after reading some of these posts, I feel REALLY lucky to belong to the club that I do. With over 3,500 members, I'm surprised I haven run across some of these "Darwin Award Contestants". The club's been in existence since 1938 with a pristine saftey record. New members usually learn quickly "who-knows-what" and either begin to learn, or never renew.
I've been a member for 34 years, and my only complaint is that the rifle range is only 100 yards. It's a great club, if your ever out our way, come visit.
http://www.dcfs.org

I have seen a few darwin contestants at the local range but find that since I now only shoot very early in the mornings I never meet them anymore.Apparently they are as lazy as they are foolish.

Longbob:

Of course, that comment begs the question of how many other 200 yard .454 Casull shooters do you know?

Gat,

And the relevance.

I am the best! Wahoo!

Actually, I have improved quite a bit since I got rid of that stupid scope.

The sights are two clicks taller than they were from the factory, never touched since. I just load for a given range, and leave the sight settings alone.

Very good stories. I'll add one more.

The range closes at 5 pm and I'm waiting to get my targets. Three young guys walk in at 4:45 wearing t-shirts and sandals with brand new rifles. The range officers sit them at the 50 yard range to get them on paper. One guys shoots a few rounds and each time jumps entirely off the bench in pain. The sad story is the first guy, though. The range officer is standing there and each time he pulls the trigger there's a click. After about five minutes the range officer figures out the guy is trying to shoot 300 win mag rounds in his new 300 ultra mag!

The scary story is that when I told this story to a guy a work he said it was the salesman's fault for giving the guy the wrong ammunition when he bought the rifle!

"So I guess it's true - there IS more than one way to de-pelt a pet."

Recono,

What do you think Scott does with the pelts. He covers his cot with the fur. Scott's a camper.

Let's see, the thread seems to have become "Weird Things Seen/Experienced at the Range". Since I have my own range (not quite as nice as pds's 700 yard'er ), the week before deer season, everybody shows up. Funny, they're never around the rest of the year to help mow, build target holders, etc.. Hmmmm.

So, strange things:
1. WAY, WAY too many barrels from the business end. How hard can it be to be sure the muzzle is aimed UP at all times before you're on the bench? I had to institute an "if I see one muzzle, you're gone" rule.
2. A guy attempting to load 300 WMags in a 300 W'by. I guess they'd have fired, since they headspace on the belt, but, I'd imagine the case would have stretched and come apart?
3. Same guy, next year, trying to put 280's in a 270. I suggested he take his rifles with him to the ammo store and let the clerk check out the markings on the barrel next time.
How can a person NOT know what caliber his rife is?
4. Assorted scopes so far out of adjustment, or with such loose mounts and action screws, that hitting the target was more luck than anything else.
5. Actually saw a scope fly completely off a "basement special" mount on a 12 Ga. shotgun. It used hose clamps, I swear.
6. Two guys (my brothers) getting "magnum eyebrows" on successive shots with a particularly vicious 7# 350 RMag. Still get a chuckle out of that one.
7. Perhaps my all time favorite. I was working on some heavy loads with my 338 WMag; brother #1 (a hunter, not a dedicated shooter) came by and was snickering watching it beat me up. So, I asked if he wanted to try it out. Now, if any of you have brothers, you KNOW there's no way a challenge like that can be gracefully turned down. Unbeknownst to him, I also had some reduced (200 Speers @ 2200 FPS w/38 I4759) loads in the box. I stuck one of them in there and got up from the bench. He just about flinched out of his socks anticipating the kick that never came.

R-WEST

I am no fan of see thru sites, but, I recently made a gun trade, and the new (used) rifle had see thru's already on it. It is a Remington 760 BDL, 30-06. I put my Thompson Center 3X9x50 on it. I did this because as part of the trade, I kept my scope, and the gunsmith swapped it over to the newly aquired rifle. I knew that I would not have the time to change the mounts before my upcoming hunt, and still sight the gun in, so I am using them. I am having no problem getting 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. The see thru's are really the low variety, and the iron sights are barely useful. Also, with this size of scope, 50mm, they are just about right. I still don't like see thru's, but I will be using these until I see that they are not useful.

