Waiting in line for a range lane today. The RO, who is not really on the range but behind a glass window on the store side of the range so he can process people on to the range, asks a couple of guys ahead of me if they have any questions before going on to the range with their rentals. One of them replies he has never shot a gun before and needs to know how to operate his pistol (M&P9). RO proceeds to give a machine gun pace explanation of how to check for clear, charge and point a pistol. RO then assigns them a lane in the middle so he can keep an eye on them. I do a quick risk calculation and probably foolishly decide to stay. When it’s my turn the RO grants me my request to take the lane by the far wall. Putting me as far away from them as possible.
Perhaps ive reposted this here earlier, but its a tale worth re-telling anyways.
The word "Kimber" takes on a iconic reverence inside a gun store or range counter. The owner becomes an ascended being, an elevated soul, the way someone driving a BMW made before 2005 feels on the open road. Eyes open, mouths open, and egos bloom.
Its the latter symptom of Kimber ownership i'd come to hate this day. Mr Kimber checks in and shows off his beat up, worn Custom II (Not TLE) which may have had a retail value of $600 tops. In the process of bloviating about stopping power and how the 1911 once killed God rather then Nietzche , his pistol wound up pointed at me sitting on the range desk.
" Sir , could you point your pistol in THE safe direction?"
'Hey man its OK, the guns unloaded, you just saw me clear it'
No hoss. You don't get to waive the 4 rules on my range.
"And?"
**annoyed huff** he picks up the gun and points it just off at me."So, my Kimber 45 is pretty cool man....I hit the target real easy at 7 yards ...."
I take the gun, lock the slide open, and point it at the proper safe direction.
Dude didn't like that. Not at all.
"Whyd you touch my gun again?!"
At this I just glared at him. Unfortunately the anti's frequent rant about guns equating to manhood ring true for some folk............
The Minority Marksman.
"When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet."
-a Ch'an Buddhist axiom.
A couple of (unfortunately) true stories that are the reasons I no longer shoot on ranges open to the public and have a backyard range.
Back when I lived in Kennesaw, GA, my normal Saturday morning routine included a trip to Ed's Gun & Tackle in Marietta. That was where I did my usual weekly practice. I am getting checked into the range when I hear a report that sounds a bit louder than usual and one of the shelves holding the handguns on the back wall rattles. After a few clueless moments, I see that there is a hole in one of the doors that separates the sales floor from the range. Yes, someone launched a round from inside the range into the sales floor. Luckily only the door and shelf were damaged. My practice session, of course, never started as I was sufficiently shook to call it a day.
A few years before the above, I was on the line when I witnessed a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Magnum come apart. The top half of the frame flew over the shooter's right shoulder and hit the range wall. The shooter was remarkably calm after the fact and mentioned something about that not being the first time that had happened to him. Yes, he loaded his own ammo.
GardoneVT
You might enjoy this.
I'm at the indoor range shooting my 1911 when a derp sees me shooting my 1911.
Thanks to my electronic ear pro I hear this conversation between "Fur years" and the RSO.
Fur Years: what kind of 1911 is that guy shooting real fast?
RSO: oh that's (redacted) he's shooting his Wilson Combat, really sweet gun
Fur Years: *huff* never heard of them, my buddy has a Colt and I got a top of the line Kimber Custom .45
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Kimber and top of the line are not remotely related !