Stuff overheard at the range or local gun shop

[igethangry]

Earlier this year, two guys at the range trying to sight in a braked 300WM Tikka Superlite with some sort of Leupold on top. Using a lead sled. They were trying to zero at 200 yards and fired something like 20+ rounds trying to get it on paper. "This scope was zeroed at 200 before...". They're talking back and forth and can't seem to figure it out. Just before we cease fire to pull targets I hear, "Oh, I think that's the 300 yard target..." They had put their target up at 300 yards and, without ever touching a turret, sent 20+ rounds into the dirt. They moved their target to the correct 200 yard berm and still couldn't get it sighted in. I left eventually, but I saw the same guy back there a couple weeks later with a different buddy trying to sight in the same gun... don't know if they ever got it set up.

A few weeks ago, at the same range, sighting a gun in for my FIL before rifle opener. I normally stay away from the ranges that time of year, but I made an exception for this. Pretty cold day, snowing. I get there, no one else around and I'm thinking great. Well, shortly after I get there, a family of 5 and a dad and son show up. The family of 5 has 3 young kids. The dad sits down at the bench and starts shooting not paying attention to the kids, the mom is doing something else on her phone while the kids are running around with loaded .22lr rifles... The dad and son set up next to me without saying anything and he's got the kid trying to sight in a big braked rifle and he's just getting the piss hammered out of him. Took a bunch of shots to get on paper at 25 yards. While this is going on, I'm sitting there debating whether I should stay or not because I had already hung my targets, but when those kids started running around with their guns I was like F this and left.

 

[rookieforever33]

5. This involves Rokslide in a way. Before I was a member I would surf the classifieds and look at rifles. I came across a rifle that I wanted and asked a buddy who was a member to contact the person and have him call me. He did and we made the deal on the rifle. I no longer worked at the LGS but had it transferred there. When I went to pick it up they were busy and told me I could go open it and log it in and get the paperwork started as that had been one of my jobs while working there. When I unboxed the rifle and got it unwrapped I opened the bolt and was shocked when a live round came out of the chamber! It also had 3 more rounds in the mag box! I looked down at the safety, yup, safety off. I couldn’t believe it! Packed and shipped halfway across the country with a live round in the chamber, safety off and a 1.5lbs trigger. I immediately called the guy who shipped it. He was obviously horrified and said he had one of his newer shop employees package it up and ship it out. Hopefully than person got some firearm safety lessons that day.

Got some wild stories while working. Hopefully you were getting hazard pay.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Bob became a constant in the shop. He was a salesman and spent his spare time with "us"!
Bob bought a Ruger "Single Six" with the 9.5" barrel. As usual with Ruger, the grip was too small for Bob's "ham fist" (6'3" - 300 lbs)!
Bob grabs a set of Pachmayer (sp?) grips and installs them on his revolver.
Bob tests the grips, hands me the gun and asks how I like them.
Instinctively, I check the cylinder! Yep! Loaded!
I hand it back to Bob. He extends his arm, cocks the revolver and points it at thr front of the shop!
I get out, "Bob, that things...." BANG!!! "...loaded!"
There were two customers at the check out, never aware that the window behind them now has a .22LR hole....just above their heads!
I finally compose myself and about to launch into a profanity laced tirade when the owner steps into the shop!
We never saw Bob again! ....except when he came in and gave the owner enough $100 bills to replace the front window!

 

[SC HUNTER]

I was in a pretty popular for our area gun shop last week and heard two customers talking. The guy buying was looking at a 308 xbolt, his buddy kept telling him different . Buddy fella wanted him to buy a 308 because his 270 "zips through them too fast" that's why his blood trails weren't great. "In their club if you don't shoot a 30-06 or 308 you don't need to be invited back in his opinion. But 300 weatherby is the best deer rifle bullet created but a 308 works" and the best one came from the buyer.

"I don't like a 7mm-08 because its a woman's gun and doesn't shoot a big enough bullet"

My smart ass baby brother asked if he was trading in a gun that day for his new super killer 308 and the guy said probably my 7mm08. Baby brother bought a BDL in 7mm08 for $450 from him in the parking lot. I checked the tag on their truck, florida. I almost gave them the bro we're shooting georgia deer, I kill several a year with a 223 you need to do some reading and learn this stuff talk but it would have been a waste of time.

