tips for my first trip to the range?

[spankaveli]

i plan on going over to the range tomorrow to shoot my guns and also try out a few handguns.

anything i should know before i go? how should i carry my guns? (22lr bolt action, sks and .380 auto). obviously unloaded, but do i have to have them in a bag or something?

any other tips you guys can give a newbie?

 

[cslinger]

I came from MD so it's not that different.

Being in CA, I would have the guns unloaded and locked up separate from the ammunition. Everything should be out of the drivers or passengers reach.

Chris

BTW: Have fun, stay safe, and keep that finger off the trigger until you are on target.

Chris.

 

[spankaveli]

Well, I'm in Louisiana not Los Angeles, so it'll be ALOT different. I can carry in the car loaded (except the handgun, I'm under 21).

 

[Mal H]

I think he's in LA as in Loosiana, not as in The City of Angles (everybody has one there), but the car carry advice is still good.

One other tip is to find out how they prefer you to hang your targets when you get there. At one range, I made the mistake of stapling them so they hung from the wooden supports instead of to the long cardboard strips they supply - makes sense, I wasn't thinking very well that day. They caught me before I shot anything.

 

[Kevlarman]

Mal, City of Angles? No kidding everyone has one - you can't build anything without geometry!

 

[cslinger]

Sorry My Bad.

 

[JohnBT]

Have your ear plugs or muffs handy before you go in (or before you get out of the car if it's an outdoor range.) Some ranges have a single door between the desk and the shooting lanes. If somebody opens it just as you walk in it could be a tad noisy.

If you aren't sure about anything - no matter how small - just ask them. They'll like you from the start and that's good.

Smile and have a good, safe time.

Ask them if you're supposed to pick up your brass or sweep it in front of the firing line for them to get.

If you see anybody acting like an idiot - run.

John

 

[Greg L]

Have fun (in a safe manner of course )

Greg

 

[Waitone]

Double up on hearing protection. Use plugs and muffs. No, its not overkill. Its smart.

Use good eye protection.

If you have to go cheap on something, don't go cheap on hearing and eye protection.

 

[10-Ring]

In my range bag, usually bring:
1. Eye & ear protection. That suggestion to double up on the hearing protection is a pretty good one. I recently started doing that myself.
2. Baseball cap (great to deflect errant brass!)
3. Screw driver
4. Binoculars
5. Rag & gun oil

Plus separate bag w/ guns & ammo.