Funny things that have happened at the range

[Joey]

I am an RSO at our range. Once a month we have a very informal 300 yard shoot, A couple months ago I was standing behind a shooter that I have known for several years. He was shooting a 6.5 CM, bolt action silenced. He had fired a few shots, when I saw something black go down range. He looked at me and asked where his silencer was. I pointed down range, laughing, and he looked at it kinda sheepish. I galled cease fire so he could retrieve it. All this black stuff poured out of it when he shook it. I still joke with him about it!

On our bench rest range we have a plastic chain separating the range from the shooters, all because of 1 older gentleman. He was shooting a 9mm and decided he needed to change his target. Problem was the range was under live fire! He got a few feet in front of the line when a RSO grabbed his belt and almost yanked his pants off pulling him back! Next day the chains were in place! It's funny because no one got hurt, and the look on the mans face when his pants about came off was priceless!

 

[eveled]

Our shooting shack has an awning roof that over hangs the bench. First shot from my M1A Tanker with it’s muzzle break blew a rotten 2x4 off of the awning.

 

[ned]

I saw a guy cock a security six and then put it under his chin while squinting to see the target….I didn’t even breathe until it was pointed down range again. He adamantly swore he never did such a thing as I walked him to the parking lot.
I also saw a guy start down “his” lane during live fire…..he didn’t get far…about arm’s length.
Both these incidents occurred before mandatory safety videos were the norm.
RSOs have a big job.
Ned

 

[gnappi]

Not so funny but a true story and a lesson...

At an IPSC match (before USPSA) match, after we showed guns were clear the on deck and double deck shooters could wear their pistols while waiting. It sped up the L-O-N-G day. Well two guys on deck got in an argument and one pulled his empty gun and pointed it at the other guy and immediately re-holstered the empty 1911. Police were called, the "shooter" was arrested after taking statements from us and was subsequently convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon.

The lesson?

You CAN have a gun, and you CAN have a temper, but you CANNOT have both!!!

 

[Watertender]

I saw a well endowed young lady in a tube top do an impromptu dance and topless demonstration when a piece of .45ACP brass went down her cleavage. It went between her breasts and she let out with a war whoop as she pulled the tube top off. There was a noticeable red mark on one of them and she was jumping like she was on a pogo stick!
I thought about asking if I could kiss her booboo but I resisted the urge and it was probably for the best.

 

[TheTexasRAT]

Not so funny but a true story and a lesson...

At an IPSC match (before USPSA) match, after we showed guns were clear the on deck and double deck shooters could wear their pistols while waiting. It sped up the L-O-N-G day. Well two guys on deck got in an argument and one pulled his empty gun and pointed it at the other guy and immediately re-holstered the empty 1911. Police were called, the "shooter" was arrested after taking statements from us and was subsequently convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon.

The lesson?

You CAN have a gun, and you CAN have a temper, but you CANNOT have both!!!

Reminds me of this idiot that shot and killed someone just joking around. Guns should never be used as a play toy!

 

[eveled]

A friend said he bought a shotgun and wanted to get ready for hunting season. I told him I would throw some clays for him to practice. He shot at maybe six clays and didn’t hit one, not even a chip.

I said let me try your gun. He handed me his open single shot 12 ga and a shell to use. He was shooting slugs!

 

[Joey]

Our range allows 6 slugs per gun, as they tear up the backer board and frames so bad. We don't allow buckshot as we have a shotgun range for that. A man brought in a shotgun and said he understood the rules and posted a target at 50 yds. He shot his six rounds and got up to leave. We require shooters to get their own targets, but my range buddy told him he could go as there were still people shooting. Imagine my surprise when I retrieved his target at the end of the day and it was peppered with shot holes! As was the backer board and wood frame. I now check shotgun ammo before allowing them on the firing line!

 

[edm1]

I was running a 203 range once and we had an open box of training (chalk) grenades when we were done. Like any good RSO I knew we didn’t want to turn in extra ammo. So we were firing it off qualifying off the hip etc. A rabbit ran into a spot of tall grass about 2’ around. I dropped one right on him. First try. Gained respect of the NCO with that one.

In 95 or 96 I bought a Glock 22 in 40S&W. I was saving brass and noticed they looked ODD. Someone had necked down 40 to 357 sig. I didn’t know that cartridge existed. For about 20 min I was sure my gun was broken.

 

[eveled]

My Dad had sold all his guns when I was born for some reason. He took up photography instead.

When I was about 12 years old I talked him into letting me buy a CVA kit .45 Pirate pistol kit.

