Dumbest things you have seen at the range.

[AKTexas]

I talked about a guy shooting .32 ACP in a .380.I looked and we did not keep the cases but we did keep the other cases he was using.This is the same guy he was shooting 9mm in a .380.You can see how the case bulges at the head.

[Gunreference1]

.30-06 Springfield





.220 Swift


Some years ago I watched my father chamber a .220 Swift cartridge in a Browning BAR rifle that was actually chambered in .30-06. The .220 Swift cartridge feed from the detachable magazine and the bolt did close. When he pulled the trigger it was like he was shooting a BP muzzleloader. There was smoke and the bolt locked back. The empty case did eject but it had swelled at the neck and mouth. He has never made that mistake again.

Steve

[cciota]

It wasn't at the range but it was at a concealed carry class.
The wife and I got a re concealed carry permit abput two years ago. We sat through the classroom stuff, took the written test and finally got to the practical part of the class, showing you know how to safely handle and fire your weapon. People went up two by two and shot from 3, 5 and 9 yards. The wife and I went up, she with her S&W .357 and me with my Beretta. No problems. A few couples after that, a girl got up to shoot with her I assume boyfriend. She had a brand new semi-auto in the box. Not quite sure what caliber it was. Something small. She had no clue how to load, handle or shoot the weapon. It looked as if she had never held a weapon before in her life. No clue what so ever. She ended up having the instructor show her the basics and passed the class. Now that was dumb.

[shadow65]

My ex son in law who professed to being Marine Recon but couldn't figure out how to zero an AR 15.

[bgummer]

Some gang banger types showing up with their TECs and no hearing protection. They foolishly set up next to me and my AR-15, and yes I noted that they failed to bring ear protection and waited till the time was ripe to fire Actually I was surprised they could hear the range master yelling at them for other range infractions after that.

[mriddick]

I talked about a guy shooting .32 ACP in a .380.I looked and we did not keep the cases but we did keep the other cases he was using.This is the same guy he was shooting 9mm in a .380.You can see how the case bulges at the head.

I hope you mean 380 in a 9mm, you'd have to use a hammer to get a 9x19 to close in a 380.

On a side note I've shot 380's out of a 9x18, my PA63 would shot either equally as reliably (that is 100%) although that's not much of a deal IMO.

Back to the topic... I've seen a guy take grandpa to the range, go out and place a target at 50 yds then stand 3 feet off to one side while grand pa shoots, the guy off to the side yelling back to gramps where he's hitting (seems gramps has bad vision and couldn't make out the target).

[slamfire51]

The dumbest person/thing I've seen at the range was a guy showing how he could bump fire his FAL.
He did a grand job of bumping AND cutting an electrical line 1/2 mile downrange on someone else's property.
End result was a big grass fire and him being banned from the range.

[swampdragon]

My ex son in law who professed to being Marine Recon but couldn't figure out how to zero an AR 15.

[Solidus-snake]

The dumbest person/thing I've seen at the range was a guy showing how he could bump fire his FAL.
He did a grand job of bumping AND cutting an electrical line 1/2 mile downrange on someone else's property.
End result was a big grass fire and him being banned from the range.

Damn!!

[old Grump]

Two young guys show up at range, one with his fathers 458 Magnum rifle with a HUGE scope on it. The gunner shoots twice offhand at 200 yards and is respectably close to the bucket laying on the berm but he has had enough.

Offers it to his buddy to shoot who immediately plops down on the bench next to me and crawls right up the stock. "You better back off a few inches or shoot that gun standing up." I suggest.

"Shut up you old fuck, I know what I'm doing."

A minute later I have to explain where the hospital is and no I didn't have any bandaids in my box. I had two but they weren't going to do him any good and I hope he got tetanus from that greasy rag he held on his head.

Dumber than that were the two guys who drove behind the 100 yard berm to scout out their hunting area while we were shooting a 45 match at Fort McCoy Wisconsin. Then they drove back the same way making us stop the match in the middle of a string. We stopped them for a butt chewing by a Warrant officer and a Major. They calmly explained to us that we were only shooting 45's and we couldn't have reached them a hundred yards away no matter how good we were. Don't know where they hunted that year but it wasn't Fort McCoy.

Then there was the rimfire match I was conducting at the range and this old guy who should have known better just drives out in front of us to the 200 yard berm and starts mining lead. Took me half an hour to convince him that he was interrupting a match and yes he was in danger from those little 22 bullets.

[dfariswheel]

I personally didn't see this, but as a club official I heard a LOT about it.

One night a neighbor of our club called the president and reported that someone was shooting on the range.
Since there were no police night training classes scheduled the range was closed and the gate was locked.
The prez jumped in his truck and drove down.

He found a car parked outside the still locked gate and saw some people on the range.
After questioning, he found out these were two non-members who thought it would be Okay to use our range to sight in their brand new 338 Magnum rifles and scopes.
They were leaving at dawn for Colorado to go elk hunting and needed to insure the rifles were sighted in.
Since it WAS a rifle range, they saw no need to ask permission or join the club.