 

[Jpsmith1]

Oof. Safety stories reminded me of this one.

Buddy brings his GF to a shooting range session. He lets her shoot his 22 rifle for a little bit but I'm not exactly paying attention to them.

ihad a small semi auto pistol suitable for her. Beretta 3032 'Tomcat'

So I load it up, help her get a proper grip and shoot.

1, 2, 3, 4 ...7 shots. Since I loaded the gun, I KNEW there were 8 rounds in the gun. Finger still on the trigger, she pivots towards me and aims the gun at my forehead.

 

[SC HUNTER]

Same baby brother as mentioned above and I like to occasionally take a day and just screw off. We'll ride around to different shops and just look. We stopped at a pawn/gun shop and we were browsing a used gun rack. Baby brother said "hey come here and hold out your hands." He proceeds to shuck 3 3 inch buckshot out of an 835, 1 in the chamber 2 in the tube. The owner was close by and heard the conversation and came over with an awesome attitude of dont dare load guns in my shop on and on. We explained to him check your cameras, he picked it up checked it and found it loaded resulting in where we are now. The owner absolutely showed his ass and said that wouldn't prove anything, they don't allow loaded guns in the shop except on his hip. We just looked at each other and walked out.

I haven't been back to that shop since.

 

[SC HUNTER]

Oof. Safety stories reminded me of this one.

Buddy brings his GF to a shooting range session. He lets her shoot his 22 rifle for a little bit but I'm not exactly paying attention to them.

ihad a small semi auto pistol suitable for her. Beretta 3032 'Tomcat'

So I load it up, help her get a proper grip and shoot.

1, 2, 3, 4 ...7 shots. Since I loaded the gun, I KNEW there were 8 rounds in the gun. Finger still on the trigger, she pivots towards me and aims the gun at my forehead.

So then I hit my buddys girlfriend..

 

[Jpsmith1]

Another one that, in retrospect was pretty safe but the guy was a bit off...

Checking out handguns in the mid 90s. Just when I came of age to buy a handgun.

We're in this hole in the wall shop talking to the pretty old owner.

He's telling us about how he loads his mag with tracers (which were commercially available) and standard defensive rounds so that "if he had to shoot some 'spooks' they'd know what was coming"

He then proceeds to load a magazine with these tracers, slap it into the gun and rack the slide. He had our immediate attention.

Then the hammer drops. He was demonstrating the 'decocking' feature that was kind of novel at the time.

Last time I ever went there

 

[Jpsmith1]

So then I hit my buddys girlfriend..

I wrapped her hands up with mine, twisting myself out of the way, aimed the gun downrange and fired the last round.

Then I CLEARLY and LOUDLY announced that she doesn't TOUCH another firearm.

 

[Jpsmith1]

Gonna put a bit of a warning on this one. Injury occurs here.

Younger and 'dumber' we were having a shooting day which, as a grown adult, I look back on and cringe and would call "fking around with guns" today. This was not at a proper range but a piece of rural property owned at the time by my father.

Anyway, brothers are using a 32Spl lever. Top eject with the weird side mount scope system.

Older brother picks up an empty 38 Special casing, holds said casing between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand and is holding it in front of the muzzle of the rifle.

Younger brother "I'm going to shoot"

Older "WhooHoo" waving/holding the casing in front of the muzzle.

YB "I'll shoot"

OB: "WhooHoo"

*BLAM*

I watched the forefinger disappear in a pink mist because the escalating voices had caught everyone's attention.

OB "You F@@@@@G shot me!"

Piled everyone in the truck and hauled A$$ To the hospital for treatment. Lied our tails off to the cops because OF COURSE we did.

Apparently, he thought that the bullet would come out of the muzzle, travel INTO the empty casing and kind of 'blow' it out of his hand and that it would be cool.

Uh huh.

 

[Slickhill]

At the range and this character shows up. White guy probably in his early twenties, 5’8” at least 300. Complete with black stocking cap, it was summer, drop holster thigh rig with extra mags, surplus combat boots with black cargo pants bloused into boot tops the full 1990’s tactical look aside from his physique. And the topper, his “safety glasses” are a set of Oakley snowboard goggles. He has an entourage of a bunch of middle aged Asian tourist guys, probably 5 of them and it appears that only one speaks English and he’s acting as translator.

