Anyone have a weird experience at the gun range?

[His lordship.]

I have been an avid shooter since the 1970's and while people are pretty good on the safety and equipment aspect overall, I have had some weird experiences.

While shooting my SKS at a public range I had a guy run out onto the range without telling me, twice.  As I am an avid hunter, I instinctively raised my gun's barrel up to prevent an accident.

I had a round jam into the chamber of my Chinese made Tokarev pistol, and I could see the seemingly fired cartridge in the chamber (primer was indented), but was not sure if it had gone off.  Pulled the slide back, and used a take down cleaning rod to knock out the brass case, it had a burr on it and jammed in.  I knew better than to put anything near the bore like my hands, etc. as I originally thought it as still a loaded round with a bad primer.  Tokarevs are very easy to field strip and work with.

Went to the public range on a very clear sunny summer day, weather man said it would be clear all day.  Two hours into the shooting had a major thunderstorm appear.  Sure, some sunny weather?! :shock:

I have also had lots of animals run out into the gun range and just sit there looking at us.  Deer, fox, otters, wood chucks, geese, rabbits and a bull frog.  They did not mind the noise, and we had to stop shooting until they got out of the way.

Had mosquitos and wasps land on my rifle, seemed to like sitting on the receiver as I fired the gun.  I think it was the oil and wax that attracted them.
 
Anyone else have some odd things happen at the gun range?

[Uncle Howie]

Weird experiences at the range...

1) One time, everyone was handling their firearms safely and responsibly... :eek:

2) On another trip, I hit what I was shooting at!

[ken w.]

While trap shooting at my gun club,2 fawns and a doe walked out on to the trap field and started to feed.The got pelted by pellets a few times,but didn't leave.So we stopped until they left.
    I took a marlin model 60 to the range to test fire it and it went full auto in front of everyone.Then everyone wanted  to shoot it. :roll:

[S.S.]

Here is a STUPID thing that happened at the range!
I used to work law enforcement and we were on the Range
trying to "Qualify" some young officers (a chore sometimes).
Well we had called for all weapons clear and holstered and
all of the sudden BOOM!. I quickly scanned all of the rookies
and all were clear? I then heard a commotion behind me
and I looked back at the armory house and saw a guy from another
shift kinda' stagger out. I saw a red spot on his chest and my heart about stopped. We all ran to him and about the time we got to him he stuck his
finger in his ear and started wiggling it around. The red spot was a firemans patch on his shirt (Thank God). What happened we all demanded to know! Him and another guy had similar weapons
and were seeing if the Mags would interchange. They swapped
and the other guy without thinking dropped the hammer when
he put his mag back in his weapon! Needless to say they both
had a long butt clenching chat with the Chief the next morning.

[Brett]

I once turned a steel chicken into a chinese wok with a 12ga slug.    :biggun: :eek: This goes back about 13 years ago, I had just bought my Mossberg 500 and was siting in the slug barrel in preparation for deer season (It is a two barrel combo, 38" vent rib & 20" slug barrel with open rifle sites).  I had the range all to myself this particular morning. After adjusting my sites and shooting one last group on paper at 75 yards from the bench I was satisfied that I was ready to hunt. But, I had 1 last slug left and it was in the gun. Well I just  happened to look up and see a steel chicken someone had left sitting out over toward my right at the 100yrd line.  :idea:  I took a few steps to my right, threw the Mossy to my shoulder and snapped off a quick shot just to see how close I could get thinking I wouldn't have a prayer of hitting it.  Wrong... nailed it dead center.  It tumbled #$%# over tie kettle and when it stopped it looked like a chinese wok.   :shock: Whoever wrote the rule "Don't point your muzzle at anything you don't intend to shoot." knew what they were talking about.   :oops:

[Patriot_1776]

A couple of years ago, while my father and I were shooting at the pistol range were we go, there was something that I would call strange, or scary that happened.  We were shooting, having a great time being the only ones there at the time, and someone drives/comes up to the shooting line; being there are "cease fires" every 15min, they had not been able to put a target out yet.  There are a few metal plates strewn on the hills 30-50 yds from the shooting position.  Remember, the range is like one big firing line, all the tables are in a row.  So, this guy decided to shoot some of those plates up there, but he was around 8-12 tables to our right, and he is not lined up in a way down that far to get a clear shot at them.  He's set up down there, puts a loaded mag into the pistol, cycles and is now ready to fire.  Thinking in my head "this guy does not have any desire to heed any safety rules laid down by the range or in general", he comes waltzing down the firing line, gun at his hip basically, looking up to where he "wants" to shoot, all the while he's going WITH THE MUZZLE POINTED DOWN THE LINE IN OUR DIRECTION!!!  

