Post your funniest range story...

[Faronth]

How many times have you seen this or a variation of this….

Was at a 500m silhouette range one weekend having some fun with a buddy. This range has no active range master over watch. It is up to each group to watch each other and shut down a range when targets need to be changed ect…

We were at one end of the firing line and there was a young couple over at the other end. He was teaching a lady friend how to shoot with a variety of firearms. Things were going reasonably well. She was shooting .22 rifle and a small caliber pistol or two. We went about the fun of pinging steel at the various ranges.

I happened to look over in between magazines and there she is holding a bolt action rifle she has no business holding… It seems to happen in slow motion, you can see she is holding it 100% wrong, rifle not set into the shoulder, no cheek weld at all, face way to close to the scope… the boyfriend standing there not correcting her and then boom! Two instant black eyes and a pretty substantial blood flow from her nose.

And there you have another person who will never go the range (nor date that guy) again. I caught up with the soon to be ex-boyfriend over at the check in shack where he was getting something to apply to her busted nose and said, “What were you thinking?”, in a nice way. He just shook his head and said, “I know I know”,

Apparently, he did not.

 

[wingman7mag]

I was at the range a few yrs ago to sight in a new rifle. Busy day and when a bench finally opened I was next to a guy with boxes of empty brass down to his last box of ammo. I got my rifle zeroed at 100 with 3rounds, then shot a great 5 shot group. The guy next to me says "Man, you got that sighted in real quick. I've already put 50 rounds downrange and can't get my zero to stay still." I asked him if he mounted his own scope? He said a buddy of his did it for him. I told him to have his buddy buy him some more ammo. The scope was mounted 90degrees counter clockwise---Left/Right was on top and up/down was on the left.
I guess everyone has to start somewhere...

 

[joelinux]

I was at the range a few yrs ago to sight in a new rifle. Busy day and when a bench finally opened I was next to a guy with boxes of empty brass down to his last box of ammo. I got my rifle zeroed at 100 with 3rounds, then shot a great 5 shot group. The guy next to me says "Man, you got that sighted in real quick. I've already put 50 rounds downrange and can't get my zero to stay still." I asked him if he mounted his own scope? He said a buddy of his did it for him. I told him to have his buddy buy him some more ammo. The scope was mounted 90degrees counter clockwise---Left/Right was on top and up/down was on the left.
I guess everyone has to start somewhere...

Simple solution: a marker and masking tape...just reverse the "elevation" and "windage" labels.

It's like I have to think of everything...

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I consider myself a bit lucky to have a few ranges within commuting distance where almost all of us actually look after the facilities as if they are our own and there have not been any real cases of fucktard behavior. Not only does it make for an excellent shooting experience but it gives the shooting community a very good name in general.

Some of my own funniest experiences shooting all come from folks underestimating the capabilities of older, more traditional handguns and the history lesson that follows immediately. A while back when I performed a lot of gunsmithing and custom jobs on SAA and black powder revolvers as a side gig, one of my unwavering policies was that EVERY gun will be test fired, and then thoroughly cleaned and oiled before being sent back to the client. Now I have posted a much condensed version of this particular account in @Centuriator 's epic Glock thread over at Sidearms, but here is what happened after the test firing of this particular gun that made it most interesting.

Long story short, guy tried to fire smokeless powder in a Uberti 1851 Navy .36 caliber reproduction. Said it was a duplex Red Dot and Pyrodex load. He was lucky he loaded only one chamber. Cylinder was completely wrecked, basepin pulled out and bent. That was the condition of the gun when it was sent to me. Wrecked pin and retaining stud had to be drilled out. New pin installed, epoxy-set into it's threads, new cylinder put back in and barrel realigned.

Come time for test fire. 30 yards. Standard load of 18 grains Swiss FFFg with 80 grain ball. 6 clay birds. 6 hits. Nothing was loose and nothing rattled. As I was about to slowly pack up and head back home, a group of 4 guys came over onto the firing benches. Now you can tell immediately that they were the tacticool types. UFC shirts and shirts with various local LE agencies printed on them. Rugged plastic pistol cases. Polymer knuckled tac-gloves. They had seen me shoot when they just pulled up so naturally we started talking about our guns. They had brought several Sigs, Glocks, and an HK USP and looked like they were more kitted up for a dynamic entry on a drug den than an afternoon range session. When I showed them the old .36 that I had been firing off, at least two of them snorted and one asked: "That's an old pirate gun. You gotta put the shit down the barrel to shoot it right?" And as soon as that was said, another one chimed in: "I heard back in the old days pistols were just used to scare the enemy..."

OK......Hold up there. I am not a braggart, but you certainly do NOT call an 1851 Colt's Naval Pattern revolver an "old pirate gun". And you certainly do not tell a lifelong handgunner that pistols are incapable in any way...

