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Thread: Protection From Theft While At The Range

  1. #51
    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    This is only happened three times but I've been at ranges where I got to talking to somebody and they offered to let me shoot their gun. In one case it was a replica 50 caliber Hawken rifle with fiber optic sights. The other two were a Smith & Wesson 4006 and some subcompact Springfield XD.

    I also had one guy that wanted to show off a replica cap and ball revolver to me and one guy that wanted to show off his Kimber in 38 Super and actually he let me shoot it too.

    So my question is has anybody ever asked if they could shoot one of your guns? How do you respond?

    The only time I've ever done something like that was in a training class from my church. I asked the guy who was in the lane next to me if I could try out his Glock 26 because I was considering buying one but that's different. I knew the guy we go to church together I've been in multiple classes with him.
    I've had people wander over and start flapping their gums about this or that, I typically won't stop what I'm doing, I'll just keep loading mags or whatever. If I'm getting ready to shoot, I'll let them know to put their ears on and let er rip. That usually gets them to move along.

    I have had people offer to let me shoot their guns, which always seems kinda weird. The only time I took someone up on it was a guy that I kinda knew, and only because it was a Barrett .50 BMG. He's a local guy that owns an HVAC company and well known and respected. I walked over just to talk to him about it because it was unique and not something I'll ever own, and he asked me if I'd like to shoot it. He had me send 5 rounds down range, knowing what they cost I offered him a $20 bill that he refused. I jokingly offered to let him shoot my AK, which I thought he'd not be interested in. Turns out he'd never shot an AK and took me up on it. The smile on his face and the smile on mine were similar.

    As far as people asking to shoot my guns, the answer would be no every time unless they're with me. I'd never ask to shoot someone else's guns whom I didn't know so it seems odd that people do that.

  2. #52
    Deadeye Dick Clusterfrack's Avatar
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    Jun 2013
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    Wokelandia
    "Sorry, man. We're here to shoot, and don't have time to talk."

    "Hey dudes, can you give us a little more space? We're shooting over here."

    Especially at remote locations, I do not chat with people, and I would never let a stranger handle my weapons. (At a match, at the safety table, sure.)
    "You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
    Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver

  3. #53
    Site Supporter
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    Jan 2016
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    North Texas
    It seems a bit forward to me if someone asked to shoot one of your guns. OTOH, if someone is curious about what I'm shooting, I'll generally offer to let them put a few rounds down range. Many times, I've seen something new or out of the ordinary on another bay and will watch a little. About half the time, I'll get an offer to shoot it. Most times I decline but not always. Maybe it's a Texas thang...
    Regards, Ted

  4. #54
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    the Deep South
    All of my shooting (barring classes and matches) is done at a state owned and staffed range, family property, or indoor ranges. At the state owned range and the indoor ranges, I often let other people put a few rounds through my pistols. I don't feel like I've ever compromised my safety and all the outcomes have been congenial. Some remote place with no witnesses would be another story.

    Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk

  5. #55
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
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    May 2014
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    Gotham Adjacent
    One of my good buddies has a dedicated "range holster". A Galco Jackass Rig, with a HK USP in it and two spare mags. It is worn underneath his vest at the range at all times. He taught me never go shooting without at least one loaded gun. This came in handy once when we were shooting on his private range and someone drove up on his neighbor's side of the fence and then hopped it to investigate what we were doing. They purposefully waited for a lull in the shooting, assuming we would be reloading magazines and guns (we were) and walked up on us. Fortunately for us, unfortunately for them, my buddy was carrying his range pistol and there was a Browning Auto-5 Riot Gun ('Rhodesian' model) right in front of me on the long-gun rack and I snatched it up and rapidly put buckshot into it.

    Anyways, moral of the story - don't shoot without a loaded gun on your person.

  6. #56
    Member Baldanders's Avatar
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    Jul 2017
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    I always shoot on my own property, right behind my house. I was tempted to go to the nearby public range, but my friends who tried it are never going back due to safety issues with random idiots.

    Despite all the stories I have read, I never thought much about criminal activity.

    I always have my p32, but I will make sure my 640 or CW45 are ready to go (whichever I'm not shooting) from now on when I'm shooting other guns.
    REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
    REPETITION BUILDS THE SEPARATE WORLDS WE LIVE AND DIE IN
    NO EXCEPTIONS

  7. #57
    I was shooting outdoors one summer night at a private club when I heard sets of footsteps out in the parking lot, but curiously, no talking. I stepped back from the line and looked around a building--the only side I could be approached from--and find two unfamiliar individuals crossing the lot. I called out, "Can I help you, gentlemen?", to which one of them said something about wanting to shoot.

    "It's private property," I said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave immediately." No verbal response, still coming, approximately 30 yards away. Guy on the left has his right hand in his pocket. So...hand in pocket, made a minimum 200-yard walk from the nearest road with no vehicle, carrying zero shooting gear or bags, saying not a single word to each other as they crossed the parking lot, and then making no response when challenged while still approaching. There was a lot wrong with the situation, and I felt most people would agree that I was right to feel threatened.

    I had been standing sideways to them, so I took a step towards the building to use as cover while turning to face them. I've got no route of escape, as the pistol range building is a sort of "fish in a barrel" type of structure if Mr Hand-In-His-Pocket has a gun. Not to mention, if he doesn't, 30 seconds of rooting through my bag will give them adequate hardware, so unless I'm willing to scoop up the bag, and occupy my free hand swiping my club card to get in...well, it's a shit idea.

