Stuff overheard at the range or local gun shop

[Yoder]

I'd take a Taurus over a new Springfield, or the PSA clones

Taurus and Keltec are awesome. If you get a good one. Just like Range Rovers and Ford Pintos.

 

[bigbassfish]

When I worked at a major sporting good retailer, we had an old lady come in looking for a Christmas present for her grandson. She described him as a pansy little nerdy kid, and she was going to buy him a deer hunting rifle so he could go hunt and be a man. She went on to describe how she wanted to buy something extremely lightweight, but would only entertain 30 cal magnums that would kill anything in North America. Fancy inlay and wood, but also also durable enough to last 100 years outside.... Long story short, this lady wouldn't take a lick of advice, and ended up walking out with about $8k in 6 rifles, all used, mostly old Weatherby's with a random Model 70 and a Rem 700. We all felt bad for the way Grandma talked about that kid... I've always wondered if she needed another grandson lol.

 

[EastHumboldt]

When I worked at a major sporting good retailer, we had an old lady come in looking for a Christmas present for her grandson. She described him as a pansy little nerdy kid, and she was going to buy him a deer hunting rifle so he could go hunt and be a man. She went on to describe how she wanted to buy something extremely lightweight, but would only entertain 30 cal magnums that would kill anything in North America. Fancy inlay and wood, but also also durable enough to last 100 years outside.... Long story short, this lady wouldn't take a lick of advice, and ended up walking out with about $8k in 6 rifles, all used, mostly old Weatherby's with a random Model 70 and a Rem 700. We all felt bad for the way Grandma talked about that kid... I've always wondered if she needed another grandson lol.

Man I wish my gramma woulda talked smack about me and bought me six rifles…. OTOH, poor kid if his first time pulling a trigger is a weatherby magnum.

 

[BLJ]

Parkersburg

Obviously dealing with some people from Ohio.

 

[thoffman89]

I worked at a local shop part time for a while and was always surprised how many folks thought boresighting was good enough to go hunting with... They'd come in every year and just get their gun boresighted..

 

[*zap*]

At the indoor range near me I wear body armor....it gets comments from the sheep brotherhood.

 

[bigbassfish]

That reminded me of another good one, had a guy come in with a brand new seekins and an NX8 to top it off with, this guy insisted that I be the one to mount his scope and bore sight it for him. When I got done and gave him the usual “that should be on paper at 25 yards, you’ll still need to zero it in at an appropriate distance” he tells me he didn’t mind waiting because he took the last one I mounted for him he took straight on a NM private land elk hunt, and he shot his bull at 330 yards and it dropped him on the spot, so this one should be good enough too. Like brother, don’t be telling me that, you’re putting a lot of faith into an hourly retail employee….

 

[EastHumboldt]

That reminded me of another good one, had a guy come in with a brand new seekins and an NX8 to top it off with, this guy insisted that I be the one to mount his scope and bore sight it for him. When I got done and gave him the usual “that should be on paper at 25 yards, you’ll still need to zero it in at an appropriate distance” he tells me he didn’t mind waiting because he took the last one I mounted for him he took straight on a NM private land elk hunt, and he shot his bull at 330 yards and it dropped him on the spot, so this one should be good enough too. Like brother, don’t be telling me that, you’re putting a lot of faith into an hourly retail employee….

The lack of interest in simple ballistics and lack of concern for his prey is astonishing.

 

[MTtrout]

When I was young (maybe 12ish) I was at a local gun range’s turkey shoot, another kid asked his dad why the barrel on my shotgun was so small. I heard the dad say that’s because it’s a wimpy 20ga and not a 12ga like theirs -Back then you couldn’t hunt with a rifle where I grew up so you had to shoot slugs at the shoot too-. told my dad what I heard and he said they use a 12ga to feel strong and to punch a bigger hole in the pie plate. As my dad and I carried numerous frozen turkeys back to the truck at the end of the day I couldn’t have been more proud of our 20ga shotguns hanging from our shoulders.

