Met some Russians!

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spazman

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Hi folks,

At the range this morning, I met some interesting folks at the range. A group of Russians were there, with all sorts of high-powered rifles, shotguns, and pistols. They let me and my buddy try a custom 12 gauge pump and a 7.62x58mm rifle. Their .223 AK clone threw brass out with enough force to hurt anyone standing to their right side!

While me and my buddy were trying to avoid brass showers, I got my new scope dialed in on the .22. It was actually very difficult, I think because I was using a dovetail-to-weaver adapter for the rings. The scope was literally 50 clicks low and right. The Savage is almost a tack driver now, getting quarter-sized groups with cheap Federal.

The Russians - a whole family, I think - took the time to say goodbye and shake our hands before they packed up their arsenal. Definitely good folks.

I am continually struck by how nice the folks at the range are. Whoever you meet, you can just have a great conversation with.

Spaz
 
If you go to a cowboy action match you will be treated like family! Shooters seem to have that common bond, or maybe Heinlein was right after all!
 
Shooters always have a soft spot for others with a soft spot for lead.

Having met more Russians and Slavs at college, I have learned the importance of getting the central European and eastern Asian nationalities right. Soviet=/=Russian, Ukraine=/=part of Russia, Czechoslovakia=/=Czech Republic, Georgia=/=Russia, Hungary=/=adjectival form of hunger spoken in an odd accent. For the most part, those who grew up in their homelands before immigrating are cold and impersonal to strangers, but have a noticeable warm spot for those close to them (just like almost everybody else). The American raised are just like normal Americans with different last names and parents who love communicating in a language you can't understand. I notice that they tend to be quite industrious; all of them I know got college degrees, in the United States, even though they were already given their degrees in the Soviet Union, and one is still taking classes for more degrees!

Source: Having spent the previous 4 years having a close friend from a Hungarian family.
 
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I am of a Russian Jewish background (came here in my early 20s long time ago). Many of my Russian friends own guns. Actually I think more of them own guns than my American friends. And no, I don't know any Russian Mafia types. Pretty much everybody I know is a professional with a college degree. I think the majority of people from the former USSR (which is probably a better term than "Russians" since most Russian speaking people in this country are probably not ethnically Russian anyway) are supportive of responsible gun ownership; with an emphasis on "responsible".

I, too, am happy to see that the majority of shooters I've encountered at different ranges are courteous, friendly and helpful people. Now, don't get me started about the staff at some ranges/stores... but that's a different issue.
 
When you marry a Russian, you find out quickly how many of them are around. In my city, I've met many who are warm and easy to get along with. Some of them are into firearms as well, apparently enjoying a freedom they did not have back in "the old country"..
 
MedWheeler said:
When you marry a Russian, you find out quickly how many of them are around. In my city, I've met many who are warm and easy to get along with. Some of them are into firearms as well, apparently enjoying a freedom they did not have back in "the old country"..
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Yep, just eat and drink everything on the table, and nobody gets hurt ;) I call it "aggressive hospitality".

There is the part of enjoying the freedom, part common sense. In a country where there are literally tens of millions of illegal weapons, denying law abiding citizens the right to defend themselves is stupid and counter productive. At the same time, I think we need better (not more of) gun control - specifically, making sure that people who buy guns know how to use them safely, and are not only one step away from the mental asylum. But it's much easier for the politicians to control everybody's access to guns, vs promoting gun safety education & making sure the crazies are weeded out. Which is a tough task.
 
They are usually hard working good natured family oriented people. They like our ways and learn englisn right away. Good business people. If they like you , your are adopted. If not don't go near the sisters.
 
I met quite a few Russians myself and used to be surprised at how American they are in that half of them are friendly, open to ideas, hard working, and intelligent and the other half are just the opposite(which is why it was necessary to invent the AK-47 as it is the simplist and toughest assault rifle). Take away their accents and they are just as American as we are. I do like that the Russians aren't prudes like Americans and have been friendly with a number of Russian women and found them to be much warmer and less materialistic than our own Made-in-America females. As for their food, let's just say it takes getting used to but I do understand why they need to drink so much before they begin the feast.
 
To the poster who said Ukraine is part of Russia, nope. I suppose you could say it was once part of the Soviet Union, but that's been dissolved for a while now. They are an autonomous nation, most similar to Poland in ethnicity and culture (but don't tell a Ukrainian that!). My father is Ukrainian, first generation American. His parents escaped a Nazi work camp in Germany towards the end of the war. They were sponsored and immigrated to New York. They knew no English and within a year or so were fluent and gainfully employed, fully supporting themselves and their two children.

Industrious indeed.
 
I must say that i meet good people at the range all the time. I live in a rural area and we have just over 100 members in our club. We have people of all colors and ethnicities also, right here in rural Illinois. There is a gentlemen at our club who served in the Israeli military for over 15 years, for example. You can sure learn a lot from just listeneing to people.
 
