Bad experiences on the shooting range

[SmithGuy]

I am always interested in hearing stories about bad experiences on the shooting range because it helps me be more careful when I shoot. It seems everyone has had at least one negative experience while shooting on the range. Does anyone have any stories they would like to share?

I have had thousands of positive and fun experience on the shooting range, but I had two bad experiences I wanted to mention:

The first was on the public Atterbury shooting range years ago before they refurbished it. I was on the 25 yard pistol range one day and there were very few people on the range at that time. After a while I was the only one shooting on the range. A guy came up and was picking up brass and he started a friendly conversation with me. As I was talking to him, I noticed he glanced over my shoulder so I turned around and there was a guy standing about two feet behind me. He was uncomfortably close and I immediately got that unsettling feeling that I was about to get in a fight. My first thought was to grab my gun, but it was empty at that moment with an empty magazine. They both ended up walking away and I packed up my stuff and got out of there as fast as I could.

The other bad experience I had on the range was actually in Dallas, TX. I was shooting pistols with some family members and there was a group of about 5 or 6 women being trained on the lanes near us by a female firearms instructor. I noticed the instructor was handling a revolver behind the firing line, but I decided not to say anything about it. I kept shooting and all of a sudden I heard a discharge and a scream. The gun the instructor was handling had discharged behind the firing line, and the bullet hit the concrete, ricocheted, and hit one of the female shooters in the leg. It cut through her jeans but luckily it was only a flesh wound but it did draw some blood. My brother's wife wanted us to leave right then and there, but I decided to be nosy and find out what happened. After the commotion died down, I asked the victim what happened and she said the instructor told her that a hot shell casing had hit her and caused her injuries. I told her that was a lie because a revolver does not automatically eject shell casings. And even if the instructor had shot a semi automatic, the hot shell casing that was ejected would not cut through a pair of jeans and draw blood. After that I always challenge people when they are acting stupid on the shooting range.

Anyone have any other bad shooting range experiences they would like to share?

 

[K_W]

When I was 11 a neighbor friend's father took us boys out to Don's old Carmel shop/range to shoot .22's and I had a hot casing bounce off the divider and land inside my eye pro. No permanent injuries, but it hurt for a few days.

 

[jontheturboguy]

Saw a Russian (Ukraine) guy lock his keys in his car once at the range....

But actual bad things at the range....asked a "dad" to supervise his child better. He had given his child a full mag'd 22 rifle. Child started shooting wildly as dad simply walked off to get a soda.
He promptly left after he returned my "suggestion" with a hastily response. The RO had seen the commotion and simply ended the "dads" range time.
Not much of a dad to hand a novice youth shooter a firearm and walk off....

 

[1911ly]

I have had more then one shooter walk forward of the firing line to shoot pistols and 10-15 yards instead of the 25 mark. I told one group to get behind the benches and they said my shooting wasn't going to bother them. Well from my point of veiw I am just about aiming over your shoulder. How good a shot do you think I am? Then when that did not phase them I asked to see there member cards. they would not show them so I told them to leave and I would be givving the range master there plate number and make and model of the car. Range master later told me I should have called the police. I hate being the range jerk but I also have never shot anyone and would like to kee it that way.

99.9 % of my trips have been great, Good people and a good time. Most listen well to constructive critisizms. I am not perfect and get range tripped tuned up once in a while. Listen and learn!

 

[grogie]

At the Eagle Creek range, I took my wife one time. I always work with her to improve her shooting, handling of different guns, she's very safe, and a good shot. Well one of the range guys, who was big, old and bossy, saw this "cute little girl" walk in, and proceeded to think that he need to show her how to use a big bad gun because women are dumb. Okay, I'm sure he was just trying to help I later assured her, but neither of us appreciated his attitude and he just needed to back off. It turned what should have been a good experience for me to work with my wife into a bad experience.

Another time, the only indoor range I've ever been to was in San Diego. It wasn't a bad experience, just interesting as I was the only one in the place that spoke English.

 

[j706]

I have never had a bad experience but I have sure seen some crazy things at public ranges. A few memorable ones like a pair of office types attempting to load a SKS. They didnt have a clue. I watched as one swung open the non detachable mag, dumped some loose rounds in the open mag and attempted to close it They would shake the thing and seemed dumb founded that it would not work.

Another was a father/son that actually were attempting to zero a scoped bolt gun. The scope was mounted backwards!

