Ever had a day at the range when you looked like a moron?

[docone31]

We are so well known at the range, we forgot our membership card and they let us in.
Well,
I had my Enfield, all shiney, ready to go. I had spent considerable time casting, loading, and in general just getting ready to get to the range.
I had installed a new scope mount. I found a site on the internet that showed how to make an original. I did it. Worked real well.
Made the mount, mounted the scope, bore sighted it and off to the range to sight it in.
Had all fresh loaded ammo. Wheel weight water dropped, gas checked, loaded, and ready.
Well,
At the range, they are used to me shooting four leaf clovers, day in, day out.
Well,
After having installed my scope on my 25-06 askew, and off 3/8ths to the right, I loaded a shell and the magazine cover fell out. No biggee, just have to hold it shut during firing. I hold it there anyway when firing long range.
I couldn't hit my hand in front of my face with an hammer! I couldn't grab my butt with both hands. I am talking 10ft groups! Scope is way off. Tonight, I will redo it.
The Enfield!!!!!!
I slugged the barrel, it is five lands. I measured wrong. I got .309, so I sized to .311.
I would have been happy with 10ft groups!!!!!
I mean, one round goes there, one goes here, one goes for Saturn. I hit nothing with it!
I did recover a casting. No rifling marks! None. No gas check either.
I have 40 paper patched boolitts ready. Sized .3135. I bet they are better. I had confidently stated, my bore was textbook. OOOOOPsie. Not so.
I loaded some ball ammo. Did what I was known for. Four leaf clover.
Well, I learned a lot, shot out some Berdan cases to send to a person to convert cases from Berdan to Boxer primed. I want a tool to swage the pockets. I will hand drill the primer holes.
I shot two loads. 185gn, C312/185, and C312/150. I will take the 185 over the 150. A better boolitt.
I actually had a crowd standing around waiting for me to at least put one on paper.
Wow, I guess sizing is important after all.

[oneokie]

Yup, sometimes size does matter. [smilie=1:

[jonk]

It's girth, not length.

Hehe.

Yeah, been there, done that... looked like a moron that is. High power match. Handloads. First round was a primer only that lodged a bullet in the bore. No cleaning rod. Didn't get any sighters. Then proceeded to borrow a cleaning rod and knock the bullet out and fire my slowfire string low in the 5 ring...... yep, moron.

[augois]

Boy have I had days like that. I once wnet to a rimfire silhouette match, and forgot to bring any, and all of my 10-22 magazines. Quite interesting trying to fire a timed round one at a time with a 10-22.

[dragonrider]

:veryconfuYup I loaded a bunch of stuff to go to the range one day, got there and got all my stuff out,.......................................no gun. :veryconfu

[chuebner]

Yep. Take two K31's to the range and two boxes of 7.62X54R reloads. DUH!!!

[TCLouis]

Biggest case of STOOPID on my part was a day planned to do nothing but chronograph a bunch of guns and loads. Got all the guns and ammo all laid out wired up all of the chrono connections and finally got to set the tripod with screens out and line them up with targets.
I get ready, select the first gun, gather ammo, chronograph journal, pencil and I was ready . . .
flick the switch and the battery was dead . . . NO extra.
Luckily someone was there that I knew and off to local (ONLY) store and buy a 9 volt battery for almost 5 bucks.

Now I carry two spares in the chrono case along with my translucent skyscreen shades that are required during some months of the year!!!!

Never got there without the gun, but have got tothe range without the ammo, luckily my range is only 10 miles away!

[Rick N Bama]

Yep. Take two K31's to the range and two boxes of 7.62X54R reloads. DUH!!!


I once drove 83 miles to shoot the new 6BR I had just gotten built..............and forgot the ammo. It does make a fellow look foolish!

rick

[jhrosier]

I took my .223 Ruger #3 to the range once, with the ammo for my .22 Hornet #3.
Duh! :???:
Now I read the caliber markings on the barrel and the ammo box before I leave the house.