So after a minute or more of talk and "I betcha' can't", I decided I will set up a single clay at the farthest end of the range and settle this business once and for all. The range was a 100 yard facility, but if you count the few yards separating the farthest target stands from the actual pressed dirt backstop, you will get a total of around 110 yards to the firing line. I set my target up right against the backstop and went back to the group. Chambers loaded this time with 22 grains as everyone watched. First shot, right hand grip, left hand behind my back in Wild Bill Hickok fashion. CR-AA-CK! Enough authority to that report to let me know that my round was leaving the barrel at just around supersonic speed. As the thin cloud of bluish smoke quickly faded, it was apparent that the bright orange dot of the clay bird at 110 yards was gone.

After the collective "wh-oaah!" died out, one of the guys passed a pair of binoculars to me. Apparently, most of the clay disc had been obliterated by the shot, but just one small pizza slice-shaped fragment remained on the disc holder. Good call. Challenge accepted. Second shot, same stance, but now going purely by the smudge of the dark plastic target holder against the dun colored backstop. CRACK! A cloud of dirt rises just a few inches right of the target. Close but no bacon......yet. Now a bit of squinting, trying to maintain even breathing. Third shot. CRACK! Another small explosion of dirt. "Shit! He got it", binocular guy exclaimed. I actually hit the plastic clay holder and it was completely fucked up, but.........it is cheap and easily replaceable so no big deal. The most important thing is, I proved my point.

When I sent the gun back to the man who originally gave it to me to fix, I told him about that range outing and what I did and we both had a good laugh about it.

And remember: Be careful of what propellant you are using in the various guns that you are shooting. If it specifies a certain type of powder only, better heed those instructions. The old timers who carried cap and ball revolvers for hunting and defense were in NO WAY outgunned or disadvantaged in any way. The next time someone makes a claim exhibiting the full symptoms of magnumitis, kindly remind 'em that the humble .45 ACP cartridge was not just designed for use as a sidearm. It was meant to bring down the horses of enemy cavalrymen and as a SHTF hunting and survival weapon, just like the .44 caliber 1847 Walkers and 1848 Dragoons before it.


Edited to clarify: I bring my own target stands when I shoot so no range property is ever damaged.

 

[joelinux]

I consider myself a bit lucky to have a few ranges within commuting distance where almost all of us actually look after the facilities as if they are our own and there have not been any real cases of fucktard behavior. Not only does it make for an excellent shooting experience but it gives the shooting community a very good name in general.

Some of my own funniest experiences shooting all come from folks underestimating the capabilities of older, more traditional handguns and the history lesson that follows immediately. A while back when I performed a lot of gunsmithing and custom jobs on SAA and black powder revolvers as a side gig, one of my unwavering policies was that EVERY gun will be test fired, and then thoroughly cleaned and oiled before being sent back to the client. Now I have posted a much condensed version of this particular account in @Centuriator 's epic Glock thread over at Sidearms, but here is what happened after the test firing of this particular gun that made it most interesting.

Long story short, guy tried to fire smokeless powder in a Uberti 1851 Navy .36 caliber reproduction. Said it was a duplex Red Dot and Pyrodex load. He was lucky he loaded only one chamber. Cylinder was completely wrecked, basepin pulled out and bent. That was the condition of the gun when it was sent to me. Wrecked pin and retaining stud had to be drilled out. New pin installed, epoxy-set into it's threads, new cylinder put back in and barrel realigned.

Come time for test fire. 30 yards. Standard load of 18 grains Swiss FFFg with 80 grain ball. 6 clay birds. 6 hits. Nothing was loose and nothing rattled. As I was about to slowly pack up and head back home, a group of 4 guys came over onto the firing benches. Now you can tell immediately that they were the tacticool types. UFC shirts and shirts with various local LE agencies printed on them. Rugged plastic pistol cases. Polymer knuckled tac-gloves. They had seen me shoot when they just pulled up so naturally we started talking about our guns. They had brought several Sigs, Glocks, and an HK USP and looked like they were more kitted up for a dynamic entry on a drug den than an afternoon range session. When I showed them the old .36 that I had been firing off, at least two of them snorted and one asked: "That's an old pirate gun. You gotta put the shit down the barrel to shoot it right?" And as soon as that was said, another one chimed in: "I heard back in the old days pistols were just used to scare the enemy..."

OK......Hold up there. I am not a braggart, but you certainly do NOT call an 1851 Colt's Naval Pattern revolver an "old pirate gun". And you certainly do not tell a lifelong handgunner that pistols are incapable in any way...

