Why no rapid fire at the range I go to

[ArmedBear]

There are generally two kinds of people who shoot rapid-fire: good shooters who want specific practice for everything from home defense to competition, and absolute idiots who break target stands, spray others' targets while they're trying to sight in a rifle, and generally scare the crap out of everyone. Ever seen a line of holes in a range roof? I have.

Sadly, as is true in grade school, at the local park, and damn near everywhere else, the rules are made for the dumb and reckless. That's not good for those of us who are neither, but it's how the world seems to work.

 

[ijosef]

Several ranges in my area (SoCal) restrict rapid fire. They do not get my business. The few I found that allow rapid fire (and drawing from a holster) get ALL of my business...and I go through over 30,000 rounds per year. Screw the ranges with their nanny mentality.

I'm about to join a local range and I went through the same thing. I don't want to deal with foolish rules, regardless of the reason they were put in place. Sometimes it's just the range covering themselves from busybody neighbors, and other times it's the range owners/managers wanting to exert control of the shooters.

For example, some only allow "pre-approved paper targets" that you must buy from them. No silhouettes or anything resembling a human being. Some even require that you buy your ammunition from the range, and a lot of them ban bump firing. It doesn't surprise me that some ranges are banning what they consider to be "rapid fire" now.

This is why private property has been, continues to, and will always be the best place to shoot. Unfortunately that's not a reality for most people.

 

[rondog]

Hellooooo? It's called "safety"?

If they let YOU do it, they have to let the idiots do it too. Do you really want the local thugs and 'bangers to have the right to do mag dumps while holding their 'gats sideways?

And bullets do whatever they want to do. No matter how tall the berms are, bullets will still go anywhere they want to. There's no law of physics that says any bullet striking a pile of dirt will embed itself into said pile of dirt.

 

[Justin]

If they let YOU do it, they have to let the idiots do it too.

And here I thought we'd left collective punishment behind in Kindergarten. How about this: people shooting unsafely, regardless of how quickly they do it, get ejected from the range. Those who can do it properly are left alone.

 

[oneounceload]

Screw the ranges with their nanny mentality.

YOU'RE exactly the type of person this is aimed at -

That is not High Road thinking and is exactly what anti's like to use to portray all gun owners as reckless

 

[bigalexe]

I've been told at one of the ranges around here its because the neighbors don't like it. Same reason the other range I go to has to close at 8, and normally there is no rapid fire rule but sometimes the neighbors get uppity and call over to the building in the evening, then the rule gets enforced.

My opinion: Gun Club has probably been there longer than the neighbors have, don't move next to a shooting range if you don't wanna hear. I don't live near a major airport for the same basic reason.

 

[JohnnyOrygun]

I used to belong to a gun club in another town before I moved and they didn't have rules on rapid fire. But their outside range did get shutdown after several of the neighbors, behind the berm, had their buildings hit. But to be honest for those buildings to be hit someone had to be using their rifles at a 45' angle to clear the berm and hit those buildings. The buildings were at least 1/2 mile from the range. So again as others have pointed out, some stupid idiots are ruining it for the rest of us who are responsible. Its the same with "non-range" ranges, out in the forest and such, people who don't cleanup after themselves ruin it for everyone. It's a shame.

John

 

[browningguy]

There are a lot of idiots at gun ranges, some of them are highly experienced also. Hence the need for stringent safety precautions.

 

[ArmedBear]

How about this: people shooting unsafely, regardless of how quickly they do it, get ejected from the range. Those who can do it properly are left alone.

Wasn't it you who supported shooting someone for walking around with an empty, open over/under on his shoulder at a skeet range?

 

[sargenv]

Best advice I can give is to find an action range that has practice where they allow you to draw and/or fire quickly. Our main 25 yard line does not allow rapid fire, but the action range allows you to rapid fire anything you like so long as you are safe. We have weekly practices where you have the choice to stand at a static line and practice draws or shoot up your mag as fast as you can (controllably that is). We have a second range where there is a course of fire on a timer (With a range officer controlling the shooter).. When one of our better shooters runs through the course, it might sound like they are shooting full auto between targets... but they are simply going as fast as they can see the sights..

 

[ArmedBear]

There are different kinds of ranges, as sargenv points out.

One range where I shoot has pistol, silhouette, cowboy action, rifle, action sections, with a trap range off the end that gets use sometimes.

Down the road, there's another range that has trap, skeet and sporting clays, but no rifle or pistol targets.

Different ranges serve different purposes. "No rapid fire" is a sight-in and load-development range, IMO. If that's not what you want to do, that's probably not a great place.

I'd rather shoot on remote BLM land and do what I want, but that's not readily available in some areas.

 

[Justin]

Wasn't it you who supported shooting someone for walking around with an empty, open over/under on his shoulder at a skeet range?

