Range Rookies

[hozz57]

So I'm at the range last friday doing my best to shoot bugholes in my Postal Shoot target when a group of 3 people start setting up 2 benches away. One of them I see has a member badge, another looks experienced enough, and the 3rd is obviously a "friend".

Murphy's law dictates that when trying to shoot for score someone must set-up a .30 cal machinegun and then let a complete novice shoot it. I know this to be true because thats what happened the other day.

Now I don't want to blame them for my less than stellar groupings but they certainly didn't help. I kept worrying that they were going to shoot holes through my target because they never put up a target of their own nor did they seem too concerned where they were spraying. They finaly ran out of .30 cal ammo before I was done with target 2 and had yet to perferate my target with an errant shot, whew. Then they pulled out some kind of fully automatic .223 and started to spray the hillside. Later they decided it would be a good idea to let the "Friend" shoot this gun while she was standing. They handed her the weapon with a full magazine (luckily in semiauto mode). I looked over there as they were showing her how it operated and saw that they were letting her wave the thing all over the place. Not wanting to be anymore perferated than I already am I decided it was time to sugjest to them that the end with the hole in it should be pointing away from me. I also requested that the end of the barrel be over the firing line. She gladly complied. Then with the butt of the weapon a comfortable 4 inches from her shoulder, with her head turned slightly away and her eyes not quite open she put her 1st shot right between target 2 and target 3.

[WrzWaldo]

Yes, I can confirm there is a hole there that is a little sloppy to be a .204 hole...

I like it when they hang their own target and still manage to shoot at a target that looks nothing like what they hung up.

[Lee C.]

I know how ya feel. this time of the year youget all the guys that come to the range. To see if there good old deer rifle shoots. thats the time i start going down to my oldest son house. as he has a 100 acre field next to the house we shoot in. Witch makes it pretty nice.

[sniper model 12]

I stopped going to the range after a dad and his two sons decided to have a "boys night out" with some full auto .22's and a couple of SKS with a AK-47.

Either their fingers could move like lightning or them rifles were de-burred for an "automatic" feature.

[Rick in Oregon]

hozz: That story of sheer stupididy reminds me of exactly why I never go to orgainized/commercial shooting/rifle ranges any more, and just head out into the BLM land with my target frame, chronograph, and portable BR Pivot shooting bench.

All I hear out there is birds, the occasional coyote, and the sound of my own weapon of choice. I've got lots of similar stories of complete idiots that pollute our gene pool, and should not even be allowed to have a weapon in their hands, let alone be in the same area as other humans. After being close to an AD years ago by some fool with his K-Mart deer rifle the week before the season opened, I've retreated to the hills for all my range work.

You'd think that when handling deadly weapons, some of these people would employ a modicum of common sense and courtesy........NOT!

[skb2706]

As much as I hate to there are times when the local rifle range is my only option due to time constraints. This year in order to prep for an antelope hunt i had to sneak away to the local range. Thinking that ....hey its a weekday, its early, I'll get in, get out. Nope, no such luck. I did however get to watch a comical little skit played out by two "huntin guys".
The scene - two fellas, obviously not english speaking and probably not here on a legal terms. They have with them a Wally World Rem ADL w/some scope in 30-06. They set up this thing sand bag at the muzzle, no rear bag...it fell over twice. First guy dumps one down the tube, cracks off the firstshot. Quickly decides that is way too much recoil (not speaking english I am speculating here) For his next shot he gets his buddy to push against his shoulder to keep the gun from coming back...kinda 'recoil preventing' mode. This shot hurts the guy....they gather their goodies, mumble some non english and leave, guy number two never fired a shot.

[Rick in Oregon]

skb: My point exactly.....see above. And to think we're in the outback with armed indivuduals such as you describe...... Yikes.

[skipper]

The weekend after I shot my Postal Shoot targets I went to the range. I wanted to reassure myself that I could actually shoot decent groups. Jaxon and I got set up and I was about to shoot when my crosshairs started to sway back and forth. What the *&^%!!! I looked up to see the guy sitting beside me cleaning his rifle at the bench. Two shooters share a bench with a divider between at this range. I waited for him to finish sawing his cleaning rod back and forth and started sighting in again. Just before I started to squeeze the trigger I noticed my crosshairs moving upward out of the bulls eye. I looked up again to find the guy half on top of the bench playing with the muzzle of his rifle. This time I leaned around the divider and said "I'm trying to shoot some groups here". He apologized and I started sighting in again. Again the crosshairs started to move and I looked out of the corner of my eye to see him changing rifles. I finally just opened the bolt and took a break until the end of the string of fire. The guy apologized again when he realized I had quit shooting because of him. On the next string of fire I thought he had gotten the message so I set up the rifle and tried again. I got the first shot off without incident. On the third shot the bench started moving again so I got up, packed my rifle in the case and just sat on the ready bench while Jaxon finished shooting. I had lost my concentration so there was no use in continuing anyhow. It was kinda fun to watch this guy clean his bore after every five shots. I pretty sure I know why his rifles wouldn't group very well. His cleaning routine had probably removed the throat, lands and crown of all three of his rifles.

[hozz57]

I really like the range I go to for it's rock solid concrete benches and how close it is to my house. But you get the sense that they don't care for bechrest shooters. It would be nice to have a seperate area away from the .30 cal machineguns, .50 BMGs and Range Rookies.

Rick, we have found a few places to shoot out in the desert or up on BLM land but with this continuing drought, the forest service has decided that the fire danger is to high to allow for shooting. The places that are OK are usually trashed by idiots who think its fine to dump their trash/targets and leave it all up there. I just need to keep looking.

[Captqc]

Hozz57,
I know what you mean about idots trashing open areas. When my son and I shoot in the forest we usually carry out two or three garbage bags full of shells and trash that these rednecks have left behind. It's no wonder why the average citizen thinks that shooters are a bunch of beer drinking slobs when they see the forest trashed by "shooters".
Gary

[Rick in Oregon]

hozz: Like Captqc, we find all kinds of crap left by unthinking, uncaring, cerebrial pinheads here on public land. It seems that these fools see our tracks out into the outback through the sage and junipers, and use it as a trail to dump their crap. I've sifted through some of it, finding envelopes that tie the heap-o-crap to its owner, then gleefully take the evidence to our local sheriff for further attention.

The idiots are then found, tried and convicted of illegal dumping.....on a good day that is. Most of the time though, there is no evidence, and the trash just rots in the sun, and gives all shooters a bad rap, as within a couple of weeks, some other idiot with a .22 or shotgun has used the TV's, refrigerators or old computer for a "ballistic testing medium", and shot it full of holes, leaving all their empties making us all look bad. As we're all reloaders, we police every piece of brass, and use portable target frames that go back home with us. We don't even leave rimfire brass after a session.

Check out the column in this months "Rifle" magazine by Ron Spomer that deals directly with this subject......a very good read to be sure, and right to the point. I wonder sometimes how much longer public land will be open for us to wander about with a rifle.

[Robert harrel]

although i have never had the chance to shoot at a public or club range some of the stories i have heard tells me i dont want to
my uncle does have some land less than 10 minutes from my house with a nice red clay bank at 100 yrds i just use my portable bench and shoot when i can.
most of time with a stiff cross wind