It was a father son project and it came out great.

First visit to the range, he is explaining how to load it and my mother sister and I were paying close attention. Then he went to shoot it we all ran for cover, he said he turned and we were gone! He loved telling that story. we thought it might blow up!

Fast forward a few years and we had that same gun at the range, long slow process to load, you take your time aiming. It’s how I learned to shoot.

A guy was shooting cans with a 1911 and barely hitting 1 can per magazine. He was curious to try the muzzle loader and we of course let him.

Then he handed my Dad his 1911, my Dad shot a can it flew up into the air and he shot it twice more before it landed! Handed the gun back and the guy offered to let me try it. I had never shot a cartridge handgun before. I took 2 shots and hit 2 cans. Which was way better than he did with his own gun!

He said I know who taught you to shoot! Packed up and left.

 

[Mobuck]

Many years ago when I took my first and only CCW 'qualification test', a friend and I shared a target butt. We rattled off our required shots and sat down behind the line to wait for the others to finish. One shooter was having problems with his pistol and the hosts brought him to our table to check things out. After a couple of these 'knowledgeable' folks tried unsuccessfully to chamber a round (it would have violated range rules if they'd managed to do so), my friend pointed out that the pistol was a .380 and the ammo was 9mm. :whistle:

 

[contender]

Owning a range,, AND being a USPSA competitor for over 25 years,, I've seen some funny stuff.

Once,,, at an indoor range,, during an informal weekly "match" one of our older shooters went to engage the targets. His first round made him realize he'd forgotten to pull down his ear muffs. With handgun in hand,, he quickly grabbed his muffs,, and promptly fired a round into the ceiling. And no,, I wasn't the RO,, and didn't actually see it happen. But as it all came about, all of us were suddenly made "aware" of it. Yep,, DQ'ed right there.

And I've seen hot brass go down a couple of ladies blouses,, causing one to dance & the other one,, (well trained,) to just take her left hand,, shake her shirt,, all while her right hand kept the handgun pointed at the target, to allow the brass to fall out. She kept shooting.

 

[Joey]

Our range has strict rules regarding full auto and rapid fire of semi auto, 3 strikes and your out. A guy came in with an AR and shot some semi rounds, then pulled the trigger and double tapped. RSO warned him, he made out like he had no idea what happened. Shot a few more, then double tapped again, only this time his AR was reduced to junk! He got away with a small scratch on his fore head, could have been worse. We didn't give him time to look at what had happened, he was carted off the range and banned!

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Being a Navy SAMI/RSO for a few years it would take me all night and a lot of typing to tell you the "funny" stuff I witnessed....sometimes I wonder why I was never killed. Came damn close a few times....mostly during Desert Shield buildup when all the nimrod reserve commands were coming through for famfire/quals prior to deploying.

 

[Joey]

Being a Navy SAMI/RSO for a few years it would take me all night and a lot of typing to tell you the "funny" stuff I witnessed....sometimes I wonder why I was never killed. Came damn close a few times....mostly during Desert Shield buildup when all the nimrod reserve commands were coming through for famfire/quals prior to deploying.

I have all night! Tell away!!

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I have all night! Tell away!!

I won't because it isn't "funny". I have had close calls and witnessed line coaches and students/service members almost be killed or severely harmed. We were strict for a reason. I don't think anything unsafe on a live fire range can be found funny......just alarming.

 

[Joey]

As have I, but I try not to dwell on it. I just thought myself and some others could use a bit of levity, what with everything going on not just in this world, but on this forum. I apologize if I offended you. Good night.

 

[jimbo1096]

This happened about a month ago and the last time I was really at the range. We use a Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries range just 10 minutes from my house.
I have brought along my grandson's wrangler for him to shoot and I had brought my GP100 and 8 shot Redhawk in 38 357. I was down about a half a box mainly using the 8~shot Redhawk. I had noticed one of the shooters from the other section had come up and down behind different people observing what they were doing and what were shooting I assumed. After the second break, he approached me and asked me what I was shooting and I told him. I also told him that they were all my reloads and were moderate to Stout Recoiling He said he had just gotten his Smith & Wesson and wanted to know if he could shoot some Of mine. As gracious as I can be sometimes I hand them over six rounds and ask him to bring the brass back and let me know how it shot.
I finished up the box and was starting to put gear away when he walks back up to my table and says he couldn't get then to work in his gun. I looked at him sideways and said I don't understand that they work fine for me. So I walked down to see what his problem was and he was trying to load them in a 44 magnum. I just got my six rounds back and politely said that i was finished shooting And don't worry, these aren't really made the right size for a S$W

 

[eveled]

This has us scratching our heads, but it made my son appreciate me more.

