DrewBegley
Member
Finally got a chance to go shooting at the brand new range and though I got a huge load off my shoulders in the way of zeroing an AR, I found a huge flaw in my Glock 22. I was fortunate enough to be a member's guest and all I had to worry about was getting a safety brief.
So Megan and I had to fill out a front page of paper work and give up our licenses (which we didn't get back til we got off the firing line) and then sit through a video on safety at the range. It was pretty basic and if you care about firearms, you already know the rules. We went expecting to answer some questions to make sure we didn't nod off during the video, but that didn't really happen. The 280 pound good ol' boy in jeans and a t-shirt sitting under the t.v. apparently worked there and was in charge of people passing the safety orientation. He asked us what the cardinal rules were, as a group, and I didn't answer any of them so I can imagine what kind of brain-dead people get to go shooting, the only thing keeping the idiots away is the range cost.
After that, we waited. And waited. At first, we waited because there was no room on the firing line (since only one line of 15 lanes is open to the public). Then we had to wait because the kid behind the counter couldn't get his <deleted> straight. Everyone working behind the counter was running around like a chicken with their head cut off. First it was a problem of where is the full-auto submachine gun that my group was renting, then it was which one will take its place. After that got figured out it was "Where is the ammo I want to shoot?" and while the kid couldn't find the ammo we wanted, he found what was sitting on the shelf in front of him. Keep in mind, the whole time he hasn't talked to anyone that's working with him. So then we wait some more, I don't know why, but we did. As we were about to be allowed on the range, the noticed a couple boxes of the ammo we wanted sitting on the counter, asked where it came from and was told by another employee that there were cases of it around the corner.
I'm not even including the hassle between who brought Megan and I to the range and the employee. There were computer problems and membership problems and at one point didn't even realize who's card he was scanning.
So we get on the range and it's beautiful and so worth the wait. There's a slight breeze keeping the air moving and of course, central air. We get set up with a table that no one was using, which was nice, and were in the center of the line. Unfortunately, I got the lane with the building's pillars just touching the left side of the target back. So, the second time I brought the target back, it swiped the wall and knocked off the back and the target. I informed the range officer and he literally told me to go tell the guy behind the counter (outside/off of the firing line) that the RO needed target backs and to get me a new target. Is there no comms on the range for the front desk? What if I said I wouldn't go off the line to do the job of a range employee? Anyway, I wanted to shoot so I moved on. I brushed past the first employee with his back facing me and interrupted a couple employees shooting the breeze. I asked for what I needed and they scoffed at the stupidity of the RO, as if there was a better way to go about it, and helped me out. They apologized for the inconvenience and had to go back into storage to get target backers, why they weren't in the room directly next to the counter that had targets in it, I have no idea.
So I get back on line where the RO set up the target backing and I set up my target and got to shooting. I brought the target back to me, but when you order it to return, it turns the target sideways and returns extremely fast and as it approaches the line it swings violently to face the shooter. So it shot the target/backing off the device and halfway into the lane next to me, hitting the floor. So I informed the RO (instead of reaching past the firing line) and he stuck a broom out there and dragged it back, joking that it was good he could reach it. I got it set back up and didn't have the problem again.
My next kink in the road was having an unloaded pistol and AR on the bench in front of me. They don't allow more than one firearm on the bench at a time. I'm used to Chickahominy type rules where there aren't rules pertaining to this so I normally drag out all my junk and line it up on the rail in front of me. I get tapped HARD on the back and the RO points at the AR and give's me the "cut-throat" gesture of you can't do that. So I put it in the case on the floor next to me in the lane and finish up with the pistol. When I wanted to move to a different firearm, I had to completely unload, leave the breach open and place it in my case then take out the other while maintaining a safe muzzle downrange position. I shot up the AR til I was finished with it and set it up on the bench while my girlfriend took her M&P up to the lane. Mistake, "Oh yeah, one gun at a time.", so she sat the bag on the floor with her M&P in it and I was about to pack up the AR til I noticed it was smokin hot. So the RO goes out of his way and says he can set it on an empty lane to cool while she shoots. Nice, but he picked up my AR without clearing it (no mag in, but he didn't check the chamber) and walked it pointing downrange by a lane before he put it down on the bench at the next lane. He pointed it directly at the back of a couple while he did this bird-brained maneuver. Safe direction=at the floor in this case, common sense.
After I was done and wanted to lad up my AR (my case is still two lanes over) I retrieved it and locked the bolt back as I walked it over, aiming at the ground with no mag in. A fella working there on the other side of the viewing window started banging on the window to get my attention. I looked at him and he pointed at my case, so obviously me standing there with a cleared firearm hit his button. I waited for my girlfriend to finish her mag and loaded my junk up. We left and he and a couple other employees said their bit of "Have a nice time?" and "Come back and see us, ya hear?" and we were feeling fat and happy.
I loved the place, but they still have more than a few kinks to work out. Mainly the human factor, there were idiots there (or geniuses having brain farts), but you get idiots where ever you go. I just don't want my Range Officer to be an idiot. I know what I'm doing when I handle firearms and these people made me feel like a genius. It's hard to follow someone's rules when they don't make sense, I'm not going to point a firearm downrange when I'm off the line and there are people between me and the line... That's dumb and lacks common sense. Maybe I'm just really anal, but I implore professionalism in every aspect of life and it's hard to be somewhere where most of the employees are frazzled in their duties.
p.s. The flaw in my Glock was a trigger housing pin backing nearly 100% out of the frame... After 3 mags. It's a bit older, but still a Gen 3 and has seen it's fair share of years in and out of a holster, but it shouldn't do that. I compared it to a Glock 23 I have at the house and the 23 was super tight where the 22 could be pushed out with a finger nail and the twisted with the fingers in the housing...
