Bone to pick with new rifle owners - 100 yards out of the box

[Turpentine21]

Not only do we have the 100yard gun guys we have guys like the one I'm going to share with you. I will do some reloading for some family and friends. Most listen when I say you should fire some test loads before you load (this guy wanted 120 .30-30 rounds) to make sure they group well. As you will see in the screen shots I asked him to test some that I loaded for his 3 different .30-30 rifles. I can't wait till he takes these 3 rifles to the range Thanksgiving week and calls me saying the load sucks and it's all my fault he can't hunt now. Oh he has all 120 rounds of the same load. I will never load for him again.

What would you have done?


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Personally I don't load for anyone else. There's the liability for one thing. The other is if they miss or something doesn't work out for them they automatically blame you. It's just not something I want to get into. When folks ask me if I will load for them, my answer is no but if you would like to come over and load some bullets for yourself I will be glad to try to help you.
I have in the past done a little bit of loading for really close friends. Most often it's reduced recoil loads for the kids. I always demand that they leave the actual rifle that I am loading for so I can do load development and test the loads. Today I shy away even from this. But I still extend the offer to help them do it themselves and also am present when they test the loads.

 

[birddog 68]

When folks ask me if I will load for them, my answer is no but if you would like to come over and load some bullets for yourself I will be glad to try to help you.

I've made this offer to assist with reloading instead of actually doing the reloading.
I always hear excuses of why they can't do it so they continue to shoot factory ammo.
Time is a investment that most aren't willing to do when it comes to reloading and shooting. Gotta like doing it

 

[hunter0528]

A guy from a neighboring camp shot 4 times at a deer approximately 300 yards away and couldn't understand how he missed it.
Apparently he never even shot the rifle but was upset about the guy that mounted the scope and bore sighted it!
You can't fix stupid.

 

[RockyRandy]

I used to work the gun counter at Sportsmans warehouse many years ago. We had a frat boy looking fella come in and buy a Tikka 7mm the night before elk opener. He bought a scope, and I ended up staying an hour late to mount the scope, bore sight it, and let the background check clear. I cautioned him a dozen times that the bore sight would get him on paper at 25 yards, nothing more. He HAD to tune it in and test a couple ammo options before he hunted it.

The guy came back the following afternoon with the rifle and THREW it across the counter at me, screaming "you made me miss an elk!". Of course he didn't shoot the rifle or take it to a range, he just went to someone's ranch and tried shooting a critter at 300 yards straight out the box.

We banned him for life from the store. And I refused to do boresights for anyone after that.

You can't fix stupid and they breed among us!

 

[DFHarley19]

Unfortunately those same people who show up at camp with little to no experience with their rifle are not likely to read this.

And they did not read the instruction manual!

 

[birddog 68]

And they did not read the instruction manual!

I must admit that I am usually guilty of this on most things. It's normally a last resort.

 

[DFHarley19]

I must admit that I am usually guilty of this on most things. It's normally a last resort.

Same as here! SSSHHhhhhhh!

 

[birddog 68]

Same as here! SSSHHhhhhhh!

Kind a like asking for directions when lost or as I like tell my wife we're just taking the scenic route.

 

[Turpentine21]

You can't fix stupid and they breed among us!

And they vote!

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

You can't fix stupid and they breed among us!

And, unfortunately, they can vote.

 

[Little Church Mouse]

The most comforting (sarcasm) thought to me is when I am hunting public land for elk in Colorado, I am in the woods with folks like this. I have lost a couple of animals in fifty years of hunting, and it made me sick every time, but bullets flying around me shot by guys that really have no place in the woods bothers me more. If they don't know how to shoot, what are the chances they understand gun safety at all?

"...guys that really have no place in the woods bothers me more..."

Which is why I do not hunt with a cousin whose other companions often are people that hunt while under the influence of alcohol and/or cannabis.

IMO if you want to engage in that, there is plenty of time after dark. So I do not get out as much as I could and do not care!

 

[Ol' Red]

And they did not read the instruction manual!

Instruction manual. I thought that was just packing material.

 

[Critter Picker]

"...guys that really have no place in the woods bothers me more..."

Which is why I do not hunt with a cousin whose other companions often are people that hunt while under the influence of alcohol and/or cannabis.

IMO if you want to engage in that, there is plenty of time after dark. So I do not get out as much as I could and do not care!

My uncle said it best. Gunpowder and alcohol don't mix, it won't burn and tastes likev$h!t!!

 

[Small Lady]

I have a neighbor who won a xbolt I believe in 270 Winchester. He told me the guy at the gun counter who set his scope up said it only drops 7/8" of an inch at 1000 yards. So he zeroed it at 7/8" high at 100 yards. I'm not even going to talk to him anymore, I don't need that crap in my life.

I want one of those lol