So after a minute or more of talk and "I betcha' can't", I decided I will set up a single clay at the farthest end of the range and settle this business once and for all. The range was a 100 yard facility, but if you count the few yards separating the farthest target stands from the actual pressed dirt backstop, you will get a total of around 110 yards to the firing line. I set my target up right against the backstop and went back to the group. Chambers loaded this time with 22 grains as everyone watched. First shot, right hand grip, left hand behind my back in Wild Bill Hickok fashion. CR-AA-CK! Enough authority to that report to let me know that my round was leaving the barrel at just around supersonic speed. As the thin cloud of bluish smoke quickly faded, it was apparent that the bright orange dot of the clay bird at 110 yards was gone.

After the collective "wh-oaah!" died out, one of the guys passed a pair of binoculars to me. Apparently, most of the clay disc had been obliterated by the shot, but just one small pizza slice-shaped fragment remained on the disc holder. Good call. Challenge accepted. Second shot, same stance, but now going purely by the smudge of the dark plastic target holder against the dun colored backstop. CRACK! A cloud of dirt rises just a few inches right of the target. Close but no bacon......yet. Now a bit of squinting, trying to maintain even breathing. Third shot. CRACK! Another small explosion of dirt. "Shit! He got it", binocular guy exclaimed. I actually hit the plastic clay holder and it was completely fucked up, but.........it is cheap and easily replaceable so no big deal. The most important thing is, I proved my point.

When I sent the gun back to the man who originally gave it to me to fix, I told him about that range outing and what I did and we both had a good laugh about it.

And remember: Be careful of what propellant you are using in the various guns that you are shooting. If it specifies a certain type of powder only, better heed those instructions. The old timers who carried cap and ball revolvers for hunting and defense were in NO WAY outgunned or disadvantaged in any way. The next time someone makes a claim exhibiting the full symptoms of magnumitis, kindly remind 'em that the humble .45 ACP cartridge was not just designed for use as a sidearm. It was meant to bring down the horses of enemy cavalrymen and as a SHTF hunting and survival weapon, just like the .44 caliber 1847 Walkers and 1848 Dragoons before it.


Edited to clarify: I bring my own target stands when I shoot so no range property is ever damaged.

Horses?

I heard a different story about the original of the .45 ACP...

What I heard is that during the Spanish American war, we had issued really powerful revolvers to our forces.

The much less technological forces we were fighting would bind themselves up tight and charge our guys. The shots were so powerful they would go clean through. The enemy, though fatally wounded, would be able to get close enough, due to their binding holding them together, and would be able to be able to get close enough to take out one or two of our guys with melee weapons before succumbing to their injuries.

So, the .45 ACP was developed to slightly penetrate, but stop inside of them, thus spinning them around, then dropping them. Seeing as it is much harder to get up after being shot, the enemy was stopped cold in their tracks, solving the problem.

But that is just what I heard...

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Horses?

I heard a different story about the original of the .45 ACP...

What I heard is that during the Spanish American war, we had issued really powerful revolvers to our forces.

The much less technological forces we were fighting would bind themselves up tight and charge our guys. The shots were so powerful they would go clean through. The enemy, though fatally wounded, would be able to get close enough, due to their binding holding them together, and would be able to be able to get close enough to take out one or two of our guys with melee weapons before succumbing to their injuries.

So, the .45 ACP was developed to slightly penetrate, but stop inside of them, thus spinning them around, then dropping them. Seeing as it is much harder to get up after being shot, the enemy was stopped cold in their tracks, solving the problem.

But that is just what I heard...

Ah, I am aware of that version of the story too. The Moros of the Philippines. They were Muslim fanatics and the Spanish had named them due to their resemblance to the medieval Moors which had occupied Spain. The word was that the US Army had just transitioned to the .38 Special for their standard issue sidearm, and even multiple shots from these guns were not enough to stop a Moro fighter from charging into machete range. For the duration of the war, the Army took thousands of just-retired 1873 SAA Colts in the larger .45 Long Colt and reissued them to front line troops to deal with the Muslim insurgency.

 

[remmynikon.308]

Ah, I am aware of that version of the story too. The Moros of the Philippines. They were Muslim fanatics and the Spanish had named them due to their resemblance to the medieval Moors which had occupied Spain. The word was that the US Army had just transitioned to the .38 Special for their sidearm, and even multiple shots were not enough to stop a Moro fighter from charging into machete range. For the duration of the war, the Army took thousands of just-retired 1873 SAA Colts in .45 Long Colt and reissued them to front line troops to deal with the Muslim insurgency.

I love the history that comes out in these threads!

 

[joelinux]

I love the history that comes out in these threads!

Firearm history is fascinating. It's why "Forgotten Weapons" is so popular on Youtube.

