Club events ,..things that irritate

[redneck1]

A club I shoot at puts on a service rifle shoot twice a month threw the summer months . Today something happened that really irritated me .
First let me say that the shoot is on a slow death spiral , mostly the fault of those that run it . When I first started going we averaged 25 or so shooters . Now it's 5-6 .
But anyways , about 15 minutes before we was ready to start today a car load of youths pulled into the parking lot 5 of them to be exact , ranging from I'd say 18 - 20 years old .
And as you'd expect they was quite exuberant , they piled out of the car with the loud jostling excitement typical for kids that age .

The grumbling started then between the usual crowd .

So the young fellows walked over the pavilion and one of them asked if they was at the right place for the service rifle shoot ... still being typical noisy youths .
The older guy who runs the shoot said yes they was at the right place . So with a happy cheer they went back to the car and instantly calmed down as they got their rifles and gear from the car .
Came back to the pavilion and asked where to sign up .
One of the old timers piped up with .. what are you youngsters gonna shoot?
Two of them had ar-15' s two of them had sporterized Mosin nagants and the last one had a pretty nice 03A3 .

You would have thought that they insulted someone's mother , within 30 seconds every single guy there started spouting reasons why they couldn't shoot ... we don't allow ar-15's or sporterized rifles etc etc etc .

The kids was all confused , the website doesn't say anything about ar-15's not being allowed , and as far as the sportered rifles , every single guy there has at one time or another shot a sporterized rifle .

Everyone still saying they can't shoot ...

This really irritated me and I lost my temper a bit and using some four letter words I let it be known what I thought of them at that moment .

Calming down a bit I finally just said let them shoot or I'll go home myself and they can lose one more member ... after all there wasn't any money or prizes to win anymore . Just bragging rights .

After some more grumbling they decided to let the kids shoot ,
Every single one of them was very responsible and respectable with zero antics amongst themselves the entire time they was there .

And with the eyesight of the young they also posted the five highest scores , the kid with the 03a3 shot a 190 out of 200 ;)

I hope that the initial drama didn't scare them off and they come back in two weeks for the next shoot it would be nice to see a younger crowd start

[LUBEDUDE]

That’s quite surprising to to see the short sightedness of those older shooters. I thought everyone knew that young new blood is the lifeline to any shooting club.

Good on you for swaying them over and sticking up for your new guests.

[john.k]

Mines a bit opposite,they hold the club shoots on a Sunday,when the range is packed anyway,more for the club means parking a 1/2 mile away............I realize you gotta be retired or unemployed to shoot weekdays,but I dont like waiting round all day to fire 30 rounds.....under time pressure to get cleared and off......Yeah Im antisocial,grumpy,impatient and selfish......and loving it.

[dale2242]

When I was a young man (early 20s) I bough a High Standard HD Military to try my hand at Bullseye shooting.
I went to the local indoor range where the matches were held and signed up.
We started shooting an I had some malfunctions with my gun.
The locals were mostly old crusty guys and had no time for me.
Rather than helping a young man with problems, they stared grumbling impatiently.
They totally turned me off and I never went back.
That`s a bad way to encourage young shooter.

[Rapidrob]

That is a shame. I shot for the Navy, and in later years for the State of Maryland. While I really enjoyed the long range shooting, the High Masters were so attitudinal that after a few years I had to walk away. Nothing anyone one did in the pits or the firing line was ever good enough for them. I went to have fun not to listen to hours of **.
I bought the same pistol as you at 29 Palms PX in 1975. I too had some issues with the pistol that caused me to sell it and end up using a S&W Model 41 instead.
Today I run a Long Range shooting club and teach anyone who is willing to learn how to shot and shoot well. I will never be like those HM's in my past. Shooting is to be fun.

[375supermag]

Hi...
In my experience, that's pretty typical of long time members at any club. They tend to think of anybody new as Interlopers and, God forbid, they would have any ideas that might change anything.
Many years ago, I was accosted by a long time member of a local gun club for shooting handguns on the rifle range at 50yds. The club didn't even have a handgun range at the time, so most people just pounded stakes into the ground and hung targets on them when they shot handguns there.

It took about 10yrs to convince the old-timers to finally put in a handgun range. It only happened when one member offered to bring in a backhoe and dig out a pit on his own dime. It took nearly as long to convince the old-timers to put in a shotgun range.

I still after decades hear some of the older guys complaining about the people shooting handguns on "their" rifle range.

[john.k]

You got to admit tho,a lot of young guys are beyond correct behaviour for a shooting range....A lot I see are taking pictures of other shooters..(supposedly a no no),fooling about for stupid selfies,and generally seem to have no interest in learning anything, or displaying good manners.The other thing *** me ,is they seem to never be in any hurry to comply with a range officer instruction,chat and fool about out at targets (and selfies ),ten minutes allowed for target change become 25 ,they dont care about holding everyone up,and then some guy puts out a couple of grasshopper size airgun silhouettes,at least one is gonna be blasted to kingdom come with a high power.Pure vandalism IMHO,which is popular with millenials.

