Kindness at the Range

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Apple a Day

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Let's end/start the year with a positive note:
Yesterday I was at the indoor range trying out a couple of new loads for my new S&W 637 :D
A guy comes in as I am tossing an empty box in the trash and the first thing I notice is that the guy is setting up but doesn't have any ear protection at all. He noticed me notice so I have him the lifted eyebrow and tapped my muffs (I plug+muff especially indoors). He shrugged, said he forgot his. So, I shrugged and went back to my lane... for about thirty seconds before my conscience got the better of me. I ambled back over and told the guy before he or the other guys down the row started shooting that I had soft earplugs out in my car and could pop out and grab him a couple. He looked surprised but said okay. The walk to my car was maybe thirty yards in a straight line so I nabbed some plugs and handed them to him with a "Happy New Year" and a smile. Less than a minute later the guy three lanes down from him started lighting off what sounded like some heavy loads. He thanked me again on the way out.

So, how about a thread of generous deeds you've done or people have done for you at the range. We hear all the time about range morons. Tell us about the times you've given pointers, lent gear, etc...

By the way, the 637 is dead on with Remington 158 grain LRN. :cool:
 
I Had A Similar Experience..

...several years ago, at a club range down on the border. Another member, whom I had not met before, showed up to shoot without hearing protection. When I approached him about it, he said that he was not worried because he had already lost most of his hearing. I advised him that that made hearing protection all the more important for him and handed him a spare set of muffs, with instructions to drop them off with a mutual friend who runs a store in town.

In general, I have found most shooters at ranges to be friendly and well intentioned, even if not all are as knowledgeable as they think they may be. Rarely have I met a shooter at a range who has not been willing to let someone who inquires what they're shooting try a round or two from that gun.

Most of the negative experiences I have had with other shooters at public ranges has related to being crossed with the muzzles of "unloaded" firearms. Some people can get very defensive when told that they are being unsafe.
 
Kindness at the range....ok, I can't count the number of times I was out of
ammo and was packing to leave for the day when people would offer to let
me shoot their firearms which have ranged from antique pistols to a
full-auto sten.

Then there was that time the Provost Marshal decided to overlook my team
and I not having commo on the range line.....
 
most all of mine have been good, i usually ask or check to make sure everybody has theirs in, i go to a outdoor range at my conservation club people are pretty good, had to clean up after a few before though nothing totally prefect i guess.
 
Didn't happen to me personally, but...kinda in proxy...

I have a nephew, a real good kid, now attending a small university with intent to become an emergency room doctor. Very moral,solid type character, and kudo's to my brother and his wife with his upbringing. I particularly like his conservative views.

Last summer, I made him a HS graduation present of a *real nice* 50.00 pattern FAL, case of FNM Port ammo, and a pile of related goodies...trust me, he made out like a king. He was suitably grateful. He is an experienced shooter and hunter.

Now, I don't exactly live right 'round the block, so after my detailed maintenance and operation lesson, and the included operator's manual, well...he's kinda on his own. Except, my dad (his grandfather) has become his "shootin' buddy." Can't go wrong here, he did OK with me and my brothers.

The following weekend (I've returned home), nephew, his dad, and my dad, all want to try this purdy rifle, so they all go to the local range. They and the rifle did well...minimal sight adjustment for nephew and the gas setting needed to be slightly bumped up. I had put the first 60 rounds through the newly built rifle, fixed a couple very minor bugs, and done a rough sight alignment. Note: Yeah, when I adjusted the gas pressure, I was kinda playin' around...I had that rifle consistently dropping brass on my bench. I've been known to be a little "odd" like that... In a nutshell, 3 generations of my family got to shoot the rifle, and they all had a BLAST!! Rifle definitely was a hit. Wish that I was there...

Now, to fast forward...nephew has Thanksgiving break, beginning the weekend before the "demise of the bird" which is also just before opening day of deer season. He wants to deerhunt with that FAL. He and I have been corresponding via email, and he has bought a 5 round mag and scopemount topcover from DSA, and picked up a Leupold scope and rings. He and his grandfather have the Saturday before opening day to put the apparatus on the rifle, and hit the range to sight in.