Jack

[docone31]

Gee, it is a sad thing when I get an uplift from hearing other's whoopsies. I am smiling, taking a trip down memory lane.
You would think, with all the jugs of powder behind me, certain things would be natural.
I just got done, applying windage adjustment to my Ruger M77 Target. That was the 25-06 that couldn't even be adjusted to hit the neighbors target, let alone backdrop.
I had to file the rear dove tail. That helped a little. I had to fill the forward one with cardstock. I have done this before, but it was with Weaver rings. I actually had to adjust it quite a bit. I ran out of windage on the scope before it was even close.
It is a very long scope. I am still wondering, how in the dickens did I miss something that obvious. With the sunshade on, it looked 1/2" off center of bore. The mag plate just recquired filing. Quite a bit.
But it worked.
I am cleaning the .45s. I am really doing backflips. Not a bit of lead in the bore! I mean not a bit. Just carbon. Wow.
My Combat Commander fired to the right with the lead. Jacketed, dead on. My wife's PT1911, dead on. A couple of jams, but I think I need to seat them in the case a little more. They showed jam shavings just ahead of the case.
All in all, not too bad. The Smelly, I need to use paper, which I had planned on anyway. .311 is just waaaaaay too loose. As cast might be the ticket there, or .3135 with paper. I am looking forward to see how that works.
I got my Berdan Brass to send off to the gentleman who is going to make the swage to fire boxer.
Hey, any day at the range is a good day.
No matter what.
People were giving my wife .45 brass, and 9mm. brass. We always seem to come home with more than we arrived with.
Most of all, no Yuppies at the range today. A few folks who believe semi autos do indeed fire sideways. It is fun watching them jam up. Trying to figuire out how to free up the pistol without asking anyone. Monkey firing. I love it.
Makes me glad they believe what they see on TV.

[Heavy lead]

I hope if I ever get shot at they are holding the gun crooked, it's pretty hard to align the sights that way.
Worst day I had was the day I shot my pro chrono, thing still worked after that, for a year. Then the wind took it down.
Rats
Another time (just a couple weeks ago) I got left/right mixed up in my head on a new 223 cz I was sighting in, before I figured it out, I ran out of ammo.
DUH!:confused::mrgreen:

[docone31]

My fair bride, the ex Liberal from the Left Coast, now considering IPSC, Heheheh. I love it,
she reminded me of when I had just finished building our his and hers Palma rifles.
New airguaged barrels, I had carved both stocks, jeweled the bolts, stoned the triggers, wonderful front aperature, and rear reciever sights. She hadn't even done much centerfire yet.
Well, I got her all fixed up. I had loaded up her 6.5-06 Ackley, trickle weighed charges, miked OAL loads, all fired up. I was adjusting her stock. Pull, comb, just plain old getting her all set to light one off. Her Liberal hands sure firearms run down the street holding up people and causing all sort of messes.
The Range officers were standing over her, looking at the firearms, we engraved our names on the barrels, blued recievers, glass beaded stainless barrels, nice shiney stocks. She took a breath, closed her eyes, and click . Nothing. There was not a sound to be heard.
I had her open the action. She asked how. I told her to work the bolt. I finally did it for her.
Not a sign on the primer. Not a one.
I got another load. Set her up. click. Nothing. Again. Nothing.
We put her rifle aside and got mine. A matching set.
Click. Nothing. Click. Nothing. No primer sign, nothing.
We went home. We had not joined the club yet. They tried to console us. I was wondering what the heck happened. I got to tell her that indeed firearms did not run down the street looking for victims.
I got home, took apart the rifle, trigger, checked the action. Finally decided to measure the firing pin protrudance. .025! It should have been at least .050!
I had not done anything to the firing pin yet. The GUNSMITH had replaced the firing pin spring.
Both bolts were one turn out! I was not familiar with Mausers. Like duh!
We went back to the range, they remembered us. All gathered around again. She pulled the trigger, BLAM! Mine also.
How many times, does something so simple make for a duh day?
I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. She now fires her .45ACP like it is an extension of her arm. She fires 30-06 like it is a .22, She does not even like her Ruger 10-22. Says it is not like her Palma rifle.
She even likes going to the range. She helps female newcomers shoot, and male newcomers, shoot with confidance.
I am glad she was here for that. She is also pretty good with a 6.5-06.
Not too bad after all.