A man who was very frustrated that his DCM M1 Garand would not group. Super nice guy BTW. He asked me if I would give it a go. As I started to load a clip I noticed the ammunition was .270 Winchester. He told me that a family member sold him the loose ammo.

To be blunt I just will not go to public ranges. I am glad they are around and wish there were more of them. But they often have to many people on them that don't have a clue.

 

[Dustzilla]

I've not had any bad experiences really. I hate shooting indoors when the lanes are tight because the brass often hits the dividers and hits me in the head, forcing me to wear a hat... I did lose hearing in one ear for about a year after going to the range with some friends. They were shooting a .308 rifle and I didn't have good ear protection. I now use good ear protection everytime I shoot.

 

[horsehaulin]

My wife, her brother and her cousin went shooting. Her cousin was in the next stall shooting his Glock chambered in .45. One of his casings came over the wall and hit my wife in the head, she didn't think anything more about it until the heat of a shard of brass started to burn her forehead. I had to get tweezers and pull the shard out of her forehead. Later found out her cousins firearm was sent to Glock for warrenty repairs, and a new barrel.

 

[mulsas]

Thankfully, my worst is similar to a few others, a hot shell casing bounced off a divider and hit me in the head. For those of us without hair, that isn't a pretty sight. So a hat is now a must. But given that I am still a relative novice when it comes to all of this, I am just doing my best to be safe, be aware, and keep a close eye on my son.

 

[rvb]

At a private range with 3 bays beside each other. there is a group of police officers practicing in the far right bay, I take the middle bay next to them and set up targets and get to practicing. The bays are 25yds deep, with another 25+ yds of open space behind them. I'm walking uprange from pasting and see muzzle flashes from multiple long guns! They had gone into the open space behind the bays so they could shoot at 50 yds. That put me at no more than a 30-degree angle from their targets. I dove for the berm dividing the bays and stayed there until the shooting stopped.

I was seriously pissed. Knowing they were from a PD, I simply packed my stuff as fast as I could and left. I knew if I confronted them I would I wouldn't be able to maintain my composure... I simply reported them to the range owner, with the comment that next time I would shoot back.

-rvb

 

[Meister]

With all the brand spanking new gun owners in the mix, it's bound to get gamey if you don't get them at least a little training.

Bad experiences:

-Getting ricochet's a plenty at atterbury before the remodel or the trailer.
-Setting up under a hornets nest at Crosley. They didn't like the blast from my compensator.
-Getting yelled at because my 44 mag is too loud
-Warning the guy who set up next to me at Crosley that my compensated 338 lapua magnum wasn't going to be pleasant, he dismissed it. Then wanted to fight when I blew the hat off his head.
-90% of the conversations at public ranges are excruciatingly stupid. Listening to it and not commenting is agony.

I became a member at a private range and now my only complaint is not bringing enough ammo.

 

[rvb]

"But it's unloaded!"

I swear the next time I hear that I'm going to pistol whip someone. I can't tell you how many times I've looked down muzzles and I get that response when I tell them to get their gun pointed down range. One guy I had to threaten to shove the gun somewhere unpleasant before he got the message (he later came over an appologized).

-rvb

 

[rvb]

casing burns, bullet splatter/frags, ricochets... that's just part of shooting, I don't consider that a "bad experience." It's why we all wear our safety glasses, right?!

-rvb

 

[rvb]

Public indoor range on the east coast I visited at least weekly.... range wasn't in a bad neighborhood. it was a few hundred yards from my house, which was a pretty decent neighborhood... but it was only a mile or so from "Pioneer City," one of the roughest places outside of DC or Baltimore proper (the area had improved to the point the police would at least respond to calls there, and often posted patrols... years prior they wouldn't even venture there w/o backup). So lots of gang banger types visited the range. Many times I left the firing line and hung with the employees, watching the banger-wannabes through the bulletproof glass.

Let me tell you, in a gunfight w/ these guys, the safest place to be is 5 yds in front of them!

There was twice the store asked me to keep an eye out, and hang out until closing, because they had gotten word from the PD they'd gotten a tip the store would be hit.

In the 5 yrs I lived there, there were two random murders in my neighborhood. I suspect gang initiations. I often wonder if I shot next to any of those killers at that indoor range....

I always watched for cars following me home from that range and often took the long way and doubled back. Lots of shady characters. It was much better than the indoor range east of the DC beltway! Clientele at that place was REALLY shadey.

