Have you ever??

[merlin101]

My wife and I went to the range on Monday and was surprised to find others there. One group of three were at the 200 yd bench shooting AR's. We got set up and shot for awhile and it seemed to me they had some pretty hot loads but wasn't really sure as we were at the other end (25yd).At one point I wandered down there to check out what there shooting and they had an AR muzzle up on the bench fiddlin with it. As I got to them one said "don't worry it's unloaded" that kinda took me aback and I asked how can you be sure? The mags still in it! The guy pops the mag and sure nuff IT'S empty. They guy goes on to say that a PRIMER IS STUCK, I'm like ???????? What do you mean a primer's stuck?
He hands me a case (.223) and sure enough the primers missing and the back of the case is all smoked up. As I'm looking at it and the one guys still fiddlin trying to pull back the charging handle I asked how the case is ejected and the primer still in the action as the bolt should've locked back on an empty mag? I got three deer in the headlights stares! Turns out there was a live round in the chamber and a crushed and very smokey primer jammed in there somewhere too. As I was looking at it wondering just how that could happen one of them said "THAT ONE'S WORSE THAN THE OTHERS!!!" The others? Seems that this was the third of forth time! I decided it was time to go home. Before I did i told them to toss ALL that brass and to recheck every thing there doing.

[375RUGER]

I hope it was a 10 rnd mag, wouldn't want them to end up in jail and maimed.

[Mk42gunner]

I've seen some spooky stuff on public ranges.

Sounds to me like they needed to reread the loading manual, if they had even read it at all.

There is absolutely no excuse for them messing with a loaded firearm, that is just an accident waiting to happen. And I bet when it does, they wouldn't man up and admit they were at fault, it would be "The gun just went off, by itself."

Robert

[sparky45]

Actually it's not that uncommon for a primer to be "stuck" in the LPG. I've had it happen with some gunshow reloads. Only happened a couple of times, but if you don't have any tooling available it will ruin a day at the range. As far as not clearing the AR prior to manipulating the gun to rid it of the primer, yikes!!

[Bucking the Tiger]

Sad, but all too true. I am a member of a gun range near Birmingham,Al and most of the people that come out to shoot are OK, but I have seen quite a few characters too. Some have so little working knowledge of their firearms it is startling.( Primer? what's that?)
I was an armorer on a range for three years in the Marine Corps also, and saw a few idiotic things happen even among Marines. Safety requires vigilance and experience; items that some fall short on.
I have helped anyone that asked, and steered clear of the yahoos.

[km101]

You can see some really stupid stunts at a public range. I was at the range a couple of weeks ago and a man backed his truck into one of the roof supports at the rifle range. He was talking on his cell phone while backing up and was not paying attention. It's probably a good thing he caught the roof support or he might have backed up all the way to the benches! That same afternoon another person put his gun rug, with his pistol inside, on top of his car while unlocking the car. He also was on his cell phone. He got in his car and drove out of the parking lot with the pistol on top of the car. The pistol fell off and a couple of shooters noticed it. The picked it up and took it to the range office. Hopefully the shooter reclaimed it.

[Bucking the Tiger]

km101, I have seen things like this happen. The people that don't get out to the range much can get very excited and are always distracted by their cell phone( I leave mine in the car at the range; can't hear it ring and don't wanna talk if I am shooting!). They hardly know how to handle a weapon safely. The most surprising thing is they can't understand why they are not shooting well."What am I doing wrong?" they say( the more they miss,the faster they shoot)."What are you doing right" is what I think. I don't mean to sound so critical, but so many pilgrims don't invest enough into shooting to be good at it,and then lack focus when they do go shooting. The wanna be tactical back yard operators are the worst( AR with all the potato head accessories attached, plastic handgun,plastic holster, cool sunglasses: they pose a lot and are challenged to hit a 10" steel plate reliably at 100 yards while sitting down,AR on a rest, on a concrete bench). I try to be polite, smile to myself, and pick up all their brass.