[am44mag]

That’s quite surprising to to see the short sightedness of those older shooters.

Sadly and unfortunately, that's not surprising to me. I've seen it, I've heard about it happening a lot, and I have even seen that kind of sentiment on this forum and others. People like that are a detriment to this sport and I'd love to see more people call them out on their ** like redneck1 did.

[waksupi]

They don't know the rules until they have been there. We don't allow any .22 bores in our military matches, and the newest gun you see on the line is a Garand. We also restrict sporterized rifles. Those are a separate class that we shoot at two week intervals with the military matches.
The best way we found to deal with the situation is to share our guns with newcomers, so they aren't discouraged from the start. Once they get the lay of the land, they don't take long to properly equip. They have no intention of violating etiquette, but were just ignorant of the requirements.

[trebor44]

When and where I lived as a youth, shooting was a skill set not a sport! Loud and boisterous behavior from any age group is a real turn off at any informal or formal range. I admit to being very anti-social except for my wife and a few of the relatives. BUT, I would never turn down an opportunity to help another shooter regardless of their age. Helping others for me is a learning moment. I've done it for the many occupations I have had. But there are those who believe in and practice the 'witch doctor' mentality of " I have it or know it, and I am not going to share!". I say BRAVO to all who do share their knowledge.

[sureYnot]

Good on you. Those young men were the most important folks on the range. You were just the first to recognize it. Hope they come back and learn more. Chances are they have something to contribute too. Not all youngsters are as stupid as the news and social media would have you believe. They're certainly not "the enemy", as some folks seem to think.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[lefty o]

hopefully you got through the thick skulls of the old fudds. the old narrow minded fools are what tend to kill off ranges/gun clubs, and you can almost guarantee that they are the same ones crying about why they cant get or keep new members.

[lightman]

I've also dealt with those crusty old guys. I made a vow to myself not to be like that when I got to be a crusty old guy.

[redneck1]

One reason this irritated me ...
When I was in my mid 20's a greatful employer gifted me a very nice
Converted 63 sharps after going three weeks without a paycheck so he could pay the guys with families to support .
I was ecstatic, I spent the rest of that winter learning black powder cartridges.
Come spring time I loaded up my girlfriend and we drove 3+ hours to the nearest bpcr shoot expecting a good time .

At 7 am I went into the club house to sign up and learned that my rifle needed weighed .
No problem , went out the car brought it in and weighed it up ... then the fun stopped .

Four or five guys corralled me and asked if I was really gonna shoot that old dinosaur, didn't I know that if I wanted to be competitive I needed to get me a Montana made rifle and throw that old piece of junk in the corner . .. I tried to say I was just there to shoot and have a good time .. no one cared to listen .

Then someone asked , where's my sights ?
I said I was using the barrel sights , I must have kicked someone's dog because I was told that you simply had to have a set of $700 sights to shoot bpcr .

Then they started questioning my loads , I wasn't using the right powder , the bullet I was using was wrong . My entire loading method was wrong ,.. quite bluntly if I didn't do thing the way they did them
It wrong .

At that point I was quite ticked off and tried to explain that I was just looking to shoot and have a good time , no more no less .
And besides that , there was no way I could afford to go buy a $3000
Rifle , sights , bullet molds , Swiss powder and all the other store bought **** they used .

One guy piped up with ,... if you can't afford to do things our way then you shouldn't be here .

I walked away and after that I only talked to the range master and the lady keeping the scores .
It was my first and last bpcr shoot , since then I haven't seen anything to change my mind about the bpcr crowd to try again .

I agree with everyone , we should be welcoming and helpful to the younger crowd , it's that or watch things die

[Sig556r]

When I started shooting way back, got discouraged by some RO micro-managing new shooters (me included) as if we're a bunch of morons. Instead of focusing on safety, he was so condescending & rudely bragging about his shooting skills. An older shooter just can't quite bite his tongue any longer that he asked the RO to shoot his 10/22 which the old feller has been tacking 10ring at 50yds...the RO didn't even hit paper claiming the rifle isn't dialed in...

[GOPHER SLAYER]

One reason this irritated me ...
When I was in my mid 20's a greatful employer gifted me a very nice
Converted 63 sharps after going three weeks without a paycheck so he could pay the guys with families to support .
I was ecstatic, I spent the rest of that winter learning black powder cartridges.
Come spring time I loaded up my girlfriend and we drove 3+ hours to the nearest bpcr shoot expecting a good time .

At 7 am I went into the club house to sign up and learned that my rifle needed weighed .
No problem , went out the car brought it in and weighed it up ... then the fun stopped .

Four or five guys corralled me and asked if I was really gonna shoot that old dinosaur, didn't I know that if I wanted to be competitive I needed to get me a Montana made rifle and throw that old piece of junk in the corner . .. I tried to say I was just there to shoot and have a good time .. no one cared to listen .