 

[deersniper]

Ah, I am aware of that version of the story too. The Moros of the Philippines. They were Muslim fanatics and the Spanish had named them due to their resemblance to the medieval Moors which had occupied Spain. The word was that the US Army had just transitioned to the .38 Special for their standard issue sidearm, and even multiple shots from these guns were not enough to stop a Moro fighter from charging into machete range. For the duration of the war, the Army took thousands of just-retired 1873 SAA Colts in the larger .45 Long Colt and reissued them to front line troops to deal with the Muslim insurgency.

So .45 really us a better man stopper than 9mm

 

[Kir]

Read the story about the one round of .357 Mag along with the rest being .38 SPC. My sergeant in the Air Force did that to his wife when he got a new revolver and he let her try it out. She said it did not have much recoil until she came to the .357 rd and broke a bone in her arm.
I took my 13 yr. to the range and loaded it up with blanks then teased him about not being able to hit anything. Afterwards, I showed him what I did and he got a good laugh out of it too. Later, when he came to visit me when he was in his 30's, I casually mentioned if there was anything of mine that he would like to have and he said "that gun". So I ended up giving him my Ruger Convertible .22 LR/.22 Mag six-gun. Sure miss that one. I originally bought it for $75.

 

[joelinux]

We've all seen the video of the guy unable to hit a deer that was standing still in the open, right?

 

[deersniper]

We've all seen the video of the guy unable to hit a deer that was standing still in the open, right?

That was lowlight let me try and find the video

 

[brianf]

Ah, I am aware of that version of the story too. The Moros of the Philippines. They were Muslim fanatics and the Spanish had named them due to their resemblance to the medieval Moors which had occupied Spain. The word was that the US Army had just transitioned to the .38 Special for their standard issue sidearm, and even multiple shots from these guns were not enough to stop a Moro fighter from charging into machete range. For the duration of the war, the Army took thousands of just-retired 1873 SAA Colts in the larger .45 Long Colt and reissued them to front line troops to deal with the Muslim insurgency.

Really...Muslim fanatics...back then...who would have thought.

I thought trump created them 2 years ago

I Must be confused again

 

[joelinux]

That was lowlight let me try and find the video

Here it is...

 

[deersniper]

Nah someone took this one and edited in lowlight shooting off a tripod. Must have been on scout can't find it now

 

[SilentStalkr]

Shooting my 7.62 M1A, my 'buddy' hands me a full mag to shoot. I pop it in, chamber a round, and the bolt sticks almost all the way in. I had to mortar the round out, and I'm checking the rifle over, running the bolt. Try it again with the same results. Finally get that one unstuck and I'm looking the mags over now, inspecting the rounds, and yep, he had handed me a mag full of 6.5 Creedmoor. He was back there laughing his ass off.

That’s messed up. You need new friends!

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Horrifying range stories, yes.

My funniest stories are match stories.

My favorite:
Overheard from know everything competitor, talking to one of his disciples:
"You know this stage can't be cleaned with a bolt gun."

5 minutes later from me and the boy's uncle.:
Unc: "Hmmm.....looks like a 15 year old kid can clean it."
Me: "Damn! How does it feel to let a kid wax your ass?"

 

[Erno86]

"Ride Along (5/10)"- Movie Clip

 

[remmynikon.308]

One day we were Shooting pistols at 15 yards at a shooting tree with 6" plates when the landlord stopped by. He watched for a few minutes and then said "hell, if you guys are standing that close, you might as well throw rocks!"
Not long after that, he pulls out his pistol and misses every shot he takes.....
as he was standing there in disbelief, i said "you may want to stick to throwing rocks...."

 

[Red_SC]

A number of years ago, a bunch of us ‘serious shooters’ were on a private 1000 yard range. At the beginning, the landowner reminded us that deer season was in, and anything was fair game. Hours and hundreds of rounds later, a very nice 8 point suddenly burst out around 450 yards out. I was on a spotting scope with no rifle around. The guy I was spotting for had just run dry, he was rolling around frantically looking for ammo, another buddy was dialed in at 1000 yards and yelling for the range and drop correction. The buck slid to a stop, looked around for a second or two, and bounded away without a shot being fired and a dozen guys shaking their heads. Fortunately, we’ve all come a long way since then.

 

[GBMaryland]

Same range... different players... same level of stupidity, more actually, than the last story.

We were all talking about a story we heard abiut someone making a ”beer can mortor.”

(This is before the internet young ones.... ?)

[Do not try to replicate this... it is extremely dangerous... if you dont kill yourself, youll accidently kill someone else.]

The concept was that you fill a shell with gun power, jam it into the base of a beer can, and fill the beer can concrete.

Simultaneously, you build the tube and install a system to set off the shell.

[I’m being intentionally vague here.]

So after some basic work, the individuals that decided to try this do so by aiming down past the 130 yard marker at the range. (The range was empty... thank the Lord.)

They drop the first one into the tube, and there is a pretty woooommmp!

