1911Forum banner

A bad day at the range

3K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  Custom-guy 
#1 ·
I'm sorry if this gets long or is overly negative, but I did give myself some cooling off time before I decided to post this.

My buddy and I decided to go to the local outdoor public range located in the state land today. I knew we were in for a unique experience when we pulled into the parking area and saw some other shooters on the line standing around another shooters Maxim machine gun set up on its tripod.

Yes, I said machine gun. This range is popular with all types of "marksmen", and the local class III holders are no exception. Usually the most interesting thing they bring out is submachine gun or two, so it was pretty cool to see something different.

We exchanged greetings with some other shooters and started unloading our gear and guns just about the time the Maxim owners son, (about age 10,) picked up a compact .22 pistol and started firing it-completely unsupervised.

My warning buzzer started going off immediately, but I didn't see him doing anything unsafe at that time. I decided to keep an eye on him, but to not let it interfere with my day of shooting.

Soon, however, the bells and whistles were going off as well. We had called a ceasefire so some people could go downrange and set up targets and I happened to look at the Maxim. It had a belt of ammo laying in the feed tray, which immediately put me on edge. I walked up to it to take a closer look, and to my horror I saw that it had already been charged, a fresh round on the bolt face, waiting to be chambered and fired with one bump on the thumb triggers.

Now, I'm not normally a pantywaist when it comes to firearms and firearms safety. I just believe that there is usually no such thing as too much safety.

Anyone familiar with automatic weapons, especially belt-fed guns has probably heard of "cook-offs". This gun had just gone through two sessions of approximately 200 rounds each, with about a five-minute break in-between. So, you can probably understand how the combination of a belt of ammo laying on top of the open feed tray, the steam still rising from the leaky water jacket, and the charged bolt waiting to fire had me a little nervous. To compound things, there were now four people walking around downrange of this thing, not to mention all the yutzes that were getting within the "blast radius" of a cooked off round- any one of whom could bump the thing and send at least one round downrange.

I have to admit, it took me a minute to muster up the gumption to say something- I'm not too proud of that, in hindsight. Upon pointing this condition out to the gun's owner, he walked over to it and pushed the live charged round out of the bolt face and gave me a "are you happy now?" kind of look.

Needless to say, that was about the end of our shooting session, and the straw that broke the camel's back, ending our visits to this range. To top everything off, when we left, my buddy told me about seeing the kid with the .22 covering everyone on the line with its muzzle as he tried to clear a jam.

I don't have a problem with people owning automatic weapons- there just not for me. Apparently idiots have no problem owning them though, cause every time I see one out there, they always exhibit some sort of "bad behavior", ranging from potentially unsafe tactics to downright rudeness like spraying and praying a full magazine while standing next to someone trying to zero their hunting rifle. Every time I've ever said something, no matter how tactfully, I've been treated like a killjoy. It's like these idiots believe the rules don't apply to them.

There are so many things wrong with this, I know. I also know that I could have been a better positive influence, and should I ever decide to go out there again, I will.

Like I said earlier, I'm sorry if this got longwinded. I just felt like posting here to get the opinions of other shooters. So, blaze away.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I defiantly have to agree with you for sure! When at the range or shooting in general it should always be about safety, safety, safety and I don't blame you a bit for what you did and said to the dip ****! someone could have gotten killed today from pure stupidity. Anytime a cease fire is called all weapons should be unloaded and the hammers locked or the cylinder's open, no question.

Everyone out there has a responsibility to be accountable for what they are doing but you also have the right and responsibility to change an unsafe practice of another to protect not only yourself but others that are in danger of being a victim of some unsafe smuck at the range. I will tell you that I would have freaked on the guy and told him exactly how it is and how stupid he is for doing what he did.

If anything you were way to lite with your reprimand of this type of practice, I would still be out there yelling at that dude. Man that is just stupid. I speak with some experience with these type of guns and there is nothing safe about them other than unloaded and left alone when not using them to shoot. Not only will this behavior get someone killed but also your lack of aggressiveness with his blatant disregard for safety cannot be ignored either. I know you fessed to it but if you are aware enough to see the problem you need to take action right now the next time you see something like this happening to save an accident or a life.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I know what you mean... It's 2:30 am here, and I'm still awake thinking on this one.

In hindsight, I'm not too proud of myself. I generally don't have a problem approaching strangers out there about safety issues, and thankfully I finally mustered up the cojones to do it. It's no excuse, but the thing slowing me down was thinking about the response I ended up getting.

The most bothersome thing- aside from the safety aspect- was that this guy, who had already qualified to own the thing in the first place, didn't see a problem with what he was doing.

