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Old May 14, 2005, 06:21 PM   #1
mill hunky
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at the range

arrived at the range 1/2 hr. after day light. beauitful morning. saw a young man w/ a new kel-tec 9 . accurate. 2 men came and i moved my spotting scope to another bench. one guy talked to me while his buddy set up. the buddy had an olimpic?ar-15, was on the quiet side. they had 2 ar-15`s, scopes, rails, lights. a couple hunting rifles, pistols, 1-sks. long stoy short- kevin walked down to the 100 yd. range to change his targets, i was just standing there. his buddy picked up the sks, w/ a fixed 30 rd. mag., w/ weapon on bench, muzzel pointed in the air down range, started to load the mag holding the bolt open, after seeing he wasn`t really paying attention to what was going on , and was having trouble holding the bolt open while loading, i moved in closer in case he pointed the weapon directly at his friend about 50 yds. coming back. as quietly as i could , i told him his friend is down range . panic was on his face, he didn`t know what to do w/ the loaded weapon. he tried moving the bolt all the way open. i suggested , pretend it is your hunting rifle and push the top rd. down w/ your thumb, and slide the bolt over the rd. in the mag. this done , safety on, i walked back to my bench , packed up and left. rich
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Old May 14, 2005, 06:39 PM   #2
SW40F
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Well done on your part. Very well done!
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Old May 15, 2005, 11:04 AM   #3
Bullrock
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That's happened to me, more than once. I shoot outdoors on an unattended range. Rifles to the right, down-range 100yds. Handguns to the left down-range 25 yds.

On the last occaission I was shooting when suddenly someone screamed at me from the right through my ear protection. When I looked over the rifle shooter about 30 yds. on my right was pointing down-range. I looked down-range, to my right to see some old guy, in a red jacket ( probably his father) walking down to check a target.

I immediately put my gun down, and yelled over to him as to why he didn't call a time out, when the range was hot? He was actually pissed at me! He yelled back, he didn't see me! I yelled back, you could have looked!

I was so upset I gathered my gear and left!!! :barf:
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Old May 15, 2005, 11:49 AM   #4
Bob Freddy
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Yep, you always have to keep and eye (and ear) out for the other guy. Everyone is going do do something stupid on accident at least once in their life, but when handling firearms you should take extra precautions not to screw up!

BOB
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Old May 15, 2005, 12:45 PM   #5
Russ5924
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Being retired I won't even go near the range on a weekend those people are nuts no telling what they will do.Get a few during the week but not to bad had a few slight mishap's.Had my gun all loaded was was getting ready to shoot when out of the corner of my eye this guy just walks out to change his target Was not happy and told him so
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Old May 15, 2005, 02:47 PM   #6
USP45usp
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I don't know what it is about ranges and the lack of safety.

That is why I love to find a place in the country and, having ensured that I have a good backstop, fire away.

Just me and nature. No one to worry about, no other shooters that decide to check their targets while the range is hot (com' on people, spotting scopes are cheap now!) and the peace and quiet.

The only range that I do go to is an indoor range. They have target carriers so no one has to walk downrange to change out or view their targets. The only bad thing is that it's handguns only, no rifles .

Wayne
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Old May 15, 2005, 08:19 PM   #7
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pshhawww! can you believe some people have the nerve to get all worked up because range officers on regulated ranges DEMAND that all weapons are untouched during ceasefires?
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Old May 20, 2005, 11:12 AM   #8
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Fortunately, I don't have to go to a range to shoot. I know it's the only option for a lot of people, but I don't think I would enjoy shooting near as much if all my shooting had to be done at a public range. I have, except for my college years, been blessed with a place to go where the only people we had to watch out for was our own group.

I know a range must opperate the way they do for safety reasons and they usually don't require anything unreasonable, but the a few of the times I have been at a somewhat busy public range, it was a very frustrating experience.
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Old May 20, 2005, 12:48 PM   #9
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Quote:
Fortunately, I don't have to go to a range to shoot
Me either. As a matter of fact, I have never been to a range. My "back yard" allows me to shoot out to ~300 yards with a moutain for a back stop. I used to think I was lacking by not being around other shooters, now I'm starting to feel happy about it.
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Old May 20, 2005, 05:51 PM   #10
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Had my gun all loaded was was getting ready to shoot when out of the corner of my eye this guy just walks out to change his target Was not happy and told him so
Happened today! During a time out a fella came over to inquire what I was shooting. I told him my Browning Pro-9. After the time out he came over to look at it. I gave him two mags, and told him to try it out. He took it back to his station, and a few minutes later he was approached by a rifle shooter from the left.

