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Public Gun Range Amazement

Downhill

Gold $$ Contributor
At our local club, roughly 650 members plus the average paying day shooters, I was inspecting target frames for replacement today. I build the frames on my own time and the club reimburses my materiel expenses. Do not mind doing it as I will sip on a beer or three while I build them. The dimensions for the target area are 2 feet tall and 8 feet wide. This applies to 25 yds, 50 yds and 100 yds. The 200 yd bank is 4 feet tall to allow for reduced course service rifle matches. While inspecting frames today both the top and bottom rails of most of the frames are shot out. I can kinda understand it at 25 and 50 with pistol shooters replicating John Wick shots. But at 100, that is rifle distance- 24 frigging MOA! vertical!! I will continue to rebuild and replace as I enjoy it somewhat. But I was raised believing we are a nation of rifleman, hence the utter amazement at the inability of the average gun owners' skill to keep their rounds between 24 inches at 100 yards.
 
Well we have replaced the horizontal hanger boards and uprights a few times now at our range. Know why they are shooting the tops and bottoms? Because people are so ignorant they hang targets on and over the cross boards and right on the dang upright poles. This time we have left them for months now and there has been no backers available for hanging targets. I thought that might prove a point but I am probably only fooling myself.
 
Well we have replaced the horizontal hanger boards and uprights a few times now at our range. Know why they are shooting the tops and bottoms? Because people are so ignorant they hang targets on and over the cross boards and right on the dang upright poles. This time we have left them for months now and there has been no backers available for hanging targets. I thought that might prove a point but I am probably only fooling myself.

Your last six words just about sums up the reality of your situation. I would say The Rule rather than The Exception.... :(
 
My club put out steel circles @ 100 & 200 yds. They use 3/4 black pipe for legs and the top. Plates hung with rubber straps and targets hang down 12-16 inches. Can’t believe the bullet Holes in the legs and top pipe and it’s members only club.
 
My club has an indoor 100 yrd bench rest range. The roof gets shot, the lights get shot, even the walls get shot.
We're x shooters, if it isn't a 10 you lose kinda thing .... How the heck things get shot amazes us.
 
Same issue at my club... Borders are painted orange and say do not shoot on the rifle range... They are always shot to pieces....
 
A club that I used to belong posted that there was a price per bullet hole, and collected it. When a frame was returned, all unmarked bullet holes in the wood were counted and the shooter charged for the total. The new holes were circled with a pen. On the range that was just for members and their guests there were several bullet holes in the pipe handrail of the stair used to go from the fifty yard target line up to the longer distances. Most of the stair and rail were covered by the edge of a cut into the berm. The part of the rail that was shot was well above the level of any target. Don't get me started.
 
Next time you are at an indoor shooting range, when you get to a shooting bay look at the ceiling and the floors. I guarantee it will be riddled with bullet holes.

It's terrifying how irresponsible some can be with firearms, and no place better illuminates this then indoor shooting ranges that predominantly host pistol shooters.
 
At our local club, roughly 650 members plus the average paying day shooters, I was inspecting target frames for replacement today. I build the frames on my own time and the club reimburses my materiel expenses. Do not mind doing it as I will sip on a beer or three while I build them. The dimensions for the target area are 2 feet tall and 8 feet wide. This applies to 25 yds, 50 yds and 100 yds. The 200 yd bank is 4 feet tall to allow for reduced course service rifle matches. While inspecting frames today both the top and bottom rails of most of the frames are shot out. I can kinda understand it at 25 and 50 with pistol shooters replicating John Wick shots. But at 100, that is rifle distance- 24 frigging MOA! vertical!! I will continue to rebuild and replace as I enjoy it somewhat. But I was raised believing we are a nation of rifleman, hence the utter amazement at the inability of the average gun owners' skill to keep their rounds between 24 inches at 100 yards.
been going on the same way everybody describes here at alot of ranges for 45 years that i know of. We are just lucky more accidents havent happened.
 
Some of are lucky enough to have our own range.

It doesn't matter. See this from Riesel:
OK, so some A-Hole wanders on to my property (had to cross a fence to get there) and puts a bullet hole in my piece
of A500 steel. It was a direct perpendicular shot and the perfect whole is a bit bigger than .308. We inspected the inside
of the deflector and found a perfectly round bullet base, a bit thinner than a dime, with the letters "GS" stamped in the base. Anybody here have an idea what ammo was used. Fortunately, they inflicted only one hole. Yup, it kind of teed me off. There are some people out there that have no business with guns.
Thanks,
Robert
 
At a range, public or private, ever smell beer or other alcohol on someone's breath? It happens. Our club has a black powder/ shotgun only range. A few weeks ago it was littered with .223 and 9mm brass. The 100 yard rifle range grass between the benches and targets looks like the rough at a golf course, full of divots. Who knows where those bullets went.
 

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