[Riverpigusmc]

Last month at my PRIVATE (members only) outdoor range where I RO, I rounded the berm of the steel range to find three Chinese nationals happily blasting away on full auto at the Texas Star and the plate racks with an AR. From 25 yards away. I cannot get in a cussfight in Chinese, and they spoke little English. They wrote a hefty check before leaving. This is in North Florida..the madness is everywhere, be safe out there

[Bucking the Tiger]

Wow Riverpigusmc, that is pure insanity. This video game generation doesn't just lack respect for firearm safety, they don't even have a clue of how dangerous they are to themselves and others:It is all just a big game. I am boldly assuming that none of them have seen what really happens to a person with a bullet in him.

[USMC87]

I'm glad I've not been around any of these yet, But I'm sure they will pop up in the future as alot of people are reloading now.

[bgoff_ak]

I must say I’ve see some dumb things even from the range officers. We have a local range in Birchwood that has a few 100 Yd ranges min distance 25 yards. ( I’m ok with this ) but you can’t shoot pistols on that line because the bullet wont impact the backstop. huh I’ve asked many times what does a butt stock and more barrel do ( granted it gives you another 100 FPS ) my AR SBR is ok, but not my AR pistol I like to call this the good idea fairy… once you have a good idea it’s hard to get rid of it. I will say stupid goes around, and there has even been a time or two I’ve been hit with the proverbial dumb A$$ award. we've all done dumb to learn a lesson ( granted this seems over and above ! )

[country gent]

At the club I shoot and belong to, the High performence range is free form handgun ( standing kneeling prone ect) and first comes sets the range. We had painted sheet metal disks marking 3 yds, 7 yds, 10 yds, 15 yds, 25 yds, 50 yds. the only bench is at 60 yds. These disks were then place on fence posts down the sides of the range. I was checking the range a couple weeks later for brass and the target hangers when I noticed every one of the disks had a 10 rd group in it. One side faces our pistol range the othe houses and public area. Wish we had had the cameras up then. We have people shooting shotguns on the pistol and rifle ranges. Rifles on the pistol range and pistols on the rifle range. This is a members only club, every member is given the clubs book with rules for each range ect ect yet they know more than the book so they never bother to read it. Rules are posted on each range also. This club is basically paper targets only (other than Trap and skeet, and a plinking range) for live fire. Yet we constantly are picking up trash from the ranges. Caught one member putting french fries out down range on the rifle range hoping to draw a animal to them. With this type of mentallity just what can you do? You say something and the wait for you to leave and go back to doing it again.

[oscar669]

Merlin101 What club were you at? I shoot at GCL would hate to see something like that go un-reported at my club. If they were lucky enough to survive that trip they may not survive the next and it could get the club shut down.

[wvmanchu]

My wife and I went to the range on Monday and was surprised to find others there. One group of three were at the 200 yd bench shooting AR's. We got set up and shot for awhile and it seemed to me they had some pretty hot loads but wasn't really sure as we were at the other end (25yd).At one point I wandered down there to check out what there shooting and they had an AR muzzle up on the bench fiddlin with it. As I got to them one said "don't worry it's unloaded" that kinda took me aback and I asked how can you be sure? The mags still in it! The guy pops the mag and sure nuff IT'S empty. They guy goes on to say that a PRIMER IS STUCK, I'm like ???????? What do you mean a primer's stuck?
He hands me a case (.223) and sure enough the primers missing and the back of the case is all smoked up. As I'm looking at it and the one guys still fiddlin trying to pull back the charging handle I asked how the case is ejected and the primer still in the action as the bolt should've locked back on an empty mag? I got three deer in the headlights stares! Turns out there was a live round in the chamber and a crushed and very smokey primer jammed in there somewhere too. As I was looking at it wondering just how that could happen one of them said "THAT ONE'S WORSE THAN THE OTHERS!!!" The others? Seems that this was the third of forth time! I decided it was time to go home. Before I did i told them to toss ALL that brass and to recheck every thing there doing.

