Has any one heard of someone being severly injured at the range

[xterra1james]

Has any one heard of someone being severly injured at the gun range. The way I feel is I do not trust other people who shoot at the range. Do you feel this way also. I trust my self, but what about the other guy. For example, do you get nervous when someone is teaching a person how to shoot a gun for the first time at the range. I prefer to go when there is hardly no one at the range, if at best totally empty except me at the range. Would like to know as a poll. Do you prefer being at the range by yourself or do you feel better when there are other people at the range. Vote on this and let me know your opinion.

[steveno]

I only shoot with people I can trust because you can't shoot as well if you have one eye looking at the other person. if other people show up I leave

[Boats]

The only range accident I have read about in recent memory was when Glock flash burned their developmental range.

[Tamara]

I know of someone who took their Voere rifle to the range to sight-in, and it had been unfortunately mis-assembled at the factory. The bolt had only about 10% engagement on one locking lug. The subsequent departure of the bolt from the receiver caused it to traverse both his lower face, and the upper part of his shoulder.

He probably thanks gawd every day that others were shooting at the range and that two of them happened to be nurses.

I understand origami is almost 100% safe to practice by one's lonesome, as the major hazards are limited to papercuts and choking on small, intricately-folded swans.

[Sarge]

for the VPC, or what? If you wanna be safe, don't shoot where idiots gather. Find somewhere else to shoot. The same applies to skateboarding, driving, and the consumption of alcohol. Stay away from goofballs and your odds of bad things happening go down dramatically, regardless of the activity of the day.

[Darkangel]

I am always amazed at the stupid things people do at the range.
I was at the Indoor range by the mall in Va Beach. Had just finished a magazine of .45, layed my 1911 down and turned to my left. What did I see but a very nice young man showing his girl friend how to load a SKS. He was standing sideways in the stall with the muzzle pointed right at me. My mind jumped to all the incidence of slam fires that were currently happening with SKSs, so I jumped back. I told him to quite being stupid and point the muzzle down range......which he did.
In Texas there were a rash of people doing fast draws and shooting the guy next to them in the legs. One guy with a shoulder holster actually shot himself and a guy behind him. There was one incident at an outdoor range in SW Texas where a guy(shooting alone) was down range changing targets and a Illegal walked up to the table picked up his 30-06 and shot him in the back, robbed him and stole his truck. Just by luck another shooter arrived and found the guy, called EMS and the PD
Now as far as "Accidents".......The Portland PD just had two of their Glocks blow up while using Federal ammo. Alot of skuttlebutt about what really happened but it seems to be related to the ammo.(I think the whole story is on Glock Talk.)
At my gun club you will occasionally hear of a rifle blowing up, usually related to inproper reloading of ammo.
I have a friend out in Phily and a guy got killed on their range from his weapon exploding........once again a reloader.
There have been lots of ......well.......self terminations using rental guns.
A lot of things happen at ranges that never get out. Some day take a tour of a large PDs station house and look for the bullet holes in the locker room.
Good luck

[Dusty Miller]

A year or two back there was a murder at a local range and then not too long after a suicide at the same range.

[Monkeyleg]

A few years back a guy was practicing at an indoor range here for an upcoming IPSC shoot. While drawing from the holster, he snagged the trigger and shot himself in the leg.

What was bizzare about it was that at first he didn't realize he'd been shot. He saw a hole in the leg of his jeans, went to the mens room to check, and found an entry hole and exit hole in his leg, but no blood. He then went to the hospital, where the doc's looked at him and said there was nothing more they could do: the heat of the bullet cauterized the wound all the way through.

Now drawing from a holster is not permitted on the range.

[Double Naught Spy]

At the old range where I was a member, a guy got shot in the butt via a round that went through a drainage tube that drained water from one range to the next. It went through his jeans, wallet, then into a cheek. He did not even know he had been shot, but thought he had been stung. Later, somebody spotted the blood.

At the current range, the most recent incident came from a guy that shot himself in the calf while practicing competition draws. His claim was that the gun was dropped during the draw and the shot was from the lower calf, upwards. The medical report said different. He refused to show his wound to the mgmt. I am inclined to believe he shot himself and that the gun was NOT dropped.

While never shot, I don't usually scan myself with my gun when I am at the range alone. When other people are around, it is when it is most likely to happen. This is by the folks who don't know muzzle discipline and casually scan folks without thought. The way I see it, I am much more likely to be shot at the range by some neophyte shooter than I am than being shot by some bad guy.

[fyrestarter]

the heat of the bullet cauterized the wound all the way through

Holy crap, what was he shooting that could generate that much speed and heat?

[PATH]

When it comes to range safety I am extremely anal retentive. Some folks don't like to shoot with me because I am a stickler for safety. I am more very observant of other peoples range behavior. I don't make a big scene but I will politely ask someone not to engage in any behavior that puts other shooters at risk. In this sport saying "sorry" after the face does not cut it!

At the several ranges I belong to I have never heard of any severe injuries being inflicted.

[thumbtack]

I can pretty close to being shot at the range one day and I still get a little jumpy now and then.