 

[Nicaburns]

I stopped at a shop while traveling, and a patron came in who was complaining that he had shot a deer with his 300 blackout and not found any blood trail… the employee stated “that is understandable…. 300 blk supersonic loads are going so fast they often cauterize the wound”
This was a guy in his 50s who clearly had worked there a long time as the patron seemed to know him…. I beat a hasty retreat

 

[GoatPackr]

An old fud at the range told me I should be using really hard bullets for hunting so that if I shoot an animal in the rain the bullet won't "Shatter" on the wet hair because wet hair is just like shooting water or steel. I just nodded and said good idea.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I stopped at a shop while traveling, and a patron came in who was complaining that he had shot a deer with his 300 blackout and not found any blood trail… the employee stated “that is understandable…. 300 blk supersonic loads are going so fast they often cauterize the wound”
This was a guy in his 50s who clearly had worked there a long time as the patron seemed to know him…. I beat a hasty retreat

I thought deer were s’posed to black out when shot with tht round, If you’re really slick you can scare em into the back of your truck right after they wake up but right before they die and save yourself a ton of trouble. True dat.

 

[GoatPackr]

The same old fud that told me about wet haired animals being armor plated also told me the best bullets are lead at the base because at 65,000 psi lead becomes liquid and will push out against the barrel and seal it so you don't lose the pressure around it. Again I just said that's interesting. I would think those hot gases would push right around it like an air bubble in a pipe since the lead becomes liquid. But apparently it's magic.

 

[Brontosaurus]

Was admiring a 50 BMG behind the counter at my local sportsman’s. The associate looks me right in the eye and tells me that I don't even have to hit the elk to kill it and that at a mile the “shockwave” will be enough stop its heart.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I think sometimes they are just so tired of dealing with the average customer that they gotta troll one every once in a while

 

[Customweld]

Not heard at the range, but experienced it when I was a youngster.
I used to load the trap machine at our gun club when I was between 10 and 13. This was the later part of the '80's. The president of the trap club would pick me up sober as a church mouse on Sunday morning and drop me off Sunday evening completely soused.
The days usually got more interesting as the afternoons wore on. I could always tell who was running the pull controls because one guy would hold the button down and that stupid pigeon arm would be swinging wildly in the trap house. I still have scars across all of my fingers from that SOB arm hitting me. Another old codger would get so loaded, he would shoot the trap house trying to get an early jump on the pigeon and ring my bell. They didn't have a big enough electric circuit run out to the house, so I'd freeze my ass off down there in the winter because they couldn't power a milkhouse heater without tripping the breaker for the trap machine. The funny part is the county sheriff was there every Sunday in his street clothes and acted just like everyone else. I will say, they tipped very well.

 

[treydfoster]

I was at a public range and saw a guy hand his pregnant wife an mp5 clone and then told her to hip fire it. Same guy then pulls out an AR-10 with no scope or sights and starts shooting at a 25 yard target. After ten shots he made a comment about getting the gun on discount at work and how he needs to take it back to get it fixed since its not accurate.
I quickly packed up my guns and left.

So far this is the winner.

 

[treydfoster]

One of my good friends would always tell me these crazy stories. He was a super nice guy who rode Harley and loved his cats.
He told me he had two full auto tommy guns that he used to shoot in the desert in CA back in the day. That he was in Vietnam as a civilian setting up the coms for SOG guys in Laos. Survived a helicopter crash, along with a bunch of other crazy stories. How he had a tumor from being exposed to agent orange.
Had an export business where he sold all kinds of supplies to somebody in Columbia. He said he would smuggle emeralds back into the US, sewn into his jeans. He said their biggest shipment got seized by the Government and they were financially ruined.

I would always listen to him and think he was so full of it. There was no way any of this stuff could be true. We went over to his house for dinner one night and he broke out his photo album. EVERYTHING he said was true. He had all these pictures from Vietnam, pictures shooting his tommy gun with 5 shell casings in the air. He gave me his resume far a job we had open, and it listed his export company info. He actually wound up dying from Lymphoma from agent orange. It is actually pretty common. RIP Terry. I love you man

Doggone..

 

[treydfoster]

I'm glad I hate people and am not a out going guy. And only goes to gun shops when I've researched what I wanted and go in and buy it. Went to a gun show for the first time in almost 15 years. The 10 bucks I spent I could've gained more by not spending it and just blowing my brains out vs listening or seeing the kind of folks who think they should have the right to own a gun.

That's pretty weird to say man.

 

[treydfoster]

It is amazing what I’ve killed in my life with a bb and a .177 cal pellet…. Not sure how anyone can look at the data and a 6.5 round regardless of projectile type and think, “yup, that should only punch through paper and nothing else”.

That's one we should have a thread on.