Range Horror Stories

[Abby]

Going through another thread, I got an idea for this one: Range horror stories - things you've seen at the range that made you:

A) Dive for cover
B) Beat the offender with the non-business end of your firearm
C) Cringe

I was at the range recently with a new shooter friend of mine. She was trying out a variety of different weapons of mine (she's an Army-trained shooter, had never fired anything but the M16A2 and her M9). We were working our way through my pistol, a 30/30 hunting rifle and my trusty 20 gauge (hey - when she says she wants to try it all, I bring a good assortment).

Two lanes down from us is some yahoo older guy who is periodically SCREAMING at the kid (16-20 years old) he'd come with. Now, methinks SCREAMING at a shooting range is a poor choice, but he was doing it.

The kid would shoot, and I wasn't watching him that closely but he didn't seem to be doing anything that warranted a shout (no egregious safety violations, that is). But once in a while, with no warning, this older dude would screech, "STOP! NO! G**D***IT!" Very disconcerting.

Worse yet, after his little buddy stopped shooting, he pulled up a chair behind my buddy and started offering "helpful" input. Fortunately, years of being a sergeant in a couple different branches (as well as a few years as a "wife") have equipped me with a very good "look of death." The guy went away fairly quickly.

So what's the most outrageous thing that's happened to YOU at the range, or that you've seen?

[U.F.O.]

Indoor range, typical shooting stalls. Buttwipe was on my right, two doors down. I felt atypical movement out of my right peripheral vision. This guy was positioned all the way back to the rear benches, totally out of the stall, doing rapid fire glock drills. I momentarily wanted to dive for my life, but instead.....I chilled and stopped shooting until he re-established correct range position, which thankfully was quickly. I talked to the rangemaster after the fact and he was pissed. Dude was already gone at that point but they had his I.D. He is no longer a welcomed customer.

U.F.O.

[M4A3]

HeH, don't get me started.

A guy just buys a MAC-11 semi auto from us wants to take it down to the range for a test drive. (no problem) Untill I see him lock a mag and cock the bolt open while pointing down a full range of people (14 stalls) then walk it over to his lane.

There are signs posted all over the range about loading you're fire arm pointing down range...

I dont work there any more, but I shure am glad nothing happend while was on duty.

It only takes a split second for somthing to happen. If a round would have went off there would have ben nothing I could have done to prevent that.

2c

[Dfariswheel]

The president of my old gun club got a call one night from a neighbor saying someone was shooting on the range.

He drove over and found two Non-members had climbed over the fence and were shooting IN THE DARK.

They told him that they were leaving the next morning for a hunting trip to Idaho to hunt elk, and needed to sight in their monster Magnum rifles.

They told him that there was no reason for him to be mad, they wern't hurting anything, and they even brought their own targets.

They just could not understand why he was yelling and screaming and calling the sheriff.

These boobs were sighting in Magnum rifles by one man shooting at 50 yards, WHILE THE OTHER STOOD BESIDE THE TARGET HOLDING A FLASHLIGHT TO ILLUMINATE THE BULL.
====================================
I was at a Conservation public range shooting a hi-cap 9mm pistol.

A boy (certainly old enough to know better) from a neighboring farm was picking up brass, which he was selling for scrap.

I noticed he was picking up MY brass as I was shooting it, but since it was non-re-loadable Berdan primed, I really didn't care, but I did think it was kind of rude.

As I was firing a string I noticed something below my line of sight, and ceased fire, JUST as the kid STOOD UP DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE GUN BARREL.

He had crawled around picking up my brass until he was directly in front of me and when he stood up, the back of his head was about one foot in front of my muzzle.

Even for a farm boy, I think he heard some new words that day.
====================================
The club Secretary of my old gun club arrived at the range one morning to hear bursts of gunfire, a short pause, then long bursts of pistol fire.

He found the local Chief of Police on the 50 foot range with a police shotgun and a 9mm.

