Things I Learn From Newbie Shooters

[jmorris]

Another true story!!!! Sitting at the far right hand bench was this old guy with a scoped slug-barrel shotgun on a shooting rest hunched up into the scope. He'd been there all day. The other shooters decide to call a cease fire. Everyone calls safe, except this guy, who gets yelled at. "Sir? Sir? Cease fire? Sir?" He's still snuggled up into the buttstock, looking down the scope. Finally somebody walks over to him and loudly asks if they can get a cease fire. BOOM! he lets a shot off, falls off the bench...he'd fallen asleep! He packed up and left then and there.

I can totally see myself doing that in 60 years...

I think mine might be a mite soone...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Medic624]

-Bob

This froggie ain't boiling! Shall not be infringed! Μολών Λαβέ
Enduring the Obamination.


Aaaahhh.... "This froggie ain't boiling" ... I get it now... I looked it up and THANKS... I learned something interesting and cool!!

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

[Jumping Frog]

Aaaahhh.... "This froggie ain't boiling" ... I get it now... I looked it up and THANKS... I learned something interesting and cool!!

That is why I decided to include the link in my signature explaining it. I first heard of the analogy in the mid-90's when I read Ross Ross' well-known Unintended Consequences.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Anyone else have some good range anecdotes?

[cubbyjg]

I must say that this thread has been an eye opener for me. Reading this thread reminded me of a video i saw on the military.com website of gun accidents. It was put together in a way to be a big blooper reel and it amazed me how incompetent people can be with firearms. I never really noticed any bad firearm handling techniques or people being plain stupid so far when i have been to the range. Maybe i dont go enough or i have my blinders on, but this thread has reminded me to stay alert and keep an eye out.

[threoh8]

That's because a lot of their gunhandling was filtered through one of these:

[punkndisorderly]

The sad thing is, the newbie shooters aren't the only ones you have to watch out for. There are plenty of people who have been around firearms their whole lives, but were never really taught safe gunhandling. Some may have been taught what they know by their fathers who never really learned it themselves. Some may handle firearms daily during the course of their jobs like military and police. I can't count the number of times I've heard shooters say "Nothing scares me more than a bunch of cops at the range" or something similar. Kind of the familiarity breeds complacency concept.

[glbedd53]

Makin me feel really good about my PSC membership. Not that it couldn't happen there or that it never has, but I have never seen anything close to what you saw. One of the things that always surprises me is the ones that have been around guns for years but don't see the need for eye protection.

[ajwakeboarder]

One thing that bothers me is a guy at the range over the weekend. He was standing back watching his 10 or 11 year old son shoot his semi-automatic rifle that was spraying brass over the 3 shooters to the right of him. Guess who happened to be number 3, and who happened to catch some brass in the side of the head while looking down my scope. Hot brass doesn't feel good when it gets stuck between your glasses and the side of you head.

[Jumping Frog]

One thing that bothers me is a guy at the range over the weekend. He was standing back watching his 10 or 11 year old son shoot his semi-automatic rifle that was spraying brass over the 3 shooters to the right of him. Guess who happened to be number 3, and who happened to catch some brass in the side of the head while looking down my scope. Hot brass doesn't feel good when it gets stuck between your glasses and the side of you head.

Meh, brass sprays at a range. This isn't something that would bother me, and I certainly am not focused on where my brass is going when I am concentrating on shooting.

[rm9792]

A little Bryco, Jennings or Jimenez pistol is a great choice with which to teach your girlfriend how to shoot accurately at 15 yards plus. Bonus points if it's missing the extractor - who needs it?

Funny you should mention this. Last time I went to visit my dad we went through his collection and a Bryco-Jennings .380 turned up. I had never heard of these before and still don't know much about them.

They are last ditch all hope is lost BUGs. It should work fine for a few mags but dont expect to put 1000s of rounds thru one. There is a reason they are selling new for $89.