They begin sighting in, and run into some raspberries...the rifle's hitting all over the place. :confused: Nephew only brought a couple boxes of ammo, btw. Murphy is in the house... but...a savior is shooting nearby... he takes notice of the dilemma, and happens to be an armorer in a local ANG unit...Murphy's lookin' scared now, as the armorer quickly finds and fixes the problem...nephew didn't have the scope rings fully in place on the base's lugs. :eek: D'oh. "Life lesson" I'd say. Learned man even gives nephew a couple boxes of 7.62 ammo to let him finish sight in, which was finished with no further drama. Nephew and FAL were duly in attendance for deer season's opening day, but no deer came to the party that day...

I'd like to say, "Good Karma on you, kind armorer." I'd do the same for you if I could. :D

He REALLY liked that FAL, by the way....

Cheers, FNR...
 
Deer Hunter, I do the same thing. The other day, I was at the range and another guy was shooting there. He had a friend visiting from Japan, and wanted to show the friend what shooting was like. So they set up, and BAM! The first shot, and the Japanese friend goes reeling backwards, hands over his ears. I hadn't noticed that he wasn't wearing ear protection, and so I handed him some of the little soft-plugs.

I also had to jump in a little later and keep him from backing away from the bench with a loaded gun, but he was a beginner, and you gotta learn somewhere. In all, it looked like he had a great time.
 
I've been given extra targets and ammo, and received a couple of compliments on my shooting technique. (Funny, I don't think I'm that great of a shot.;)) I will pass on the karma if the situation arises.
 
I alwys bring extra stuff to the range: targets, stapler, tape, etc. I know that if I don't need it, someone else will. I've forgotten things at home before and know what a PITA it is to drive home and retrieve something. People have salvaged my range trips and I would be more than happy to save someone from a drive home to get something.
 
It's kind of related, but it's with other friends. Since it involves all of our guns (and you know how you feel about letting other people shoot your guns) I'll share. We have a private range. When we all go, usually one or two of our friends are along that enjoy shooting but either are just getting into it, or don't have the money to purchase all the toys they want. We lay our rifles out in cases and regular ethics applies. All you have to do is ask and you can shoot anything you want. We've found this is a great way to get new shooters hooked and let them try stuff before they buy. Unspoken standard is if you have ammo for the caliber, you can use yours in the gun. If not, you're welcome to mine. Thing is, we always have considerate and good guys we shoot with, so there has never been an issue.
 
A few weeks ago at an outdoor range, the guy to the right of us noticed that my wife and I were picking up our brass. He came over in between mags and asked what caliber we were shooting. I said at the moment it was .45 ACP. We chatted for a minute longer and went back to shooting. A little while later he and his shooting buddy started to pack up to leave and he came over again, but this time with a bunch of brass to give us! That was the kind of thing that made my day.

I just barely remembered that I did basically the same thing for someone else a while back. Karma? I'm inclined to say no, but it's seldom a bad a idea to do something nice for someone.
 
I've done that too. Passed out foam plugs to folks at the range who didn't have any. I've also given targets away, given people staples and thumbtacks, assistance with a problematic firearm, and assorted other odds and ends over the years. I try to be a nice guy at the range. I like to help people out as much as I can there.
 
i grew up in an anti gun home i got my education from literally hundreds of kind souls at diffeerent ranges and shops. my best recently was kid at 6wanted to stop at clark brothers. EVERYONE checked to make sure she had ear protection she did plugs and muffs and one nice lady gave her a lil school on guns.
 
Let's see...
Things I've done for others:
-Loaned/given ammo.
-Given brass I wasn't going to reload.
-Earplugs, glasses, etc.
-Performed first aid (on people AND guns).
-Sighted in GOD knows how many rifles for others.
-Advice for improving shooting skills (I try to only do this when asked).
-Given away a bazillion targets of various types including stuffed animals.
-Let people shoot some of my expensive or oddball guns.

Things others have done for me:
-Loaned me shootin' irons at CAS matches when one of mine went down.
-Loaned me ammo when I showed up with the wrong type.
-Let me shoot some DAMNED expensive guns I'd never have been able to touch otherwise. :)
-Backed me up when trying to stop someone's bad/dangerous behavior.
-Told me how much they enjoyed the "post your target" challenges when we met in person (pure chance happening, was kinda neat having a 15min of fame though <grin>).
-Stopped shooting (.308 rifle) for a few minutes so my noob wife could concentrate on her trigger work (we didn't ask or anything, he offered, it was very nice).
 
