Lets Discuss “Range Etiquette” for a moment!

[Muddyboots]

I think we all have actually and swung and missed the original OP. I know I did in a way. Range safety is NOT range etiquette. Range etiquette is being polite within the general use rules of a range. To me etiquette is giving the next guy the space, assistance, guidance when they ask for it. Etiquette is not a mandatory requirement like NOT leaving the seat up in your bathroom!

Range safety is plain old firearm handling safety which applies EVERYWHERE. I had my safety rant like everyone else but when you think about it, firearm handling safety is no different on the range, in the field, in your home or even in the public. Firearm handling safety is not an etiquette, its a mandatory requirement to responsible firearm ownership. Etiquette I can tell someone not today but no one can say that about firearm handling safety. When I read all these safety related rants, its a miracle no one is injured more on a frequent basis. One of the things I do when someone shows up at the range when I am shooting and want to go downrange, I explain the signage and why we have it. The problem is when I am alone downrange and the signs seem to be overlooked. I have even added orange surveyors tape to them for added visibility. But if we all take the time to explain the downrange requirements, maybe some of these rants can be mitigated over time. A lot of folk visit the range only a couple times a year so sometimes their knowledge has to be kick started a bit. But I also agree when I am at the range, I am there to "do work" and I want to concentrate on everything I am doing so I don't miss a potential observation of a load that may be critical going forward. The range is not my social place, inside the club is. If I step away from the bench sitting on my tailgate sipping a soft drink have at it.

BTW - I solved the muzzlebrake issue and shooting boomers long ago with Walker muffs rated to 34dBA with ear plugs. Everything sounds like an air rifle at best with these on. Most muffs are at 19-20 dBA so these really jump up your protection exponentially. If you have kids, you really need to get them these for the long haul in shooting.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/4...muffs-nrr-34db-and-shooting-glasses-kit-black

 

[Korhil78]

I'd say that's even more of an issue on the internet. There are a lot of internet experts out there (and on here) and it's hard to pick them out sometimes until you can watch them in person. I've shot with a lot of ".5 MOA marksmen" who couldn't hit a 12" gong at 1000 yards if they used my equipment and all they had to do was squeeze a trigger.

True enough, but if you have been on this site for a long time like you have, you have certain people that you know are valid and chat with them on here. I have a few people that I trust on this website. If I ever have questions, I usually send them a PM or text them.

 

[tony d willIiams]

So what load would u guys pick, I shot this today doing load work beside someone with muzzle brake and while getting pelted by Rambo two stalls down. And it's a 6.5 creedmoor! And I said hey to one dude!
View attachment 138085 View attachment 138086

Y'all keyboard commandos done yet with your goodwill nature helping people and bashing me cause I don't want to be bothered while I am shooting strings? As I mentioned before in like 5 posts now when I am off my gun and done with a string and waiting on cool down or something I am down to talk guns, reloading or hell politics! We can work on your gun, we can sight it in, whatever man but my point was while in the middle of a string is not that time. This we merely a rant and not to be taken out of context to where it has made it to now. I will work on my range demeanor I guess, geez!

I was not attempting to bash you. I became irritated thinking about range incidents, wrote some items, and realized that my manners were ill and I placed an apology on this site added to that post.
I understand when trying to concentrate and collect data interruptions are difficult. That is why I went out to the desert to keep that from happening. It keeps me calm and I can shoot, collect data, stop and think at my own pace with only disruptions from the wind, coyotes and rabbits.
Kinda similar to when writing a program, an interruption can set you back a bit.

 

[Korhil78]

So what load would u guys pick, I shot this today doing load work beside someone with muzzle brake and while getting pelted by Rambo two stalls down. And it's a 6.5 creedmoor! And I said hey to one dude!
View attachment 138085 View attachment 138086

Good shooting! I always have to shoot them at distance to see what they look like. That almost one hole group looks good with 42.8 gr but it looks like it could vertically string out at distance. 43 gr looks good and might not have much vertical at distance. All depends on how far you plan on shooting it.

 

[Remmy700]

Good shooting! I always have to shoot them at distance to see what they look like. That almost one hole group looks good with 42.8 gr but it looks like it could vertically string out at distance. 43 gr looks good and might not have much vertical at distance. All depends on how far you plan on shooting it.

I was just messing around to divert thread lol but I did just get back from range shooting the ol creed lol doing a little load work

 

[Korhil78]

I was just messing around to divert thread lol but I did just get back from range shooting the ol creed lol doing a little load work

I gotcha. I hate shooting groups that look good like that at 100 yards and then shoot them at 600-800 and see the vertical stringing. Makes me want to stick to shooting at 100 yards haha.

 

[Korhil78]

Here is another thread diversion for sure.

I don't get the hatred for the creedmoor. Its a rifle. Spits a bullet out one end and kicks on the other end.

