I Hate My Gunclub!!!!!!

[Black92LX]

I have had enough of this crap, and if i had another place to shoot i would resign my membership immediatly. But unfortunatly i don't so i am just going to have to deal with it.

The club for the most part is nothing but a bunch of crotchity old men!!!! Snide is a very good word to describe these guys attitudes. And i am nothing like that so i don't fit in very well.

Here is the background info. I had an new AR i wanted to get to the range. I may do things differently than most. But when i get a new gun i take only 1 or 2 boxes of ammo. While shooting those boxes i don't even worry about where i am hitting on the target. Just like to get a feel of the gun.

Well i arrived at the club and the range and just turned the lights off indicating a hot range. meaning everyone had just hung their targets.

I didn't care since i wasn't worried about accuracy. i figured i would just aim at the circle in the 9 spraypainted on the target boards at 100 yards. Well i finish my first mag and i hear a loud unfreindly voice yell from his car. If you use a target you will shoot better. I politly responded sir i missed the cold range and this is a new gun i am not worried about accuracy just getting the feel of it. Well apparently this offended him. He charged straight and me and proceed to get in my face and yell. You drive a $20,000 car and shoot a $1,000 rifle no wonder you can't afford a God Damned 50 cent target. I have been shooting here for 30 years and it always pisses me off when i see people doing this.

He then goes back to his car grabs a target and throws it at me. and says i bet if you ask one of these guys will let you borrow a stapler. (Both of which i had with me) He then gets in his car and drives off.

I was absolutly infuriated! I would have liked to rip this guy a new one but i kept my composure and just let him say whatever he had to say. I was so mad i didn't even feel like shooting anymore. So i packed my stuff up and started putting it in the car. Two of the guys that witnessed the event came down and said that the guy was completely out of line and that i shouldn't let it get to me. I explained to them how this wasn't the first time something like this has happened. One time it included a guy grabbing my gun from me (without permission) to give me some tips! But these guys were friendly enough so i went and shot my last box and headed home. Sure did put a damper on the day.

I am begining to think that these problems are arising because i am substantially younger than anyone else at the club. The part i don't understand is the comment about my car and gun. Was that supposed to mean that since i am young i shouldn't have nice things?? Let's put it into a little better perspective it is a 96 Mustang far from a 20,000 car and a $700 kit build AR.

But hey what can i do.

 

[Hutch]

Don't let a jerk (or even 2 or 3) run you off. You're better than they know. To hell with 'em.

 

[Jim K]

If you were shooting at the target number, YOU were way out of line. People had to paint those numbers, then put them up to indicate the right target. They are NOT targets, and it is vandalism to destroy them. If you didn't want to put up a target, at least shoot where the target should be or into the dirt between targets.

Jim

 

[Amish_Bill]

I don't think the guy was saying you shouldn't have nice things. He was just taking a round-a-bout way of calling you a cheap bastard who will spend lots on some things but is too stingy to buy a single paper target.

(then again, as someone else posted, was what you were shooting at where the bullets would go on a posted target?)

You say you're young. Well... count this as a "life lesson." There are cranky bags of mostly water that aren't worth the chemicals they're made of randomly sprinkled everywhere. Often just holding your tongue and waiting for them to be gone is the best answer. (BTW, good job) Yes, they'll leave a dirty residue on you as they pass by - but don't worry, it washes off.
(Side note - it washes off easier if you're 100% in the right.)

 

[bfoster]

There's no excuse for the behavior of the gent that got on your case.

Many rangemasters really do prefer to see shooters use targets every time because deliberate, aimed fire almost always causes no harm to target frames and other downrange aparatus.

Bob

 

[euclid]

It's irrelavent who what right or wrong...if he had a problem with what you were doing he should have taken you aside and politely explained his position. Yelling at you is rude and he may eventually get his a$$ beat if he enrages the wrong type of individual. The classist remark was simply icing on the cake.

cheers

 

[Rimmer]

Black92LX, I can relate to what you're saying. I'm not that young but almost all at my club are 20+ my senior, I'm talking 65 and up and there are 250 of um. We have a few that are completely off the wall. Statements like You'll never shoot groups with that setup or I tried that ammo its crap, etc etc.
I pretty much just smile and ignore it.
Having said that..................

Jim Keenan

If you were shooting at the target number, YOU were way out of line. People had to paint those numbers, then put them up to indicate the right target. They are NOT targets, and it is vandalism to destroy them. If you didn't want to put up a target, at least shoot where the target should be or into the dirt between targets.

Jim

I do some repair work around the range and clubhouse from time to time. If this guy, like me, was the one that painted those target numbers then I'd be a little PO'd too.

Course I'd just flatten your tires before I drove off.

 

[Black92LX]

If you didn't want to put up a target, at least shoot where the target should be or into the dirt between targets.

This is painted on the target board. i would have stapled my target right over top of this number. i would have been shooting at the exact same spot.