[Arc Angel]

Over the Memorial Day weekend me and several friends decided to go to a large shooting range together. Now this range is BIG. The firing line is, about, 100 yards wide with targets stretching all the way out to 300 yards. The extreme left end is set up for pistol shooting out to 50 yards. Our group set up targets along this end of the line; and, for the next 2 hours, we busied ourselves trying to outshoot each other. We were having a really good time!

At first we had the place all to ourselves; but, while we were shooting, 2 other vehicles and 3 other shooters appeared – All of them carrying rifles and occupying ports well away from us. Initially when we broke to go down to our targets, so did they; and (I have to be honest.) these 2 groups didn’t communicate with each other. Things continued like this; and 3 of us were busy shooting at the 50 yard targets when, suddenly, I heard a loud shout; ‘Hey, what the Hell’s the matter with you?’ ‘There’s two guys down at the targets!’ ‘STOP SHOOTING!’ I turned around to see a very large guy in a white tee shirt. He was standing about 60 yards away from me holding an M-14, muzzle up, with the butt resting on the point of his right hip.

Well, when I looked over at the hundred yard targets, sure enough, there’s his teenage son and a friend (?) very quietly setting up targets. I could have dropped my teeth! In a half century of shooting I’d never encountered a really bad firing line faux pas like this. We had been watching our targets; this rifleman and his kids were outside of our peripheral vision; and there they were, downrange; and dad was furious and in, ‘high protection’ operating mode.

We stopped shooting immediately; and I walked, a little, closer to this guy and shouted back; ‘We never saw the boys!’ His response sent chills up my spine. He suddenly slammed a magazine into the rifle and said; ‘What the Hell’s the matter with you?’ My mind started to go numb. All I could think of was the old axiom; ‘Never bring a pistol to a rifle fight.’ I made the only reply I could think of; ‘Why didn’t you call it out before the boys went down to the targets?’ He responded with an, almost, involuntary stroke on the bolt handle to charge the rifle’s chamber; and repeated himself. ‘What the Hell’s the matter with you?’

I quickly held out my hands, palms toward him, and said; ‘Listen, you’re supposed to call out, ‘Clear the line!’ before going down to the targets – understand?’ ‘It’s nobody’s fault – OK!’ ‘We, just, didn’t know the boys were down there.’ He didn’t answer; but he did take a few steps backwards and started looking around the ground at his feet. Then he put the M-14, down, on the bench and began to chain-smoke several cigarettes. For the next half-hour, or so, we were SUPER careful. Everything was strictly by the book: ‘Clear the line!’ ‘Is the line clear?’ ‘Ready on the firing line?’ ‘The line is ready!’ Thereafter everything seemed to go smoothly; and everyone went back to their own targets and shooting. After awhile some of our guys left; and me and another fellow were the only two shooters left, along the end of the line, by the pistol targets.

I finally decided that I’d had enough and shouted down; ‘Clear the line!’ The guy in the white tee shirt nodded his head and replied; ‘Yeah, OK!’ (The wrong language and NOT a good sign from, either, him or anyone else with him.) I went down to the 50 yard targets and start policing the area.

Suddenly, ‘Blam!’ ‘Blam!’ Two rifle shots rang out; and I instinctively looked at my chest to see if I were bleeding! I felt fine; so I shook my head to gather my senses and looked over at the rifleman and his kids. He immediately turned to his son who was sitting at the bench, just, past him and said; ‘No, no, you can’t do that!’ I thought of an appropriate wise crack; but, then, I remembered that M-14, and decided to remain silent. Our vehicles were parked a good 30 yards apart. I carried all of my gear over to a bench in front of my SUV and began to disassemble and clean my pistols.

While I was sitting there cleaning my guns this guy never looked at me, again; he didn’t do much more shooting, either. The kids shot for, about, another half-hour; and dad, once again, began to pace back and forth while chain-smoking. When two more groups of riflemen arrived, the three of them, suddenly, left without saying a word. That’s when I got, ‘the chills’ and began to seriously consider never using this range - again.

(It’s the same range where, 4 years ago, an armed man accosted me in what appeared to be an attempt to steal my empty gun. This guy came up behind me, very quietly, and waited until I had emptied my revolver before he, suddenly, revealed himself with a wide, ‘dirt-eating grin’ and the remark; ‘You shot ‘er dry – didn’t you!’ I noticed that he was armed with a small silver pistol which he wisely kept hidden inside his front left pocket. When I showed him my 9mm backup pistol, he quickly lost that grin; but, he continued to keep his left hand in his pants pocket the entire time he engaged me. He made a lot of silly conversation that came across as, primarily, trying to distract me. When he insisted on attempting to stand next to my gun side while he was talking, ‘trash’ I felt the necessity to pull my 9mm auto on him. I pointed the pistol at his crotch and asked; ‘What kind of game are we playing here?’ Only then did he back away from me!)