Thread way diverted from here on out!

 

[Remmy700]

I gotcha. I hate shooting groups that look good like that at 100 yards and then shoot them at 600-800 and see the vertical stringing. Makes me want to stick to shooting at 100 yards haha.

True. I think they will be fine, highest SD out of them 3 groups was 3. So I think any of them will work to hang some steel. Had some left over 139 scenars and don't want to waste them lol.

 

[FEENIX]

While personally I agree with you on that... different places, different cultures...

When we went to Bisley (England) in '09 for the FCWC, we had arranged to use the sight-in range to re-zero our rifles after re-assembling them following the trans-Atlantic flight. We were getting set up on the 100 yd line, about ready to shoot, and... KAPOW! Everybody ducked, and started looking around, cuz the shot obviously was from behind us. Sure enough, there at the *200* yd line was another shooter, slung up and taking aim at the target berm.

Come to find out, in the UK, and in Canada, as long as there is a certain minimum amount of separation (50 ft?) between the firing points, firing *past* another shooter who is at a closer yard line is entirely acceptable - to them. Saw it again in '15 & '16 @ Connaught (Ottowa) for their FCNC where they had one half the range firing one yard line, and the other half shooting another.

You guys kicked ***, bigtime! I would have love to watch you guys; stationed at RAF Lakenheath, Brandon 2000-2003.

 

[MudRunner2005]

So many of us are pretty dedicated in the art of not only proper shooting form but also building our own precision loads tuned for our rifles. Many hours is spent in the reloading room with the built up excitement at the next chance to try this stuff out on the range. Over the years I have seen some stupid things that make me realize some people could care less about us load testers or anyone else for that matter! So here are a few things that I absolutely hate and please chime in with what u have experienced! New guys read this and DO NOT DO IT!
1. If the range is wide open except for one person who happens to have a little blue reloading box open with nice neat rows of 5 rounds staggered with gaps between them to carefully keep his loads separated, wearing a can with a magnetospeed mounted to it, KEEP your distance with your stupid AR and refrain from pelting him with brass.
2. As mentioned before he has a can and is not wearing hearing protection so do not come to the next stall away from him carefully lining up your tank break on your 6.5 creedmoor with his face.
3. Do not talk to this guy unless he first talks to u. This is not the barber shop and serious business is taking place.
4. If the rifle he has looks nice and expensive, well it prolly is. If u want to know more about it, use google.
5. Use your 30x powered scope with 2 foot sunshade on it to check your groups. U don't need to go down after every 5 rounds to look at your target. And most importantly don't ask that guy that is mentioned on the first 4 do not do items if he can check your target for u cause u can't see your shots!
6. Lastly and most importantly don't ask for help zeroing your scope because u are trying to do it at 200 yds and not at 25 or 50 yds like normal experienced shooters. Also don't ask for Allen wrench set or tools cause u are to stupid to bring what u need to the range!

I know I forgot some things, help me out fellows on your DO NOT LIST while u are at the range!

Excellent list! I'd like to add a couple...

7. If you see that guy over by himself shooting a rifle with tons of expensive-looking gear that looks like he's doing a science experiment on the bench, and little blue reloading boxes beside him, don't bring your GD .338 Lapua with an M82A1-sized muzzle break on it, and sit down directly next to him when you have 10 other open stalls available at the other end of the range!!! He doesn't care if you have a small dick complex or not...The reloader is trying to do work, not worry about what you're shooting, or that you can't please your wife, so you have to buy the biggest gun you can.

Elaborating on your #3...

8. Don't engage in conversation when the range is hot...Just because I'm sitting there not shooting, doesn't mean I'm not concentrating or thinking about something important. Can't stress this one enough! Most of us are very serious about our hobby and don't want to waste our shooting time (when the range is hot) to answer your stupid newbie questions about which end of the gun you put to your shoulder, how much our rigs cost, where you can get one just like it (hint, you CAN'T), or hear about how you're some tacti-cool billy badass wannabe with a 6.5CM that shoots 20 miles, or how you deer hunt at less than 150 yards with a .338 Lapua...We don't care. We're not at the range to make friends, we're there to do work.

9. If you bring your kids with you to the range, do NOT let them roam-free and mess with other people's stuff or pickup other people's guns or equipment!!! Yes, I have had that happen to me. Some dude just stood there watching his kid try to pickup and almost knocked-over my custom .25-06 AI while I was trying to shoot a group. The guy didn't do anything until he noticed that I saw what was going on, and gave him a "i'm gonna whoop your *** if he knocks that over" look, then he decided to intervene and reprimand his kid. A shooting range is not the play place at McDonalds. It's dangerous, and it's not a place where someone without any discipline should be.