He was RUNNING back and forth in front of the backstop blasting it to bits with the shotgun.
When the shotgun was empty, he'd DROP IT, draw his 9mm and continue running back and forth firing the 9mm, also dropping to the ground and rolling around as he fired.

The Secretary asked him what the Hell he was doing destroying our 50 foot Small Bore backstop for.

The highly embarrassed Chief mumbled something about "practicing Police combat shooting" (as he brushed leaves and grass off his blues).

The Chief later resigned after trading a somewhat shady local gun dealer a batch of pistols seized from criminals for some VERY expensive guns for his PERSONAL ownership.

Said one police officer who was less than impressed with the Chief's tenure, "It's the end of an error".

[Sir William]

There is a mall not far from the range I compete at. Once upon a time a punk pulled a shoplifting from Sears stunt. Sears pursues shoplifters. The chase was on foot and ran by the riverside up to our range. We had 0 clue. Shooters on the line for PPC. Hot range. The shoplfter suddenly pops up behind the berm! I can't imagine what the shoplifter thought when the Sears security was on him and stopped chasing him. Home free maybe. He was definitely surprised to be looking down multiple muzzles of so many LEOs. I am certain he needed a shower and a jail issue jumpsuit.

[gb_in_ga]

Honest story, I was there and saw it all!

Way back in '76 when I was in the Army stationed in W Germany, we were at the division training area right outside of Wurzburg. The training area was right close to the Czech border. Anyway, I was in a mortar crew and we were there on the mortar/artillery range, firing at the impact zone that was on the next hill. Lo and behold, there was this sport balloon -- you know, with the gondola basket and all, that came floating our way, heading off towards the Czech border. It seemed that the wind had changed. Anyway, there's only 1 clearing in the forest between them and the border, and that was our impact zone, so down they went! Right out there in the middle of our range, less than 100 yards from our target, with all of those HE duds that had collected over the years! Needless to say, that was the end of shooting for the day.

[WillBrayjr]

I have a father/son story. In this case both were complete idiots. :barf:

I always keep an eye on whats going on around all the time. I see this guy and his son loading magazines which is no big deal right. Both of them then preceeded to load their rifles and chamber rounds. Both of them were swinging their rifles with their fingers on the triggers without a care in the world When they finally started shooting, they weren't even aiming the rifles not caring where the rounds were going. I went to check my target and the kid was still shooting when I was down range I spotted a DNR officer and had them thrown out If that would have been Howard Township Conservation Club I would have had handed them their @$$es since they are no range captains there on a regular basis.

[nitouken]

This one is worse because it was a friend of mine. We were out to shoot some clays in a field he owns and he askes if he can shoot my 10 ga. I agree, and he takes it and puts a 12 ga shell in it. It is a VERY old Greener (sp?) that I got from my grandfather. I ask him what the HELL he thinks he's doing, he calmly attempts to explain that it's okay to shoot smaller shells in larger gauges. Needless to say, he didn't end up getting to shoot any of my shotguns.

[USP45usp]

U.F.O.

Indoor range, typical shooting stalls. Buttwipe was on my right, two doors down. I felt atypical movement out of my right peripheral vision. This guy was positioned all the way back to the rear benches, totally out of the stall, doing rapid fire glock drills. I momentarily wanted to dive for my life,

Same thing happend here. After the dude stopped shooting and was going to reload I tapped him on the shoulder and showed him that the range "benches" were on hinges and if he wanted to practice quick draw drills and such, just lift the bench and stay within the stall.

Needless to say, he just gave me a thanks and a .