...but no one sees the projectile. I mean, that sucker is gone.

Assuming that they just closed their eyes and missed it, they fire another one... then two... the four.

Obviously, if it doesnt work the first time, try it a bunch more!

Remarkably, no one gets hurt during the test firing... it actually work as expected!

Well... sorta.

About 30-45 minutes later, the Sheriff shows up.

“What you guys got there?”

“Ughhhhhhh.... a beer can mortor?”

“Why dont you guys put that away, and we’ll go for a ride.”

“Ok?”

Now you have to understand the layout of thus range... as I said, it was about 130 yards deep by about 200 yards.

One important thing I forgot to meantion was that the down range berm was a natural tree covered hill that ran parallel to the range.

Back to our two delinquents....

The Sheriff drives the two over to the golf course on the other side of the berm/hill.

There they meet the (quite pissed off) grounds keeper... who is looking at the good sized craters in his fairway.

After a bit he calms down and the LEO asks him what he wants to do. Evetually, it is decided that community service of fixing the damage under grounds keepers direct (and dodging golf ball of equally annoyed patrons) will be acceptable. Along with the confiscation of the tube and destruction of the rounds.

Took two weeks to fully repair the damage and get the repair to the keepers liking. Alot of missed college / work for the two.

Frankly, the sear suprise that most of the rounds cleared that distance.

Some did hit trees, and did a decent amount of damage.

Extremely lucky no one was on the golf course at fhe time.

There was a bunch of math done to determine pressure in the tube, and how far the projectiles should be able go based on the pressure and mass.... and how long the tube should be for maximum effectiveness... all of it wrong.

 

[GBMaryland]

Its probably a good thing that tannerite was not readily available innthe early 1990s!

 

[flyer]

Out of curiosity, can you use Google Earth or something to estimate the distance your beer cans flew?

What size shell did you use? Fast powder or slow powder?

Not that I'll ever try it but knowing what that ballpark is like might come in handy.

 

[GBMaryland]

I really don’t know what was used. I also don’t want to elaborate too much... for example, there was some type of agregate in the concrete. Etc... etc..

I would say that the overall distance was probably about 200 yards... what I’m not sure is how the heck the elevation worked out.

The suspicion was always that the rounds that made it to golf course simply got through the trees; the ruts in the fairway seemed to suggect a shallow trajectory. Though the damage was substantial...

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I really don’t know what was used. I also don’t want to elaborate too much... for example, there was some type of agregate in the concrete. Etc... etc..

I would say that the overall distance was probably about 200 yards... what I’m not sure is how the heck the elevation worked out.

The suspicion was always that the rounds that made it to golf course simply got through the trees; the ruts in the fairway seemed to suggect a shallow trajectory. Though the damage was substantial...

Pic's or it didn't happen!!!!

 

[captainmorgan460]

One fall day I impromptu decided I would take a weekend off of pheasant hunting to tag a deer on my parents farm. I hadn't big-game hunted in awhile and binge-watched every episode of Meat Eater to the point there were 500 different recipes I needed to try.

I was spoiled on growing up with sporterized Mauser 98's of various calibers for typical hunting rifles. Quick inventory I realized that everything either didn't have a scope, had parts swapped or needed to be replaced or didn't have any reloads made. Remaining stock was either a 5.56 carbine or a heavy ass PRS type rig. Not going to work. Couple days to opener, no problem, ran up town and picked up a nice little Ruger American Predator in 6.5 CM, mounted a Leupold VXR and was mostly ready for the weekend. All that was left was to get a good zero.

Hustled up to the farm after work on a Friday and setup a target at 25, 50, and 100 to get a quick zero. Prone out on the front deck with a chronograph in front. Shot at 25, pretty close, made an adjustment. Shot at 50, pretty much right on. Backed out to 100, 3 shots later and it's no-where. What the fuck... Back to 50 with 3 shots was one nice ragged hole. Okay, back to 100 with 3 shots after putting up a few more pieces of paper. 2 foot group. "What the FUCK." Rinse and repeat back and forth from 25, 50, 100, 50, 100, etc to the point I'm running out of ammo and have no idea what is happening. 25 and 50 it's shooting excellent little groups but 100 yards it's the worse I've ever seen out of any rifle ever.

All the engineering and firearms experience I have I'm drawing a blank. It's getting dark and have no idea what to do. The old man walks up and takes him about 3 seconds to figure out and say "YOU'RE SHOOTING THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE RAILING"

Apparently 25 and 50 yards just cleared the bottom of the railing, at 100 I was tipped just low enough to punch through the 2x6. Everybody got deer, haven't fixed that board yet.

 

[GBMaryland]

Pic's or it didn't happen!!!!

No cell phone cameras in the 1990s!

Man, the Sheriff read the perps the riot act... you could be charged with this and that.