Yes. That was me, guilty as charged. I totally advocate shooting people with open skeet guns.

 

[ArmedBear]

I'm sorry. I got you mixed up with Zak. My apologies; you weren't involved.

 

[Justin]

Really?

Care to post a link to the post where Zak advocates shooting someone for sweeping him with a broken open shotgun?

 

[Zak Smith]

ArmedBear,

Wasn't it you who supported shooting someone for walking around with an empty, open over/under on his shoulder at a skeet range?

I'm sorry. I got you mixed up with Zak.

Here is the thread in question.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=370234

I never said that, and I never supported Der Verge. In fact, I explicitly stated:

You are wrong. I do not support Der Verge's suggestion, it is unwarranted, probably illegal, escalation and not the best way to solve the problem.

What you just did in this thread is libel against me: a false statement represented as truth that harms my character.

Your claim that I "supported shooting someone for walking around with an empty, open over/under on his shoulder at a skeet range" is false.

Here's your opportunity to retract it and apologize.

-z

 

[Ben Shepherd]

I'm lucky and I know it. The local city range that I am a range officer at allows anything that's legal. We even have a couple guys that own mini guns that bring them up on occasion.

Common sense stuff. If you can do it safely, have at it, if you can't, we'll stop you.

Worst one I saw was a guy with a horizontal shoulder holster. Guy wanted to practice his draw coupled with mozambique drills. Big problem with the 180 rule, eh? We sent him up to the 2 bay 25 yard range that has the entrance on the right and 90 degrees from the target lanes, with "mountain" behind and to the left. Put him in the left bay(no one in the right) Then just watched him. Guy did fine actually. Didn't even cover his left arm with the muzzle during the draw.

 

[jeepmor]

A bench rest shooter and a AK bump-firing don't go well together. Let's face it- a lot of ranges are set up for sport hunters, not practical gunnery.

I did this on a recent range trip. The rain was the issue, not my bench rest shooting while someone was blasting auto AKs, rapid fire pistol shootingm, and general cap gun shenanigans. Guys even shot at my targets, none in the black shooting from the hip, barely on the board was more like it. The troupe leader gave me more targets and said, these guys going a bit banannas, sorry. No worries, they are not shooting my caliber, I can tell the difference on my target, if they even hit it. Watching them is half the fun, thanks. Walked away with more targets than I arrived with and scooped up a bunch of their brass for free.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

This all really makes me appreciate the range I go to. I love it when the Alaska Machine Gun Association shows up for a group shoot. I get to see [and hear] the neatest guns. It can make it difficult to concentrate on your own shot when the guy next to you opens up with a BAR though.

 

[CountGlockula]

There's always a reason behind these range rules.

The best thing I recommend is to become buddy-buddies with the range master. Leave a tip, go by first name basis, continue stopping by and bring friends etc.

Or join a self defense handgun course and you can do all the double, triple taps you want.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

If you want to rapid fire, try USPSA or Bianchi Cup. It's a lot of fun and you can learn things about your pistols than you might never notice shooting once every three seconds. For example, I learned I like fiber optic front sights.

 

[jaholder1971]

I've seen shooters who were doing well to put a bullet into the backstop, let alone their target, loading their firearms one round at a time. Unfortunately, these are usually the same folks who are hip to the "spray and pray".

 

[cyclopsshooter]

our in store range has no rule against it but we are thinking about it- actual ranges are for target practice- not free fire- lack of control as mentioned before has left many a hole in the range roof... some idiot today actually hit the cable carrier dumping the whole shabang

 

[coloradokevin]

There are generally two kinds of people who shoot rapid-fire: good shooters who want specific practice for everything from home defense to competition, and absolute idiots who break target stands, spray others' targets while they're trying to sight in a rifle, and generally scare the crap out of everyone. Ever seen a line of holes in a range roof? I have.

Sadly, as is true in grade school, at the local park, and damn near everywhere else, the rules are made for the dumb and reckless. That's not good for those of us who are neither, but it's how the world seems to work.

Well said, Armed Bear! I hate that what you've said is reality, but I do believe that it is. I spend a great deal of time shooting in a "rapid fire" sense, and can do so quite safely. It goes with the territory for those of us in LE, the military, or even many competitive shooting sports (USPSA, IDPA, etc). But, I have also witnessed the losers at the range who show up wearing gang colors, then shoot their pistols sideways towards a berm with no target... Sure, they can obviously 'rapid fire' their pistols in the most literal sense of the term, but they certainly aren't hitting anything intentionally through their recklessly uncontrolled shooting!

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

I payed for a day at the range once and they told me no head shots on the paper target and no rapid fire followed by an inquiry as to whether or not I'd like to rent a fully automatic weapon....

 

[ZO6Vettever]

The range I go to is county owned. No rapid fire but I do sneak in a double tap once in a while.