I've seen some crazy things on public ranges, normally I won't shoot until I've had a chance to see how the people shooting around me are at range safety. I feel with the increase in reloading equipment sales due to ammo shortages scenes like this are going to be more common. I know of people buying presses and equipment that have no idea what goes in to safely reloading and shooting your own ammo.

[Bucking the Tiger]

The tough part about all this is with more shooters and reloaders appearing, things get in a state of flux. The long term is good; eventually more shooters will shoot more and get better.The bad news is more rubes will show up at the range and act like morons. I cannot turn away a fellow shooter, but they should have a strong desire to understand the danger and fun found in firearms. If Daddy or the military did not instruct them, they need to find someone that will.

[bart55]

I also have had a few hair raising experiences ,I was walking back from the 25 yd pistol range at a local game commission range a few years ago when a tricked out escalade with new jersey plates ,they whip out an ak and a tec 9 (already loaded) and begin fireing at my target! I was not even back to the fireing line! I walked right to my car and left.I was pretty shaken and in my haste I never copied the liscense . That range is now closed but I have heard of a few more crazy things that happened at that range .I only shoot at a private range now and I RO whenever I am there .even among our guys I have seen a lot of disregard for safety,mostly b being preoccupied and not watching muzzle direction,handling firearms when cease fire has been called etc. I am always on my gurard

[Pressman]

I experienced the bolt locked closed and STUCK on an M-16. This was on Clark 25 meter range at Fort Knox in 1971. A trainee was firing when the gun jammed. Getting the bolt open on an AR type rifle is a problem as the leverage applied by the charging handle is weak.
In this case it took a lot of stomping on the charging handle with a size 11 combat boot. when the bolt finally opened out popped a live round with no flashhole in the case. The primer had fired and jammed the bolt back locking up the rifle.
Still, it was nerve racking holding the muzzle up thinking there is a live round in the chamber and stomping on the charging handle.

Ken

[merlin101]

Merlin101 What club were you at? I shoot at GCL would hate to see something like that go un-reported at my club. If they were lucky enough to survive that trip they may not survive the next and it could get the club shut down.

Not GLC! another local club. Whats happening with GLC? Iheard a rumor that they my have to shut some ranges down cause of some apartments being built? I hope not.

[merlin101]

I experienced the bolt locked closed and STUCK on an M-16. This was on Clark 25 meter range at Fort Knox in 1971. A trainee was firing when the gun jammed. Getting the bolt open on an AR type rifle is a problem as the leverage applied by the charging handle is weak.
In this case it took a lot of stomping on the charging handle with a size 11 combat boot. when the bolt finally opened out popped a live round with no flashhole in the case. The primer had fired and jammed the bolt back locking up the rifle.
Still, it was nerve racking holding the muzzle up thinking there is a live round in the chamber and stomping on the charging handle.

Ken

Honestly if I hadn't of seen it with my own eyes I don't know if I'd believe it. I NEVER would've thought that a primer could or would fly out of a case, but then to just keep fireing!
I wonder if the guy (in my case) thought that ALL primers were swedged in and got a little happy with a reamer??

[PS Paul]

Stories above are pretty much the reason I only go to the range on Mondays. NEVER on weekends any more. Last time I was there on a Sunday, virtually EVERY other shooter who came up on the line handled their firearms and walked up to their benches during cease-fire!! After calling out four different folks very politely, the last guy got real defensive and I raised my voice. I hate doing that and I REALLY dislike havin' to "be a cop", so when he shot back at me I kind of unloaded about the rules and basic etiquette and safety at the range. I just couldn't take it any more cuz I had become paranoid and kept havin' to look over my shoulder. Affected my shootin' at that point and pretty much spoiled what should have been a pleasurable and cathartic experience for me (which is why we shoot in the first place).

I grabbed my things, shared my annoyance with the RO and marched to my car, departing with a bad taste in my mouth. Never been back on a weekend since.