Not to mention, his finger was on the trigger, and the gun ready to fire.  So he gets to where he wants to be so he's aligned enough to shoot the plates, puts the gun out, fires his clip, and returns to his table.  Another thing, he had someone else with him, look like it may have been his son.  He was not some young guy, the "father" looked in his 50s, and the "son" probably in his 20s.  WOW!!! Now, take what I typed, and repeat it 2 or 3 times.  There you have it; and the range master finally saw and handled him, but what an experience!  The range master gave the command to him "KEEP ALL FIREARMS POINTED DOWN RANGE!!!"  Well, he keeps it pointed the other way up the range (exact opposite from us, but still down the line), and looks as if he's wondering, whats goin' on.  The R. Master tells him again, and the guy holds up the gun's mag after removing it as if he's asking  "What?! The magazine is out, it (the gun) is unloaded, now what's the problem?"  Finally got the guy to "comprehend" what the saftey rules are there, and got him under control.

Tell you one thing, not fun having a loaded gun pointed in your general direction.  And after three times, I was ready to get this guy's rear kicked off the range. :evil:  :evil:  Next time, I won't even let it get to first base; I see ANY GUN pointed where it SHOULD NOT BE, I'm getting the attention of the range master (if one is present), and will be especially cautious of the one behind the gun.  

Stay safe out there.  

-Patriot

[His lordship.]

When I lived in western Oregon I used to target shoot in the Cascade Mountains, usually by myself in a regular spot in the forest.  We had alot of snow that year in April and I had to shoot at a gravel quarry close to the highway instead of my usual place as I could not get to it until around late May.

I was getting ready to shoot my Japanese 7.7 rifle and my Italian Carcano rifle in 6.5 cal., and a middle aged guy and his two young sons drove up to do some shooting with their .22 rifles.  None of them was wearing any hearing protection, I kept looking at them with the "I'm going to shoot these centerfire rifles now" look, and they still did not put on muffs, I had my hearing muffs on.

I fired a few rounds, and they still were not using any protection.  Then the father pulls out a 7 mm magnum rifle and bangs away.  Still they did not put on muffs or ear plugs.  I was shocked. :shock:

My thought was, those kids are going to need hearing aids by the time they are 35!!  I just kept on shooting, as it was their problem if they don't believe in being able to hear.    

Another time in the same area, I brought my girl friend up with me to shoot my .22 caliber Ruger Mk. 2 pistol.  She had no eye protection, I wear glasses all the time.  I figured, how can a .22 rimfire be a threat to a person's eyes, it is not like we are shooting any of my black powder guns where you need some kind of safety glasses?!  :?  Then I hear her howl out in pain as one of the expended shell cases has a small piece of brass  shear off near the case mouth, and it went right into her eye.  As expended cases are also hot for a few seconds, you gotta figure that must have hurt.  Fortunately, I managed to get it out before it gouged into her pupil.  But it taught me to wear eye safety all the time.  It also made her reluctant to ever go shooting with me again.

[Bikenut]

It's bad enough when dolt shooters suddenly decide to wander down range to change/check their targets without waiting for a general cease fire on the line when there isn't a Range Master or RSO present... but it is equally disconcerting when an experienced and respected shooter says to me... "I'm going down to look at my targets. Go ahead and shoot because I know you're a good shot and won't hit me."

Well, DUH! Thanks for the compliment but no thanks... I'll just wait for ya dude.

[gwindrider1]

Years back I was standing on the firing line of our club's pistol range while firing was in progress.  No problems, everyone was observing all range rules, etc..  My buddy next to me was firing a then new Taurus .38 snubby he had just bought.  Fortunately, I was a foot or two behind him on my station as we heard an unusually loud report from his shot.  As well as hearing this report, something painfully slapped the side of my nose.  He stood there with a dumbfounded, stunned look on his face as we all looked at his revolver which was now missing it's cylinder.

The cylinder had split in half, sending each half laterally.  Found one of the halves embedded a dirt embankment at the side of the range.  The metal at the fracture showed a curious frosty characteristic which reminded me of what I call "pot metal".  Apparently, a small shard had caught my nose in the process.  Sure am glad that I wasn't standing even with him, as I might have caught that other cylinder half.

That was a long time back (30 years), but I haven't thought much of Taurus' since. :wink:

[Bigdog57]

I was at the range one morning, with only one other guy shooting.  I had shot my targets (rimfire at 50 yards), and took a seat on the back bench to wait for the guy to my left to finish with his AR-15.  I was about ten feet right and behind him.
Suddenly, a very loud "BANG", and pieces of plastic going all over!
His AR fired out-of-battery, and his nice new Israeli Orlite magazine grenaded!  Luckily, it was his last round from that mag.  All the pressure went down through the magazine.  The receiver survived, though a few small parts - extractor, ejector, etc. - went flying.