[Buckshot]

"Ever had a day at the range when you looked like a moron? "

...........Gee, I can stay home and look like that!

.............Buckshot

[44man]

I have a super liberal neighbor woman, listens to PBS ALL day. Every Sunday we have to save the classifieds for her so she can find a job. She lives on alimony. She went to college and every single job that is listed, her comment is that she is "Over qualified." For the 22 years we lived here, she has been looking for work. :confused:
She is the dumbest person I ever met and another neighbor and I have to do everything for her. I just replaced her faucets and fixed her computer but I could make a list from lawn mower to electric fence!
We do it because deer eat all of her stuff and she lets us hunt. I even had her shooting a few times.
However the one thing that bothers me is when we complain about liberals trying to take away our gun rights, she says "Oh, they will never do that." RIIIGHT!
How can anyone be so brainwashed?
Sorry but Docone's little story about his wife made me giggle.
Yeah I have forgotten stuff to take to the club too. Most of my shooting is down my hill and I have had to walk back up a LOT! [smilie=1:

[44man]

The worst thing I do is when I go into the garage or down the basement to get something, then stand and stare because I forgot what I wanted. :bigsmyl2:

[felix]

Please welcome me to your club, 44man! Now, how many scoops of coffee went into your pot this morning? If the coffee tastes different every day, I'd be worthy of your company. ... felix

[KYCaster]

The worst thing I do is when I go into the garage or down the basement to get something, then stand and stare because I forgot what I wanted. :bigsmyl2:


I can't tell you how many times I've gone out of a house I'm working in to get something off the truck and stand there wondering what it was I came for. I sometimes have to go back in the house to look at the job before I can figure it out.

I've heard that short term memory is the second thing to go...ummm...I forget what's first! :roll:

Jerry

[Wayne Smith]

:veryconfuYup I loaded a bunch of stuff to go to the range one day, got there and got all my stuff out,.......................................no gun. :veryconfu

I loaded up everything to go to the range, three guns, over an hour drive, with my best friend and his son, got to the range --- NO AMMO! The case of ammo was sitting on my recliner at home.

[augois]

How about getting called in to work in the middle of the night, going in , coming home, not remembering driving home, going back to bed, and then waking up in the morning thinking to yourself.....did I go to work last night or did I dream it?

[1Shirt]

I resemble a whole bunch of the things listed. However think this makes us human, and not necessarily mind dumbing robots. If we did every thing right the first time, I think life would not be as exciting, and we would not be able to laugh at ourselfs which I think is real good medicine once in awhile.
1Shirt:coffee:

[Southern Son]

I am affraid that I still feel stupid. couple of blokes forgot the ammo, yeah, I done that, forgot bolts, yep, me too, forgot guns, you betta believe it, walk into another room and forget why you went, I do that, and sometimes realise that I am not even in the right room. And Augios, I do alot of escorts for heavy vehicles, you know, drive in front of a really wide load ont he road to warn oncomming drivers. It is slow going, rarely as fast as 50 mile an hour, and you go for long distances, sometimes in a 12 hour day you might only get 3 or 4 15 minute breaks. The country around here is not really that spectacular and we drive the same routes over and over. One escort i did, I have no recollection of about 50 minutes. One minute we were stopped at a bridge waiting for the truck to get over it, the next thing I know, I am 80 kilometers down the track and I am stopped in the middle of the main street of a little town. Then I realise that I can't see the other escort vehicles, or the truck I am escorting. I am now a believer in Alien abductions, cause that is the only explaination I can think of that won't make people look at me funny when I tell them about it..