10. Don't ask to shoot my guns! I'm not out there to burn powder, I'm out there to do work! So, unless your a hot single woman...No, you can't shoot my guns. What can I say, I'm a romantic... I have a bit of a soft-spot, when I think there might be potential to get into a soft-spot. Plus, there's just something sexy about a woman who likes shooting guns.

11. Don't ask to use my spotting scope! When you were buying all your tacti-cool gear, you should have invested in a spotting scope. Even really cheap ones work good enough to spot your shots at 100 yards.

12. If you're going to shoot an AR or AK (or anything semi-automatic) off the bench at the range... Buy a **** $15 brass catcher!!! I don't need hot brass flung in my face while i'm trying to shoot groups for load development.

13. It's ok to ask me a quick simple question when the range is cold and we're all just sitting there, like what something unusual is (like a MagnetoSpeed, etc...), but don't ask me to sit there and explain it in full-detail...That's what the internet is for.

 

[Remmy700]

Excellent list! I'd like to add a couple...

7. If you see that guy over by himself shooting a rifle with tons of expensive-looking gear that looks like he's doing a science experiment on the bench, and little blue reloading boxes beside him, don't bring your GD .338 Lapua with an M82A1-sized muzzle break on it, and sit down directly next to him when you have 10 other open stalls available at the other end of the range!!! He doesn't care if you have a small dick complex or not...The reloader is trying to do work, not worry about what you're shooting, or that you can't please your wife, so you have to buy the biggest gun you can.

Elaborating on your #3...

8. Don't engage in conversation when the range is hot...Just because I'm sitting there not shooting, doesn't mean I'm not concentrating or thinking about something important. Can't stress this one enough! Most of us are very serious about our hobby and don't want to waste our shooting time (when the range is hot) to answer your stupid newbie questions about which end of the gun you put to your shoulder, how much our rigs cost, where you can get one just like it (hint, you CAN'T), or hear about how you're some tacti-cool billy badass wannabe with a 6.5CM that shoots 20 miles, or how you deer hunt at less than 150 yards with a .338 Lapua...We don't care. We're not at the range to make friends, we're there to do work.

9. If you bring your kids with you to the range, do NOT let them roam-free and mess with other people's stuff or pickup other people's guns or equipment!!! Yes, I have had that happen to me. Some dude just stood there watching his kid try to pickup and almost knocked-over my custom .25-06 AI while I was trying to shoot a group. The guy didn't do anything until he noticed that I saw what was going on, and gave him a "i'm gonna whoop your --- if he knocks that over" look, then he decided to intervene and reprimand his kid. A shooting range is not the play place at McDonalds. It's dangerous, and it's not a place where someone without any discipline should be.

10. Don't ask to shoot my guns! I'm not out there to burn powder, I'm out there to do work! So, unless your a hot single woman...No, you can't shoot my guns. What can I say, I'm a romantic... I have a bit of a soft-spot, when I think there might be potential to get into a soft-spot. Plus, there's just something sexy about a woman who likes shooting guns.

11. Don't ask to use my spotting scope! When you were buying all your tacti-cool gear, you should have invested in a spotting scope. Even really cheap ones work good enough to spot your shots at 100 yards.

12. If you're going to shoot an AR or AK (or anything semi-automatic) off the bench at the range... Buy a ---- $15 brass catcher!!! I don't need hot brass flung in my face while i'm trying to shoot groups for load development.

13. It's ok to ask me a quick simple question when the range is cold and we're all just sitting there, like what something unusual is (like a MagnetoSpeed, etc...), but don't ask me to sit there and explain it in full-detail...That's what the internet is for.

Oh hell get ready brother the goodwill boys are going to bash u next!! God forbid if u go to the range to actually shoot!

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Ladies and gentlemen, mudrunner has entered the arena!

Lol

 

[MudRunner2005]

Oh hell get ready brother the goodwill boys are going to bash u next!! God forbid if u go to the range to actually shoot!

I'll tell 'em bring it on... I don't give 2 ***** what they think. I've spent inordinate amounts of time at ranges all over, and no matter where you go, there's always going to be a couple people there... You'll find the newbie with no clue that's constantly having trouble with their gun/ammo/scope. The wannabe badass who's blasting-away through magazines with his AR's and AK's and constantly looking around to see who's looking at him so he can think, that they think, he's super cool (when they actually think the opposite). There's always going to be the "talker", that guy that just wants to take up a whole bench with 1 rifle and 1 box of ammo, and shoot a group every hour, and the rest of the time he walks around and bothers everybody else all day long because he has no life, and nothing but time to burn.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Ladies and gentlemen, mudrunner has enter the arena!

Lol

Yep, and like always, I come out swinging for the fences. Life's too short to BS and coddle people because it might "hurt their feelings". And our world (and the people in it) are too f*cked up to not correct people's incorrect behaviors. If you can correct things on the baser levels, it will help to fix things on a much larger scale.