This might be the wrong place to suggest more thorough gun control, and I'd be the first one in line to oppose it. But seeing this boob makes me wonder. Of course, I think the same thing everytime I'm at a gunshow and I notice that muzzle discipline is an unknown concept amongst most of the shoppers.

Man, I'd like to run into that guy again. Too bad I didn't do what I should've the first time...
 
#4 ·
im 17 years old i lived in cali most of my life and i was out at a range one time with my brother in law who is a tulare county police officer and we were trap shooting. well theres a walk way and some area behind all the trap shooting lines and we were sitting down watching some kids 10 to 14 years old play with shot guns and they pointed it atleast twice at us....well to make things worse me and my brother in law didnt say anything and i was walking behind there range to get to the main office to buy some drinks when i heard my brother yell "hit the ground" so thinking he was playing around i did and next thing i knew a round went off and i heard a window break i picked my head up and saw this kid with his jaw dropped and a face knowin he was horror....i got up and my brother started walked towards them with me but that was close enough i ripped the guns outta all the kids hands and took them to my range till and seconds later the dad was yellin at me cuz i was takin the guns...my brother in law flashed his badge and said i could take u to jail ur son almost shot my brother....moral of the story dont leave ur kids with loaded weapons.....im hoping to be a police officer and follow in his steps...if that round woulda hit me id either be dead or really pissed off
 
#5 ·
I understand that it may not be the most comfortable thing to do if you have to get in someones ass for a safety violation, but you have to remember, if you don't you or someone else could die. Some of the most dangerous ranges that I've been to are unsupervised ranges. There should always be a RO present. I realize that at public ranges this is all but impossible but someone should be the diplomat and call cease fires and such. It's alot easier to do that than to have a negligent discharge and the possibility of a serious injury or worse and have the range shut down. Simp
 
#6 ·
I think you did the right thing. I haven't witnesses any behavior at the range, but I used to be a ref at a paintball field and kids wouldn't consider a paintball gun as anything unsafe. We had to yell at them all the time to put in their barrel plugs and masks and goggles if they were out.

Now, I'm not one for gun control either, but here is AZ it takes 10-15 mins to get a gun. Now this is fine for most people. But I see 21 year old punks, now don't attack, I used punks as a distinct group on people that are punk, going into a gun store, dropping $1000 of their parents money and coming out with a Kimber, or HK, or Sig or whatever else they heard in the latest wrap song.

It seems the same with class 3. I have no idea what the background check it like, but at Scottsdale Gun Club I saw some youngish Scottsdale "rich kid" pull out a Class 3 MP5 with about 20 mags loaded and proceed to turn the target into swiss cheese by emptying the mags one by one into it without missing a beat! Frightens me that anyone with money and no sense can get one of these things.
 
#7 ·
Before you classify rich kids or class III owners there are irresponsible gun owners period. CT you did the right thing. Youre not a killjoy youre just not an idiot. If someone would have gotten killed you would have beaten yourself over it.

Unforgiven if the kid knew what he was doing and he didnt miss a beat or the target what does that pertain to unsafe shooting? You can rent a fully auto MP5 there or at Mandells.
 
#8 ·
No worries brother you did the right thing... I also used to be semi shy about randomly telling strangers they are being unsafe or informing them concerning the proper safety rules and precautions... However about being around an ND I no longer have a problem as the ND made quite the impression on me...
 
#9 ·
Why do yall care how people shoot as long as they are safe? If someone wants to unload his fullauto as fast as he can, I don't care, so long as he is safe. Same with anything.
 
#10 ·
AnthonyRSS said:
Why do yall care how people shoot as long as they are safe? If someone wants to unload his fullauto as fast as he can, I don't care, so long as he is safe. Same with anything.
Read the thread. This is not the case.
He was stating that there were people on the range not abiding by VERY IMPORTANT SAFETY RULES that a classIII license holder should know AND FOLLOW by heart.
 
#12 ·
Don't ever feel bad about taking a stand on a safety issue. The simple fact is that most people don't like to be told they're wrong. It's still our responsibility, though.

Heck, once I even got punched for asking a "gentelman" not to point his shotgun at everyone behind the line when he was shooting trap. His excuse? It was unloaded anyway.
 
#13 ·
mac266 said:
Don't ever feel bad about taking a stand on a safety issue. The simple fact is that most people don't like to be told they're wrong. It's still our responsibility, though.

Heck, once I even got punched for asking a "gentelman" not to point his shotgun at everyone behind the line when he was shooting trap. His excuse? It was unloaded anyway.
Please tell me you kicked the crap out of this guy! Right? The dude punched you for calling him on a saftey violation? WOW. I would still be there beating the guy.

CG.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top