[bigdog454]

Opening day of deer season, hunting buddies and I went to our hunting area put on all of my hunting gear, heavy coat etc. pulled handgun with red dot out of holster, went to turn on the red dot sight, and found that the weekend before when sighting in I had not turned of the red dot. Dead battery and no spare; left buddies to hunt and went back to town, waited for store with batteries to open before I could head back out.
Good news was while walking in I shot my deer and was hanging it by lunch break.

[VTDW]

We laugh because of the truth in these posts. Like Felix said, I would be good company for you guys.:drinks:

I NEVER seem to turn the windage/elevation settings on my scopes the proper direction. Some of my scopes adjust one way and some the other and it drives me absolutely nutz!!!:twisted:

Dave

[Heavy lead]

Ever forgot the dbm? What a pain to single load, especially with a mauser claw.
I've forgotten magazines for 1911's, my springfield 40sw, that's why I always hunt with a rifle with a hinged floorplate.
I'll forget the magazine everytime.
Oh, ramrod for the muzzle loader one time.

[felix]

Dave, I hear ya'. Glad to be with you, 44man, and a bunch of others sharing the same difficulty. Misery loves company, right? However, got your scope problem solved.... NEVER adjust the scope without firing a seen reference shot on paper. Hold gun very tight on the SAME place where you aimed for the shot. Don't let gun move. Now adjust scope to the HOLE on paper. You are done, unless you want to repeat. ... felix

[Crash_Corrigan]

I suffered for many years with a two inch thick wallet that poked into my posterior. Finally one day I found a neato and manly canvas bag in OD colors that was small enuf to be useful and big enuf to carry all those GUN ID cards, Credit cards, store cards, medical id cards and other assorted crap.

It also could hold my Taurus Mod 85 .38 CCW revolter in a pinch.

All was well for a few years and my back pains had gone etc. One day buying gas for my Triumph MCY I left the bag on the rear luggage rack and forgot about it. I drove home and arriving thereat 20 mins later missed the bag.

Drove back to the station and no bag. Decided that I might have left it on the bike and drove slowly on the sidewalk looking into the street for the missing item. About 3/4 of a mile later I spied my SS card in the gutter. Then more and more and more. I found all of my ID's and cards in the gutter between the 3 travelled lanes and the curb. The wind was just right and nothing was lost. Everything was mangled and run over but nothing was missing.

The bag was found but damaged beyond repair. I got a new bag and have only left it behind 3 x in the last month.

I am always walking into a room and disremembering why I came I vainly retrace my steps in effort to recall the reason for the journey. Now I have come to live with lists.

I keep a pad and pencil in every room in the house and make notes constantly. I plan my days and excursions carefully and this way I do not end up in a store without a reason to be there and a list of stuff to get. The last thing I do at night to go to my list and cross off what was done and redo another for the next day.

And yes I always keep the powder container that I am loading rounds with on the bench and only that container. I also immediately fill out the recipie label and attach it to the round container before I begin to assemble rounds. There is nothing worse than assembling a thousand rounds and not remember what powder, weight, boolit etc.

My short term memory is gone and not likely to return. I have to live with it by writing things down. At least I can walk, eat, drive, work, drink, read, converse and ride a motorcycle. It is a small price to pay for getting more experienced.

Living and loving life in Vegas, 106 in the shade today.

Dan

[Jon K]

Been there done that, on most of that forgot to bring things, forgot what I went into the room for, turned the sights the wrong way. I have even forgot my spotting scope at the range, or even better yet one tine forgot 2 leverguns at the range, and didn't find it missing til I got home 50 miles away. Called the range and my buddy was still there..............talk about anxiety..............how dumb does that make a guy feel!

Jon

[Gungrubber]

let's see how about showing up at a winter trap league event with my mossberg
500 12 ga and 10 boxes of 16 ga shells. DUUHHH!!!!!

Nice to see I am not the only one with brain derailment problems:mrgreen:



GG

[docone31]

HEY, this is a good thread. I feel like I am in good company!
Them tree huggers will never know how it feels to REALLY belong where admittance has to be earned.
They only get the Darwin Awards. We feel like morons and are not afraid to tell.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

Heck, I show up to the range missing something more often than showing up with everything.

