Nushif
Member
Title says it all. Had a pretty darned bad experience at the shooting range on Ft. Gordon today. Keep in mind while it is on a military base, this is a private business being fed customers, basically. In any case. Here goes.
I got off slightly early and decided to take my wife shooting for the day, since we don't have much time together.
We made it to the range at about ... 1530ish and proceeded to check in. I asked for a scoped .22 rifle, but they didn't have one. No big deal. I went with a bolt action sans scope. Incidentally the entire action moved within the stock, when you shook the rifle. Time for some fun. The wife got a Taurus judge and 50 .410 shells for some kabloomy fun. We walk up to the range and get in on the tail end of the safety brief and receive one target. I grab another, seeing as the wife and I are shooting in different lanes. The attendant says she feels uncomfortable about this. Interesting. I convince her that my wife is indeed a shooter, individually and needs her own target. She hands me another and well, we wait in our lanes while the range is hot to put up our targets.
At about 1600 the lane goes cold, we walk my target out to 50 yards and the wife sets hers out I don't know .... five yards? The range goes hot and we begin shooting. I sit there and start merrily plinking off some sandbags at my target when the wife gesticulates me over. Her Judge jammed up somehow and she can't cock the hammer, pull the trigger or open the cylinder. I wander over into her stall and take a look. It seems the recoil from shooting it sets the hulls back in the chamber and binds it up, or something along those lines. I pry the remaining live hulls out of the cylinder and we report the gun as malfunctioning. The RO takes a look, hands it off one of the other staff and a few minutes later said other staff member comes by and says he will either give us a different gun and two boxes of ammo or a refund. My wife says she didn't find anything else she really wanted to shoot, so we opt for the refund. No problems, he says and tells us to just mention it when we're done, so the inside attendant can give that refund.
Awesome. We're taking turns taking shots at the 50 yard target and the range goes cold again at about .... 1630ish? The RO says one of the Nugs in the training area next to us is unaccounted for and range control has shut down all ranges for the rest of the day. The offer at this point, being put out by the same staff member who offered us the refund for the Taurus is that we can go inside and either get a refund or a free pass for one range session. No problem! I won't be able to come back anytime soon anyways and we decide to just can this trip and get it refunded.
We walk on inside, when the rush to leave has died down and well, I mention our intentions. The attendant/office person looks at me, and asks why I would want a refund instead of a free range pass. I tell her that I can't come back for lack of transportation in the future and that the pass would be useless to me, as well as all the unspent ammo that I can't keep in my hotel room or take with me on an airplane. She's also not entirely happy with me wanting a refund for both the ammunition and the rental fee for the Judge that managed getting off just one shot.
At this point she tells me that (I quote) "Well, I wouldn't take a refund over something small like this."
That's nice to know and all, but I will take a refund. She gets huffy with me, insinuates how someone being paid my wage ought to be above this, informs me after looking at the sign-in form for about one millisecond that I hadn't even signed in and hands me someone else's driver's license.
At this point I go through the sign-in form, find both me and my wife signed in on an older sheet and inform her that I still need my driver's license. She says she already handed me the license and that I indeed did not sign in.
I *show* her the sign-in form, ask if I have to sign out (to which she replies no) and show her the image of a rather large hispanic guy on the license, instead of a bald white guy (me) ...
She hands me my ID, turns her back and I leave.
It's safe to say I can't condone that range anymore, and that I caution everyone on Ft. Gordon (even TDY) from spending money there. Shooter's, while slightly more expensive (which is only mildly more expensive than very expensive) is not too far out and I am certain provides a better experience.
I got off slightly early and decided to take my wife shooting for the day, since we don't have much time together.
We made it to the range at about ... 1530ish and proceeded to check in. I asked for a scoped .22 rifle, but they didn't have one. No big deal. I went with a bolt action sans scope. Incidentally the entire action moved within the stock, when you shook the rifle. Time for some fun. The wife got a Taurus judge and 50 .410 shells for some kabloomy fun. We walk up to the range and get in on the tail end of the safety brief and receive one target. I grab another, seeing as the wife and I are shooting in different lanes. The attendant says she feels uncomfortable about this. Interesting. I convince her that my wife is indeed a shooter, individually and needs her own target. She hands me another and well, we wait in our lanes while the range is hot to put up our targets.
At about 1600 the lane goes cold, we walk my target out to 50 yards and the wife sets hers out I don't know .... five yards? The range goes hot and we begin shooting. I sit there and start merrily plinking off some sandbags at my target when the wife gesticulates me over. Her Judge jammed up somehow and she can't cock the hammer, pull the trigger or open the cylinder. I wander over into her stall and take a look. It seems the recoil from shooting it sets the hulls back in the chamber and binds it up, or something along those lines. I pry the remaining live hulls out of the cylinder and we report the gun as malfunctioning. The RO takes a look, hands it off one of the other staff and a few minutes later said other staff member comes by and says he will either give us a different gun and two boxes of ammo or a refund. My wife says she didn't find anything else she really wanted to shoot, so we opt for the refund. No problems, he says and tells us to just mention it when we're done, so the inside attendant can give that refund.
Awesome. We're taking turns taking shots at the 50 yard target and the range goes cold again at about .... 1630ish? The RO says one of the Nugs in the training area next to us is unaccounted for and range control has shut down all ranges for the rest of the day. The offer at this point, being put out by the same staff member who offered us the refund for the Taurus is that we can go inside and either get a refund or a free pass for one range session. No problem! I won't be able to come back anytime soon anyways and we decide to just can this trip and get it refunded.
We walk on inside, when the rush to leave has died down and well, I mention our intentions. The attendant/office person looks at me, and asks why I would want a refund instead of a free range pass. I tell her that I can't come back for lack of transportation in the future and that the pass would be useless to me, as well as all the unspent ammo that I can't keep in my hotel room or take with me on an airplane. She's also not entirely happy with me wanting a refund for both the ammunition and the rental fee for the Judge that managed getting off just one shot.
At this point she tells me that (I quote) "Well, I wouldn't take a refund over something small like this."
That's nice to know and all, but I will take a refund. She gets huffy with me, insinuates how someone being paid my wage ought to be above this, informs me after looking at the sign-in form for about one millisecond that I hadn't even signed in and hands me someone else's driver's license.
At this point I go through the sign-in form, find both me and my wife signed in on an older sheet and inform her that I still need my driver's license. She says she already handed me the license and that I indeed did not sign in.
I *show* her the sign-in form, ask if I have to sign out (to which she replies no) and show her the image of a rather large hispanic guy on the license, instead of a bald white guy (me) ...
She hands me my ID, turns her back and I leave.
It's safe to say I can't condone that range anymore, and that I caution everyone on Ft. Gordon (even TDY) from spending money there. Shooter's, while slightly more expensive (which is only mildly more expensive than very expensive) is not too far out and I am certain provides a better experience.