Ever observe other shooters at the range?

Generally, I just make sure people around me are safe. Other than that, I don't really care what their targets look like. I try to be in and out of my usual indoor range within 15 min. shooting usually 72 - 80 rnds.

Frankly, I feel there's a lot of making-fun-of-the-person/people-who-shoot-worse-than-you attitude from reading the responses of this thread. We all have to start from not knowing how to shoot, so the next time you have the extra time at the range to notice how poorly somebody shoots, perhaps you can go over to him/her and provide some free pointers.

I've started actively shooting since last August, and when I frist started shooting 8 months ago, I probably look like the fellow who's not hitting paper and rapid firing. I say this because I actually when thru that, after firing a mag w/o getting a nice group, I get frustrated and rapid firing ensues. :) So, the next time you see someone doing the above, he/she may just be a new frustrated shooter.

Anyway, after 8 months, I find myself usually having the best looking target in terms of grouping and distance. Usually, if anybody beats me is the 1911 guys, but I know how easy it is to shoot that pistol :) Give them my HK P2000v3, and they miss on the DA then complains about the high bore axis :rolleyes:
 
Im not making fun of anyone, Im not the best shooter ever but I think there is a difference between attempting to shoot well and wasting your ammo as fast as your gun will shuck it out.

As for people teaching their girlfriends, we take it pretty seriously. No goofing and she is coming along pretty well. She cant shoot a whole lot because her arm gets tired so I may be in the marked for a nice light .22lr for her.
 
I'm getting pretty close to Master Class in IDPA, but on occasion I really like to take the AR to the rang and bump fire a few hundred.......

Life's too short not to smile. Besides, not everyone buys a gun as a defensive tool.
 
I just watch for safety, normally. One time some guys were firing a Hi-Point carbine with a ridiculous stance that had the muzzle at about the same point horizontally as everyone else's bodies! I just pointed out the yellow line and they understood. Then the one not firing asked me if my 2" J-frame .38 is "better than a Glock." :confused: I just answered "it depends."

I was amused yesterday at the stance of a girl at the range. She was firing a Walther .22. She would stand up straight, grip the pistol in an isoceles, then lean back into what appeared to be an uncomfortable position. I think she was doing it to get her sight picture.

-Jeff
 
sounds like my wife

"She would stand up straight, grip the pistol in an isoceles, then lean back into what appeared to be an uncomfortable position. I think she was doing it to get her sight picture."

That sounds like my wife. The first time we went to the range I let her shoot a few clips however she wanted (and she was leaning way back to get a sight picture), then started gently straitening her back out before she started shooting the next few. A word of advice to anyone taking a wife/girlfriend to the range for the firt time: #1 for her first shot, load one round only. Let her get a feel for a shot before giving her the opportunity to jerk off a few shots out of surprise from the first one. #2 make sure she doesn't wear heels. #3 If you ever want her to go again, don't hand her anything over a 9mm. A .22 would be ideal. Let her get a feel for it and work her way up. #4 Success is the best way to get her interested in coming back. I bought lasergrips for my 229 before her first trip, sighted them in, and after shooting 4 clips or so without any great groupings (she did hit the target though, surprised me), I turned on the laser for her. She did pretty darn good with that. Got a big smile out of her. She now has her own gun, a sig 239-smaller grip than mine, with laser sights. She shoots with me about wice a month and works on getting better with iron sights, but when she gets frustrated, she justturns on that laser and gets a feel-good target grouping. I'm sure that if I had handed her my 45 the first time out, she wouldn't have been back.
Anyhoo thats my $.02
-Zeke
 
I put a red dot on the .22 for my girl and she diddnt like it much, took it off and we went back to using the sights. Ive always maintained that she was a keeper:D
 
Watching other shooters is entertaining.

First off I really believe it is a mistake to teach a sig. other the basics of shooting. Just like teaching a son or a daughter to drive! Bad Ju Ju!

Next off the guys that blow through ammo, I wonder about? I have watched 1K of Rem UMC bulk packs blown down range as fast as possible!

