Train How You Fight

[minderasr]

 

[Batesmotel]

I work at a gun range. I see these guys in real life. 

[Mrs.Cicero]

2 hours ago, Batesmotel said:

I work at a gun range. I see these guys in real life. 

That could be really funny, or really disturbing...

[Batesmotel]

1 hour ago, Mrs.Cicero said:

That could be really funny, or really disturbing...

Both. 
 

On one hand I see guys in full insulated hunting camouflage at the shotgun range because those are the clothes they will be wearing on the hunt. Excellent gun handling and marksmanship  

On the other hand I see guys in BDUs, plate carriers and everything the latest TactiCool gear whore thinks is in fashion. Shooting some AR platform gun in an exotic caliber tricked out with every conceivable piece of junk imaginable hanging on it at the rifle range. And they still can’t hit paper at 25 yards. And let’s just not talk about basic marksmanship or gun safety with group 2. They already know it all because of video games and internet chat rooms.

I have lots of stories. I get expert shooters and new guys trying to learn. It’s the 1% that give me nightmares. 

[El Spicoli]

Ah, working the range, stories to tell....

I made it out safely.  Recently did a qual for my retired status and the range instructor was talking about "prepping the trigger".  Yeah, no.

 

Mat Best is a funny guy.

[LostinTexas]

23 hours ago, Batesmotel said:

Both. 
 

On one hand I see guys in full insulated hunting camouflage at the shotgun range because those are the clothes they will be wearing on the hunt. Excellent gun handling and marksmanship  

On the other hand I see guys in BDUs, plate carriers and everything the latest TactiCool gear whore thinks is in fashion. Shooting some AR platform gun in an exotic caliber tricked out with every conceivable piece of junk imaginable hanging on it at the rifle range. And they still can’t hit paper at 25 yards. And let’s just not talk about basic marksmanship or gun safety with group 2. They already know it all because of video games and internet chat rooms.

I have lots of stories. I get expert shooters and new guys trying to learn. It’s the 1% that give me nightmares. 

I get funny looks wearing Level IV plates at the range. On the occasion someone actually asks, I explain I'm working with one lung, so a hit for any reason could be a bit more than inconvenient. One in a million odds are great, as long as you aren't the "One".

Rifle range and steel range it is worn when hot. It is very inconvenient for me and it makes some outings short or skipped in the heat of summer, but it keeps LostWife happy.

I know the ones that don't know think all sorts of things, but really don;t care.

[ChuteTheMall]

On 12/1/2023 at 4:48 PM, Batesmotel said:

I work at a gun range. I see these guys in real life. 

Do you ever see guys show up wearing their work clothes, whether suits or business casual, or blue collar work clothes or everyday attire?   

[Walt Longmire]

36 minutes ago, ChuteTheMall said:

Do you ever see guys show up wearing their work clothes, whether suits or business casual, or blue collar work clothes or everyday attire?   

Today at my remote cabin cutting logs with the Stihl and then blazing away with the Anaconda. Wearing the double front Carhart rigging jeans. 

[Mrs.Cicero]

What I find most amusing at the range is when Im watching/listening to somebody trying to sight in a rifle without doing the math (because they have no idea how to do it) and they are just turning random clicks, (and then they discover they turned them in the wrong direction half the time).  Last time I was there, one guy in the group next to me was actually doing all the math for his new shooter friends… but he didn’t explain what he was doing to them.  I wonder how they’ll learn it themselves?  Or if they just waste a box of .450 every year when the one guy who knows isn’t there to do it for them.

[Walt Longmire]

4 hours ago, Mrs.Cicero said:

What I find most amusing at the range is when Im watching/listening to somebody trying to sight in a rifle without doing the math (because they have no idea how to do it) and they are just turning random clicks, (and then they discover they turned them in the wrong direction half the time).  Last time I was there, one guy in the group next to me was actually doing all the math for his new shooter friends… but he didn’t explain what he was doing to them.  I wonder how they’ll learn it themselves?  Or if they just waste a box of .450 every year when the one guy who knows isn’t there to do it for them.

A friend and I were out doing some long range shooting with our .300 Magnums when some pilgrim showed up with a .338 he had just bought and tried sighting it in. He couldn't even hit a wooden cable spool at 50 yards. He said they had bore sighted the rifle for him. Back he went to the gun shop. He showed up again after they had supposedly bore sighted it for him a second time. Still couldn't hit a thing. By now he had shot nearly a box of ammo and was flinching bad. Meantime my friend and I had blasted over 100 rounds each in our .300's. I offered to sight his .338 for him. Of course he readily agreed. I removed the bolt and sighted through the barrel and scope while adjusting the scope to line up with where the bore was pointing. It had been WAY off. I fired 3 rounds while making slight adjustments and then gave his now sighted in rifle back to him. I doubt he kept it long and likely never killed anything with it. Definitely a tenderfoot.

[Mrs.Cicero]

3 hours ago, Walt Longmire said:

A friend and I were out doing some long range shooting with our .300 Magnums when some pilgrim showed up with a .338 he had just bought and tried sighting it in. He couldn't even hit a wooden cable spool at 50 yards. He said they had bore sighted the rifle for him. Back he went to the gun shop. He showed up again after they had supposedly bore sighted it for him a second time. Still couldn't hit a thing. By now he had shot nearly a box of ammo and was flinching bad. Meantime my friend and I had blasted over 100 rounds each in our .300's. I offered to sight his .338 for him. Of course he readily agreed. I removed the bolt and sighted through the barrel and scope while adjusting the scope to line up with where the bore was pointing. It had been WAY off. I fired 3 rounds while making slight adjustments and then gave his now sighted in rifle back to him. I doubt he kept it long and likely never killed anything with it. Definitely a tenderfoot.

It’s completely embarrassing to me that I only learned how to do that last year!

[railfancwb]

21 hours ago, ChuteTheMall said:

Do you ever see guys show up wearing their work clothes, whether suits or business casual, or blue collar work clothes or everyday attire?   

For several years had membership at an indoor range  a few blocks from the office where I worked and on a convenient route home. So I stopped in once or twice most weeks and burned a few rounds of rimfire while in white shirt, suit and tie. Things seemed so much simpler then. 

[janice6]

1 hour ago, railfancwb said:

For several years had membership at an indoor range  a few blocks from the office where I worked and on a convenient route home. So I stopped in once or twice most weeks and burned a few rounds of rimfire while in white shirt, suit and tie. Things seemed so much simpler then. 

Being an engineer, I like the concept of statistics.  One day having a wild hair, I decided to test the theory of statistical average by shooting rim fire.

I put a target up I guess 10x12, or so,  at an indoor range.

I shot a S&W 5inch target pistol.  I went through 600 rounds at the same target, aiming at the center of the target on the paper.  The resulting circle was amazingly round and the target center was gone.  Fun for a foolish afternoon.

[Mrs.Cicero]

23 hours ago, ChuteTheMall said:

Do you ever see guys show up wearing their work clothes, whether suits or business casual, or blue collar work clothes or everyday attire?   

I’ve shown up in heels and a dress a few times on my way home from church on Sunday.  Purse carry is asinine, I know, because  drawing is so much slower, but it’s even worse if you don’t practice.  Nearly everyone in our previous church band had their CPL, and it was a recurring joke that if anything happened I’d distract people by flashing them cause I was carrying in a thigh holster under my skirt… didn’t practice that at the range, lol