Range report

[cappra]

I took my 91/30 and M44 to the Ben Avery range today. I would estimate about 35 or 40 shooters. (on the weekends it's packed!) Out of this many shooters, four other people were
shooting Mosin's (all 91/30's) Just a year ago, I was usually the only one. The scary part is that one guy told me that his was an original WW1 Russian rifle,another said that his is brand new and
had been in storage since the end of WW2. The last guy I talked with thought that my M44 used a different ammo and was shooting his some before he sporterized it. None of the three had any
idea about head space, what it was and why it should be checked. I weep for the future........

[SavageDennis]

Just....wow.

Time to move WAY down the shooting line from those cats.

[zeebill]

Unfortuantely typical of shooters on the range these days! I go when I know very few people will be there and if I don't like what I see I just turn the truck around and go home. Bill

[rideandslidejim]

10-4 to that zeebill !! I'm forced to go to a public range, and depending on what "Rambo's " i see there i just leave .

Jim

[Junk Yard Dog]

Yet another good reason I shoot on private ranges only.

[zeebill]

All turning the ruck around and going home means is I am going to shoot at home instead of there. All my neighbors have ranges and I use the driveway. If I really get pushed I walk to the skeet range down the street. Oh the joys of WV. Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

[desdem12]

That is a little scary for sure but these people need to learn and maybe get a mentor to help them out. The future of the collecting and shooting depends on the ones that will survive the stupid ones. I know it is tough to impart knowledge to retards but I may have had a few words in kindness for them. Not the bubba though.

[joe7170]

All turning the ruck around and going home means is I am going to shoot at home instead of there. All my neighbors have ranges and I use the driveway. If I really get pushed I walk to the skeet range down the street. Oh the joys of WV. Bill

I know what you mean Bill. I can't shoot here at the house, but I can go a couple miles up on the mountain to a old rock quarry and shoot, or the public range I use at Kumbrabow is never ever crowded, so I go there. Stonewall, and Pleasant creek get way to busy for me.

[SA1911a1]

It has been three or four years since I have been to the local "public" unsupervised range. The last time I went, I hadn't gotten out of the truck good before some yo-yo was screwing around with a semi-auto rifle pointing it at me. I got right back in the truck and came home and started improving my home range.

Every structure on the public range is shot-up, including the bathrooms, way behind the firing line. You would be safer in Dodge City when the trail-herders came to town to unwind.

[cappra]

Actually, the Ben Avery range, the largest outdoor range in the US, is run by the Arizona Game and Fish dept. There are many trained range officers,
and the rules are very strict. There are still knuckle heads that don't understand the concept of rules and they are removed quickly. it cost $7.00 to get in.
http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoor_recreation/ben_avery.shtml

[zeebill]

All our public ranges around here are free amd they are very well maintained by rangers as the most of them are in state parks. I had trouble with some knuckle heads two years ago and went the truck and dialed up the state police. They took them away in hand cuffs and I signed a complaint against them, they also took the rifles I found out later one was a convicted felon. Oh did I mention they were drunk! Only time I have ever had a big problem there. The State Police patrol there regularly and will sometimes get out and shoot a bit too. They also have the range one half day once in awhile.

One good thing that resulted in metals being worth so much these days the ranger told me last ime that metal scrongers clean the range so well all they do now is empty the trashcans and clean the target backdrops of used targets. Bill

[rideandslidejim]

Althought the public range closest to me is well maintained ( state DNR free $ ) everything is shot up, the chairs, the john but lucky not the structure. "Rambo Rednecks" I always remember a favorite bumper sticker "Never Under Estimate The Power Of Stupid People In Large Numbers "

Jim

[Junk Yard Dog]

They were lucky to have you there Bill, I know some people who would have just quietly buried them back up in the hills and never said a word.

[zeebill]

I'll tell you what that really shook me! It was just after a friend of a friend who was a minister and shot regularly was shot and killed at a range by a couple of AWOL Gi's. They stole his rifles and left him dead at the range. They were caught and are now serving life sentences south of here in a large prison farm. Awhile back one of them escaped and was loose on the well fenced in farm. He was captured when he walked into searchers a couple of days later. They said he was a mess from exposure to the elements. I would have loved to had him lose up in this area, one of my neighbors is an ex_LA Tactical squad member retired and I hear him shooting all the time over there. He is a qenuine one shot guy! Then there is the ex-army ranger who lives on the other side of me and I feel real safe because of it.

When I go to a range these days I am always packing a sidearm and always take the bolt downrange with me when I am target changing. It is just good practice and may save your life! I don't care what kind of range you go to either. I won't go to the local indoor private range as everything there is shot up and they have full time paid range officers. You just never know these days! Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

Even on my own range I always have a loaded weapon at hand other than the one I am shooting. Skell's know what target shooting sounds like, know they can get guns there, and know that when the shooting stops the gun is probably empty. I am so deep in fenced private property that anyone found on my range other than me will get to see a gun real close up.

[Gsragtop]

My friend took me to a great state run range a few weeks ago, I was very impressed.. It was in the middle of a state park, very well maintained, rotating riffle benches, shady overhangs, porta-johns, super clean.. It as n the middle of no where though.. One of the things I live about SC

[Junk Yard Dog]

All the ranges around here are club ranges, fine if you have time for club activities and have the cash to spend on the membership fees, I have neither.

[bcposton]

Doesn't have anything to do with the range - but I encountered a possible Mosin newbie at work yesterday and had to quickly act to educate him. Conversation I walked up on was one of Bubba's - you know lets get this cheap rifle and chop it up and try to make a .308 out of it BS story. I think I done good though in telling him that when you actually get the Mosin in your hands, appreciate it for what it is and its history - and that it is not a modern rifle and never will be. By the time I was done he was actually looking more forward to the 91/30 and knew the price of a new .308

Now hopefully he doesn't do something stupid

[Celt]

I'm looking at joining the range out here where i live. The price is one 9130, i mean 150. The up side is that they have mauser shoots once a month. You can use mosins, mausers, any old milsurp .
I can shoot down at thepublic hunting ground but the tolerance for gun lovers here is hit or miss. I keep waiting for the swat team to show with helicopters and dogs, its a common fear in Illinois! Hate this place.