He decided he'd had enough for one day.   :oops:

Glad I wasn't beside him at the shooting bench.   :shock:

[coyote 2]

At the Range on a very nice Sunday morning - shooting - no one else there. Pickup drives up - two Hispanic gents get out. I set up targets and walk back to bench - I hear bang - bang - bang. Hispanic gents shooting at my targets. I walk over to them - kindly ask them not to do that again. They say something is Spanish - I walk back out to targets - put up new oned. Walk back to bench - bang - bang - bang. Again they shoot targets. I look at them and get the finger. I walk back to targets - put up more - take my time - make a cell phone call to Border Patrol - as I have their number in my cell phone - (I am in LE) walk back to bench. Yup again bang - bang. Hummm - these guys have no clue. I say nothing. They think I am stupid anyhow. Set up the final target. Take more time. Walk back to bench - see pickup coming down road. Ha - contact made with Border Patrol - two Hispanics gents - not legal - have weapons - get arrested - pickup left at range - weapons taken from them. Just because they wanted to be jerks........and most of the Hispanic folks I know - would never do that - especially when they are illegal....... :wink:

[Win 73]

Coyote

I also had a troublesome encounter with some "Hispanic" folk at the range.  I was shooting pistols on the 25 yard range at an outdoor, unsupervised, public range.  This range has 8 or 9 shooting benches.  I was using the next to last one on the left.  Another gentleman was using the last one on the left.  There were 4 hispanics (2 men & 2 women) using the last 2 tables on the right.  Everybody went down range to examine and set up new targets.  The hispanics got back to the benches first.  The fellow to my left and I were still down range.  The "Hispanics" opened fire!!  I yelled very loudly and they ceased fire.  When I got back to the benches, I told them, quite forcefully I might add, "One more I would have been shooting back!"  I don't know if they understood my words because they had been jabbering Spanish the whole time, but I am pretty sure they realized I was not a happy camper.

If they had continued to fire, I was mad enough to shoot back and I definitely had the capability.  I had my Ruger P89 holstered on my hip and my Beretta Tomcat in my pants pocket.  The other fellow still down range with me had a .38 snub on his hip.

One thing that make I sure of when I am out shooting, whether at a regular range like that one or just out in the boondocks, is that I never, ever, shoot myself empty.  In addition to whatever gun I am in the act of shooting, I always make sure that I have at least one other loaded gun on me.

[ShadowMover]

I was shooting at cans at a local trash dump site 10 years ago and was demonstrating to my cousin how to 'bounce' cans with a .45ACP, when a woman rose up out of the trash! She had been put there the previous night by her 'date'!  She didn't want to talk about it much, so we took her to a nearby convenience store where she called a friend to take her home. It seems obvious now, but I should have checked the 'empty' area behind my target. No harm done, except for her hangover, and a lesson learned; and shared.

Years later, while shooting in a gravel pit, two young men on ATVs appeared behind me. I talked to them and explained I was shooting in the area, and to avoid the pile of gravel I was using as a backstop. Sure enough, a few minutes later, guess where they drove, right in front of my targets!  I was watching for them, but it demonstrates you have to assume the worst and not expect people to realize the danger.

Saving the worst for last, I almost got myself shot as a kid. I was with an adult group who was shooting an M-1 from the top of a hill, and us kids were picking up brass.  I stood up in front of a guy who shot before my head lined up with the bore.  I didn't even realize I was under him while chasing the brass. Don't let kids chase brass until everyone is done shooting, and don't do it yourself.  It still scares and embarrasses me thinking about it.  :oops:

[Keith L]

I had a similar experience a few years ago deer hunting.  I was standing on the edge of a field, and the son (12 or 13 should have known better) of one of the other hunters was next to me.  I told the boy to stay put so I knew where he was.  A group of deer ran into the field well within shooting range.  I had the nicest buck in my scope and was tracking him and ready to fire when the scope turned orange!  I pulled the gun down and found the kid had run in front of me to get a better shot.  He missed and I was so shook up I unloaded my gun and that ended hunting for the day.  The kids dad was unconcerned, so I guess he doesn't like the kid.  I no longer hunt with them.  No need for an annual stress test in the field.

[Dali Llama]

I had just bought my Mossberg 500

It is a two barrel combo, 38" vent rib & 20" slug barrel

That seem like rather lengthy barrel, remark Dali Llama.  Do Brett perchance mean to say 28", ask Dali?

[Charles/NM]

I occasionally shoot silhouette matches at our range outside of Las Cruces, NM.  At one match I was practicing on the smallbore targets (the tiny ones, not on the large hunter and pistol targets) before a match.  I was shooting  my funky vintage iron sighted Savage model 6A rifle.  Surprising to me and the other shooters was that I was hitting the turkeys 4 out of 5 times.  That's hard to do with a scoped rifle.  Mind you this was in practice where we all shoot better than we do in the actual match.  Some Hispanic shooters, possibly from El Paso. TX, were watching and were very impressed.  We started talking and I told them that I like to shoot pocket gophers when I could catch them with their heads out of their burrows.  They left and came back with an assortment of Mexican Aguila ammo for me to try out for shooting gophers.  They gave me 4 or 5 hundred rounds to try out.  Very nice fellows.  All encounters with Hispanic shooters are not bad. I have found Hispanic shooters at matches to be polite and funny as hell when they joke among themselves about shooting ability.