    When I turn, Bubba and Ray-Bob see that I have a 6" Model 629 holstered at 3 o'clock (180-grain lead ammo, loaded to what I'd call .44Spl +P+, that I used to use for plinking), and that I've got my hand on the grip. "That means, 'Get the FUCK out!'", I shout. Bubba ever-so-slowly takes his hand out of his pocket, and the two of them decide to leave at a not-quite-running trot.

    Troopers picked them up out on the road, and you just wouldn't believe what he had in that pocket! Suffice to say, more then a pen, less than a .44.

    Today, when I go to the range alone, I typically AIWB a compact 9mm. Very frequently, I'll also have some kind of a suitable fullsize handgun open-carried. I'm not particularly worried about the risks of open carry, as there's really only one direction I can be approached from, and I've never had anyone walk up to me without my hearing them a pretty good ways off. Well, let me re-phrase that. I think that the benefits of having a fullsize gun that I don't have to draw from concealment, outweigh the loss of "concealment retention". I'd also make it clear that I'm not open-carrying it for some sort of deterrent value--Bubba and Jethro high-tailed it because I was successful in verbal and non-verbal communication. They knew perfectly damn well I was armed when they came up with this idiot plan, they just figured my gun would be empty, on a table, or that I would be too stupid/weak-willed to resist.

  8. #58
    Site Supporter rdtompki's Avatar
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    Jul 2014
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    Treasure Valley, ID
    Definitely food for thought. My wife and I practice 2 mornings per week (weekdays) at a private range with a card lock. We're somewhat out in the boonies and very often the only ones at the range. I can't carry my CCW since I'm practicing with my steel challenge gun and force of habit has me unloading when I leave the firing line. I think I'll change that from now on. 11 rounds of slow-moving 115gr coated lead is better than nothing.

  9. #59
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    Jan 2013
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    ABQ, NM
    I always have a visible holstered and loaded handgun on my person when I'm shooting, even if I'm not shooting that pistol. When rules forbid it, I carry concealed. I don't like shooting with those sorts of rules.

    I try my best to avoid shooting alone, and that allows one person to stay at the line while the other does targets, etc.

    With long distance stuff, the weapon goes with me out to the target and I secure everything else, especially if I'm solo.

    My typical shooting club is an outdoor private club that allows guests with a member but it's behind a keycard locked gate and rules are to lock the gate behind you.
    Since joining the Form 4 Transferable life, anytime the UZI comes out it understandably gets a lot of attention, and I'm genuinely happy to let someone try it if they ask and they're polite about it. If I'm sharing a firing line with anyone while shooting it, and they handle their own weapons safely and aren't assholes, I'll initiate the conversation and offer them a partial magazine or full magazine if they were safely handling their own weapons and otherwise conducting themselves well. I'll instruct them through the fundamentals and the weapon never leaves my arm's reach, but I do that under the pretense of coaching the shooter. I'm especially careful to be right behind the shooter on their firing side so I am behind the weapon but also fully able to control the weapon and shooter if needed.
    Nobody's ever been bothered by that, and it's never failed to get a reciprocating offer to let me shoot whatever they've brought, too. I have met some good folks that way, but that's what's nice about shooting on a private range.


    Only had one super sketchy ass situation when I was out shooting at a common shooting spot in the boonies with some friends. We saw an SUV coming towards us in the distance and initially expected a Sheriff's deputy but as it got closer we saw it was a chromed out Lincoln Navigator with dark tint and big chrome wheels and chrome trim and all that kinda shit. It's blaring mariachi music and they pull up and park maybe 50 ft away from us, and five or six guys with various shotguns and rifles all bail out of the truck and start shooting random junk that was left out by other shooters in this area like they were practicing a hit. They hadn't even shut off the trunk and continued to blare music, and by the time they were firing their first shots, I was eyeing them and holding my AR with most of a full mag in it. I told my friends to load everything up and I kept an eye on them doing their dumb shit, and several times they looked over at us, saw me eyeing them, talked between each other, all of them looked at me again, etc.

    So yeah we got the proverbial fuck out as soon as we could.

  10. #60
    Member Baldanders's Avatar
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    Rural North Central NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Baldanders View Post
    I always shoot on my own property, right behind my house. I was tempted to go to the nearby public range, but my friends who tried it are never going back due to safety issues with random idiots.

    Despite all the stories I have read, I never thought much about criminal activity.

    I always have my p32, but I will make sure my 640 or CW45 are ready to go (whichever I'm not shooting) from now on when I'm shooting other guns.
    And when I was shooting this weekend, I had 4 pistols, even though I was only shooting two.

    I feel like wearing amplified hearing protection isn't bad for keeping up awareness on folks trying to sneak up on me, either.

    Going back through this thread, it strikes me that while the great outdoors isn't generally teeming with human predators, they tend to be much better armed than the city or suburban varieties of scum, and they shoot a lot more. And help is waaaay farther away. And witnesses are scarce.

    Don't park rangers have the highest on-the-job death rate of LEOs?
    REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
    REPETITION BUILDS THE SEPARATE WORLDS WE LIVE AND DIE IN
    NO EXCEPTIONS

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