Very lucky... words just dont decribe it enough...

 

[MK20]

Not exactly a range story, but we were doing some shooting while in training in the military. Came back and some guys washed their uniforms in the team room washer and dryer. One of the team sergeants takes the dried clothes out and finds a 5.56 round in the dryer. The team leadership lost their shit. They started freaking out at us and were telling us that it could have gone off and killed someone.
I lost tons of respect for them right then.
Just goes to show that just because you can shoot a gun doesn't mean that you actually know jack shit about them in a practical way.

This was in training and fortunately most of those guys chilled out after they got out of training.

 

[Zuul]

Local range is just a chunk of state hunting land that everyone goes to, its nice because you can pull right up and shoot out of the back of your truck if want. Plenty of gun fuckery though, so much in fact that I purposely try to be there before sun up so I can get the one spot below the main range that can only fit one vehicle. Don’t have to worry about some idiot waving a loaded firearm at me or deal with the self appointed range nazi in his 5.11 gear.

Case in point, show up late to the spot and get stuck up at the main range with 4 or 5 other groups of people. One group, all of them enjoying some Coors Light, is fucking around with tannerite. They call for a cease fire and proceed to set a med size tannerite about 75 yards down range with a used car oil filter on top of the jar. Range goes hot again and it takes one of the guys a couple shots but he hits the jar with his scoped 30-30, “BOOM!”, I watch the oil filter fly up in the air and soar back towards the firing line. The filter makes a nice arch and lands on the roof of a brand new 4Runner, owner is fucking livid. Shouting/shoving match ensues. I didn’t stick around for the outcome but I don’t think it ended well for the tannerite boys, 4Runner owner said his brother was a cop when the shouting/pushing started.

 

[Barneybdb]

I really don’t know what was used. I also don’t want to elaborate too much... for example, there was some type of agregate in the concrete. Etc... etc..

I would say that the overall distance was probably about 200 yards... what I’m not sure is how the heck the elevation worked out.

The suspicion was always that the rounds that made it to golf course simply got through the trees; the ruts in the fairway seemed to suggect a shallow trajectory. Though the damage was substantial...

About 45 years ago we made something similar when beer cans were made of steel and needed an opener. We used "thunderflashes" to launch empty cans as an alternate to skeet shooting. Our air force base range faced the ocean, quite often fishing boats would ignore the range flags and come in close causing us to shut down. We came up with an alternate propellant that would launch cans full of sand about 400+ yards. Boats did not hang around after the big splash they made next to them.

 

[Maggot]

Yeah, my old man was petrified about having the operation… And then he finally did it and couldn’t believe the difference. Same story....

One of the best choices I ever made. Went from 20/80 20/90 to 20/15 and 20/18. In and out in 3 hours each time.

Do your research and get a 'specialist' not a guy who does them once a month.

 

[Campguy308]

Our range has been a 200 yard BR range since it's opening many years ago. We put in a 600 yard range a couple years ago. One of the fudds from the 200 yard side that has more money than sense, went out and "got me a 300 RUM so I can shoot 600 yards".

Next time I saw him, he was leaving the 600 yard range and told me that he "don't like the 600 yard range, the wind is blowing my bullet too much".

This is the same guy that frequently forgets to put powder in his loads, uses about 5 different primers in his BR loads cause it "shouldn't make no difference", has about a 350fps ES in his 6.5x47 handloads, and tried to jam a 338 Lapua into his 300 RUM gun he bought for 600 yards.

 

[GBMaryland]

Out of curiosity, can you use Google Earth or something to estimate the distance your beer cans flew?

What size shell did you use? Fast powder or slow powder?

Not that I'll ever try it but knowing what that ballpark is like might come in handy.

Holy crap… For giggles I started doing what you mentioned, the range is definitely closed and the resort that was right next to it is completely gone… And they moved it about 2 miles down the road!

It appears that when PA legalize gambling, a whole bunch of building took place.

Edit: I’ve gone over it a few times and they definitely built a new resort. It’s been so long since I was there.

 

[SilentStalkr]

One fall day I impromptu decided I would take a weekend off of pheasant hunting to tag a deer on my parents farm. I hadn't big-game hunted in awhile and binge-watched every episode of Meat Eater to the point there were 500 different recipes I needed to try.

I was spoiled on growing up with sporterized Mauser 98's of various calibers for typical hunting rifles. Quick inventory I realized that everything either didn't have a scope, had parts swapped or needed to be replaced or didn't have any reloads made. Remaining stock was either a 5.56 carbine or a heavy ass PRS type rig. Not going to work. Couple days to opener, no problem, ran up town and picked up a nice little Ruger American Predator in 6.5 CM, mounted a Leupold VXR and was mostly ready for the weekend. All that was left was to get a good zero.

