So at the range today.....

[Reno380]

My son, his friend and myself went to Tampa to get some firing time in. As I walk thru the two seperate doors for sound proofing I stopped in horror and ordered my son and TJ back out and called for a employee to get on the range and kick this moron out. Puzzled he went in and we followed and nothing wrong here sir, wait I tell him and watch this guy right here on number 6. Sure enough he drops his clip and releases the slide from last shot fired and does it again, the slide would not go all the way forward so he kneels down to the concrete floor and hammers the butt of the slide about 4 times to get it to slide all the way forward!!! The barrel is pointing at his face, I'm waiting for it to go off. The employee goes to the window and gets the attention of the range master which that side is rifles only, he comes over and as the employee is telling him what is going on, yeap, clip #3 goes in and down he goes, by the second hit the RM is on him reaming him like a D.I. in boot, takes his weapon, unloads it has him pack up to leave, banned for life, he was arguing he has a membership and will not be treated like this, RM tells him wrong, you HAD a membership. I can not believe how some people can do something so dumb, and never realize how close to death they were. I taught both my sons at age 5 about weapons, they never touched them unless we were going hunting, fishing, to the range or was needed for safety ( prowler, rattlesnake, coyote, etc..) and they knew which weapon to get for the situation, clearly this idiot needs lots of training before touching a weapon. IDK if he had bad reloads, or had a new pistol like my taurus, had a bur on the feed ramp, could barely feel it, but would jam the slide the same way, I sent it back for free and repaired for free, never thought of banging on it like a hammer and nail.....smh

Reno

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

This probably belongs in the General Discussion but nevertheless...

There are all kinds of folks at a public range, and if you go enough you'll see some crazy stuff eventually.

I won't go into details of all of the things I've seen, but in general, all one needs to do at a indoor range is look straight up from the firing line and scan about 10ft out to get an idea.

 

[Reno380]

You are correct on that one. Sorry, I seen General discussion here and thought that this is where this should be.

Reno

 

[RPRNY]

Darwin Award candidate. Odds on favorite.

 

[MedWheeler]

They didn't then throw you out for calling them "clips"?

Yeah, some of these people scare me as well. I try only to go during the slowest parts of the week, but with so many retirees and "odd-hours" workers around here, it's hard to pick those times.

 

[C5rider]

Is this place close to the fairgrounds?

Went into a LGS and peeked through the (thankfully) bullet-proof glass to see one guy doing mag dumps of his plastic fantastic - ASAP. The red dot only hit the target once, when he started. After that, it was prangin' the metal target holder, straight to the berm, somewhere close to the floor, then the cable that held the target holder...

Drop mag, and repeat.

At another range, my son and I got "swept" by an over-zealous noob with her finger on the trigger, after she successfully hit the target.

As others have said, look up, and to the sides. IF you're lucky, the only holes are ABOVE your head!

 

[herrwalther]

I have seen some pretty scary stuff people do with firearms. I will never forget being in a gun store in a constitutional carry state watching a true green amateur get his first firearm. He bought a Glock (19 I think), some ammo, and a cheap nylon holster. Loaded it right there in the store, TWIRLED it around his finger by the trigger guard, put in his holster and walked out. I was behind a row of gun safes, just waiting for the Darwin award to be handed out.

I have also been on the receiving end of a over pompous range master. I had a jam on one of my pieces of work, cheap handguns, a stove pipe. I tilted the gun to one side, barrel still pointing down range, to shake out the round onto the floor. Range master grabbed me by the shoulder and said "You are out of here!" An open handed slug to his shoulder got him back and a statement of "Touch me again and I put you on your a**" let me finish my range therapy in peace.

 

[entropy]

You interrupted natural selection at work. Bad juju, man. On the plus side, the range probably didn't need the negative publicity.

 

[Jim K]

Sorry, but IMHO, Herrwalther was wrong to use force and threats toward the range master, especially when holding a firearm with that implied threat. One RM I know is about 6' 7" and weighs 320, almost all muscle; I suspect he would have put anyone who uttered such a threat on HIS a** and then physically thrown him off the range. Yes, there are times when it may be necessary to make a gun safe and sometimes that may appear to be dangerous, but if so, calling for a cease fire and a clear range is the proper response, not fumbling with a loaded gun and threatening a range officer.

Jim

 

[Reno380]

I have seen some pretty scary stuff people do with firearms. I will never forget being in a gun store in a constitutional carry state watching a true green amateur get his first firearm. He bought a Glock (19 I think), some ammo, and a cheap nylon holster. Loaded it right there in the store, TWIRLED it around his finger by the trigger guard, put in his holster and walked out. I was behind a row of gun safes, just waiting for the Darwin award to be handed out.