Sulaco: I got used to the fact that everybody from the former USSR is called "Russian" here since in the mind of an average American, USSR was just a fancy name for Russia, and one's "original" nationality is determined based on the country of origin rather than on ethnicity (as it was and probably still is over there). And there is indeed a noticeable difference between the Ukrainians and Poles, perhaps just not for someone who was born here. And just as many similarities. My maternal grandfather could've been among the troops who liberated your grandparents, he served and survived the entire war. My paternal grandfather perished in it, though, KIA somewhere early in the war, with nothing left to remember him by, not even a single photograph, everything the family had was destroyed, along with most family members. Unfortunately my other grandfather died in a car crash before I was born, so I didn't get to meet either of them.

By the way, even though private handgun ownership was not allowed, and even getting permit for a hunting rifle or shotgun was an unbelievably long ordeal, practically every citizen knew how to shoot. We were first taught basic gun handling at early teens in school (shooting with a single shot small caliber competition rifle several times a year), then doing assembly / disassembly drills with AK (still shooting the 4mm lead bullet from that comp rifle), then either going through a compulsory military service at 18, or if you were at a college and exempt from service, getting a basic reserve officer training complete with weekly gun drills and, before graduation, a month-long boot camp with some real gun training. This gun training was one Stalin era relic that, IMHO, wasn't all that bad. If anything, you'd know, at a minimum, how to aim and shoot, may be (if paying attention) how to breathe and control your trigger finger, and definitely the basic gun safety rules that were repeated over and over and over and over and over. So, even though a couple of my Russian friends support total gun ban (just like natural born Americans, we're all over the map politically), at least they know guns and are not afraid of them - it's a conscious opinion, not a fear of unknown that I think drives many other anti-gunners.
 
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My best friend and frequent shooting partner is from Russia. So I'm having a hard time finding the point of this thread. I suppose i find it somewhat troubling that people would post about a positive interatction with a specific ethnic group as though it were surprising. The cold war is over so lets try and get past the BS propaganda of that era.
 
My best friend and frequent shooting partner is from Russia. So I'm having a hard time finding the point of this thread. I suppose i find it somewhat troubling that people would post about a positive interatction with a specific ethnic group as though it were surprising. The cold war is over so lets try and get past the BS propaganda of that era.
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Wow, the first mention of any type of prejudice is from you, the guy complaining about this thread. Give it a rest, the world isnt perfect and this guy just met his first Russians and it was an experience for him. Today he learned that the stereotypes he may have heard were not true. Not everyone on this board was raised in big city where they are surrounded by all types of people.

This is no different than him telling the story of the jewish family he met shooting or maybe the family of liberal Obama supporters. Nothing offensive was said.
 
Wow, the first mention of any time of prejudice is from you, the guy decrying this thread. Give it a rest, the world isnt perfect and this guy just met his first Russians and it was an experience for him. Today he learned that the stereotypes he may have heard were not true. Not everyone on this board was raised in big city where they are surrounded by all types of people.
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And i saw a person in the shooting supply aisle at Academy with a french accent. Yet somehow i didn't find in thread worthy. Just because somebody realized Russians aren't bad people while at a gun range doesnt make it a gun related thread. And in spite of not growing up in a big city i somehow still figured out not to apply stereotypes to each person of a group.

This is no different than him telling the story of the jewish family he met shooting or maybe the family of liberal Obama supporters. Nothing offensive was said.
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Yeah, you're right. It is no different.

And i never claimed to be offended. I'm not Russian so really couldnt be. I just find it silly and backwards.

I don't suspect the OP had malicious intent but that's not the point. One can do the wrong thing without realizing it.
 
Let me offer an apology for the provincial tone of my thread. My OP didn't have a point - I just wanted to share an interesting experience. I did so with the awareness that not everyone here on THR is an American or spoke English as his or her first language. I often go where more politically correct folks fear to tread, because I think that acknowledging and understanding our differences allows us to be better world citizens. I meet so many good ol' boys at the range, I guess I was pleased to see that the friendly gun culture that I have joined is something that permeates those ethnic boundaries you mentioned.
 
spazman said:
Let me offer an apology for the provincial tone of my thread. My OP didn't have a point - I just wanted to share an interesting experience. I did so with the awareness that not everyone here on THR is an American or spoke English as his or her first language. I often go where more politically correct folks fear to tread, because I think that acknowledging and understanding our differences allows us to be better world citizens. I meet so many good ol' boys at the range, I guess I was pleased to see that the friendly gun culture that I have joined is something that permeates those ethnic boundaries you mentioned.
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spazman, I am not offended, just the opposite. No apologies required.
 
At the Bandera Texas Gun Club we had a large contingent of Germans a few months ago. They loved our freedom and our guns.
Nothing like sharing with somebody who has lost theirs.

What was refreshing for me is they also shared the fight for gun rights is far from over. They all hated the EU and the UN.
 
You would hate the UN too if they were constantly at your countries front door asking you as citizens to bail out every slacker state in the union,,,oh, wait,,,;)
 
There is one Ukrainian lady, probably about 35 that works at the University I go to and I see her at the range sometimes. When she was growing up she got some military training since thats what is life over there. If you ever bump into her, she has an opinion on something and will let you know it :)
 
My current USPS Letter Carrier's family background is (IIRC) Ukranian. Very nice lady.

Mr. Oleg Volk, originator of this site, is from the former Soviet Bloc. If his other website, A Human Right is still up, his family history is there.

Although, I gotta say my 2 favorite "Russians" are my SKS and M-44 Mosin-Nagant :D :evil: :D
 
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