Yesterday my son went to the range with 3 old friends. One is a LEO, one has several guns and shoots frequently and works at an indoor range, the 3rd is a newbie. All mid 20's.

The newbie relates that he has never shot before but his father owns guns!

The one who works at the range just finished his first week. He has already had a customer point an "empty" gun at him that turned out to somehow have one in the chamber.

 

[Mobuck]

I watched an 'experienced' female shooter fire her hubby's compact 40 S&W once upon a time. She wasn't really 'gripping' it and the first shot launched the pistol out of her hands landing it 3-4 feet away. Fortunately, the weak grip induced a failure leaving the fired case stovepiped.
Another time, a practical joke (last round in the cylinder was a hot 44 mag following 5 mild 44 SP rounds) launched a S&W 29 that took away the shooter's cap and ear muffs as it passed over his forehead. Only the perpetrator found that incident funny.

 

[MaxMan]

My son in the SO explorer unit was the one to introduce and train Jr Explorers in firearm safety and shooting. These were middle school kids. He never came home with a story like the ones I'm seeing here.

 

[Yaworski]

The newbie relates that he has never shot before but his father owns guns!

I hear this fairly often and it always surprises me. I often hear parents say, "I'll take him shooting when he's X" where X is often 13 or 16. I taught my kids to shoot at age four. If for now other reason than to beat safety rules into their heads.

 

[eveled]

I hear this fairly often and it always surprises me. I often hear parents say, "I'll take him shooting when he's X" where X is often 13 or 16. I taught my kids to shoot at age four. If for now other reason than to beat safety rules into their heads.

Exactly! No better investment. IMHO. I started mine as preschoolers with BB guns. It was a lot of fun.

I have found a lot of men have hobbies to escape their families. I want to be with them while I can.

 

[el caminero]

I thought this amusing, but few others do.
In another life, the first time i qualified was with a hb 4".38 with boston police dept msrkings on it. I had only ever shot dads .22 scout and my 7-1/2" super blackhawk 44, and the ruger std auto in the army, but got a nice high score that day anyway, and the boss let me replace the splintery walnut stocks with a mustang hockey puck, which engendered jealousy among others who wanted to swap grips. Knowing them, i figured they were trying to get the boss to okay something fancy. The new owners dident let me requalify, since army shooting team is NOT police experience.
Fast froward 25 years and i am requalifying for another company, retired usmc boss, only runs glock but i could carry whatever i wanted. At the range, the rest of the half dozen with either their personal glocks or one carefully selected from out the box, they laughed at me for taking random hobsons choice, sight unseen, from the box-o-glocks. I still had never fired an automstic other than the (ruger!) .22 in the army, let alone a 9 or a glock. I hate the way they feel, and their slick grip. I not only outshot everybody else, my weakhand group, inside the top of the last circle, was tighter than anybody else's stronghand OR 2-hand group They dident want to believe i had never shot one before, but they all agreed with me; love it or hate it, that glock is an Okay gun.

I feel, it goes to show the deplorable level of the average armed private security's shooting capability! I have never run across any armed security (outside of staff) i felt i could trust behind me...and some not even beside me.

 

[JiminMaine]

In 1975 I was a newly hired deputy sheriff in Mass. (corrections officer) and had been shooting for years. I was recently discharged from the Navy after 6 years, still single and had time and money to shoot a lot. Every week I would cast and load 400-600 rounds of 38 spec. On weds. evening and Sat. mornings I would go to my club and shoot it all in my S&W 64. I had been doing this for about six months and was shooting some really good groups. One Sat. morning when I arrived at the range 5 of the 6 lanes were in use. I set up in the empty lane next to a guy shooting a S&W 52. I don't know why he was shooting like he was, but it was very weird. After loading a magazine and chambering a round he would put the safety on and set the gun on the bench. Then he would position his feet just so, pick up his gun, click the safety off, put his left hand in his back pocket, slowly bring his gun up, aim and fire one round. Then put the safety on, set the gun on the bench, shake his arms out and then repeat the whole process. He was shooting about 3" groups at 50'. When the range went cold I went down range and set up my three targets, he retrieved his one ( with six holes in it) and set up one more.

