Guy Code at the rifle range

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JoeWayneRhea

JoeWayneRhea

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Apr 5, 2015
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So I'm at our local rifle range and of course I'm the only airgunner there but no biggie . So I set up at the 50 yard target and start shooting and strike up a conversation with a local dude shooting what ha to be a 4K AR in 204 ... Really impressive rig and he ask me do I want to shoot it . Y hell yeah I do !!
So I can tell he's intrigued by the old FWB so I tell him he's more than welcome to try it out . So we basically swap guns for a bit . I tell him as I'm moving to his stool to adjust focus on the scope if needed ( my eyesight sux)
So I'm blasting away with the AR and am impressed with the build quality and turn to ask him who put it together when I realize what this guys doing .... His Ass is loosening my scope screws and trying to pull it backwards for less eye relief !! I stop him and ask what he's doing and he says " you said I could focus it ". Man WTF ???!!!!! I told him Dude you can adjust the rear focus if needed not take my scope loose !!! Is it just me or was this Goober WAY outta line ?
You know what I'm not really asking ....This was stupid as hell !!
I shoot guy guns all the time that the scope appears canted , or eye relief is wrong for me , o trigger is not to my liking but would NEVER start monkeying around with another man's rig like that !!!
If I had been taking a leak and he had asked if he could " shake me off " I couldn't have been any more blown away . Anyway I politely excused my self and took my ball and bat back to the house . I watched another dude walk up to a total strangers bench and pick up his gun and start looking it over when the guy was downrange . It's one of the reasons I hate public shooting ranges and one of the reasons I almost never go to one anymore .
 
Out of line, absolutely! And about the guy that TOUCHED another guys rifle with people downrange. He should have been thrown off the range immediately. There's a sign at my favorite range that states "Gun safety is no accident". That's a perfect setup for someone having an AD that could possibly kill.
If I end up chatting with another shooter at the range and I sense that scenario is coming. I'm going to take a look at what he's shooting, how he's been shooting it, how he's been handling it, ask what he's been working on. This can all happen during a shooting session. Then, I make the decision whether or not to allow the guy to shoot my prized rifle - unsupervised after short instruction, supervised with continuous instruction, or not at all. "Sorry, I'm in the process of testing right now and would prefer no one shoots it. But, check with me if run into each other again." What are you "testing"? Heck, it could be anything...
I'm testing how this ammo is affecting my trigger pull.
I just lubed the inside of my air cylinder with headlight fluid. :)
I guess we should start bringing little signs to the range stating the obvious, "Do not touch". Maybe a preemptive statement like, "I've got it set up just how I like it so, let me know if you need anything adjusted."
Tom
 
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Fundamentally I never hand a stranger one of my airguns much less firearms to shoot.
Maybe one of my close circle friends (but they already know the game). 
Don't get me wrong I have been an airgun ambassador to many PB guys in the past but in all honesty, I avoid it for the most part at ranges w/ people I don't know.

Agreed it wasn't proper range etiquette for him to start unmounting your optics to suit what he perceived was correct placement.
I have read more than a few times on forums people letting non-air guys try out their rifles at the range only to find double or many pellets loaded at once.
That alone would discourage me.

 
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Hi
You are not out of line. 
A person should not touch something that does not belong to them. 
They should look with their eyes not with their hands. 
As for the guy making adjustments to your rifle that's so wrong. 
He should have asked you if it was ok if he didn't have the common sense to know it as not
i have gone to car shows and walked around for a bit looking at other cars only to come back to my car just to find some idiot trying to open my hood. 
They look surprised when I question them about it 
So I kinda understand the situation. 

Dave

 
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What's wild is Honest to God we had a member accidentally kill himself earlier this year at that very range. Somehow shot himself with what I heard was an AR but unsure o details and don't want to speculate...I shoo BR at Arlington club and they are VERY safety conscious and a great bunch to shoot with . Credit to Terry Vanpool and Chris Peete for the great work they do !!
Touching another guys gun , or ANY gun when guys are downrange isn't frowned upon at their club ...It isn't tolerated period .
 
