[Ian0351]

Are a lot of fun right? sure... I go to one because I don't want to pony up the cash to join my local private range, but I'm getting closer everyday. I like to shoot to improve my marksmanship, lately I've been using my Mosin-Nagant M44 at about a hundred yards, trying to practice my basics and get tighter groups. So, every 5 rounds I like to check my targets, reload the internal magazine, make any adjustments necessary to my weapon or position, and begin again. This has the side benefit of stretching out my time at the range and reducing the cost of ammunition per hour. Unfortunately, many of the idiots who utilize this free, unsupervised public land range (which doesn't even have benches, just an old gravel pit) don't know what ceasefire or cold range means; many a time I am walking the long 100 yds to my stand up target when some jackass starts popping off his "AR'd" 10-22 or 'nine' at targets only 30-40 feet away from me! Of course I always let everyone know that I am heading downrange and request that they check fire, usually after waiting several minutes for everyone to finish their current evolution. They seem to think if they are not pointing 'at me' then I will be safe downrange; funny how they never add up how many rounds they fire and how many holes are in the coffee can when they leave. It's probably because they never check their targets or throw them away responsibly when done, opting to leave them at the site with all their discarded brass.

I have started going on weekday afternoons, and only shooting if I am the only person there or I know the other shooters and respect their shooting discipline. Pretty soon the state is probably going to close the range down altogether, due to dozens of shot up tvs, thousands of unpoliced shotgun shells and brass casings (a huge pet peeve of mine), and millions of potential injuries. I guess then I'll be forced to come up with a couple hundred bucks to join the Evergreen Sportsman's Club... and drive 45 minutes each way to fire off 10 dollars of 7.62x54R.