Well I'll scewer myself a little here just for the fun of it. I only purchased my first rifle and scope last summer (Savage Scout with Burris scout scope)and do to business obligations had no time to take it to the range. A friend of mine kept telling my how to go about sighting he scope once I got to the range. Understand that I was dying to shoot this gun and start the reloading process for it. Finally my schedule lightens, and I head to the range. I have about 60 rounds of Argentinian 7.62 Nato and another 50 rounds of handloads using Barnes XLCs. I start the sight in process and it is not going well. So after about 20 rounds of trying. I put the rifle down, take a breath and a little walk. I decide I'd better get some help from a more knowledgeable person than I. I ask a guy and he say Oh yeah I can help. So we take a few more shots with some success and i am starting to feel pretty good and I am learning more how to sight in. then we start "throwing" some shots, so he says hey my friend is better atthis tha I am so I get him to help. Friend #2 helps and we get back on track. I am rapidly running out of ammo and I am not too hapy with my "groups" (you'd call them patterns...hell so would I!) I shoot my reloads up and after close to 70 rounds. I have no idea what is going on. I go from dead on at 100 to not even close. I shoot a couple more ,then by accident I bump the scope and it wiggles. I just start laughing like crazy. It occurs to me that I have shot the sope base loose. Quick check and sure enough there's my POI problem. More laughter. It was fortunate for me that I had just read an article about this kind of thing and I was able to recall the signs. I wish I had figured it out much sooner as that was a costly ammo day, but I learned a bunch. Anyway, went to the hardware store picked up some Blue Loc tite and snugged that baby down. Back to the range a few weeks later and finish sighting it in. First time out sighting a scope and rifle for me was border line brutal, but now that I know what to do it shouldn't e so difficult. Of course my buddies directions were not a lot of help aside from my boresighting before the whole ordeal.

Great post, I swear that I've met every one of the goofs you've written about.

I thought I'd pass along my favorite range story, related to me by a game warden who worked at one of Wildlife & Fisheries' public ranges.

A bunch of hunters showed up at the campground the night before opening day. The sun had set but they still needed to sight in their rifles. Their solution? Send a guy downrange to illuminate the target with a flashlight while the others shot.

What is the bad thing about see-thru mounts? Is it a rifle thing? I used them on my wheelgun because it was the cleanest way to mount my scope (large objective lens).

One time at a hunting fair I heard a hunter speaking with a scope salesman asking him if he checked the rifle/ammo every year or if he was confident with one setting and trusted that one from year to year.
The salesman answered that he shot more than a couple of 1000 rounds every year so he knows his guns pretty well. The hunter replies that he did his adjustment a couple of years ago and he still trusted it.

It just hit me that I went out of topic in my last post, that "real man" never went to the range

ScottB -

quote:

---

What is the bad thing about see-thru mounts? Is it a rifle thing? I used them on my wheelgun because it was the cleanest way to mount my scope (large objective lens).

---

You are in need of serious help

My therapist, Dr. Baron O'Graymatter was talking about opening an office in TX, maybe he could look you up?

R-WEST

Man, see what happens when you act the clown all the time? No one takes you seriously!

Really, I was serious with that question. I had to use them, because the extended mounts were the shortest ones I could find that were still tall enough, but not too tall like the taco hold mounts.

Ok man, a serious answer. See thru mounts on a rifle cause you to lift you head up off the stock to see through the scope. You lose that nice tight "cheek weld" that is conducive to good shooting. It also throws off the trajectory charts that are designed around line of sight to be 1.5" above line of bore.

Really doesn't matter with a pistol cuz if your putting your cheek on the stocks you have other problems to worry about. Like the name of a good Dentist.

The ones I wonder about are the guys that show up at the local sporting goods emporium the night before deer season and buy a new rifle, boots, the whole works. The mind reels.