Wayne

[Bobarino]

shortly after i had aquired my carry piece and permit i headed to the local range with an assortment of JHP's to function test and see which one i liked. mind you i checked to see if the range had any rules against doing so and i was in the clear. i was shooting away when the guy next to me flinches and claims that a piece of my bullet just came back and hit him. i apologized, even though it wasn't my fault, and told him it happens from time to time to me too. i smiled and went back to shooting. i was shooting Cor-Bon's at the time, loud and flashy, when he poked his head into my stall and asked if was shooting some kind of "hot" load. i said, yeah, they're Cor-Bons and they're pretty spicy why? he looked at the box on the table and proceeded to FREAK out. "you're shooting HOLLOW POINTS?! HOLLOW POINTS?!"

he stomped out to the guys at the counter and i could see his arms flailing as he explained in a very animated fashion to them the horrors that were happening on lane 12. i saw the rangemaster shrug, mr. freak-out comes stomping back in, hurredly packs up his gear while muttering (loud enough for me to hear with ears on) how stupid it is to shoot HOLLOW POINTS! and huffed off to the land of safe and sane FMJ's. i just ignored him and kept shooting.

on my way out i asked the rangemasters again just to make sure it was ok to shoot JHP's and he said sure. i asked him about Mr. freakout and said yup, he had his BVD's in a bunch over the hollow points and complained that they were too loud. i asked what he said to the guy and he replied,"i told him not to listen so loud." needless to say, i still go to that range. and sometimes, i even shoot HOLLOW POINTS!

Bobby

[Craigar45]

bobarino- That wasnt at Wade's was it? That is pretty funny.

One saturday night I saw a couple of thuggs show up packing .50 Desert Eagles in shoulder harnesses... smelled of weed and alcohol. I think they brought their sister along, and proceded to shoot up the walls and celing. At ten feet she couldnt hit a lifesize silhouette target. Even with a laser.
Worse yet, range guys wouldn't throw them out. I see all kinds of safety violations thereat Wade's, but nobody ever gets thrown out. I wouldn't go back if it weren't for the fact it is the only indoor left in town.
I regularly see new holes appear on my target when I am not shooting. And the closest shooter is at least two lanes away.

I have witnessed a revolver Ka-Boom- Guy was shooting away, and then one unusual bang, and the bbl was two thirds of the way down range. That was a little scary! I think there is another thread on Ka-Booms on here somewhere.

[Rpn1984]

not really a horror story but pretty stupid and funny. Me and my friend were at the range (outdoors) and i noticed a black man and his friend shooting a m4 at a target about 10 feet away the man that owned the gun was S.W.A.T when he let his friend shoot he fired a couple rounds then as he was lowering the gun shot the gun rest

[wyrdone]

D) Call the Cops.

Repost from previous thread:

About 2 years ago now I was at the NRV NF range with a buddy of mine. It was a gray drizzly sunday evening in the winter so we had the range to ourselves. We had gone though about 3 sets of targets and had just setup another set when a guy drive up and parks in the handicap spot, get out and walks down to position 1 (closest to the entrance), we were down at 11 & 12 (end of the line). Didn't think much of it and let him go put out his target (a carboard box).

My buddy starts up his firing, and I watch the new guy (habit). I notice right off the new guy is a little off. He is dressed in a business suit, but had the necktie undone, and the top 3 buttons of his shirt undone, his shirt tail wasn't tucked in and was having a hard time keeping his gun pointed down range (revolver of some sort, probably .38 or .357). The new guy was obviously on something. My buddy finishes his set, I tap him on the shoulder and tell him to packup as we are getting out of there.

As we walk past the guy I smell a heavy scent of alcohol on him. My buddy and I confer and decide to call the cops as this guy was a clear hazard in his condition. My bud waits down at the entrance to the range. I write down his license plate number, decription and such and drive to the nearest phone (a mountain range over), call the cops and drive back to the range, park outside of the range and wait for the cops.

The cops show up and we flag them down and we let them know the guy hasn't gone anywhere yet. They tell us thanks and drive up. After about 15 minutes, they come back out with the guy in the back of a cruiser and drive back to town. One of the cops stop and thank us, we drive back up and finish out sets.