It’s because of experiences like these that I, absolutely, hate going to a range alone. (And I can’t help, but, remember where Platt and Matix got most of their guns from!) I’m fortunate enough to be able to walk out my backdoor and, ‘go full-auto’ if I want to; or I can spend $10 bucks, and go over to a privately run shooting range where I can associate with other instructors and NRA members – all of whom I know well and trust with firearms. Unsupervised shooting ranges are never, really, safe; and I, just, got my second reminder to be extra careful around odd-behaving civilians with guns!

[K80Geoff]

Was that range on State Game lands? If so regulations require shooters to designate a range officer if more than two people are shooting.

I love PA, the state provides free ranges and does a decent job of maintaining them.

[Jamie Young]

A friend of mine had some kind of relic handgun that he shot and part of the cartridge shot backwards at him and lodged in his scalp. His 16yr old son had to drive him to the hospital. He lost a lot of blood.......

[BobbyWins]

I don't go to a range for many of the above reasons.

I'm fortunate to live on twenty acres where I have set up my own range and when I do have friends over for a little shootin',The rule is "SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!!!"
Never more than one person shooting at a time and the only gun that is loaded is the one that's being shot.

BW

[Arc Angel]

Was that range on State Game lands? If so regulations require shooters to designate a range officer if more than two people are shooting.

I love PA, the state provides free ranges and does a decent job of maintaining them.

No, it's located at a gun club outside of Lehighton.

Almost everyone I shoot with is hesitant to use the state game land ranges. Sometimes we'll use one of the ranges located at: Jim Thorpe, Red Rocks, or Gouldsboro; however, nobody feels safe; and when we do use one of these ranges it's always as a group.

I agree with you, though. With the exception of the Gouldsboro range they are, all, well-kept and maintained. You, just, never know who's going to be there with you; and when you look at some of the bullet holes around these ranges, it's obvious some shooters like to goof around.

[Darkangel]

Now I don't know if this one is true, it may be an urban ledgend.
They found a guy at a gun club , he was dead from a 50 cal MUzzel loader GSW to his head. He was still holding a bic lighter in his right hand. His head had extesive powder burns. It was either a suicide made to look like an accident, or the guy was looking down the barrel of his muzzel loader with a bic lighter as a light. The primer had been struck. I don't remember where I heard, or read this story. It was from a few years ago.

[JohnK]

Frightening story Arc Angel, I doubt I'd go back to that range again either - certainly not alone.

Two deaths at a local indoor range several years ago, In April 1997 a woman accidently (stupidly) shot the person she was with with a 44, the second death was a suicide which I belive happened the year before that.

[Arc Angel]

Yeah, and I'm still kicking myself for not taking that guy's license plate. He was way out of line! That's twice, now, I've made the same mistake, and in exactly the same place. You think I'd learn!

There's an unmistakable moral to this story, though:

YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE CAREFUL AT PUBLIC RANGES. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A GUN DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN THAT YOU ARE SAFE!

Some threats will be obvious while others will walk up to you with a goofy smile or a stupid joke. I've met them both; they are equally dangerous.

[asinner1979]

i was shoot at on the state game lands range in wexford, pa. they were a lot of ppl there and one man designated himself range master, wich is what the rules stipulate. after all clear was called every one went to change targets, my friend and i were the only ones at this point shooting 100yd's everyone else was pitol, 25, and 50 yd. the called to see if the range was clear and we yelled no! then as we started to walk back 3 or 4 ppl on the line started shootin. well my friend and i were scared s***less, we both hit the ground and started yelling like hell. they stopped shooting and we ran to the benches were we both sat down shaking from the fear and adrelaine and trying to calm down, i didnt even want to look up towards the shorter ranges for fear id grab my custom k98 and start shooting,,,,, finally after about 20 minutes of total silence and no shooting... the man who thought he was master came down to us. he started by saying that he was so sorry, and that he thought the "no" came from some kids at the 50 yd range screwing around, and how he thought that we had left (but our rifles and cases were there still) then he basically started to beg us not to call the game comission or to tell anyone what had occured, thats when my friend grabbed his AR stood up said f--- you and left. i sat there for another few minutes then gathered my stuff and left, now i only shoot at private ranges and belong to two, where im usually alone or with friends i trust

[KSFreeman]

Tamara, the greatest danger in origami comes from the paper bears and pumas. You have to watch them at every fold!

Went to skul with a guy that fellow down the stairs in a simulation house.

Injury is always a possibility. Make plans for trouble and you won't have any!

Kotex and duct tape in your range bag is cheap insurance. Range buddy is even better!

[FirstFreedom]

Wow, arc angel, that is frightening - I sure as heck wouldn't go back either. Ummm, 'scuse me KSF...did you say *kotex* in your range bag? I don't think I could do that no matter how potentially helpful they may be (I'm assuming for wound dressing to stop bleeding). Oh, the ribbing I would get from my buddies...What's wrong with standard large bandages?

I'll bet people are hurt at public ranges (and private) a lot more than you hear about - the ranges doubtless go out of their way to keep it quiet when an incident happens - bad for business to have the press called.

[Redondo]

Does my pride count?!!

[Arc Angel]

Does my pride count?!!

OK, I'll bite! Because I signed back in to read your post; 'Why should it?'