We live in the country so we just go out and shoot at the old gravel pit. Yesterday we were out with my son and my best buddy. Some folks drove up really close to us which generally makes me nervous. Three guys my age or older. Start setting up targets and it is obvious they know what they are doing. Went over to chat and ended up shooting some vintage SA Colts, a Springfield Trap door in 45-70, and lever action in 45-70.

Considerate folks with EXPENSIVE guns. Live a couple of miles up the road from me. They got my phone number so we can get together again. One wanted some work done on a gun and I agreed to look at it. All in all a good experience.
 
I forgot to mention one of the cooler things people can do for each other at the ranges. Let people shoot your guns if they express an interest in them. I've let countless folks shoot my rifles and pistols over the years. A month or so ago, karma came full circle. My son (yeah, most likely due to COD3) has developed an interest in milsurps. Guy at the range let him shoot his garand and a k98. My son grinned from ear to ear for two hours. (He's 10)

My son's going to remember that kindness for a long time.
 
Last time I was out a guy showed up with out targets, he got some from me. He offered to pay, and I said "Nope, I have more." I have also left some assembled target stands at the outdoor free range I go to...but they keep disappearing. :( I just hope they're taken home by people who will use them as I built them, instead of firewood.
 
I've gave away a lot of earplugs. Loaned a t shirt to a well-endowed lady in a tank top after seeing the hot brass dance. I've let a lot of folks shoot my 9mm AR, offered to let some shoot my thompson, they rarely make it through a whole mag because of the weight though. A little bit of first aid on people and guns. Helped new shooters get on paper, countless other little things.
 
I was at the local range shooting some .22 LR pistols. My favorite of which was a H&R break-open. Anyway, some guy comes in with two long, black soft cases and opens up a Yugo AK and an AR-15. He starts lighting off both of them as I kinda just sit there and drool. When he gets done with the mag on the AK, he loads a 20-rounder up and asks "you wanna try?". I say "Hell's yes!" and proceed to have the time of my life shooting that sucker.
Good people.
 
I buy 33db foam ear plugs by the 200pr box from Grainger....Every motorcycle jacket, hunting jacket, rifle case, pistol case, range bag, vehicle, etc.. I own has plugs in it. You'd have a hard time not tripping over them at my house- get the picture? I have probably givern ten times that away:D

Once loaned a pair of Peltor muffs to a guy, and left without getting them back. He was driving through my neighborhood one day six months later, and saw me in the driveway. This guy dropps off my Peltors that evening- he had them in a ziploc from the day I forgot them, and knew he'd see me again.

Targets, staples, misc. scope mount screws, loctite, anything I can do to help someone new have a good time, or those of us that have been around, and don't remember everything everytime:banghead:.

Can't tell you how many rounds have been run through some of my guns because someone had never fired one before- the 480 ruger is a big hit!!

on the other side. I had a guy walk up and hand me a Ruger 22 mag for my MK I awhile back because he didn't need it anymore. Then would not take any money for it.

Karma? dunno, but it does make me feel good to help out!
 
I once was at the range when a man was teaching his adult son to shoot for the first time. Apparently the son did not care for shooting when he was younger, but then started showing an interest out of the blue.

They had two guns, a rifle and a pistol. I don't know what the rifle was, but the pistol was a Colt Woodsman. The father was a good teacher, but the son was having difficulty. I noticed they were using stardard NRA targets, so I gave them some Shoot-N-Cs. The son had an easier time after that as he could actually see where he was hitting. It was good to help others as I've been helped a lot in the past.
 
I haven't been able to do much, being that n00b being assisted myself.

I've been given ammunition (his excuse was he didn't own a gun in that caliber anymore, and I was borrowing one), countless targets (paper plates), I've been allowed to shoot countless firearms, someone loaned me a pair of glasses when I forgot mine, been given tips for accuracy, proper stances, and countless other help. It's the main reason I got started and continue to shoot in groups: so many courteous people, always willing to help.
 
I am really blessed... When I was just a kid I had all those favors directed toward me. I remember drooling over the toys guys had and treause the times I got to shoot a this or that. I also lend out gear and eye n ear protection and let those who want try the toys they don't have or likely won't. There is somethin about the look of someone who gets to shoot my registered full auto silenced sten that is just a joy to share in. Kids especially! I guess I became that man who newbies kin drool at my gear - at least in a few arena's anyhow ;)
 
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