[Bobarino]

Craig,

no, this was Puyallup at the Marksman on Canyon Rd. for the most part, they are a good bunch of people. prices are fair, service is pretty good and the owner is a supporter of RKBA. they also have some very good instructors. i've never been to Wade's. some day when i'm up that direction, i'd like to though.

Bobby

[IronGeek]

The other day at the range, I was approached by a friendly older man while loading. He was giving me a few pointers, and introduced me to a few of the others, but when we went back to the bench where I'd been shooting, he picked up my gun to check it out & swept my left hip a little.

"Its loaded," I added quickly, jumping backwards a bit. He straightened and set it back downrange. He was a nice guy, maybe just forgot himself for a moment, getting chatty.

Was it poor etiquette of me to leave my weapon loaded when we stepped away from it for a moment?

IGgy

[Bobarino]

there's nothing wrong with leaving your weapon loaded on the table. (assuming the range is hot and all the safety and range rules are being followed) in my opinion, its poor form to touch someone else's firearm without permission. and its a fact that its REALLY poor form to not follow the safety rules, as is the case with this gentleman. he broke 3 of the four rules right there, if he didn't put his finger on the trigger anyway.

Bobby

[AttackTurtle]

Just had my first horror at a range. I was just finishing up showing my brother how to shoot when an old man started yelling at me from down the range so I walked over to him. He asked me if I was the rangemaster so I told him no but asked what's up. He said he had dropped his firearm on the live side of the range. The man to his right heard this conversation and offered to reach under the shooting stall and try to reach the gun if people stopped shooting. I ask the line to cease fire and walked back to see the the man on the right was able to reach under and obtain the firearm which he then offered to the old man dangerous end first (and covering the rest of the occupied stalls) while saying, "Here ya go."

[M1911]

One day I was practicing for Service Rifle. I was alone at the 100 yard range. I was wearing double hearing protection (plugs and muffs). At our 100 yard range, the only place to shoot prone is in the center lane, under the bench. I'm in my shooting coat, under the bench. I sling up, prone out, look through the sites, straight at a 120 lb Akita 10 feet away.

Took me 15 minutes to convince that darn dog to go play elsewhere.

[TheeBadOne]

I've left a range on more than one occasion due to what I saw.

[U.F.O.]

"there's nothing wrong with leaving your weapon loaded on the table. (assuming the range is hot and all the safety and range rules are being followed)"

QQQ? Is that correct? My range (hot) has plastic muzzle flags that you have to stick in the barrel after you've cleared your weapon before the range is (cold) open to change targets, etc. I don't think the intent there is it's OK to just lay your loaded weapon on the table and step back when the range goes cold.

U.F.O.

[TimRB]

"I sling up, prone out, look through the sites, straight at a 120 lb Akita 10 feet away."

I've had the same experience only with dumb-ass shooters who couldn't possibly remember that I had just walked past them and dropped to the ground to shoot prone.

If you're below benchtop level, beware of Darwin award candidates--they absolutely cannot remember that you're there.

Tim

[IZinterrogator]