 

[blades67]

He was only offended that you weren't using a target because that wouldn't allow him to tell you how to get better groups out of your rifle.

 

[Amish_Bill]

This is painted on the target board. i would have stapled my target right over top of this number. i would have been shooting at the exact same spot.

Fair 'nuf. In this case, it was just a grouchy old fart being nasty to the 'young whippersnapper' who dared bring that ugly plastic high-capacity thing to his range.

If you were full of patience and understanding you could have engaged him in a long discussion about how both his ideals and yours were both valid world-views, yadda yadda yadda. Staying quiet so he could enjoy his tantrum is also a valid solution. It also makes those nearby see you as a very, very calm and level-headed person. ;-)

 

[armoredman]

Take something really ugly and cheap next time, like a HiPoint carbine, with the sight drifted way off. Ask him to sight it in....

 

[PBIR]

Not sure how your gun club command structure is, but I would proceed directly to the club president with a formal complaint. You pay dues, you are entitled to having your grievance addressed. There is no room for discourteous behavior at a firing range. If anyone acted like that at my range they would be escorted outside and told to take a vacation from the range until they can get their manners under control.

 

[magsnubby]

Well sir...thanks for the target. Now if you'll go down range and hold it for me while i sight this thing in......

 

[George Hill]

Some guys have one... Some guys are one.

 

[CGofMP]

Well... So much for the old saying that "An Armed society is a polite society...."

What a krod (backwards).

I agree with PBIR however..... It is time to go to the grievance comittee and whoever else hears complaints and get the peaceful and quiet enjoyment you paid for.


Charles

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

In 10 years from now, I will own a significant piece of land.

Then all ranges and the range nazi's that occupy them can go "F" themselves.


Guns & Land = Freedom.

 

[iamhistory]

That unsolicited behavior is out of line and uncalled for. Who the heck do morons like that think they are?

Normally, I'm a very diplomatic person........but also have a line that doesn't get crossed. He would have been told to go perform a certain activity on himself.

You had more patience than I would have.

Kudos.

 

[Edmond]

euclid is right; if that old timer gets in the face of the wrong person, he'll regret that. I mean, if someone was charging us; wouldn't most of us just defend ourselves?

 

[4v50 Gary]

Shine him on. Grumpy old man - just like some of us here. Heck, a street person threatened to kick my butt the other day. He's homeless and wasn't worth my trouble (no $ for lawsuit). I ignored him.

 

[JPM63US]

Try a new approach - get involved in running the club. Our club is run by mostly retired folks as they have more time, but I stuck my nose in and proposed some new things. Then I volunteered to actually run the program - not just suggest they do it.

I am not a well known figure by the old farts and have been asked to join the BOD.

Go to a Board Meeting, sit in the background and when you hear something you might be interested in volunteer to help/run it. Within a year, you will be treated like a son.

JPM

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

you don't hear from a guy for two months and then he gets all fired up....

probally gonna shoot this weekend, for sure gonna shoot next... all you have to do is make the phone ring....

i won't yell unless i don't get to shoot your toys too...

 

[Kharn]

I think both you and the old guy need to switch to decaf.

There will always be rude & inconsiderate folk in this world, you have to learn to sometimes put up with them. And in the big scheme of things, does one or two guys yelling at you really mean anything?

Kharn

 

[Rimmer]

Black92LX

Thanks for the clarification.

Since you were totally in the right I'd take this as mentioned, to a higher authority. You have witnesses and the Club Pres. needs to know about these righteous types.
Make a phone call and give him the details. You'll be doing everyone a favor.

 

[standingbear]

black92lx...........I know what your saying,I used to belong to an outdoor range and frequented an indoor range.the folks at the outdoor range didnt say a thing,they kept the pistol and rifle ranges tied up in matches and such so I got the use the range 1 time all summer..I didnt renew it.


went to the indoor range and after 6 shots,a guy comes in,taps me on the shoulder and starts yelling at me like some juvenile deliquent in front of my nephew.It was for shooting my 44 mag handgun even though there were 40s and 45s popping off everywhere.they said it was too @#$%^&! loud,so I never went back there either.

there is a polite way of doing things and getting the message across then there is the other way that only slams shut reason and willingness.sounds like the guy might use some lessons in courtesy and judgement,Id report him,afterall..its your money that bought you that membership..not his.

you might try asking around for a place to go in the country such as private property...theres gotta be some gravel pits or farmers that wouldnt mind you shooting there.I know a guy that set up his own range inside a barn because of the beligerant people at the private clubs.

keep your options open so that you can have several places to shoot.

 

[ny32182]

This is why I'm not big on gun clubs.

I'll take the woods any time. Gun clubs are full of to many people who think trap shooting is the only legitimate use of firearms, and that gun rights only apply to those who are 50+ years old.

Black, I feel your pain... I go to gun clubs for 3-gun and thats about it. Other than that its usually best if gun clubs and myself stay separated.