Regards,
Everett

[Taylor]

Guy's you might say this was mean....but..one evening a friend -Fred,was at our club house.Having a beer at the bar.Now there is an old clock at the end of the bar,sometimes it works,sometimes it doesn't.Clock said 9:30pm,well Fred said he was leaving and would make another stop on his way home.We bid him adue and got another beer.Several weeks later Fred paid us a visit, mentioned that when he got to his other stop it was almost 1am.This other stop is only 10 minutes away from the club. He stated that he stopped nowhere else and could not understand what had happened. I suggested that maybe he had been abducted by aliens.We continued with that a few more minutes but let it go.Never have told him the clock was broke.

[MakeMineA10mm]

I'm with all you guys, too! [smilie=1:

I got so tired of not having what I needed/wanted, that I actually sat down and made a list of things to take to the range. Bought a nice, big duffle bag and started assembling all the items. That bag has saved my bacon from the fire of forgetfulness many times, when I remember to take it........ :drinks:

[MtGun44]

Ever have "A" day . . . . .??? Only happened to you once !!??

Wow. :drinks:

Bill

[Bad Karma]

I drove for 45 minutes to the club where I have a good reputation with 2 handguns. A S&W 57 and 25. A .41 Magnum and a .45 Colt, both with 8 3/8" barrels. I'm chatting away with my usual cohorts who are some old timers and I have spent years shooting with. Well, I staple up my target and pick the .41 to start out. Grab a box of ammo, one of 8 that I brought... I brought nothing but .44 Magnums! Uh! I couldn't believe it!
I still get flak for that.....well deserved flak.

[Trez Hensley]

Nothing for my ears. No muffs, plugs, kleenex, toilet paper......:(
Ear-gin-splitten-loud-in-boomer for a gun.
No one else shooting has any extras.
I shouldn't have asked.:violin:
Lots of sympathy chuckles.

[Wayne Smith]

Gentlemen

I am currently using omega-3-acid ethyl esters (Lovasa) 2 1gm capsules per day and it's helping my word finding problms. LOML has gotten me something called "Unforgettables", from www.melaleuca.com, I have an e-mail in to them now to see if there is anything in it that might interact with my glaucoma.

Let's not re-invent the wheel here. If you have found something that will help please post.

[10-x]

Have gotten to the point that I leave everything but pistols in my gun box, hearing protection, glasses, ammo, tools, pasters, targets and staple gun ...ready to go........drive 1 hour to the range...........no staples for the staple gun!
C.R.S. or C.R.A.F.T.[smilie=1:

[45 2.1]

I solved this problem. I built my own range behind my barn. Now, when I forget something, I walk to the shop or to the house and get it. Sometimes you just have to plan ahead for when you CRS.

[HABCAN]

Checklist..............checklist................WT H did I leave the checklist???
(Is THAT why I came into this room?)

Later, at destination: Yep, had everything ready to load into the truck, but it was in TWO piles, ya idjit!!

Groceries are a 72-mile drive away. CHECK loadout BEFORE leaving market(s) to drive home!!

The price of gasoline impresses these required actions upon us.

OH, and CLOSE the lift-up window on the truck topper BEFORE backing into the garage!

[testhop]

44man & felix
you think you have problums i go to the bathroom and forget what i went for

[waksupi]

I never forget anything. Not including haveing to come back home ten miles last weekend for my coat when heading for a weekend shoot.
And not including today, forgeting my wallet when I went to get oil for my chainsaw. Good thing I forgot to turn on the washing machine this morning, though ,as my wallet was in a pair of dirty pants.
Aside from that, I've never forgot anything, that I can remember!

[KCSO]

Standing on the firing line at the primitive range trying to pound a 54 caliber ball down a 50 caliber barrel. Razzing a newbie for dry balling and then running one down yourself. Shooting a 44-40 in a 45 Colt gun and wondering why you can't hit anyything. Trying to get the 45 Colt round OUT of your 44-40 rifle.

