
 
Used to be a part time RO in the service.

We had a lot of folks who had never fired a weapon, shoot to qualify. The gunners mate who ran the range made the same speech every time a session was about to begin. It went more or less like this:

Keep your muzzle pointed downrange, downrange is where your target is. If you have a problem with your weapon, lay it on the bench while holding on to it, and raise your hand, someone will help you. If you turn your weapon to the left or the right, I may shoot you, you have become a danger to those around you.

I guess it, and the sidearm he was wearing worked. I don't recall anyone getting shot. And I do recall a couple of stovepipes where the hands went up;)
 
I go to a free, outdoor, public range just off the edge of my dinky Iowa town, with no range officers at all, and have seen surprisingly few problems. I don't know if it's because a higher percentage of people around here have grown up around guns or what... The people I meet at the range are very observant of safety rules, and watch their kids well. The biggest problem I've seen is just junk left by the occasional inconsiderate jerk. Maybe I'm just lucky so far...
Marty
 
I have been a "range safety officer" more than a time or two in the service. I have seen alot. in one case a hot cartridge flew into the collar of a serviceman's neck, he spun around three times with the M16 locked and loaded trying to shake it.
One or two mentionables concerning servicemen of questionable character. I made double sure I was close very, very close while that individual was firing downrange.
 
The private range I'm a member of requires all new members to go through a safety orientation and demonstrate they can safely handle a firearm before they're give a key card to get in the gate. I think it's a great idea. I've had nothing but good experiences with the other shooters there.
 
Good job, guys!

Well, I'm proud of you guys! Nice to know that as a new member, I'm part of a discussion group of people who have their heads on straight. Not kidding. Sad to hear these stories, though. I too have had similar hair-raising experiences. Fortunately it was only once, but at a private wooded range, after repeatedly asking people to stop shooting while my guests and I were downrange (this was after we got a verbal by the the other parties that it was OK to check targets) I had a very unnerving feeling come over me. These people were not supposed to be here, and confrontation at that point could have gotten ugly. I covertly scooped up and loaded my carry gun, gathered my friends up along with our items, and left as quickly as possible. It's a sad day when you actually feel you have to defend your "collective" butt at a normally good shooting range. Plus, this was a place that I paid yearly dues on, had a private gate code, the whole nine yards, and paid extra for range upkeep too. ...Well, poop happens,and sometimes it rains poop. Just be sure you have the right kind of attitude + boots and raincoat to get home safely. Time for a record of their car license plate numbers and a call to the range president on the way home, and maybe tell the whole club. Yeah, I like shooting alone more and more too...
 
I shot on my relatives’ “back 40” all my life and decided to check out a relatively local private club and range. Good deal. I have been extremely happy w/ my experiences there. In addition to others, there are two 25m ranges w/ 270 degree berms and I can practice like I think I would have to do it in “real life”. Since I shoot earlier in the day I always have one of the 25m ranges to myself. It is like owning my own private range. Never once has some nimrod messed with a firearm behind the covered firing positions while I am forward doing drills. The horror stories some of you people relate really make me appreciate what I have. I have never been swept by a muzzle there (AFAIK) and I have not met a single member who acted like a bunghole.
 
I will open with a stupid mistake of mine i was 10 er 11 and I wanted to shoot my little stevens crackshot and I opened it up and out poped a live shell :what:I did this right infront of my dad guess who the last one shooting it was :uhoh: I got grounded for a month and i have never to this day done it again.
I will now open with a stupid thing my buddy did while we where trapshooting for a local FFA event. He was using a piece of :cuss: remington 870 that was his brothers (doesn't take care of it) He popped in a shell. I was getting ready to shoot just before the person to my left fired and i went to shoot and BOOM i felt a sharp pain and i quickly turned around and the range supervisor asks me if I'm alright I say ya (I thought some wise guy hit me with a rock) I asked him where the wise guy that hit me with the rock was. He replys you didn't get hit with a rock you got shot... wait WHAT :what: I got WHAT :eek: he asks it i'm bleeding bad I feel my head ya i'm bleeding but not bad. Comes over looks at my head say you'll live, asks me if I want to quit if I think I need to go to the hospital (one pellet hit in the head hit in cheek) I go who shot me guy points to my buddy who is staring at the cement pad he was standing on with about a 2 inch deep hole an inch or so away from his left foot. He was speachless said he put in a shell ( slide open) and was standing waiting for me to shoot when the slide fell and BOOM. He asked if I could ever forgive him and i said of course just never bring that peice of :cuss: near me again. I hated remington before the insident and I still do.
 
Stuff like this is exactly why I prefer to shoot alone. I like to 4-wheel out to places where I'll be alone so I can properly enjoy my favorite sport. I know it's dangerous to shoot alone and to 4-wheel alone, but I honestly think I'm less likely to hurt myself in the middle of the woods than to get hurt by some idiot at a public range. :eek:

Guns, check.
Ammo, check.
Eyes and ears, check.
First aid kit, check.
Recovery gear, check.
Gun zen in the middle of nowhere, check.
 
I've only had one problem at a range; cease fire was called by the RO; no firing, unload, action open before walking downrange to access targets. A guy a couple stalls down lets off a round right after the call. The RO immediately comes down and tells the guy to leave the range. No BSing around there. Unfortunately its about a 30 minute drive one way, I haven't gone in a while. The other range I go to is closer, but pistol and 22lr only. But they do have a hanging pulley system for targets, don't have to risk walking downrange. Though I still wear my Level II whenever I go.
 
There are 3 ranges I go to. An indoor (bassically pistol in really bad weather), The gun club that has the meets that i shoot in, and the next county's police range.
I have had more incidents while at the meets than else where. I enjoy the police range more because everyone is nice, there's usualy atleast one other person there. Not alot of people to get in the way and there's a burger joint nearby that has great food during the summer.

But that doesn't stop me from bringing a couple of cards I made that have the 4 rules printed on them and leave them on the shooting tables.
 
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