[kevin.303]

here's a reprint from another forum of what happened to a buddy of mine at the range i'm a member of;

hmmmm... can't find it. basicly what happened was he was doing some target shooting alone one afternoon when two guys appeared the range. they wheren't wearing membership cards and they didn't have any guns with them. he asked if they where there to join. "maybe" was the answer he got. they kept staring at him and edging closer. he told them loudly to stop, they where in his personal space. they where about 15 feet from him they kept coming towards him, still looking at him. he had his brand new XD40 on his belt and pulled it. it was empty but they didn't know that. they only stopped when he pulled back the slide and pointed at one of them. he then told them again to leave and they went on the other side of the club house, talked for about 10 minutes then drove off. because of the restrictive pistol laws in Canada criminals have figured out that they can get a gun by jumping someone at a range.


at this same rangei was shooting a while back and a few guys came along with .22's and 6 pack of beer. i asked if they wheremembers. " no" i told them they had to be members i was told to "f**k off" so i left. took down their licence plates and called the RCMP and the club president. i wasnt gonna stick around for the drunken gunplay. i would have loved to be there when they where busted though.

[Dali Llama]

All encounters with Hispanic shooters are not bad.

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:  

[Alice Cooper]

i stuck a round ball halfway up the barrel of a ruger old army using homemde wads with too-thin lube...which contaminated the powder.the gun  made a squealing noise like a mad pig,and the prettiest bunch of smoke rings came out the side...that's about all i've ever seen unusual at our range...oh, i did set one of my wifes good towels on fire there with it too!

[Oldtimer]

I was at a blackpowder match once and someone had brought a cannon.  It was quite safely set up and they were firing off a shot to show the onlookers how it was done.  A man was filling his powder horn, with his back to the action and was nearly done, when the cannon let go.  I don't know what color he was when he started, but when he turned around, he was one mighty white man! :eek:

[Dand]

Once during a turkey shoot at our range, a contestant was taking a long time to make his shot.  Finally put down his gun and said there was someone walking around behind the targets.  He was seeing some movement in the edge of his scope that distracted him but it took him a couple minutes to realize what he was seeing.  We ceased fire and 3 guys went down range to talk to the guy.  He was a trapper. He said oh I'm a Viet Vet, I've been shot at before, don't worry about me!!!!!!!!!!!

We waited until he was done and left.  There was enough brush to obscure him part of the time. Don't know how long he had been back there.  Sure gave us the willies to know we might have hit him without knowing he was there.  I should mention the range adjoined the land fill and there were a lot of foxes in the area, and bears in the summer.

Same range a friend of mine was sighting in his guns one morning. A brown bear wandered over the berm with a bag of garbage and proceded to go through the bag in the middle of the range. My friend watched and waited.  He had fired quite a few rounds, but the bear was unconcerned.

Same range, the club treasurer was testing a Walther PPK.  It jammed and he turns to me with the gun pointed straight at my stomach and asks me to help him out!  It was hard to stay calm while reminding him to be safe.  He was pretty embarrassed - I was shaking a little.

I've had to ask a number of folks to put down their guns or not handle them while someone was down range.  Most of the time I get dirty looks!  I'll take the dirty looks if I can encourage safety.

[Kurt]

Whatsa "range"?

[Shorty]

My friend and I were monitoring his teenage son while he zeroed his new .17 HMR.  We were policing his brass as it came back to us, and "What's THAT?"  A .22 Short case!  He had slipped that one in, just for the heck of it.  The case was, of course, blown out but not split.  He had already fired .17's behind it, so he's lucky that the .22 blew through the bore!  We educated him strongly.

[Bikenut]

My friend and I were monitoring his teenage son while he zeroed his new .17 HMR.  We were policing his brass as it came back to us, and "What's THAT?"  A .22 Short case!  He had slipped that one in, just for the heck of it.  The case was, of course, blown out but not split.  He had already fired .17's behind it, so he's lucky that the .22 blew through the bore!  We educated him strongly.

Say WHAT? A bullet .22 inches in diameter managed to go down a bore .17 inches in diameter? And the powder charge of a "short" had enough ooomph to shove that big bullet down that tiny bore???

 :eek:

[Shorty]

Bikenut,
Apparently so!  Scary, Eh?  I'll have to ask if, when he cleaned his rifle, he felt a "ring" in the bore.