Ah the joys of brain fart.

[Mumblypeg]

Shooting bench is on the back porch, range out back. All of this just goes to show that we need to extra carefull while injoying our sport. Got one of those bags too. Feel like I'm toting a purse around as I have it every day.

[bruce drake]

Driving 200 miles to a rifle match and forgeting your match rifle on the kitchen table where the wife finds it and calls you on the cell phone as you are blissfully preparing to turn off the highway to enter the range. Yeah, I wasn't the happiest camper to register for the match (pre-paid and it was a EIC no-sighters match).

Started the match with a state loaner rifle and a Battle-Sight Zero. Ended up shooting a low Marksman score for the day that I'm still trying to erase from my memory and my score cards.

Bruce

[94Doug]

Story #1

I was just telling some folks about a friend that received a call from a buddy that had just moved to South Dakota. They arranged a Pheasant hunt some weeks later. He and another guy drove back to Wisconsin, and the next day remembered they were short a Shotgun. Budy in South Dakota drives out to the side of the road where they cleaned the birds, there it was..... in the grass. Untouched.

Doug

[94Doug]

Story # 2

ME. I had Boy Scouts staying overnight on my hunting land, about 30 minutes from my home. I went out one of the days, brought out some rifles, and had the boys shoot. I brought all the rifles home, and set them in the basement, and intended to take them out one at a time, wipe them down and but them away. 2-3 weeks later, as I was taking them out of the cases, one came up missing. All I could think of was that it had rained straight for the last 2 weeks, and this Ruger #1 is laying in the grass. Maybe in a case, so it is wet even when the rain stopped. We made 2 trips out to the land that day, never found it, after the second trip, looked one more time in the basement, there she was, still in the case, I had just placed it in a (somewhat odd) different location. I guess on the bright side, as mad as you get at yourself for doing something so stupid, the relief of finding the missing article outweighs everything.

Doug

[Razor]

Or.. how about the time I got EVERYTHING together to shoot my BP pistols,...
caps, staple gun, targets. notepad. pen. rawhide mallet, nipple wrench, crisco, balls,
cleanin kit, tools, ear protection, etc., ad infinitum, but... No POWDER !!.[smilie=b::groner:
Muttered somthing fierce on the way back to the house.
Good thing it was only 40 yds to the back door...

Razor

[Ricochet]

Please welcome me to your club, 44man! Now, how many scoops of coffee went into your pot this morning? If the coffee tastes different every day, I'd be worthy of your company. ... felixWhen you can't remember what the coffee tasted like yesterday, that problem goes away.

[buck1]

When shooting 44 mags from a 454 the recoil is quite tame, but its hard on brass and self respect! Wheres my sign?..

[Ricochet]

Today I was the moron du jour.

Took my new PSL out to the range, with a box of 7.62x54R loaded with NuJudge's GB boolits. A load that shoots very well in my Mosins, is mild, but which I thought most likely would function the gas-operated action. Got out there and there were a few other guys shooting who stopped to let me put my targets up. Got everything set up, loaded a magazine, pulled the handle back, let it go, and the action wouldn't go into battery! Handle wouldn't pull back either, I had to gently hammer it with a piece of wood. Those cartridges just won't chamber! Looks like it's the case neck that's too fat to go in with a .314" boolit seated in it. Should've tried them for function at home, I suppose.

BTW, I'd already read of the problem with the BATF requiring the removal of the safety sear that keeps the hammer from falling with the bolt out of battery (because it's part of an AK's automatic firing mechanism) and had previously established that it WILL drop the hammer with the bolt not shut. I knew better than to try with a cartridge in. Read about one that fired out of battery and was ruined.

[leadeye]

I bought a small piece of land to hunt and shoot on some years back. Now when I find that I have forgotten something after a two hour drive I just feel stupid, rather than looking stupid and feeling stupid at the same time. I guess I am coming out ahead there.