Thing is, when the prez arrived he saw one man shooting his new-unsighted .338 Magnum rifle at a sighting target at 50 yards, WHILE HIS BUDDY STOOD RIGHT BESIDE THE TARGET HOLDING A FLASHLIGHT ON THE BULLSEYE.

They were very non-understanding and rather belligerent until a sheriff's car arrived after the neighbor called them too.
Normally, fence jumpers were run off with a warning that they'd be prosecuted for trespassing if they ever came back, but due to the attitude these two didn't make the dawn patrol to Colorado, they had to post bond first. The Sheriff, who didn't have a range of his own and was very happy we gave them the use of our range free, also had a delay in returning their new .338 rifles.

[slamfire51]

Entitlement.
I'm entitled to use a range, no matter what.
Geeze, the gall of some people.
Glad they were delayed going on their trip.

[Prometheus168]

I have never fired on a public range.. however at a Calvert shoot I watched "and we allowed to happen" a guy shoot a .50 BMG offhand and with his eye to the scope... he had a NICE looking halfmoon bleed going... I bet he still has a scar!

Rusty

[AKTexas]

I hope you mean 380 in a 9mm, you'd have to use a hammer to get a 9x19 to close in a 380.

On a side note I've shot 380's out of a 9x18, my PA63 would shot either equally as reliably (that is 100%) although that's not much of a deal IMO.

Back to the topic... I've seen a guy take grandpa to the range, go out and place a target at 50 yds then stand 3 feet off to one side while grand pa shoots, the guy off to the side yelling back to gramps where he's hitting (seems gramps has bad vision and couldn't make out the target).

Nope 9mm in a 380 those are 9mm cases.This was firing out of battery.

[videodon]

Nope 9mm in a 380 those are 9mm cases.This was firing out of battery.

That's just scary!

[hazmat]

Here's a pic of a range cleanup day out here in SD last month.



What we had on the trailer:

A couple of shelves, enough parts to make about 7 computers, two computer monitors, two microwave ovens, 7 TV sets, 3 college text books, a bed, a sofa, part of a boat, part of a light bar from a local emgergency department, and enough bottles, cans, and paper to do God knows what all.

As far as stuff happening on a range? I'd have to say the co-worker that got his bell rung by a .41 Mag Blackhawk.

We'd planned this range trip 4 yrs ago to blow off some steam from the grind at the office. All this guy could talk about was shooting my Kimber Ultra Carry .45. When we walked up to the shooting line, I stood slightly behind and to his right and waited for him to get his Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon on. As soon as he was wholly absorbed in getting his first shot off, I thumbed back the hammer on a 175 gr PTHP and let it fly. I thought the guy would never come back to earth.

Another memorable moment was when a couple of kids (a guy and a gal) I used to work with failed to qualify on the M9. Neither had ever fired a handgun before and thought the Beretta kicked too much. So we headed out to the range with 100 rds of .40 S&W for each of them and a Ruger P94, along with said Blackhawk .41. I let them plink with the P94 and calmly waited for a break in the action to put some 210 gr Corbon down range. When I fired, the guy about dropped a load in his pants. He exclaimed the fireball that accompanied the chest thumping report from the Blackhawk had to've been 3 feet around and 5 feet long with eyes as big around as saucer dishes. After they finished with the .40 short & weak, I let them each put a couple of rounds through the .41 to show them that the Beretta didn't 'kick'. Strangely enough, they each fired expert the next time they went to qualify. Funny how that works, huh?

[ubersoldate]

I dont shoot at ranges unless its a class or comp.

I used to go to public ranges and the first thing I look at is the ceiling over the line. If there is holes in it, then I know Im in the wrong place.

I like to shoot by myself in the desert.

[HDR]

The dumbest person/thing I've seen at the range was a guy showing how he could bump fire his FAL.
He did a grand job of bumping AND cutting an electrical line 1/2 mile downrange on someone else's property.
End result was a big grass fire and him being banned from the range.

When he is online he probably brags he can bump as fast and accurately as a FA. LOL

[sniper_n_training]

I like to shoot by myself in the desert.

Couldnt have said it better myself.

As for the dumbest thing i've seen, it would go to the small group (3-5) of your typical mexican gangbangers at Ben Avery. They were shooting a Ruger P89, and a gun that looked IDENTICAL to the Tec9. The Tec9 look-alike couldnt get off more than 1 or 2 rounds without a jam, and after the range master had to tell them three times to handle and shoot their firearms safely/properly, they were thrown out. I guess randomly sweeping the Ruger pistol at each other while on cease-fire, or shooting the Tec9 look-alike sideways (gangster style yo) just was'nt the smartest thing.

[AKTexas]

That's just scary!

The .32 cases were worse looking.Larger bulging case mouth had splits.