Guys, not all idiots are the ones with the guns. A few years ago I had a Springfield M-14 national match rifle. I went to the semi private range North of me to sight it in as it was new. When I arrived at the range I found out it was hunters sight in day. Heck you only need to do it once a year right??? Anyway, I went to the range master and asked if I could use one of the open benches. Even though I was a member of the club they made me pay to use the range this day. I coughed up the money. Then went to my car to get the gun and equipment to do what I had intended to do that day. I took the rifle still in the case to the bench and started sorting out all of my gear. When I unzipped the rifle the range officer came over. He said that's a burp gun, you can't shoot a burp gun here. Puzzled I started to explain that it is a semi-auto .308 caliber target rifle. He again started screaming at me that it was a burp gun. Now people about 3 benches to each side of me were looking and wondering what I had brought to the range. Needless to say I had an earful for that "range officer". After a few selected words I put my rifle back in to the gun case and not to quietly asked for my money back. The second range officer came by to ask me what was up. After I had explained to him what was going on he assured me that the first range officer was "old" and did not understand. I contered with then he should not be running the range. I did not renew my membership to that gun club again. Oh, and at the time I was a certified police firearms instructer. Not an idiot with a new toy that I did not know how to use.

Mike, I guess I may be showing my ignorance here but what in the heck is a burp gun?

The range officer was thinking that my M-14 was a full auto and that I was going to shoot up the place. This was after I had told him that it was a semi-auto .308, which msde no difference in his mind, that assuming he had one.

Spending 20 years in the Infantry, I have unfortunately witnessed some incredibly stupid things done with weapons. The most recent happened a couple summers ago at the local public range here in Fairbanks. I shoot year around and usually try to get there early in the day in the middle of the week so I have the range to my self. If others arrive I will keep an eye on them and if they start acting stupid I will leave. I was shooting a 357 revolver using mild 38 special loads when a younger fella arrives and starts setting up next to me, there's 12 other empty bench's but he must have really liked the one next to me. He starts to shoot his Kimber Match super stainless pistol and seems to be okay so I continue to shoot. I finish a string and look over his way and his back is to me and he is kinda hunched over the bench, I start to reload and catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and this guy is headed my way holding his hand covered in blood. My first assumption is that he caught a finger in the slide or something so I give him a towel and grab my first aid kit. He gets the blood wiped away and on closer examination I see he has a pretty nasty wound to two fingers. I throw him in the truck and head to the base hospital since he is a GI. I find out on the way that he had been shooting a lot of lead bullets and hadn't cleaned his pistol for a while and his pistol had been failing to lock up. Instead of stopping and cleaning the pistol and checking the problem he grabbed the slide with his off hand and jerked it to close it. He had his finger on the trigger and at the same time he got the slide closed, it also jerked the pistol forward enough to pull the trigger, and at the same time his off hand slipped past the end of the slide and bang. He is now missing two fingers.

My range stories

Was at the range, Lake Houston, and a poliet, well mannered, well dressed gent was there, with his brand new savage 110 30-06, with a boss. He has a bushnell scope, and can't hit paper. I am next to him with a couple guns and friends, sighting in. He askes for help..

Okay, not a problem...

I first look at the primers of his reloads. Looks fine.. light loads, but fine.

I put the scope on bags, take the bolt out, and i can see the paper at 25yards.. so, i reach up to take the scopeadjustment covers off.. and the scope rolls 85degrees and slides forward.

nice..

Okay, i tighten the screws, and get it in the center of the target at 25 yards.

I ask him to shoot.. couple adjustments, looks great at 25. ask him to try at 100.

first shot hits about 5oclock 3" low. Okay, shoot again.. bullseye?

HUH?

shoot again (did i mention i hate sissyslots) same as first shot...

I look at him... he says his other 30-06 shoots 2" at 200, and he was hoping this one would..

okay, lemme shoot.

pick up a bullet, as what grain.... funny look comes over his face... he looks at it.. 'oh, i can't tell, either 165 or 150"...

what??? Well, he says, he wanted to know how it would shoot several different loads... he had 110s, 150, 165, and some herc'in 220rns. shooting them randomly..

I beat feet after suggesting that he get it sighted in for ONE load....

oh, and never forget the ID-10-ts that have rifle rounds with just primers and bullets... i've stopped two, working as an RO, from shooting again.. after POP, no hole, empty brass....

nice... like a slug taco, nice

jeffe

This post is proving one of my theories. I say to people at work that 50 percent of the people in the world are dumb. The other 50 percent of us have our trying moments sometimes also.