I have also been on the receiving end of a over pompous range master. I had a jam on one of my pieces of work, cheap handguns, a stove pipe. I tilted the gun to one side, barrel still pointing down range, to shake out the round onto the floor. Range master grabbed me by the shoulder and said "You are out of here!" An open handed slug to his shoulder got him back and a statement of "Touch me again and I put you on your a**" let me finish my range therapy in peace.

Glad to see another Veteran here, I was being called to OEF but I was already discharged and Disability setup at James A. Haley, so no go for me, but I was ready to find my gateway back in. I salute you sir, or if you worked for a living parade rest!!! LOL! But allowing to twirl the handgun in store.....wow! is all I can say, guess he thought he was a cowboy in the wild west.

 

[Reno380]

Is this place close to the fairgrounds?

Went into a LGS and peeked through the (thankfully) bullet-proof glass to see one guy doing mag dumps of his plastic fantastic - ASAP. The red dot only hit the target once, when he started. After that, it was prangin' the metal target holder, straight to the berm, somewhere close to the floor, then the cable that held the target holder...

Drop mag, and repeat.

At another range, my son and I got "swept" by an over-zealous noob with her finger on the trigger, after she successfully hit the target.

As others have said, look up, and to the sides. IF you're lucky, the only holes are ABOVE your head!

No we went to Shooters world today, we go to shoot straight (down from the fairgrounds at MLK and 301, I still call MLK Buffalo because it was named Buffalo Ave first, lol) sometimes too, usually when the wife is with us as she likes that one. I'm starting to think SW on Fowler Ave is the crazies place, 3 months ago last time I got out, someone came in with a concealed pistol 1 ak and 1 ar15, 2 other pistols, all loaded and chambered and could not figure out why he is being lectured then a arguement then ejected. Sometimes it is a comedy show, other times it is a horror show, but either way you can get hurt.

Reno

 

[Reno380]

They didn't then throw you out for calling them "clips"?

Yeah, some of these people scare me as well. I try only to go during the slowest parts of the week, but with so many retirees and "odd-hours" workers around here, it's hard to pick those times.

Old habits never seem to die, LOL, I have always called them clips instead of magazines, I did countless pushups and ran many miles carrying magazines over my head, eat,slept,showered, go to the latrine carrying 4, 2 in each hand for a week. One would think I would have that habit broken, the D.I.'s never broke me though. lol
What part of SouthEastern Fl you from? Ft Myers/ Largo?

Reno

 

[MedWheeler]

Reno380 writes:

What part of SouthEastern Fl you from? Ft Myers/ Largo?

You're thinking southwestern. I'm about an hour north of Palm Beach, in St. Lucie County, almost directly across from you. Grew up in Palm Beach County, but moved up here in 1991.

 

[shootstraight57]

They didn't then throw you out for calling them "clips"?

Yeah, some of these people scare me as well. I try only to go during the slowest parts of the week, but with so many retirees and "odd-hours" workers around here, it's hard to pick those times.

In the Academy we were slapped on the back of the head if we didn't use the right terminology of mags or magazines. LOL

 

[herrwalther]

Sorry, but IMHO, Herrwalther was wrong to use force and threats toward the range master, especially when holding a firearm with that implied threat. One RM I know is about 6' 7" and weighs 320, almost all muscle; I suspect he would have put anyone who uttered such a threat on HIS a** and then physically thrown him off the range. Yes, there are times when it may be necessary to make a gun safe and sometimes that may appear to be dangerous, but if so, calling for a cease fire and a clear range is the proper response, not fumbling with a loaded gun and threatening a range officer.

No cease fire was called by the RM. I violated no safety rule, written or otherwise. I have run ranges and been range safety hundreds of times. I also had an easy 15 years on this range master. I wasn't going to take instruction from someone barely old enough to shave. I have no problem following instruction from a RO or RM when they have merit in their actions. The added cherry on top is this RM was arrested and charged for assault for doing the same thing to someone else.

 

[Reno380]

No cease fire was called by the RM. I violated no safety rule, written or otherwise. I have run ranges and been range safety hundreds of times. I also had an easy 15 years on this range master. I wasn't going to take instruction from someone barely old enough to shave. I have no problem following instruction from a RO or RM when they have merit in their actions. The added cherry on top is this RM was arrested and charged for assault for doing the same thing to someone else.

It's amazing that no one ever used their weapon on him for self defense. I know there is no merit for it unless he actually was beating them to near death, but most go in there have their own ideas of how to properly handle and use their weapon. I even overheard some first time buyers looking for a good CC gun and want a big one, one guy started arguing with the sales that he will decide if the gun he picked is right for him to carry, the manager came over and calmed the man down and sold him his first cc gun, a .50 Judge........sigh

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Sorry, but IMHO, Herrwalther was wrong to use force and threats toward the range master, especially when holding a firearm with that implied threat.

