Close Call on the range

[cdmckane]

Just did a sight in day here at my farm for my regular crew. We started with our small game guns then broke out the big iron.

All was going well and we were having a great time until my buddy's girlfriend showed up. She shot my .17 HMR and .22 Hornet for a while, then wanted to shoot what we had. After a couple shots on my Savage 220, I handed her my TC Pro Hunter FX. My buddy and I were chuckling behind the line, waiting for it to kick her good, when she pulled the hammer back, then turned around to ask if it were ok to shoot, still shouldering the TC.

After she picked herself up off the ground, she's still not all that happy with me for running her over. Hey, my first priority was getting that rifle out of her hands. Needless to say, she's no longer welcome at my range.

 

Lesson learned: when someone who's never been to your range before shows up, make sure they know all the safety rules BEFORE they handle a weapon!

[steve863]

I think that you two buddies were the knuckleheads here and not the girl. Instead of laughing and horsing around, you should have shown her the proper ways to handle a gun. You both knew she was inexperienced and now you want to blame her. You two are definitely MORE at fault in this incident than she is.

[cdmckane]

 She had handled the three previous weapons flawlessly, we had no reason to believe she'd not be safe with the muzzy.  Yes, I agree it way MY fault for not explaining the safety rules to her, and I said I learned my lesson, it won't happen again on my range.  I was told she was an experienced shooter with the smaller calibers, but had never handled a big game weapon before, but that's no excuse.

 

I posted this just as a reminder for those of us who have ranges and host people who may not be as experienced as we are, to never let your guard down. 

[shawnhu]

So does that mean she is un-banned?

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[cdmckane]

I shouldn't have said she's no longer welcome.  I'll gladly welcome her back, after she passes a safety course and gets her hunting license

[shawnhu]

I shouldn't have said she's no longer welcome. I'll gladly welcome her back, after she passes a safety course and gets her hunting license

So you think she needs to know about hunting to shoot a gun?

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[cdmckane]

It's my range, on my property.  I decided, today, that no one would shoot on this range without a hunting license.  That's the only way I can guarantee that they've passed a safety course.  This incident made me realize how lax my range rules were.  All the guys I regularly shoot with are ex-military so we're ingrained with the range protocol, enough so that it didn't even cross my mind that someone wouldn't know them.  My wife witnessed the incident and almost made me fire up the dozer and tear down the range right there.

 

[Elmo]

Experienced with small calibers but not experienced with large calibers?  I don't think it matters what caliber she uses.  Pointing the muzzle in an unsafe direction is dangerous regardless of what caliber it is.

[fu2lmao]

not to beat on you for this one but:

 

1)  its a firearm not a weapon, unless you intend on attacking something (the only time you will ever hear me be PC, don't use libtard verbage to support their cause, sorry liberals I will make it up to you April 15th as I do every year)

 

2) you and a friend were chuckling? really? no need to elaborate on this one

 

with that said we all make dumb mistakes, I almost lopped off a few fingers a 3 weeks ago when I got careless with a crossbow on my range, hope we both learned something from our experience

[cdmckane]

not to beat on you for this one but:

 

1)  its a firearm not a weapon, unless you intend on attacking something (the only time you will ever hear me be PC, don't use libtard verbage to support their cause, sorry liberals I will make it up to you April 15th as I do every year)

 

2) you and a friend were chuckling? really? no need to elaborate on this one

 

with that said we all make dumb mistakes, I almost lopped off a few fingers a 3 weeks ago when I got careless with a crossbow on my range, hope we both learned something from our experience

1) Read my previous post.  We're ex-military.  Small arms are weapons.  Guns are artillery pieces.

 

2) Yeah.  It was more of a "watch this" moment, knowing she had never fired anything larger than a .22 Hornet.

[Doc]

I also had a problem with a guest shooter one time. He was one of two invites by my Brother-in-law from Canada. Before the deer season started, I wanted to do a check-out of gun-handling by these guys so I suggested that we take a few shots at some targets. One guy stood up to the line and proceeded to rip off 5 shots as quick as possible. I asked him what the heck that was all about, and he said it was for running shots. So, it may not have made me mister popularity, but I straightened him out on that score and explained that we take one very careful and well placed shot or pass. I could tell from his reaction that he wasn't real happy about that but seemed to accept it. So then I shot, and my brother-in-law shot and then the second guy shot. We were all yakking it up about our shooting and didn't realize that he second Canadian was not with us. All of a sudden there was a big "BANG" as his 12 gauge accidentally went off while we were half ways to the target. I don't remember his exact feeble explanation, but apparently something wasn't working quite right and he was tinkering with a loaded gun while we were in front and it went off.

 

That was when I turned around and pointed to the far hill and informed them both that they would be hunting over there while my Brother-in-law and myself hunted our hill. Later on, I informed my Brother-in-law that he was not to invite anymore people down. Now this is not any slam against Canadians. My Brother-in-law is a Canadian and he is one of the safest guys I know. But when unknown people come into hunt with us, they get special scrutiny when it comes to gun safety and things get pretty hard-case if I see anything I don't like. I take range and hunting safety kind of personal on my property, and would never forgive myself if a gun accident ever occurred on my watch.

[josephmrtn]

If you shoot trap/skeet with me when you bring the gun down from your shoulder i want to see that safety ON and the gun pointed in a safe direction, regardless of whether you fired all the rounds in the gun or not... i got this way when one of my cousins was reloading his gun standing behind all of us who were shooting and his gun went off and shot into the ground... we had about 6 or 8 guys standing there and if he had his gun up it could have been BAD!!!! since then im VERY concerned with range safety with gun and bow...

[Doc]

If you shoot trap/skeet with me when you bring the gun down from your shoulder i want to see that safety ON and the gun pointed in a safe direction, regardless of whether you fired all the rounds in the gun or not... i got this way when one of my cousins was reloading his gun standing behind all of us who were shooting and his gun went off and shot into the ground... we had about 6 or 8 guys standing there and if he had his gun up it could have been BAD!!!! since then im VERY concerned with range safety with gun and bow...

It is an amazing reaction that happens to you when a gun unexpectedly goes off behind you. The first reaction was dead silence for a couple of seconds with everybody looking at each other in disbelief. Oh, and then all hell broke loose. It's some scary stuff!

[ants]

You can never be too safe when on a firing line. I have seen long time, experienced shooters have total brain farts. I have pissed a few people off over the years, by pointing out (sometimes loudly) their unsafe firearms handling. I don't really care. In most cases they are embarrassed and try to rationalize their mistakes as if its somehow not their fault.

I had a guy let a .45 round go that missed my left foot by inches (he doesn't like me anymore) and I have seen numerous other "misfires".  Newbe or experienced keep your eyes on them and don't be afraid to speak up. I pissed off my own brother in law a few weeks ago...Don't care.