He dumps his drag bag gun case on the bench and heads to set up a target at the 100 yard line.

When the range goes hot he tells the interpreter he’s going to fire a few rounds to “get her warmed up” and then he’ll let them take a few shots apiece. He opens the case and produces a Mosin with an Osprey or other gunshow special Chinesium scope mounted on a base that is a 4” cantilevered rail screwed to the front ring and said scope is secured to this base arrangement with not 2 but 1 super high airsoft ring. The whole works had been rattlecanned black and written on the side of the butt in white paint pen was “So others may live”.

He produced an ammo can and shot somewhere around 30 rounds of surplus ammo out of it. Never put a hole in the target.

All the onlookers were chattering excitedly in whatever Asian language they spoke and the operator looked like he was about to cry when he declared the range session over and began packing his gear. The next week said rifle showed up on the used rack in my buddy’s gun shop.

I always wondered what kind of stories the non English speakers told about their range trip when they got back home and if that was the only perception of shooting that they would ever have.

 

[tim tarras]

I was at Cableas yesterday to meet a guy to sell a pack. As I was waiting I strolled around the store. In the used guns there was one I was not familiar with as asked about it. The guy behind that counter told me it was a 6.5x55 Swede "which was the bases for the design of the 6.5 Creedmoor."

I told him it was based off the 30TC and he gave me this "well I'm behind the counter and know more than you." look. I just shook my head and walked away.

 

[RME]

When I was a kid, probably 12 or 13, I was with my dad at a get together with his high school friends and a lady had a big scar on her calf. One of the guys asked what happened and she said she was at a gun shop with her husband and a guy cocked and pulled the trigger on a 44 mag he didn’t know was loaded and accidentally shot her in the leg!

 

[CaribooBC]

Was at a large public range, probably 50 stations. RO called an off-schedule ceasefire a then announced “Do not shoot the bunny rabbit. Line is hot.” That bunny safely finished his traverse of the range.

I called a ceasefire at our range when a Mulie doe walked out and laid down in the shade behind a target stand.

 

[Chris in TN]

I called a ceasefire at our range when a Mulie doe walked out and laid down in the shade behind a target stand.

During the rut and during the dead of winter when food is scarce, it's common to see whitetails on our local 0-1250 range. Nobody ever calls a cease fire and nobody would dare shoot them if they value their membership.

I have, a few times, had to personally hold fire and wait for the deer to move, or maybe shift and shoot a different target, because of them. But we don't cease-fire over it.

 

[TNKnoxville]

Chris in TN do you happen to shoot at Oak Ridge? Numerous times had deer walk out on the 200 yard range and eat grass like nothings happening! Everyone says the same thing, don't shoot one if you value your membership!

 

[Amos Keeto]

LBJ Nat'l Grasslands in Decatur, TX finally caved to public pressure and put in a public shooting range.
BUT......!
There was a heavy presence of horseback riders that constantly ran the trails.
In fact, one organized group of riders constantly groomed and maintained trails.
Within that group was a nonhunting, anti-gun sub group.
Some of those nitwits made it their goal to establish a trail across the shooting range backstop!
THEY won! In the name of "public safety", the NFS shut down the shooting range!

 

[CMF]

Younger and 'dumber' we were having a shooting day which, as a grown adult, I look back on and cringe and would call "fking around with guns" today.

I know what you mean.
~16yo me and a buddy out shooting at a dirt pit. He's shooting 22lr off the bedrail(and across the bed) of my 84 ranger, and I hear "dong". The scope was high enough that he was on target, but the barrel was pointed right at the other side of the bedrail. Luckily, it didn't go all the way through the body. What's worse is, a couple of years later, the same buddy shoots the bed of my 93 chevy. I hear the "dong" and I'm like, "Did you just shoot my truck again?"

 

[Chris in TN]

Chris in TN do you happen to shoot at Oak Ridge? Numerous times had deer walk out on the 200 yard range and eat grass like nothings happening! Everyone says the same thing, don't shoot one if you value your membership!

No, strategic edge in middle Tn.

But, yeah, those deer are pretty safe there.

 

[Amos Keeto]

"Hold my beer! Watch this!"