So Megan and I had to fill out a front page of paper work and give up our licenses (which we didn't get back til we got off the firing line) and then sit through a video on safety at the range. It was pretty basic and if you care about firearms, you already know the rules. We went expecting to answer some questions to make sure we didn't nod off during the video, but that didn't really happen. The 280 pound good ol' boy in jeans and a t-shirt sitting under the t.v. apparently worked there and was in charge of people passing the safety orientation. He asked us what the cardinal rules were, as a group, and I didn't answer any of them so I can imagine what kind of brain-dead people get to go shooting, the only thing keeping the idiots away is the range cost.
After that, we waited. And waited. At first, we waited because there was no room on the firing line (since only one line of 15 lanes is open to the public). Then we had to wait because the kid behind the counter couldn't get his <deleted> straight. Everyone working behind the counter was running around like a chicken with their head cut off. First it was a problem of where is the full-auto submachine gun that my group was renting, then it was which one will take its place. After that got figured out it was "Where is the ammo I want to shoot?" and while the kid couldn't find the ammo we wanted, he found what was sitting on the shelf in front of him. Keep in mind, the whole time he hasn't talked to anyone that's working with him. So then we wait some more, I don't know why, but we did. As we were about to be allowed on the range, the noticed a couple boxes of the ammo we wanted sitting on the counter, asked where it came from and was told by another employee that there were cases of it around the corner.
I'm not even including the hassle between who brought Megan and I to the range and the employee. There were computer problems and membership problems and at one point didn't even realize who's card he was scanning.
So we get on the range and it's beautiful and so worth the wait. There's a slight breeze keeping the air moving and of course, central air. We get set up with a table that no one was using, which was nice, and were in the center of the line. Unfortunately, I got the lane with the building's pillars just touching the left side of the target back. So, the second time I brought the target back, it swiped the wall and knocked off the back and the target. I informed the range officer and he literally told me to go tell the guy behind the counter (outside/off of the firing line) that the RO needed target backs and to get me a new target. Is there no comms on the range for the front desk? What if I said I wouldn't go off the line to do the job of a range employee? Anyway, I wanted to shoot so I moved on. I brushed past the first employee with his back facing me and interrupted a couple employees shooting the breeze. I asked for what I needed and they scoffed at the stupidity of the RO, as if there was a better way to go about it, and helped me out. They apologized for the inconvenience and had to go back into storage to get target backers, why they weren't in the room directly next to the counter that had targets in it, I have no idea.
So I get back on line where the RO set up the target backing and I set up my target and got to shooting. I brought the target back to me, but when you order it to return, it turns the target sideways and returns extremely fast and as it approaches the line it swings violently to face the shooter. So it shot the target/backing off the device and halfway into the lane next to me, hitting the floor. So I informed the RO (instead of reaching past the firing line) and he stuck a broom out there and dragged it back, joking that it was good he could reach it. I got it set back up and didn't have the problem again.
My next kink in the road was having an unloaded pistol and AR on the bench in front of me. They don't allow more than one firearm on the bench at a time. I'm used to Chickahominy type rules where there aren't rules pertaining to this so I normally drag out all my junk and line it up on the rail in front of me. I get tapped HARD on the back and the RO points at the AR and give's me the "cut-throat" gesture of you can't do that. So I put it in the case on the floor next to me in the lane and finish up with the pistol. When I wanted to move to a different firearm, I had to completely unload, leave the breach open and place it in my case then take out the other while maintaining a safe muzzle downrange position. I shot up the AR til I was finished with it and set it up on the bench while my girlfriend took her M&P up to the lane. Mistake, "Oh yeah, one gun at a time.", so she sat the bag on the floor with her M&P in it and I was about to pack up the AR til I noticed it was smokin hot. So the RO goes out of his way and says he can set it on an empty lane to cool while she shoots. Nice, but he picked up my AR without clearing it (no mag in, but he didn't check the chamber) and walked it pointing downrange by a lane before he put it down on the bench at the next lane. He pointed it directly at the back of a couple while he did this bird-brained maneuver. Safe direction=at the floor in this case, common sense.
After I was done and wanted to lad up my AR (my case is still two lanes over) I retrieved it and locked the bolt back as I walked it over, aiming at the ground with no mag in. A fella working there on the other side of the viewing window started banging on the window to get my attention. I looked at him and he pointed at my case, so obviously me standing there with a cleared firearm hit his button. I waited for my girlfriend to finish her mag and loaded my junk up. We left and he and a couple other employees said their bit of "Have a nice time?" and "Come back and see us, ya hear?" and we were feeling fat and happy.
I loved the place, but they still have more than a few kinks to work out. Mainly the human factor, there were idiots there (or geniuses having brain farts), but you get idiots where ever you go. I just don't want my Range Officer to be an idiot. I know what I'm doing when I handle firearms and these people made me feel like a genius. It's hard to follow someone's rules when they don't make sense, I'm not going to point a firearm downrange when I'm off the line and there are people between me and the line... That's dumb and lacks common sense. Maybe I'm just really anal, but I implore professionalism in every aspect of life and it's hard to be somewhere where most of the employees are frazzled in their duties.
p.s. The flaw in my Glock was a trigger housing pin backing nearly 100% out of the frame... After 3 mags. It's a bit older, but still a Gen 3 and has seen it's fair share of years in and out of a holster, but it shouldn't do that. I compared it to a Glock 23 I have at the house and the 23 was super tight where the 22 could be pushed out with a finger nail and the twisted with the fingers in the housing...
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