Then someone asked , where's my sights ?
I said I was using the barrel sights , I must have kicked someone's dog because I was told that you simply had to have a set of $700 sights to shoot bpcr .

Then they started questioning my loads , I wasn't using the right powder , the bullet I was using was wrong . My entire loading method was wrong ,.. quite bluntly if I didn't do thing the way they did them
It wrong .

At that point I was quite ticked off and tried to explain that I was just looking to shoot and have a good time , no more no less .
And besides that , there was no way I could afford to go buy a $3000
Rifle , sights , bullet molds , Swiss powder and all the other store bought **** they used .

One guy piped up with ,... if you can't afford to do things our way then you shouldn't be here .

I walked away and after that I only talked to the range master and the lady keeping the scores .
It was my first and last bpcr shoot , since then I haven't seen anything to change my mind about the bpcr crowd to try again .

I agree with everyone , we should be welcoming and helpful to the younger crowd , it's that or watch things die

When I retired I wanted to get into the BPCR game. I called Shiloh and asked bout ordering a rifle. They told me it would be at least 16 months and to guarantee the currant price I would have to pay in advance. No way Jose. I went to Turner's Gun Shop and bought a Pedersoli off the shelf. While I never did enter a BPCR match, I did spot for a friend in three such matches. I saw many old friends from other clubs I had belonged to, Paul Jones being one of them. I really liked Paul. He was a lot of fun to talk to, great sense of humor. That game was just too much work. Seven minutes to shoot five chickens off hand. A lot of people agreed with me because many dropped out. Several years later a group of shooters joined our range in Redlands, Ca. when their range was forced to close. Too many new houses. They brought with them a great BPCR match. You could shoot any rifle 38 calibre or larger with an outside hammer and black powder of course. The match was shot at two hundred yards. There were two heavy steel buffalo cut outs mounted on a heavy plate that was hinged. When a buffalo was knocked over we could pull it upright with a nylon rope attached the buffalo. You fired in rotation six rounds from any position you chose. If you knocked over the silhouette all six times, which rarely happened, you were done until the shoot off. If no one else knocked over all six, you won !st place. If another shooter did the same then you had a shoot off which was done offhand. If shooters knocked over five then they had a shoot off. The same applied to people who downed four. That took care of the first three places. We each put in five bucks and the money was divided among the winners. It was a fun match with a lot of ribbing and teasing. It was usually over by noon. That was my idea of what a BPCR match should be. I sorely miss it and the men I shot with. Then we lost our range.

[Geezer in NH]

Thread should be why Fudd clubs die.

[RED BEAR]

It has been my experience that those who really can shoot don't need to bragg .they tend to let there shooting do there bragging. The club i belong to does have an old crusty fellow he's the owner as long as you obey safety rules you will have no problem break one and you will see just how crusty he can be. He has always been there to help any shooter . He has been helping me for more than 30 years. And i am grateful for his help and advice.

[Love Life]

243855


They infest all clubs and ranges. They are worse than the democrats!!

[john.k]

I reckon Im not the only old fudd doesnt want to get shot by a teen girlfriend picking up a rifle during a ceasefire target check....This would get you thrown off the range years ago,now ,the RO isnt even allowed to yell at them over the PA,but must respectfully instruct them.........

[lefty o]

I reckon Im not the only old fudd doesnt want to get shot by a teen girlfriend picking up a rifle during a ceasefire target check....This would get you thrown off the range years ago,now ,the RO isnt even allowed to yell at them over the PA,but must respectfully instruct them.........

thats safety, which is entirely different than what is being discussed. if you are unsafe, you are done.

[john.k]

In fact ,here its the older guys that have quit ,not the young ones........the ranges are packed with tattoed urban warrior types ,and dumb girlfriends.........the club has to put on multiple ROs ,because these people all seem to need a personal direction........not a PA announcement.

[redneck1]

Like already mentioned , we aren't talking about range days at the club or public ranges . But rather the events or shoots that club members organize , typically to raise cash for the club.

And I feel I should mention again that while the kids was quite enthusiastic and loud when they first arrived , once the firearms came out there was no more joking or clowning around . They did nothing unsafe , followed the range rules and ro's instructions to a t .

[Walks]

That Happened to a Cowboy Club I used belong to. The founding 3-4 members became more and more .......... until the Membership declined and other Shooters went to other Shoots. I fought against this and got kicked out. The Club died with a wimper.

[Walks]

That Happened to a Cowboy Club that l used belong to. The founding 3-4 members became more and more .......... until the Membership declined and other Shooters went to other Shoots. I fought against this and got kicked out. The Club died with a wimper.

[RED BEAR]

There is no ro at our range we police ourselves . The owner makes every new member go through an orientation given by him. This seems to weed out a lot of people who just want to pay there money and shoot. We still get a few less than desirable people. Some must get there jollies shooting holes in the roof. I can't understand one hole but several that is on purpose. But the vast majority are just good decent people willing to help anyone.