Range Etiquette

At the same time,I can't agree that "on safe,round in chamber" is good enough.No range with any RO or membership gets run that way.

Empty,actions open,and hands off is the appropriate condition when folks go in front of the line,with everyone aware the range is cold.
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Just wait for the guy to finish his mag before you go downrange.

I'm not seeing the issue here. I've been in public areas in California and unsupervised ranges in Texas. We always just asked everyone when they were finished their mag to have a cease fire. It was never a problem.

Are you seriously suggesting,if you were at a public shooting area,and someone asked you in a polite,repectful way"Sir,would you mind clearing your pistol before we go downrange" that you would refuse?
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I'd have absolutely no problem with that.
 
I believe in waiting until a guy finishes off his magazine. Sometimes, actually many times, it is not possible. For instance, in the example I mentioned, I asked the guys next to me, 'can I get a cease fire?'. I waited for these gentlement next to me to finish their magazines. There were a few of us on the bench, people shooting at different times. I sort of expected everyone just to finish their magazines and then pass the word down to the next guy when he finishes. That's what usually happens. In this case, the guy, who refused too open his action for me, just put his gun down. I saw him, with my own eyes, just put his gun down, magazine unfinished.

I honestly don't think the guy was being malicious. He was a young guy who probably just didn't know, and believed that a 'safety-on' is the end-all-be-all of safe gun handling. I didn't feel like being the range nazi, so I just left.

I just believe in being super safe. One mistake is all it takes to end a life, so being overly safe isn't a bad thing. That's why I refuse to cross a barrel.

I can honestly say that in my entire lifetime of handling and enjoying guns, I have never flagged someone with a barrel, loaded or unloaded, and I have never knowingly allowed myself to be flagged by a barrel. I was taught that this is the ONE rule of gun handling, as long as you follow it, if you, as a fallible human , accidentally violate the other rules, no one will be hurt.

On a related story...

I go to four different ranges here in central Texas. Next time I head to this one indoor range with barriers in between the shooting stations, I am going to take pictures of the booths. There are clear examples of negligent discharges that you wouldn't believe, where a bullet hit the bullet resistant glass separating the shooting bays.

One time about a year ago, I saw a guy teaching his girlfriend how to handle a pistol. He chambered the round, then preceded to show his girlfriend how to handle the gun, with a round in the chamber, finger on the trigger, and with the barrel pointed squarely at her head. And for a fact the safety wasn't engaged because it was Glock. I immediately went to the range master, who was about ten feet away, pointed out the NRA demonstration that was happening right in front of us. The range master saw the guys finger on the trigger with barrel pointed at the girlfriends' head. He had an OH SH*T moment, and very carefully approached the guy as to not startle him.

That's why there are so many negligent discharges at this range. They cater to true beginners.
 
I see many people at the pistol range do a completely stupid thing...... Again and again and again


When racking a round in the slide, in many cases the pistol is clearly pointed to the next stall


I also see folks that keep their finger out of the ring on all cases, but stick it in when racking the slide........

THIS IS DANGEROUS

Ok, rant over......


I go to several ranges here in Texas, and have seen only courteous behavior so far


The one without the range master are where I go most.

A simple, "Hey I want to check my targets in a few minutes" is a great starter


I think if folks would ask, in most cases it comes together well

Courtesy goes a long way

The OP did the right thing
 
I shoot at Rio Salado in Arizona and there is a public range as well as ranges for which you must be qualified to have range privileges. I always shoot at the public range because there are always RSOs on duty during shooting hours.

We shoot for 20 minutes and then have a cease fire so people can post targets or retrieve them if they are ready to leave.

Our RSOs do a pretty good job and do not put up with a bunch of crap. I have seen people escorted off the line for violations or dis-regarding instructions from the RSO.

The most dangerous time at our range is the two weeks ahead of hunting season when people show up to sight in their guns. You really need to be aware of who is around you. You can usually pick them out but sometimes one slips through. The range was pretty busy yesterday what with the Desert Classic meet in session, but we still had 5 RSOs on the public range keeping an eye on things.
 
I go to four different ranges here in central Texas. Next time I head to this one indoor range with barriers in between the shooting stations, I am going to take pictures of the booths. There are clear examples of negligent discharges that you wouldn't believe, where a bullet hit the bullet resistant glass separating the shooting bays.

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I have not been to a single range I failed to see this ( negligent bullet hole discharges )-- all over the place!
Including the grenade range bunkers in the Army!!!! :)
 
Friday, a guy about my age was obviously not happy about the 20 minutes between cease fires. Cease fire is called, he waits until the r.o. was looking towards the pistol area, goes back to the bench while people were walking down range, closes and dry fires his rifle, puts the rifle in it's case after sweeping the entire line. Another shooter approaches and asks that he stop, or something like that. I could not hear them. The unruly guy looks at him like he was crazy, backs off, and is stomping around like a 3rd. grader. He was escorted out. I hope they shredded his range card and added his name to a list of people not allowed on premises.

Another gentleman about 80 years old arrives during the same cease fire. No problems at all. A little slow to the targets and back. He wouldn't let me put up his targets for him.
 
Dean 1818:

"...but stick it (their finger) in (the trigger guard) when racking the slide ..."

What you may be observing is the individual holding the trigger back while racking the slide, a perfectly satisfactory way of racking in the first round. Isn't this what actually happens after each shot fired with a semi? (The next round chambers while the trigger is still in the rearward position.)
 
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Jim567, now that you mention it, I can't recall a single range, that I've been to, that didn't have evidence of a negligent discharge in the barriers. I think having the barrier causes people to forget that someone is next to them, so people are less likely to practice muzzle control.

I'm guessing that most places arrive at the same conclusion, so they either have bullet resistant barriers or no barriers, so that you can see and visualize the person next to you.

See the pic below for the worst idea ever. Luckily, this range was shut down.

 
machineguntony said:
I can honestly say that in my entire lifetime of handling and enjoying guns, I have never flagged someone with a barrel, loaded or unloaded
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You must only shoot at your own private range.

I can't imagine any way to carry a firearm in a car without flagging someone.

Even if it's pointing up or down, you're flagging somebody when you go over an underpass or under an overpass!
 
MG
I have never been at a range where a negligent discharge happened.
But as you noted and I second, the evidence is everywhere.
 
Noted, good points.

Of course, I understand that if a round goes off, it may injure my neighbors next door. That's why I exercise the other rules of gun safety.
 
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Range rules are designed with the lowest common denominator in mind. Not every gun enthusiast is a professional gun handler.

So we get rules that make the range safe to the extreme.

As for the comment about "flagging" people....it happens. The four safety rules are DESIGNED to be redundant. Any 1 can be broken and nobody is injured. Break 2 and bad stuff happens.

I can begin to count the number of people ive had my muzzle pointed at, but the only ones that ended up bleeding as a result are ones i decided needed that level of attention.
 
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