I agree. I think the RM over reacted and a civil conversation that pointed out that the gun was pointed down range, and I assume the trigger finger was off the trigger, would likely have helped the RM learn a lesson. However, I react very poorly when someone touches me without warning also. I get instantly angry. So while I think a verbal threat is a bad idea, I can understand why herrwalther reacted that way.

Personally, I don't warn people. If someone has done something that actually inspires me to physically repel them from my person, it will be a definitive and warranted response with no forewarning.

The added cherry on top is this RM was arrested and charged for assault for doing the same thing to someone else.

Jeeze................

Sure enough he drops his clip and releases the slide from last shot fired and does it again, the slide would not go all the way forward so he kneels down to the concrete floor and hammers the butt of the slide about 4 times to get it to slide all the way forward!!!

That is scary stuff. Unbelievably stupid.

 

[jhb]

yep sounds like tampa and tampa folks.

 

[herrwalther]

I agree. I think the RM over reacted and a civil conversation that pointed out that the gun was pointed down range, and I assume the trigger finger was off the trigger, would likely have helped the RM learn a lesson. However, I react very poorly when someone touches me without warning also. I get instantly angry. So while I think a verbal threat is a bad idea, I can understand why herrwalther reacted that way.

This RO and I had butted heads before, but this was the last instance before I stopped going to the gun store of his former employment. He and I essentially did not get along from "hello." The store offers a military discount to use the range, so I used my ID to get around $20 taken off the range fees to fire a few guns, test some handloads, and get the wife to shoot her new carry. This RO saw the ID and asked
"Military?"
"Yes, Army Infantry. 6 years." (at the time)
"Well that don't mean sh*t here! I'm in charge!"

I could not tell who wanted to knock him out more, myself or my wife who is also an Army veteran. This was also the same gun store where the employees carried empty weapons and had a metal detector at the entrance.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

"Well that don't mean ---- here! I'm in charge!"

Sounds like a real disrespectful D-bag. Like I said, someone grabbing me sets me off too, and a history of bad interactions probably made a reasonable conversation a difficult if not impossible outcome.

 

[Klint Beastwood]

To be fair, and this is from someone that has been in a combat military occupation for over 10 years, that military guys and gals are just as stupid with weapons as the next. In general. I'm not saying anyone on here, or anyone you know, but its been my experience. I've been a line coach, I've worked at particular school houses with hundreds of active duty and some reservist rolling through a year...there's always THAT guy. I have very little experience with public ranges however, I have a private range. I like being able to do my own lazy stupid habits with out being called out by the safety nazis. More so, I like not having to watch my ass when people start going full retard. When I invite people to train on my range or just do whatever it is they were talking about that I agreed to then, I gauge who they are and what I observe. Most people that seem to keep up with common sense, I let them be, and everyone is good. The super newbies, that come out or people I agree to train...I'm in charge. It's for their own good, and there will be rules and commands. On the plus side, its only a few people at a time, so I never have a "line" to worry about. So things have always gone pretty smooth.

 

[45_auto]

the slide would not go all the way forward so he kneels down to the concrete floor and hammers the butt of the slide about 4 times to get it to slide all the way forward!!! The barrel is pointing at his face, I'm waiting for it to go off. The employee goes to the window and gets the attention of the range master which that side is rifles only

Am I the only one who finds your description of events very confusing?

What kind of rifle has a slide?

Assuming that you probably meant "bolt", or that their is some kind of rifle that actually has a slide, how is it that the buttstock didn't hit the floor before the "slide" did when he was hammering it against the concrete? What kind of rifle has a "slide" that extends further to the rear than the buttstock?

 

[SteadyD]

Am I the only one who finds your description of events very confusing?

What kind of rifle has a slide?

Assuming that you probably meant "bolt", or that their is some kind of rifle that actually has a slide, how is it that the buttstock didn't hit the floor before the "slide" did when he was hammering it against the concrete? What kind of rifle has a "slide" that extends further to the rear than the buttstock?

Pretty sure it was a handgun, he mentioned that near the end of the post.

 

[fpgt72]

They don't call it Flor-Da for nothing....but really.

I look at this two ways. This could have been a know it all idiot and in that case there is no saving him....he will end up in the papers or on youtube saying (I just f*^g shot myself).
or.
it could have been a noob that just does not know better. There are so many new people coming into this "sport" and not all have had the chance to grow up with someone that knows safety.

If you ever have to teach basic safety you know that there are two people you don't want to train....first is your Wife...never try to "train" your wife...it will never work. The other is the know it all....this is usually identified by short cropped hair, a great many tattoos, and a "make my day" T-shirt. These people are not worth spending time on...they are totally unable to be trained for proper safety.....you wife can be trained in gun safety....just not by you....the know it all is hopeless.

 

[AlexanderA]

As a collector, mistreatment of a weapon like this makes me cringe. Of course the personal safety aspect is more important, but this is how guns go from "excellent" condition to "fair" condition.