[plano2001]

The sad thing is, the newbie shooters aren't the only ones you have to watch out for. There are plenty of people who have been around firearms their whole lives, but were never really taught safe gunhandling. Some may have been taught what they know by their fathers who never really learned it themselves. Some may handle firearms daily during the course of their jobs like military and police. I can't count the number of times I've heard shooters say "Nothing scares me more than a bunch of cops at the range" or something similar. Kind of the familiarity breeds complacency concept.

It's not only people who never truly learned safe gunhandling, but those who are so confident of themselves that they KNOW how to be safe with guns that they stop actually practicing those safety lessons. My daughter is 10 and gets a gun-safety lesson from me at least once every 2 weeks since there is a firearm in the house (even though it's either always 1. holstered on my hip or 2. stored in the biometric safe). Every lesson starts with: Me - "Is this gun loaded?" Daughter - "I don't know, I haven't physically checked it myself" Me - "Where does your finger go?" Daughter - "Outside of the trigger until you're ready for it to go bang". Hopefully she takes those life lessons and applies them later should she decide to own firearms herself.

[C-dub]

The sad thing is, the newbie shooters aren't the only ones you have to watch out for. There are plenty of people who have been around firearms their whole lives, but were never really taught safe gunhandling. Some may have been taught what they know by their fathers who never really learned it themselves. Some may handle firearms daily during the course of their jobs like military and police. I can't count the number of times I've heard shooters say "Nothing scares me more than a bunch of cops at the range" or something similar. Kind of the familiarity breeds complacency concept.

It's not only people who never truly learned safe gunhandling, but those who are so confident of themselves that they KNOW how to be safe with guns that they stop actually practicing those safety lessons. My daughter is 10 and gets a gun-safety lesson from me at least once every 2 weeks since there is a firearm in the house (even though it's either always 1. holstered on my hip or 2. stored in the biometric safe). Every lesson starts with: Me - "Is this gun loaded?" Daughter - "I don't know, I haven't physically checked it myself" Me - "Where does your finger go?" Daughter - "Outside of the trigger until you're ready for it to go bang". Hopefully she takes those life lessons and applies them later should she decide to own firearms herself.

I also do this with my 9y old daughter every now and then (about once every month or two). When I ask her if the gun is loaded, her answer is, "Yes. I haven't unloaded it yet or checked to make sure it is unloaded." I have done this with her for about 5 years now and her first trip to the range, just last month, went great. Without me having to remind her, her finger went right along the slide and stayed off the trigger until she was read to shoot. It almost brought a tear to my eye I was so proud.

How often do you take your daughter to the range?

[Medic624]

The sad thing is, the newbie shooters aren't the only ones you have to watch out for. There are plenty of people who have been around firearms their whole lives, but were never really taught safe gunhandling. Some may have been taught what they know by their fathers who never really learned it themselves. Some may handle firearms daily during the course of their jobs like military and police. I can't count the number of times I've heard shooters say "Nothing scares me more than a bunch of cops at the range" or something similar. Kind of the familiarity breeds complacency concept.

It's not only people who never truly learned safe gunhandling, but those who are so confident of themselves that they KNOW how to be safe with guns that they stop actually practicing those safety lessons. My daughter is 10 and gets a gun-safety lesson from me at least once every 2 weeks since there is a firearm in the house (even though it's either always 1. holstered on my hip or 2. stored in the biometric safe). Every lesson starts with: Me - "Is this gun loaded?" Daughter - "I don't know, I haven't physically checked it myself" Me - "Where does your finger go?" Daughter - "Outside of the trigger until you're ready for it to go bang". Hopefully she takes those life lessons and applies them later should she decide to own firearms herself.

I also do this with my 9y old daughter every now and then (about once every month or two). When I ask her if the gun is loaded, her answer is, "Yes. I haven't unloaded it yet or checked to make sure it is unloaded." I have done this with her for about 5 years now and her first trip to the range, just last month, went great. Without me having to remind her, her finger went right along the slide and stayed off the trigger until she was read to shoot. It almost brought a tear to my eye I was so proud.

How often do you take your daughter to the range?

I've posted this before but check out her trigger control at 8 y/o... It's a beautiful thing!!

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