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Range etiquette


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Whilst down the club on Sunday I had just finished zeroing the CZ 511 at 50 meters and had just put down 2 cracking shots on the 3 inch target, one piercing the bull and another very close by. I carefully positioned the scope hopefully for another cracker when something wizzes in the sight picture and I can now see a .357 magnum / 38 special size hole in my target. Feeling rather p***** off I just had to rapid fire and lost the chance of my first really good group at 50 meters with my own gun.

 

Now most of the shooters alongside me had .22's and were shooting 25 meters which would have shielded my target. There was a group of meatheads at the far side of the range but nobody would admit anything when asked, but the scuff mark on the target shows that whatever hit it was not straight in.

 

Surely cross shooting is dangerous and is just not cricket!!

 

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I will now man up and rant over

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Oh... PALEASE... yes... man up... pick your dummy up and get on with it...

 

Mistakenly shooting accross lanes is INCREDIBLY easy to do at any range! I have done it loads of times at the 25m range.. even gone up to change targets scratching my head wondering where all my shots were only to realise I had put them all into lane 2's target rather than lane 3's! My mate missed out on a win at Bisley last year when he put his final round of the match into the neighbouring lane's target at 1,000 yards...

 

It wouldn't have affected your group unless shot 3 had gone through the bigger hole so why did you strop and waste the ammo... you should have just got on with it..

 

Yes, if it was malicious then there is a problem but was it ??? really ??? probably a genuine mistake and as I have already said, very easy to do..

 

I thought you were going to bemoan the fact that someone had peppered your target with .22 holes when you were nicely developing 1 raggedy hole with yours!!! :rolleyes:

Edited by Vipa
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I don't know the layout of your range, width, number of lanes and backdrop construction - so can't comment on the safety aspects. Some ranges are constructed to allow for a degree of cross shooting, some are not. Other than that, whilst it is bad manners its hardly the end of the world. Put another target up and shoot another group :good:

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Bazzer put one in the bull at Bisley at 100 yards with my Steyr Scout .223 - cracking dead centre shot.

 

Problem was chummy in the right hand lane was shooting a competition and couldn't justify the 11 holes in his target. Obviously we did the right thing and kept quiet whilst insinuating it was the trouble makers on our left.

 

Genuine mistake and under normal circumstances we would have given the sorry and hands up, however chummy on the right (and his club) were understandably unhappy that day generally and not really up for a chat and apology - well not after Snotty shot a canon filled with gravel down range such that the black powder hung about like a pea soup fog and obscured all targets, and the gravel spread and landed and hit every target on every lane to varying degrees.

 

Good times...,,

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If it had been crossed lanes I wouldn't have batted an eyelid, but to shoot across probably 15 lanes.......slightly different :hmm: Other shooters around all had .22's and were shooting at 25 meters where as mine was at 50 so would have been shielded unless being shot from the wide angle that the possible perps had.

 

No strop, just wondering if it's a common occurance and don't really want to be shooting with people who risk my safety

Edited by Livefast123
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If it had been crossed lanes I wouldn't have batted an eyelid, but to shoot across probably 15 lanes.......slightly different :hmm: Other shooters around all had .22's and were shooting at 25 meters where as mine was at 50 so would have been shielded unless being shot from the wide angle that the possible perps had.

 

No strop, just wondering if it's a common occurance and don't really want to be shooting with people who risk my safety

 

Shooting across that many lanes is most certainly dangerous as there is a severe risk that should the bullet have hit the ground before reaching the target it may well not have been safely contained within the danger area template. It could have been accidental but that simple points to some very reckless gun handling as it was clearly pointing in a dangeous direction.

 

The club definately needs to put a notice out that it has been brought to their attention.

 

J.

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Shooting across lanes is something that isn't tolerated in my club. If you do it by accident, you shouldn't be on the range as you are either failing to maintain sufficient concentration, or are acting childishly. I could understand if it happened at say 300 meters without the aid of a massive number behind your target, but at 50 or even 100 meters you have absolutely no excuse. Shooting across lanes also adds distance to your shot. If misjudged it could lead to ricochets, or the round may not find a sufficient mass of backstop. The list goes on.

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Its my experience as a former secretary that the powers that be in the club will have a good idea who it was and will be watching him and biding their time. I would have a word in quiet with the secretary, show him your target. It probably won't get aired in public but he can tip off the range officer to keep an eye on him. These people get found out then they disappear. Clubs don't like washing their dirty linen in public but there are always those that need to be shown the door, quietly. Most people would rather just leave than have to go before the committee.

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Just wait till they stick out a clean target and then get the second shot into it - everyone hates that.

 

I can see why they went for your target - virginal apart from 2 small holes and it's one of those flash and expensive change colour jobs. Let's face it, you were asking for it :lol:

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Take a 12g with some SSG cartridges, that'll keep them busy patching for ages :lol:

 

I'm joking of course, it's pretty poor form if they don't know you and it isn't going to be taken in jest. The safety aspect does sound questionable, if they were really 15 lanes away then someone must have seen them aiming across.

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That sounds like fun :yp:

 

I believe thats the only place they could have been, our lanes are all boxed off so you can't see the shooter next to you and the RCO has a job seeing what people are doing because the screens block off most of the view of people who are down the other end etc.

 

It's never happened before and I have not seen an incidence of dodgy shooting there so it was a bit of a suprise, I may expect it if somebody I knew was in the next lane etc.

Edited by Livefast123
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Some times cross shooting can be very willful and nasty ,most of the time it is accidental . Half of my concentration at 1000 yards was making sure I was shooting at the correct target .

 

Harnser .

 

Shooting at the correct target and actually hitting the correct target are of course different things ;)

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