Next off it is very true some people have too much pride, well it is a man thing to not ask directions or for help!

I only offer help when asked. If someone is a danger to others on the range, I retreat and let the range officer deal with it! That is their job!

I shoot at ranges on the off hrs so I avoid a lot of dangerous actions.

I have been caught in the airlock between the range and the range desk. I mean this one guy wreaked of alcohol! How the range officer did not smell it was beyond me?

It is easy to be critical of people, but we need all the shooters. We can not snub certain populations so to speak!
Like to see a DU/PF/REMF sticker on a SUV and at the same time a repeal concealed carry sticker on the same SUV!

We are in this together!
 
It's mostly all good for me. Last time I was at the range, a fella was trying to teach his wife and teenage daughter on a short barreled Glock 40 cal, and they were all having quite the time-even him, trying to keep it on the paper at 15 yards.

I didn't want to make the guy look bad in front of them, but during one of the breaks, I asked him if he would like to have them try out my Gold Cup and both of them, after a few shots were putting out some pretty decent groups. The wife turned to him and said, "I wanna trade this thing off for what he has!" Daughter is nodding her head in agreement like a bobble doll in the rear window.

Confirmed what I already thought. Try not to put a lightweight, short barreled pistol in the hands of a first time shooter-it really frustrates them and don't be surprised if they start flinching or anticipating recoil long before the shot.
 
David you are spot on in your post about starting out. I always start folks out on .22LR and let them learn the basics. It is also a lot cheaper to learn with a .22.

As for observing other people, well........, lets just say at times I have to do so. I am an NRA RSO and the club has me do range duty as people are coming out to sight their firearms in. I get frightened quite a bit by peoples behavior. I am quite surprised by the amount of ignorance concerning safety on the range. Range Duty is not my favorite activity needless to say.
 
As for observing other people, well........, lets just say at times I have to do so. I am an NRA RSO and the club has me do range duty as people are coming out to sight their firearms in. I get frightened quite a bit by peoples behavior. I am quite surprised by the amount of ignorance concerning safety on the range. Range Duty is not my favorite activity needless to say.
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I am not adverse to a gun range requiring shooters to attend a basic gun safety course prior to using the range. I realize it would impose certain costs, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen RSOs have to tell people not to hold a semiautomatic pistol with their thumb sticking up right behind the slide. Thankfully, I've never seen anyone actually injured at a range, other than the occasional "hammer bite," but I imagine that some guy making a trip to the hospital for an injured thumb would probably make for worse news than spending 10 bucks or so on a safety course that addresses range rules and common errors seen at the range.
 
I guess because I'm new to the area, I try to not to be overly observant. I don't want to be percieved as being intrusive or anything.

When walking to my lane, I will try to take a sneak peek at what others are shooting, just out of curiousity. I can't always judge how people are so I don't get into conversations over their hardware.

When in my lane, I do tend to look at other peoples target, just to see how good they are. Always feel better when others are as bad as me. :D When I see someone punching out the bullseye, I will kind of nonchanlantly walk over and observe thier style...I'm one of those currently teaching myself to be a better shooter. So I try to pick up hints on posture, grip, etc.

Haven't run into too many yahoos...none really. The range I go to is pretty laid back and they seem to have a respectful clientele. The one time I observed someone teaching his girlfriend/wife/S.O, he was a damn good shot!! She had quite a few bullseyes so I would load my mags slower to hear his advice since it was obviously working.

But I also would welcome any pointers from experienced shooters at the range. If you're in the dallas area, just look for the raggedy U of Ala. hat...that's me! :D
 
As long as they follow the four rules, I care not at all if other people at the range are only interested in turning lots of money into noise very quickly. None of my business.
 
I will practice 2+1 sequences at the range for 25-50 rounds on a COM target at 25 feet or less.

I will practice even, paced, 1-shot-per-second on a COM target at 25 feet or less.

I will practice slow fire drills at 25 YARDS for a mag or two on a Bullseye.

And I will rapid-fire empty a mag into a 15 foot target COM.

For 2+1, my goal is everything in COM and head. Same for the 1shot/sec drill. Slow fire is an attempt to make one ragged hole at 25 yards, and rapid fire is just to unwind after trying to shoot so precisely.

Each has its place, but if someone breaks into my bedroom and is 10 feet away when I get my gun, that 2+1 or rapid-fire to slide lock technique may pay off.
 
To each his own

I check out what people are firing and how. I observe the skills of the shooter first and then if I think the guy or gal knows what he's doing, I may ask about his firearm. Learned a lot about guns I've ben interested in by watching them in action and discussing them with their owner. I'm lucky in that I have access to a few different types of ranges. There is an old sand pit range near me that everyone goes to get out some stress. Guys put up jugs of water, bowling pins, all kinds of stuff on a birm 100 yards away. Gotta say its kind of fun to go there every once in awhile. Then there's my indoor range, whcih is a graet facility to seriously train with your pistol. I never see people behaving poorly or dangerously there. I'm a pretty good pistol shot (Dad taught me well--his department sent him to the FBI marskmanship school back in the 60's, and he's still a one hole shooter) but I see some truly great pistol shooting there. Then there's another range I use when I'm serious about rifle shooting. It has a no rapid fire, 5 rounds per mag policy. Its where you go to see the benchrest guys and competition guys doing their thing.
 
At my range...

At my range, the majority of shooters are "walk-ins". They walk in off the street and figure they'll give shooting a go. They quickly learn that it's not as easy as they make it out to be on television and the movies. I often hear them comment about how it's hard to do.

Then there are the "serious" shooters which makes up a small percentage and they bang away at 25 yards in their perfect target shooting stances and group their shots respectably. No rush, no sense of urgency. And that's ok because they're target shooting.

Then there's the even smaller percentage of shooters that show up with their stock pistols and set their targets at contact distance, shoot from retention, practice malfunction drills and return their pistols to concealment holsters. And that's cool too.

The more people that can appreciate shooting and the shooting sports the better for all of us because these are the people that take the time to educate themselves unlike the ignorant that go on to recommend laws that are just plain 'wack".

Personally, I don't care how others shoot because if they're happy with their poor shooting skills, that means that's one less threat to me.;)
 
I think the other shooters are watching me, LOL!

My indoor range does not go out to 25 yards. The farthest you can push the targets is 50 feet (a little less than 17 yards). This talk of shooting handguns at 25 yards has me confused :confused: . I can't imagine even seeing the target at 25 yards, much less being able to hit it with a bullet. Isn't that what rifles are for?

Almost everyone at my range puts their target at 21 feet (7 yards), and yes, as far as I can tell, most of them can't hit squat at that distance. They're all over the place. I am a serious shooter (even though I am not good at it) in the sense that I practice regularly, mostly with .22, want to hit what I'm aiming at, and become disgusted when I can't.

However, I am interested only in the self-defense use of the handgun. I have never hunted and don't see the point in trying to hit a bullseye at a long distance with a handgun (not that I wouldn't be elated if I could). Most of my practice happens at that very embarrasing distance of 21 feet, just like everyone else at my range, and I work on hitting the target with single shots, double-taps, triple-taps, and quick reloads. I've gotten to the point where I can actually shoot "groups" at this distance, with the right gun. Whooo hoooo!

~Ichiro
 
I regularly see shooters with rifles set up their targets at 15 feet, and then blast all over the place. Some of them can put all of their bullets almost in the same big hole (between the eyes of the Bin Laden target) at that range, but some of them are all over the place.

One time, I was set up next to a 19-ish year-old guy with his dad and an AK-47. They had their target set up at 15 feet, if that, and couldn't hit squat, if you can believe that. After this kid shot and broke the cable holding up the target :eek: , they moved these guys to a new lane on the other side of me, where they lost the magazine on the range, and the officer had to call for a cease fire :p .

I suck at shooting, no doubt, but I'm way better than most of the people I see there. People at my range, on the whole, don't really shoot, they just send bullets downrange. That's why the "groups" at 25 yards don't seem real to me.

~Ichiro
 
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