Pros and Cons of shooting next to the guys with a .44 mag

@LostSheep, rabbit creek range? Didn't get into owning my own firearms/shooting before I moved away from Anchorage, but sure miss it up there.
 
Shooting next to me with a 44 Magnum

Believe it or not, I use to be the guy on the next lane shooting either or both .41 Magnum and .44 Magnum.
 
For ordinary handguns the 30 carbine and 32 magnum muzzle blast is far more disturbing than a 44 mag.
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The .30 Carbine, I agree with. For .32 H&R and .327 Federal, I don't find the muzzle blast to be offensive, at all (4" or longer barrel).

...But last time I was at an indoor range, I had my .327 Blackhawk and .327 GP100. I quickly went through a full cylinder in the Blackhawk, and the entire range (only 4 lanes) cleared out before I was finished firing the first cylinder in the GP100 (8 shots from the Blackhawk, 5 from the GP100, and the door closed on the last guy). :confused:

A bunch of sissies, I guess. ;)

...They were nice, though. They left some 9mm and .45 Auto brass for me to pick up. ;)
 
sigcurious said:
@LostSheep, rabbit creek range? Didn't get into owning my own firearms/shooting before I moved away from Anchorage, but sure miss it up there.
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Birchwood. 55 miles further, but management is more polite when enforcing the rules. Though Rabbit Creek has improved quite a bit, I am told. R.C. has also new got a warming room/waiting room with chairs and magazines.

The last time I shot at R.C. they didn't HAVE covered shooting areas.

Lost Sheep
 
Is it just me? I don't care what the person next to me is shooting. Don't care about the noise. Don't care about flying brass. Everything is a learning experience.
If you ever have to use your weapon, are you expecting to do it in the vacume of space?
 
hardly expect to be in space anytime soon, but learning how to shoot well with a concussive force and extra loud noise next to me is the point of this thread, so what are your suggestions and tips boatme?
 
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Biggest pro - we might let you shoot it a few times if you ask!

By the way, the worst gun I've shot next to at the range was a .357 Derringer. Makes a .44 mag (a long-barreled one, at least) seem like a walk in the park.
 
I have a 5.56 AR with a muzzle brake that will get your attention. It makes 44 Mags seem quiet and the last time I shot it I found powder marks across the concrete bench under the muzzle. It sends a shockwave across the range.
 
When a friend and I took the CCW class, he showed up with his two favorite handguns-a S&W 44 mag and a 1911 45 ACP. I had recently broken my right hand and was barely able to shoot my 9mm and 38. When we stood up to the line for the live fire portion, I knew what was about to happen. Two shooters per 6' bench section with the sections about 2' apart. When Art lit off the 44, about half the other shooters missed their targets @ 21'. I just stepped back to watch and shot mine rapid fire while he was loading. Most of the others were shooting 22 lr for the semi auto portion. When Art started firing the SA portion and the hot 45 brass started raining down on the next 4 shooters to the right, it was equally disruptive. He'd fire a couple of shots and giggle as the brass rattled around, then fire a couple more.
I have only shot on a public range a couple of times since I have my own private range and don't often have visitors.
 
sig, get used to it, I guess. Wear tight collared shirts, it's the only time your'e permitted to wear a ball cap backwards (man rule) :D, good ear/eye protection, and more practice when loud guns are on the range. You'll still flinch, but you can eventually get it down to a minimum.
Of course this is if your'e practicing for defensive shooting. If you are target shooting, sighting in a scope, etc., then your'e pretty much consigned to using the range at times that won't be so crowded.

One of the things I do when I teach people to shoot (after they're comforatable using their gun) is to start standing on their right and slowly shoot while they are firing, to get them used to the noise. When they move on and are comforatable with that, I move to their left and do the same. I have never had anyone who couldn't cope with either condition.

I do realize that there are a few anal orrifi out there that go to public ranges with their hand cannons just to annoy other shooters because they think it's humerous. In these cases, solutions have already been mentioned here.
 
It all depends on the type of range you are at also.

Outdoors is the better of the two for noise. I know I can actually feel the pressure wave of the .44mag from multiple lanes over at the indoor range. Outdoors it is just volume [unless you are standing close].

However, outdoor ranges do get ejected shells [from the Desert Eagle .44mag, or anything else] raining down around people. I don't go the 'ball cap backward' route. I just don't like ball-caps all that much. Instead I use my australian drovers hat and cock it to the left. I've bought the 'tactical' ear protection, as they fit under hats. This comes in handy on my own at the indoor range also, as I no longer get my own shells bouncing off the partition and attempting to go down my shirt.

As to flinching, it isn't easy to get over, but that is what is needed, unless you DO have a private shooting lane. I decided to join them about 6 years ago with a 629 and like it. Since I've shot it I don't flinch AS much when others shoot .44mag or hotter, but it just takes work on our minds. After all, why do we need to flinch if it is 5 lanes away and pointed in the same direction our guns are? There is no threat to us from it.

Easier said than done, I know. I still have to consciously fight flinching.
 
Usually they take awhile to reload and dont as shoot often. I just take a break while they shoot but havent had anyone rapid fire/blasting away with a .44 mag yet.
 
l shoot IHMSA silh once a month. 0ur stations are 7' apart with NO dividers. We have 2 mins to shoot 5 targets per rotation. lt gets really loud when your buddy lights off a 308x1 1/2 XP or a Contender in 375 Winchester 6 ft from you.Concentration is difficult. Thats part of the game tho. l have found it helps greatly by wearing muffs AND plugs. The 2 saved me at Shooters last Sunday from the noise of a Desert Eagle 50AE in the next lane
 
The general consensus seems to be a) shoot more with the big boomers next to me and b) shoot the big boomers myself. I guess that's one more gun I need to add to the I should buy it list lol :D
 
Double hearing protection

helps me a ton. Foam earplugs and earmuffs. It makes such a difference I can't help but suspect that a single layer of hearing protection would still cause me to have hearing damage.
 
Already use plugs and muffs, but may upgrade the muffs(currently using Leight LOFs) for when people have big stuff in the next lane.
 
i dont mind if the guy next to me, at the range, is shooting a .44 magnum. doesnt bother me a bit. but when im in the lane next to a a guy with an automatic, which is sending spent catridges in every direction, including landing on me, then i get a bit jittery.
 
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