Glad I moved out of there...

-rvb

 

[Uncle Jrod]

I was at a range in North Dakota last year that had no RSO. When I pulled up there were these 2 guys with an AK variant. I believe the gun belonged to the older looking guy, and the younger guy had the gun at the line and as i pulled up he turns all the way around sweeping the whole range. There was only one other group and they didn't seem to notice this guy shooting like an idiot. The older guy said something to him about doing that so I figured he wouldn't do it again. I go up to the line and shoot a mag from my pistol. This younger guy loads up another mag and is just firing away from the hip spraying rounds all over, hitting the ground as close as 15 yards in front of him. I'm watching this out of the corner of my eye, and when he's done (assume the mag is empty, no bolt hold open so can't be sure) he turns around to his friend sweeping the range and me again. I am instantly pissed and in a not so nice tone of voice tell him to not point that effin thing at me again. He can't hear what I am saying because he was not wearing any hearing protection. I have my pistol in my hand, and I'm thinking if this idiot swings the muzzle of that thing back around and sweeps me again I am gonna draw down on him and have him drop the rifle. Thankfully his buddy took the gun from him and I grabbed my stuff and left. I said something along the lines of "That idiot is so stupid he's dangerous" as I left. I didn't go back to that range much after that.

 

[nucone]

This past Friday, I was at a private gun club range and a father showed up with his 5 year old son and grandfather. This was the boys first time at the range. The father put foam earplugs into his son's ears (doubtful that they actually fit properly in such small canals) and the line went hot. The boy had a BB gun, dad a 300WSM and grandfather a 45. Shooting progressed and I had just taken a shot with a .22lr, glanced over and 5 year old was downrange at the 7 yd berm while dad and grandpa were pounding away with their artillery. Line immediately called cold and grandpa calmly talked to his grandson about the incident.

I think it is great to take children to the range but, ensure you have an adult 100% dedicated to monitoring the childs activities when shooting. Also, ensure they have the safety equipment appropriate to their age.

 

[Jack Burton]

I’ve told this story before but it is always good for another go around.

I worked in a Navy personnel office on Torii Station Army Base just north of Kadena AFB 1n 1974 and our department head decided that he wanted all of us clerical type people .45 qualified (maybe because he was concerned that chucking our typewriters at invading Viet Cong couldn't guarantee us a OSS).

I was in a lane to the immediate left of a young sailorette, one of the first WAVES assigned permanently on Okinawa. She had just started in working in our office a few days earlier and in WAVE boot camp they then didn't weapons qualify so it was her first time with any gun of any kind.

Being a female type sailor, her dungaree blouse buttoned from the reverse of the men's, so the opening gapped to the left instead of the right. While we were shooting rapid fire one of my ejected brass flew into the gap in her blouse, and then wedged deeply into her cleavage (she was VERY well endowed).

She was quite surprised, upset, and vocal... and waving a .45 around in one hand while she danced across the range grabbing at her chest with the other. I was the only one who knew what happened, and I was dying laughing while everyone else scattered until things got back under control. I think the range Gunny put his retirement papers in the next day. Just couldn't handle these new-fangled ideas about women on the firing line.

She eventually forgave me, and this year we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. (She's since learned much better range manners, and I try not to give her any reason to regret going with me

 

[rvb]

She eventually forgave me, and this year we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary.

-rvb

 

[Jack Burton]

Last year we were at Willow Slough when it was pretty crowded. There was a group of teens down at the far end of the 50 yard lane, all new shooters. An inexperienced adult was with them.

They called for a a time out but didn't get the "eye contact" from everyone so not all shooters knew they were going to head down range. Assuming that just because they waved their hands everyone would respect that, they headed to check their targets whle the line was still hot. I got off four or five shots myself before I heard them screaming that they were downrange and to stop shooting.

They blamed the shooters, saying that it was our responsibility to check before every shot as to whether or not someone was downrange. The RO quickly set them straight but they still whined about it afterwards.

 

[Jack Burton]

Was at Slough once when a bunch of gehtto trash was lined up at the 100 yard range with their Glocks. They were bouncing the majority of the shots off the ground about 40 feet in front of the tables with their sideways shooting. We told the RO and he cleared them out immediately. They left quietly, perhaps understanding that for once they were the ones who were heavily outgunned.

I go to that range a lot and that is the only time I've seen a problem such as that one.