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I hate going to my rifle range for a number of reasons including the ones mentioned. And yes I have some of those shake your head storries myself too. They are raising the fees and while not outrageous I have not been there this year at all. I now do all my sight in work at the farms I pest. Debating whether to give up my membership as it would be next to impossible to get it back. I know when I sight in at the farms the only shooter I have to worry about is myself. Bill
 
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Honestly not having to go to the local rifle range to shoot is one of the Huge appeals of Airguns for me ...Grab my plinker , set at my bench an watch my puppy run around the yard and shoot all day .
One thing I didn't anticipate when I got into the sport heavy was the groups of guys I've met online , over the phone , and in person would be so much fun and eager to help out a newbie ..Guys let face facts , Airgunners are just cooler than the AR and AK shooting weekend warriors we all try to avoid :)
 
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"JoeWayneRhea"#1 His Ass is loosening my scope screws and trying to pull it backwards for less eye relief !! I stop him and ask what he's doing and he says " you said I could focus it 

#2 I watched another dude walk up to a total strangers bench and pick up his gun and start looking it over when the guy was downrange .
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#1 Wow. Just wow. Taking down someone's weapon without their express permission is bizzare.

#2 Line crossed. That guy should have been kicked off that range and told never to return.

If I looked back up range and saw a stranger pick up my rifle things would get absolutely grim in a nanosecond. I'm down range and you have just picked up my weapon. I don't know you and have no idea of your intent. It is very bad behavior to lift a weapon off the bench when someone is down range. Some ranges will kick you out for repeated offenses such as that. I'd probably try to hold my peace until I got close enough to him to take my weapon back. After that all bets would be off on exactly how things would go but when I was done, he'd understand the safety rules.

Wow, Joe, you are going to some scary ranges brother, be careful.
 
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"JoeWayneRhea"
Touching another guys gun , or ANY gun when guys are downrange isn't frowned upon at their club ...It isn't tolerated period .

Well as for this "gun" touching Joe. Many many years ago when I was in the army. When you called your rifle a "gun" You had to run laps around the field holding the rifle over your head and yelling. This is my rifle and this is my gun, this is for shooting and this is for fun! So Joe don't let them touch your "gun" ;)


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That stuff is totally out of line Joe. Also handling firearms of any sort is bad medicine when folks are down range. As an RSO for the Apple Valley gun club I can tell you ,it is never tolerated. As for moving your scope, that guy is a moron. Firearms are personal and as such ,set up for the owner. Not the fellow whom has been allowed to try it out. You would think just basic knowledge.
 
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Maybe there is a book in all of this, a Air Rifle version of Esquire's Big Black Book for men?
If their fathers aren't going to raise them right, let's have a pamphlet of the Guy Code, for everything from guns, tools and motorcycles.
And don't get me started on how to treat my daughters (ok, officially off topic) 
Great rant JWR....
 
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Hey Joe.....
What happened to you at the range with that guy is beyond retarded. I cant even find the words. I was at a public range here about 6 months ago. Had a 500count box of .22lr ammo on my table. I was down range checking my target and while walking back up I saw a guy take a fistfull of .22lr ammo right off my table out of the box. He had his girlfriend with him and rhey were shooting some cheap plastic looking thing. She was pregnant and I didnt say nothing at first......late teens to early 20s couple. Next thing I know, a few minutes later he does it again while I was shooting. Needless to say I nutted up at that point.
 
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Due to my high prescription/poor eyesight, the relief on everybody else's scopes is tough for me to handle and even on my own scopes going beyond 10x makes it almost impossible for me to find a window that I can see though w/o being a fraction of an inch off in some way to not being able to see anything at all. That said, I will certainly adjust another shooter's scope down from 24x to 10x but I'd never mess with the mount or position. Most who shoot my guns find the scope a tad too far away; that's just the glasses I wear. 

I don't go to public or private ranges because I don't want to deal with the noise of powder burners. One reason I shoot air guns is for the quietness of it.
 
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Yeah honestly I can handle the noise with earmuffs it's the rudeness and just ignorance that I don't miss . The hunters , precision shooters , and just regular guys who wanna spend an evening shooting are zero problem .. It's the guys with an 11 inch knife in their belt , a bandana around their balding head , and a man hard-on for anything Rambo that makes me stay away .
When I see over size extended clips I pack my stuff an head on in
 
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