So I'm in Kuwait back in 2000 on an Operation Desert Spring rotation. We used the Udairi range complex often to practice with everything we had, including tanks and artillery. After three months of getting everybody qualified on their weapons systems, we were ready to hold a Task Force live-fire exercise with everyone conducting a coordinated assault. We even had A-10s scheduled to be on station to soften up things before we moved in behind them. I was acting as a linguist for the TF at the time. My buddy Mike and I were located at the TF support area waiting for a call to clear people off of the range. In Kuwait, the camel and sheep herders are always going onto the range complex to graze, so not killing them with our exercises is a major problem. Anyway, the day before the exercise, we find two camel herders with their herd right in the middle of the impact zone. They have a tent set up and a water truck for the camels. Mike and I went out to their tent with an MP squad to let them know we were going to shoot the next day and that they should vacate the area. They agree to stay out of our way and we got pictures of the MPs on the camels, so we thought everything was cool. The next morning at 0400, we wake up to find the herders still there. Mike and I went out with the MPs again and told them they had to leave. The herders (who we had dubbed Gilligan and the Skipper) said that they did not have the keys to their water truck, so they couldn't leave. We promised to not engage the water truck and again told them they had to leave and not come back until the next morning. The Skipper went back to his tent in a huff, got dressed, and then the herders took their camels and left. Noon rolls around and we see a large herd of camels coming our way. We attempt to herd them out of the way with our Humvees, but they are running for the water truck, so our herding attempts were about as effective as a football bat. We find Gilligan and the Skipper and tell them that we are starting our exercise at 1600, so they better be gone by 1500. The Skipper is very irate, and Gilligan kept asking when exactly they needed to leave by. 1430 rolls around and Range Control arrives. We go with the range guy out to the tent to find the camels and the herders asleep. Range Control explains that the land is owned by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense, and we have priority to use the land, so they need to leave. Range Control then calls the MOD and a Kuwaiti colonel tells the Skipper that he needs to leave or he will be responsible for his own safety and the safety of his herd. Skipper then demands to call his company. He talks to a company representative for five minutes and hands us the phone, telling us to talk to the company rep. We explain the situation and tell the company rep that these clowns have to be gone in a half-hour. The company rep says that he will be there in three hours to sort things out. Range Control says that three hours will be two and a half hours too late and hangs up. We tell the herders that this is their last chance. The Skipper says that they will stay until their company rep shows up. Gilligan looks like he is about to have to change his shorts. We shrug and leave. So the TF commander is really ticked off because he will have to divert the exercise around these bozos. So I find the Air Force TACP guys (the people that call in air strikes who are good friends of mine because I had taken them downtown into Kuwait City one night) and ask them where the A-10s are supposed to drop their bombs. They show me on the map, so I pull out my GPS and compare their coordinates with the location of the herders. The A-10s are supposed to drop four 2000-lb. bombs about two kilometers west of the herders. I point out where the herders are and note that there is a twenty-foot high sand berm between the target and the herders. They agree to move the aiming point one kilometer east of their original target. Mike and I return to the TF support area, climb in the control tower, and put our binos on the herders' tent. 1600 rolls around and the A-10s take up station overhead. The TACP guys call in the coordinates and the A-10s roll in, dropping their bombs about a kilometer from the camp. Four 2000-lb. bombs are a definite wake-up call, because Gilligan comes bolting out of the tent, climbs on the head camel, and takes off at a full gallop with the rest of the herd in tow. Then the Skipper comes running, jumps in the cab of the water truck, starts it up (those lying bastards!), and hauls butt across the desert. The TF commander calls the A-10 pilots to congratulate them on their "outstanding" bombing skills and we continue the rest of the exercise without incident.

I have a few more similar stories, but that one has to be the best.

[Bobarino]

U.F.O.

i gues i should clarify. at the indoor pistol range i shoot at, the range virtually never goes cold. it has tables and the wire suspended target carriers and a to/from switch at the stalls. nobody ever goes out into the target area. on ranges that people traverse out into the firing area (such as the rifle range i frequent) then yes, weapons must be cleared and actions left open before the shooters can go set up tagets and such. sorry for the confussion.

Bobby

[LHB1]

Terror at the range. I was shooting on the pistol range one day when a young hot shot and his girl rode up on a motorcycle. They went into the gun shop and came out few minutes later with new pistol still in box and ammo. She stood behind him while he set up about 3 stations beyond me. He made a big show of loading the magazine, inserting it, and racking slide. BOOM! And a bullet hit the dirt about 10 feet in front of him because he had his finger on trigger. Luckily he was pointed more or less down range. BUT then he turned 90 degrees to look at girl friend with WIDE GLAZED EYES AND FINGER STILL ON TRIGGER. The pistol was now pointed straight at my midsection. I quickly stepped behind a large tree until he faced forward again. Then I found a range officer who gave him a lesson in safety and personally supervised his shooting until he left.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB