Ever observe other shooters at the range?

If your groups are small, you could be shooting faster.;) Unless you are a bullseye shooter or something. That said, if someone can't stay on paper, they should slow down.

Honestly, if the guy next to me is being safe, I could care less how what or why they are shooting. It's really none of my business. If they are a safety hazzard, then it becomes my concern, but otherwise why would anyone feel the need to intrude on another person that is paying good money on a gun, ammo and range time? Also, why would I want to waste my valuable(expensive) range time staring at some other goobers silly stance? If they ask me a question I'll answer, if not and everyone is being safe I like to concentrate on my shooting.
YMMV
 
I dont think anyone goes to the range to stare at other shooters, I just observe people around me naturally. Certain people just draw attention to themselves, if I ever go to the range and the guy shooting 14 rounds in 6 seconds has a 2 inch group Ill still pay attention to him but for a different reason. Maybe I can learn from him.
 
I'm fairly new to handguns, i grew up on rifles and shotguns, but handguns and the range are something I picked up just after i turned 21 last year. I was in the Army for awhile and grew up around LEOs and ex-military so gun safety and respect was something i was taught very young. My range experiences so far have been pretty good, but I do notice that alot of other folks either don't seem to know all of what they are doing or just don't care. If you wanna blow through 100 rounds of ammo as soon as you can load and fire it that's your perrogative, not my business. I do however get nervous around the guys who seem to act like it's just a cool thing to do and do dumb stuff like load the gun then walk out of the booth holding it with their finger on the trigger. (I got someone kicked out for that a few weeks ago actually) That always kinda makes me watch them before i fire to see what their intentions are stupidity or animosity. I have one handgun a Taurus .38 and I try to shoot for accuracy more than anything else because i wanna be confident to know that if i can hit the bullseye 9 out of 10 shots on a range i can hit a BG as many out of 5 as possible if i ever need to.
 
I first started owning and shooting my guns at my nextdoor indoor range a year ago.

My dad owned guns for years, but I never knew about it until my brother found his .357 and 9mm one day...but needless to say, he only took me to the range once before I started owning.

I usually go during off hours so that I have the place to myself because this range will get jammed packed around 4pm and weekends. I do this so that I do not make a fool of myself and to avoid idiots.

I take my time with my revolver and my aim to be as accurate as possible, not to see how many rounds I can burn through in 15 mins. I like to mark my groupings and test out different ammos.

I did have a strange experience last year when I went with my friend who was range testing some different loads for his deer rifle. We spent hours there testing up to 100 yards.

Halfway through the testing, some dumbass comes to the stall next to us and just starts to burn through his ammo like no tomorrow. He really thought he was something special (even though his target did not show it) and he seemed very reckless.

After a while, my friend brought in the target from about 30 yards and started to mark the groupings...he stopped and motioned me to check it out. There were 8 holes on the target when my friend had only shot 5 rounds. He waited for the guy to reload, then confronted him about the issue...the guy just laughed and said he was curious if he could hit a target at that range...my friend just snapped at him saying that he was testing loads and his sights and that if that idiot wanted to test out his accuracy at 30 yards, then he should move his own target back that far.

Of course, it did not end there. After I shot a few rounds and was bringing in the target, the idiot unloads about half his clip into the target, knocking it to the ground from the holding clips. He was "trying to hit a moving target".

I did my best to keep my cool because it is not wise to get into a fight at the damn gun range and luckily, the RO came in and asked the idiot to leave because he had seen the whole thing. The RO even made it up to us by not charging us for the time that day (would have been $24 per person.)
 
The only shooters I worry about about are the unsafe, irresponsible ones. The rest can be taught or learn. Sometimes shooting is all about the fun of the noise and the smell of burn't powder. We don't all shoot for groups all the time.

Chris
 
I just watch to make sure I'm not getting yet another firearm pointed at me by some random stranger. That irks me a little, but I try to remain calm most of the time. Otherwise, I don't worry about other shooters. Usually they are paying attention to me for pointers! ;)

One of my favorites was the day I was at the range with my Glock and a bunch of local LEOs were training. An older gentleman with a Glock 22 or 23 on his hip made a comment about 9mm being a good lady's gun. I emptied a mag into the head of a silhouette at about 7-8 yards, as fast as they were shooting COM at that range. The comments from the "all-knowing" police officers stopped! :cool:

And then there was the time my friends didn't think anybody could ring the 100-yard gong with a pistol. Same Glock 17, and I put 8 out of 10 on it offhand on my first string. Just shrugged it off and said "Practice. Always about practice."

But yeah, mostly I make sure the shooters around me aren't pointing firearms where they should not be pointed, or are not presenting an immediate danger of tossing a round out of the range. (It's been done a few times by those who love to bump-fire and those who don't watch their muzzle.) I've offered to help people, but most males will not accept advice from a little "kid" and most females are too intimidated by the time their friends are done with them.
 
I'm fairly new to shooting and am far from good. I'm definitely not the worst person there, but have a lot of work to do to be good. I place my target no further than 7 yards and shoot very slow. I try to take my name and work on trigger pull, grip, not flinching, etc. If I put 50% or more of my shots in the center ring, I feel pretty good. I don't exactly have a tight grouping, but am pretty conistent with shooting a bit to left (except for the few bullets that really get away from me when i flinch or anticipate the shot).

I never rapid fire, but I have started working on double taps. My first shot is usually pretty decent, but my second shot is usually pretty far off and is not reallly consistent with where it goes, left, right, up down. If anyone has any tips on how to work on double tops I would love to here them. I usually only work on my double taps on my last couple of clips and just focus trying to hit the center ring. I always shoot at silhouettes, is there a better type of target I should use?

On the topic of observing others. I'm always looking at others targets and how they are shooting. The worst i've ever seen were a couple of guys that came in and starting shooting there 9mm and holding it "gangster" (sideways style) and shooting at the head of a target that was like 5 feet away and half the shots not even hitting the paper.
 
I always check others folks out at the range, I do a quick sweep to see if there are any hot, giggling blonde women in really tiny bikinis firing automatic weapons and throwing their hair all about...like in the video I got a few years ago!! Actually, I do observe others. I like to see what kind of gun they are shooting, often times they will let me fire off a few rounds from a gun that I have never shot before...last time at the range, there was some LEO with an AR-15 with a really cool scope, he let me fire a full magazine. I also got to shoot a BIGASSMUTHA .500 revolver...only took one shot outta that boy to convince me that I don't like em!!!
 
Sorry, I don't get this concept

Unless someone is being unsafe (which I WILL not tolerate),

WHO CARES whether they are shooting what we think is the "appropriate" way or not????

Just because I'm not anal retentive about my grouping, doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed on the range.

The problem at ranges is the same problem that exists in chat groups...the people that think because they are the "expert's or because they have ten thousand posts, they can tell everyone else what to do.

Shooting is supposed to be fun and a fundamental right. The biggest danger to encouraging more Americans to do more shooting is quickly becoming the range and board nannies...

If I'm not doing anything illegal or dangerous then please...bugger off!!!

IMHO
 
Hell...I just make sure they're not doing anything unsafe and leave it at that. I don't really think it's for me to judge their abilities.
 
yep, i watch as many shooters as possible. on the rifle range theres almost always one guy with a semi-auto that can lay down an impressive field of fire all across the berm, without ever hitting his target. so one time i thought "i'll try firing as fast as possible, and see what i can do". hard as i try, with my rifle shouldered, i just cannot get out of a 12 inch circle at 100 yards. maybe someday i'll be more talented.

on the handgun range, it gets downright scary. i feel like i'm the only one who hits the target. unless i'm shooting next to Wildalaska. then i KNOW i'm the only one hitting my target. :D
 
well guys i tell ya what. i have all styles of guns. i enjoy each one's shooting style. each gun has a served purpose. so when i go to the range, i feel its like taking the kids to the park:D it never ceases to amaze me how many idiots have been allowed to purchase a gun. maybe we should have an IQ test or at least a common sense test before purchase is allowed:) .but where i really get my kicks is when i take my wife (we are in our 20's and 30's both ex-military) she doesn't much care for pistol shooting. sees it as a last resort so does it ,but would rather get busy w/ a rifle. so after all these " self-appointed " cock strong ,bad-ass, show off ,can't hit the target marksmen get done. she mosies up to the deck, takes the prone position(at the range mind you) and will proceed to drive tacks at any range w/ any caliber. ( she at 150-200 yds can keep an sks at 1-2 group.w/ 2-3 round bursts(ind pulls)) then when she is done gets up gets in the truck and sits there ever so smuggly as we watch the afore-mentioned bad asses pick up there jaws put there gear away and tuck tail. probably having to explain to there girlfriend or buddies what is/was wrong w/ there guns/themselves , or how they were just off today. or how my wife was just lucky.......we always get a little kick out of doing this. especially when old timers are around. just so we can give them some hope that the future is not lost on the youth,. we are out there so keep on shootin strait and for those of you who can't or won't stay home!
 
From my point of view it is all about the context of the training. Some people get all wrap around the axel about their group. To me a group means that you are either just into target practice (bullseyes) or you are just going to slow. These people are obviously not interested in real world self defense training or have no idea what it is.

My context is self defense. I work on the balance of speed and accuracy. I look to draw and fire as fast as I can go, as long as I keep it within a 9" Thoracic Cavity hit. I also use a lot of threat focused skills (sans sights) including shooting fromt the compressed ready, 1/2 hip, 3/4 hip, zippering. For those that watch my "group" I am sure that they wonder why I suck so bad. I would be more than happy to go FOF with them to find out who's practice is more efficient, effective, and real world.

For those that feel the need to judge others to make themselves feel superior, they need to understand the context of the training. If you do not understand real world self defense skills then you are judging from a position of "you do not know what you do not know."

Which would be a major character flaw.

If someone has a 18" group, while zippering , at three yards, with the first shot breaking at .75, with the remaining shots four shots with a .18 split, while vertically stringing upwards. Would that person suck in your eyes?

Context man, context! You need to understand it to be able to judge it.
 
Why be so critical about how other people burn there money? They are still shooting right. That means they support the second Amendment Rights. They support the firearms industry and shooting sports in general. Now if they are unsafe that is another story. I will always say something if I see unsafe acts. The people who are being unsafe are just new or nervous for the most part and will accept some advice on safety when done in a friendly way.
I have to confess that I sometimes load a Magazine and blast away as fast as I can at 15yds. I hit the target but it is not that 1/2 inch group.

EPR105
 
Okay, I didn't observe this first hand, but my friend just went to the range this weekend and he brought one of his buddies. His buddy had no experience shooting and my friend had very little. I told him if they wanted they could swing by and I could give them a couple of pointers before they showed up at the range and did something stupid. Well they never swung by, but did go to the range.

After inquiring how it went, he tells me his buddy loaded the bullets in mag. backwards. Uhh, what? How does that happen? :confused: Wouldn't common sense tell you when your putting the magazine into the gun, the bullets should be facing forward and not backwards. Well needless to say, he didn't realize it and attempted to shoot it and welp, nothing happend. So he brought the gun to the range officer who quickly told him the bullets were in backwards. Wow, I bet he felt silly.

My friend also managed to put one of his bullets in the magazine backwards. While he was off figuring out why the one gun didn't fire, he let his friend shoot the mag he just loaded in the other gun they had. His friend started shooting and around the 4th round it didn't fire.

I can safely so that, so far, I have not put a bullet in the mag. backwards. I hope I can continue to say that for a very long time.
 
I agree with news and epr105 and others. As long as you are keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction I couldn't care less what your target looks like or if you stand on your head while you are shooting.
 
Hey, that isn't really fair. I take offense to the people on the first page of this thread who lump everyone teaching their girlfriend how to shoot as bad shots.

I drill the center out of the target all day with my 586, and I take my girlfriend to the range sometimes. She's good, but I find it helps to move the target up pretty close. My thinking? Everyone can be a good shot at their own range. I don't expect her to grab my 357 magnum and be able to drill the center all day at 25 yards. I'm slowly introducing her to the sport. She had never shot outside of her Guard training, I'd grown up with a rifle in my hand.

Out to about 4-5 yards, she can manage a two inch group with the Bersa Thunder she likes so well. I feel pretty good about that. Quick learner. Most of all, it keeps it fun when you see that you're hitting the target.

Just remember not every guy with a girl on the range is there show boating or trying to flex their proverbial muscle. We're there because 1. I'd like her to share my appreciation of the sport (She already does, having bought me a gun for the last two birthdays!) and 2. Because being a good shot, even if just in common self defense ranges, is a skill that could very well save her life. It is a good time together AND MONEY BETTER SPENT THEN AT A MOVIE!
 
I think it is wonderful that people that are so different and from so many walks of life can enjoy the shooting sports. As long as they are safe I applaud them for learning what guns are really about. The Rambo wannabes that just blast ammo with no accuracy involved learn very quickly that they are wasting money and quit shooting.

A buddy of mine watches a lot of movies and used to listen to some rap. He would always recite lyrics talking about using a "9" and shooting gangster sideways. I took him out shooting and explained about the intricacies of the 9mm semi-automatic pistol (we are both engineering students) and showed him what real accuracy was about; not turning the gun sideways, taking your time, and aiming. I am not an Elmer Keith, Jerry Miculek, or Skeeter Skelton by any means but I am a moderately good pistol shot. I explained the instictive and speed shooting comes with experience and no Hollywood gangster will ever take the time to practice and train enough to be terribly effective.

I have taken my fiance (another engineering student notice a theme?)shooting a few different times with various .22s and she has been very receptive so far. She understands and supports my decision to have a hobby and is willing to learn a little bit about it because I like it. While there I do not allow it to be a "date" especially on the firing line; it remains strictly professional and serious. She is becoming a fairly good shot now and knows the fundamental terminology of the various weapons we use.
 
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