Hustled up to the farm after work on a Friday and setup a target at 25, 50, and 100 to get a quick zero. Prone out on the front deck with a chronograph in front. Shot at 25, pretty close, made an adjustment. Shot at 50, pretty much right on. Backed out to 100, 3 shots later and it's no-where. What the fuck... Back to 50 with 3 shots was one nice ragged hole. Okay, back to 100 with 3 shots after putting up a few more pieces of paper. 2 foot group. "What the FUCK." Rinse and repeat back and forth from 25, 50, 100, 50, 100, etc to the point I'm running out of ammo and have no idea what is happening. 25 and 50 it's shooting excellent little groups but 100 yards it's the worse I've ever seen out of any rifle ever.

All the engineering and firearms experience I have I'm drawing a blank. It's getting dark and have no idea what to do. The old man walks up and takes him about 3 seconds to figure out and say "YOU'RE SHOOTING THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE RAILING"

Apparently 25 and 50 yards just cleared the bottom of the railing, at 100 I was tipped just low enough to punch through the 2x6. Everybody got deer, haven't fixed that board yet.

Just some friendly advice, you should bore sight before sending any ammo down range. Makes things a lot easier and you don’t use any ammo.

One of the best choices I ever made. Went from 20/80 20/90 to 20/15 and 20/18. In and out in 3 hours each time.

Do your research and get a 'specialist' not a guy who does them once a month.

I still need to do this myself. Been kind of freaked out after my eye doc said they’d do the measurements there and send them to the surgeon. I’m thinking the surgeon should do that? Maybe they both do to make sure it matches up? I don’t know, just seemed odd to me.

 

[Maggot]

Just some friendly advice, you should bore sight before sending any ammo down range. Makes things a lot easier and you don’t use any ammo.



I still need to do this myself. Been kind of freaked out after my eye doc said they’d do the measurements there and send them to the surgeon. I’m thinking the surgeon should do that? Maybe they both do to make sure it matches up? I don’t know, just seemed odd to me.

Talk to your surgeon. Make sure he does many of these per week and not just occasionally. Mine did extensive test and determined I had mild astigmatism in each one and tailored the lens to allow for that. I went with the ones for distance since I like LR but he did such a good job I can read a newspaper in good light w/o cheater glasses. I cant stress enough RESEARCH THE SURGEON. Its your eyes and vision.I was in and out in 3 hours, patches come off the next day and voila'. Its spooky though because for the first couple weeks its like seeing things through a microscope...I never noticed how dirty my floors were.

 

[Erno86]

I heard about an instance at our 100 yard outdoor range...when a guy filmed himself shooting his AK47 with a bumpfire stock offhand --- He then posted the video on YouTube.

Somebody at our range saw the YouTube video, and complained to the range's safety committee, that the shooter was seen to be having a problem with firearm recoil control, because he was shooting over the 100 yard backstop berm and into the wooded hillside behind the berm.

Subsequently...the perp was banned permanently from our range.

I still can't find the perp's video on YouTube.

 

[JMS904]

As a new guy I’m just reading all of this as information of exactly what not to do. ??? Lol.

 

[Erno86]

One snow covered landscaped morning....I was shooting my Ruger Old Army blackpowder pistol at our 50 yard outdoor pistol range; using 1 minute Cream of Wheat as a filler for my loads. Soon after...a flock of chickadees landed 5 yards in front of me and started eating the shot out Cream of Wheat from the snow.

 

[Casey_H]

Bit of pretext, during the week the range I go to is mostly inhabited by older guys going load development and such. So between shots it's pretty quiet with most folks keeping to themselves.

Well one day I go to sight a rifle in. About 8 lanes away is a group of frat-looking college guys with a couple older men between them and myself. I know the older guys there and know they practically live at the range.

Well these college kids are making a racket. Not being unsafe but hoopin and hollarin and carrying on like it's the greatest day of their lives with a couple cheap AR's.

Being far enough away they aren't a bother to me, but I can tell the guy next to them, let's call him "Mark", is getting pretty annoyed.

A few minutes later I hear one of the frat kids yell "WHAT THE F***!!!". I look up to see his paper target floating away on the breeze.

Mark had had enough of them and shot the staples out of their target...

They were completely oblivious and blaming one another for not attaching the target to the board sufficiently. Mark looks down the line at the rest of us and winks. ?

 

[joelinux]

This is the same guy that... ...tried to jam a 338 Lapua into his 300 RUM gun he bought for 600 yards.

I'm a n00b. Even I know not to do that...

One snow covered landscaped morning....I was shooting my Ruger Old Army blackpowder pistol at our 50 yard outdoor pistol range; using 1 minute Cream of Wheat as a filler for my loads. Soon after...a flock of chickadees landed 5 yards in front of me and started eating the shot out Cream of Wheat from the snow.