He calmly said to the fella I lent my gun to, that he stepped out on the range to check his target as he was about to shoot. He also suggested better communication on the unattended range.

When he brought my gun back to me I could tell he was embarrassed. Come to find out, he was the one of the most experienced shooter at the club.

Go figure!!!
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Old May 20, 2005, 09:43 PM   #11
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This reminds me of the worst time I've ever had at the range. I was (may still be) a certified range master. I oversaw a firing line at a private range that consisted of around 80 positions shooting at distances from 25 to 100 yards. During competitions when you would normally prohibit any gun handling when the line is down and people are out changing their targets, we allowed folks to move their guns to the next position. It was during one of these times that I was walking the line and was down at the 25 yard section. Most people were back with their targets, but there were still a few folks downrange when POW! Some ninny at the 50 benchrest fired his rifle downrange! He thought the line was hot! I couldn't beleive it! Nobody was hurt, but I was really shaken up. The shooter was, too. That's MY range when I'm rangemaster and MY resposibility to keep it safe, and I failed. I still have trouble with it today. Because of that, I haven't rangemastered since. I just don't think I'm cut out for it.
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Old May 21, 2005, 10:12 PM   #12
Hayley
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Today, I visited an outdoor club that I'm about to join. It accomodates all types of shooting, plus archery and fishing. It's very nice. But that walking down range...I'm gonna have to get used to it.
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Old May 21, 2005, 11:08 PM   #13
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I don't know what it is about ranges and the lack of safety.

That is why I love to find a place in the country and, having ensured that I have a good backstop, fire away.

Just me and nature. No one to worry about, no other shooters that decide to check their targets while the range is hot (com' on people, spotting scopes are cheap now!) and the peace and quiet.
Agreed. I live 45 mins from a real range, and 15 mins from a nice DNR piece of land that has been used for years(but has slowed down in use actually.. last several years I rarely see anyone there on weekends..).

Ever find yourself wanting to shoot up my way, lemme know Great spot for trap out there.
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Old May 22, 2005, 03:24 PM   #14
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Had a similar incident take place on a combo rifle/pistol range.

It's all one range, but the way it's set up, you can't see all the way downrange on the rifle range from the pistol range. Couple of guys went downrange on the rifle side without letting everyone know. They came back VERY upset as at least one person had been shooting a pistol while they were downrange.

As far as I know, the two downrange guys haven't been back, and neither has the pistol shooter.
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Old May 22, 2005, 05:57 PM   #15
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As far as I know, the two downrange guys haven't been back, and neither has the pistol shooter.
Hey John, do you think they went somewhere, and shot it out to a draw??? Only kidding...
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Old May 22, 2005, 07:26 PM   #16
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I was shooting some clays with a friend. A couple pull up in a truck and watch for a while. Then they get out of the truck....and just start walking out into the trap area! Crazy people didn't respond at all to the:
1)12 gauge blast that went off since we didn't see them wander into the field.
2)Us yelling at them to get off the range.
3)Us yelling obsenities at them to get off the range.
They continued blissfully walking across the trap range and into the trees on the far side of the range.

Sheesh. Some people are just insane!

Reminds me of the scene in Way of the Gun:
"Can't you people see? There are GUNS HERE! Get the **** out!!"
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Old May 22, 2005, 07:31 PM   #17
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It was right at the end of a pistol match, and they drifted away from the relatively large group on the pistol range, set up on the rifle range and then went downrange on the rifle range. They said they had warned people that they were going downrange, but I don't know who they told since we were all in one group. Since the match was over, the competitors weren't really paying all that much attention, and when one of the competitors asked to test someone's gun, the people involved did a quick visual check and then things went from there. No one objected when the shooting started (other than the two downrange--but they were totally out of sight--and really out of danger for that matter--from the pistol range).

The shooter was the wife of a friend who had shot only rarely, but enjoyed it when she did. According to Harry, she has not been able to bring herself to shoot again since the incident even though it wasn't really her fault. As a relative newbie surrounded by experienced shooters, I figure very little of the responsibility for the incident was hers. The other two (who REALLY should have known better) were idiots for not letting everyone know clearly they were going downrange, but I can see their point--it's everyone's responsibility to keep track of everyone else... Still, the way I see it, the people going downrange have the most at stake--you'd think they'd make no bones about it.
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Old May 29, 2005, 11:13 AM   #18
mill hunky
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replys

i see by the replys that these happenings at the range are common. i think i just needed a thread to vent after that experence. but i aslo see young children , who have their own weapons, w/ their father, who have range knowledge. thanks for the imput. rich
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