When the range went hot I loaded my 64, dropped into the old "Combat Crouch" and shot my first 6 shots double action. Then using a speed loader reloaded and got ready to fire just as the guy next to me fired his first shot. I fired six shots at each of my targets. before he had finished his second shot. Then me and the other four shooters waited until the guy with the 52 shot his six shots. When the range went cold and we went down to retrieve our targets I saw that my first group was about 1 1/2". the second slightly smaller and the third was under an inch, probably my best group ever double action. His group was about 3". I set up new targets. He looked at my targets, looked at his, tore his down and stalked back to the bench , THREW his gun in his fancy range box and left in a huff. The other four shooters gave me a round of applause. I didn't shoot that good the rest of the morning.

 

[eveled]

When I was about 10 yo I found a marksman pin from the Army.

I asked my neighbor if he qualified marksman when he was in the Army?

He laughed and said no but the guy next to me did! He felt sorry for him and his coke bottle glasses so he shot the guys target!

 

[Yaworski]

My old club had weekly bulls eye matches. The range was outdoors and 25 yards. One week after either a timed or ragged fire string, I peeked in my scope and there were no holes in my target! WTF.

Somehow I had had lined up on my neighbor's target and put five holes in the 9 and ten rings for him.

First and only time and that I shot someone else's target.

 

[Joey]

A retired fire dept captain and WW2 vet taught me to reload and shoot while I was in HS. He had a M1 carbine a friend had picked up at the Battle of the Bulge, said the stock had tread marks on it. He converted it to M2, but shot it at at the range sa. He took it to the range one day, his first shots were full auto! The selector switch had gotten bumped. He looked around like he didn't know what was wrong, said the gun was broke, put it in his '41 Buick and left! Never took it to the range again with the M2 kit installed......

 

[the_leper_colony]

About 50 years ago, my sister's husband bought a new Colt Diamondback .22 to go with a couple of Pythons he owned. Before he even took his new .22 home, he had the gunsmith at his FFL install Elliason sights, so it would look & feel more like his Pythons.

His first chance to shoot it came on a drive out to "middle of nowhere" in the Mojave desert. We pulled off the two-track near a hillside that was apparently popular as a shooting backstop - shot up tin cans and such were layin' around everywhere. Now, we generally would NOT shoot any glass (too messy & hazardous, and about impossible to clean up), but there was one lovely clear-glass soda bottle sitting there on the ground, so my brother-in-law decided to inaugurate his new Diamondback by blowing that bottle to smithereens (sort of like breaking a bottle of champagne on the bow, when launching a new ship ;^).

So, he stood the bottle up at the bottom of the hillside, stepped back about 20 paces, and started squeezing off shots. Six shots, and no hits! He was pretty disappointed, and commented, "The new sights must be off!"

My sister said, "Let me try!" He handed her the Diamondback, no doubt thinking she was wasting her (& his) time. She carefully lined up the sights and squeezed off one round - and hit that bottle! Funniest thing was, the bottle didn't shatter: she hit it dead center, and only the middle part went to pieces, which let the top part (still intact) drop an inch or so, where it landed on top of the bottom part of the bottle (still in one piece)! And there it sat, top part perched on the bottom part, pretty as a picture! My sister handed the revolver back to her husband and said (direct quote), "Nothing wrong with those sights!"

Couldn't do that myself, with a dozen bricks of ammo and a million dollars up for grabs!
:)

 

[Watertender]

The girl in the tube top wasn't at a regular range. We used to shoot in an old gravel pit with a high berm for a backstop. She wasn't shooting but was there with a friend to hang out. I don't think she ever came back.
I saw a guy with a Ruger Police Service Six get a real surprise when the last round in the cylinder was an 1650fps proof load. The other 5 were .38 wadcutters at about 700fps and he was expecting the last one to be the same as the other 5. He was holding it loosely in 1 hand and planted the hammer spur in his forehead.
If I go shooting now I have a private place on a friend's farm in a worked out sandpit. The backstop berm is about 30 feet tall and it's enclosed on the sides. We park on top and walk down the haul road into the pit. We are very neat and pick up after ourselves because it's a privilege to be able to shoot there.
There was a public range near here that was shut down because of slobs and a shooting incident. Some idiots would bring old appliances and bottles to shoot and leave them there as a mess. Others would leave paper targets stuck on old pallets while others would leave garbage strewn about. When I would go there with a couple of friends we would bring several large trash bags and fill them after we shot. We would take them with us and dispose of them at home.
The 2 incidents besides the general mess that closed the place was someone getting shot when they went downrange to look at a target and someone fired a supposedly empty gun hitting the guy. The other was someone who had several guns in their unlocked vehicle that were stolen while he was shooting. He was firing one gun and went back to get another to find his doors open and his guns gone.