In my head, that must have been the most frustrating but adorable mistake ever...

 

[flyer]

No mistake, just a nicely cooked meal for the chickadees.

 

[Erno86]

One spring...a pair of kingfishers burrowed a nesting hole, on the face of our 100 yard backstop dirt berm. We had to go to some lengths to avoid hitting the birds and their nest from bullets.

 

[flyer]

Funny bird story involving my spotting scope:

I went to visit a friend who lives in a forested area for a get together of about 6-8 people.

I brought my new binoviewer and spotting scope to show off a little (if the opportunity came up).

When I arrived, I was soon told that his property had become a nesting ground for giant Herron birds and since I had my scope, we went up the hillside to look in to the several Herron nests.

We got some great views because my scope was working well and then I asked what the Herrons sounded like because they had been silent up to that point. He said they sounded like dinosaurs so I cupped my hands around my mouth and did my best Taradactyl call and suddenly the birds started squawking in their dinosaur way and didn't shut up for the rest of the night.

 

[timesublime]

Early 2000's at the local public range outside Pine Junction. A group of twenty somethings pulls up with a full keg of beer that had been sitting outside for some time. They had a single round of .270 that they wanted to shoot the keg with. They saw that I had an AR and said that once they had shot the keg, feel free to unload on it. The .270 punched a hole right through it and then I mag dumped the keg. There was beer flying out of the holes all over the place, I mean Caesar's palace fountain style. It lasted a long time, and I couldn't stop laughing until the incredible stench of rotten beer filled the air. Time to leave...

 

[QuickNDirty]

Not exactly a range story, but we were doing some shooting while in training in the military. Came back and some guys washed their uniforms in the team room washer and dryer. One of the team sergeants takes the dried clothes out and finds a 5.56 round in the dryer. The team leadership lost their shit. They started freaking out at us and were telling us that it could have gone off and killed someone.
I lost tons of respect for them right then.
Just goes to show that just because you can shoot a gun doesn't mean that you actually know jack shit about them in a practical way.

This was in training and fortunately most of those guys chilled out after they got out of training.

I'm happy to report that out of dozens of washed and dried cartridges, zero issues whatsoever.

One time I took a group of folks out to do some camping/shooting/etc. I didn't know any of 'em very well at that point. We built a campfire and were all standing around it bullshitting when all of a sudden "POP!", bunch of ashes kicked up, and we all looked around at each other like, "Who the fuck threw a cartridge in the fire?"

No one fessed up to it. The next morning I went out and looked through the remnants and found a gnarled 30-06 case. The last guy that had a 30-06 out there died about 8 years before we built that campfire.

 

[Erno86]

I overheard a gun shop employee story at the indoor firearm range they they have. He was talking about an instance that occurred, when a shooter shot one of the overhead water sprinklers downrange with his pistol. The employee told the several shooters that they were closing the range down; and a few just couldn't understand why the range was being shut down, even though the concrete floor had a layer of standing water on it. ?

 

[Erno86]

While I was working construction at the FBI Training Academy, located inside the Quantico, Virginia Marine Base...I was doing my business in a Spot-O-Pot --- meanwhile, an F35 strike fighter was doing dive bombing trials at the nearby testing grounds --- which shook the Spot-O-Pot I was in with strong vibrations every time a bomb landed an exploded.?

 

[QuickNDirty]

While I was working construction at the FBI training academy at Quantico, Virginia marine base...I was doing my business in a Spot-O-Pot --- meanwhile, an F35 strike fighter was doing dive bombing trials at the nearby testing grounds --- which shook the Spot-O-Pot I was in with strong vibrations every time a bomb landed an exploded.?

That's fuckin' awesome.

 

[Erno86]

Not a funny story...but I was doing construction on 2 indoor firing ranges and 4 shoot houses for the FBI, the morning 9/11 occurred. I told my boss that the U.S. is going to wage war over the incidents. That's when the FBI & Marine base really started coming to life with activity --- Like low level F15 bombing runs, Marines parachuting from Chinook helicopters and extensive machine gun, pistol an rifle fire coming from the existing FBI firing range.

 

[joelinux]

Not really a range story, but the Department of the Navy sent me to Fort Sill, OK for six and a half weeks to learn a piece of equipment... (Gun bunnies call themselves "10 mile snipers", so it sort of fits)

I was there the two weeks before, two week of, and two weeks after the second gulf war.

Getting breakfast in the mess hall of the basement, it was either cheers when our guys were shown absolutely wrecking sh*t, or jeers when Baghdad Bob was talking.

I remember waking up in the dead of night to the sounds of nighttime artillery drills.

13P and 13Ms are capable of some pretty awesome destruction.

"Make it rain" has a different meaning for them.