Here is another story. I got this from the rangemaster. An older gentleman was at the range with his newly scoped rifle. He went and was shooting and getting no where. The rangemaster went over to help him. The gentleman said this is my first scope but I am having problem. He couldn't see thru it right. The range master looked at it and saw the scope was mounted on backwards. It was a straight 4X bakward that was mounted and bore sighted by a local (now out of business merchant). When this was pointed out to the gentleman he said it did look different in the store than at the range. He had never used a scope before and had no clue. What service - mount it and then charge for a non existant bore sight.

Hcliff

Two more stories from yesterday. I went to the local indoor 100 yd range to pop some .22 for fun. Two guys are next to me with their deer rifles.

Guy #1 has (I'm not making this up) a Marlin 336 in .30-30 with a bipod, some off brand scope on see-through mounts, cheap nylong strap, and one of those slip-on rubber recoil pads. He's shooting at 50 yards and I'm sneaking a peek through my own scope. His "group" looks like a shotgun's pattern. Guy #1 is wearing green nylon military-knock off flight jacket with fancy embroidery of big buck on back. I'm secretly LMAO, because my groups with a CZ 452 would almost fit into one of his bullet holes.

Guy #2 has a Rem 7600 and 700, both .270 Win. His 700 is shooting pretty good (I'd estimate a 3/4" group), but his 7600 is putting all the shots off to the right at an angle. He said that he's taking the rifle back to the front counter to have them re-do their boresight because "they mounted the scope tilted". The scope's turrets are right where they should be. I look through his scope and sure enough the reticle is off about 20 deg to the right. I said, bud, looks like you need a new scope. He says: I just bought this! I'm taking it to the guy up front! Guy who boresighted scope looks at it and says: yep, it's broken. Brand? Tasco (or should that be Trashco?)

[ 11-15-2002, 21:57: Message edited by: ksduckhunter ]

Thanks for the serious answer, twillis. I'm getting rid of the scope anyhow. It doesn't help my shooting

Scott, Is there something wrong with the scope or do you not like it? I am going to be looking for one shortly.

It is a simmons 4x pistol scope.

The reticle is now an 'X' instead of a cross. It spun somehow from recoil.

I am sending it back under warranty with my fingers crossed, but was planning on getting rid of it eventually afterwards. I have thought about mounting it to an M1 Carbine with the B-square scout mount, but that is just more money I don't have right now.

If interested, email me at work.

Just rotate it in the mount 45 degrees, it will be alright . You have mail

i had a tasco reticle break and rotate once...it was their $40 special (should have known better, you get what you pay for) out of cabela's. shot it once or twice on a .308 and it crapped out...tried turning the scope around, but, it didn't do any good, it'd just rotate all day long.

PPSh-41. 7.62x25mm. Commonly known as a burp-gun, by Marines and Soldiers during the Korean war. Widely used by North Korea during that war.

MM



[ 11-16-2002, 02:37: Message edited by: MontanaMarine ]

Is there a foreward handle on those things? Or did they just hold on to the magazine?

Hey R-West
I have 20 300 Mag cases fired in a 300 W'by chamber that I picked up at the 100 yard benches at our range.
VERY short neck.
LouisB

[ 11-16-2002, 07:01: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

Gatehouse,

The ventilated guard around the barrel serves as the forward handle. Here is a link to more info and images, if you are interested.

MM

http://www.a-human-right.com/ppsh.html

Went to the range two days ago on my noon hour to play around with my 416 Taylor. When I pulled in there was McDonnalds to go, and the empty bags and stuff were all over the ground matched with cigarrete packs. If it weren't for the fact he left a bunch of nickle plated -06 cases behind I'd really be pissed. It is common for me to leave our outdoor range with a bag full of garbage from others.

I hate to admit this... but my uncle once had the reticle of a cheap scope fall to the bottom and rattle around a bit. "No problem," he said. And he proceeded to paint crosshairs onto the ocular lens with a small paintbrush! I was pretty young then so I can't remember if he favored the duplex or mil-dot variety. Strange, but true.