Taking an inexperienced person to the Range.

[2LaneCruzer]

This reminds me of one at my place.

My best buddy is a gun aficionado, super safety conscious, teaches my kids to shoot better... letting them use all of his own guns and ammo... fairly regularly. He gets joy out of teaching them and others. My kids call him Uncle Darin. I can teach them basic safety, but not how to be a technically proficient shooter like this guy can.

So, one day, after he told me about it, he invites a guy from our church, the father of a young army private, to come to my place so the young soldier can practice his marksmanship on some steel targets my friend put out at 50 and 100 yds. The kid is going for some sort of 'high-level' certification or something. My friend is teaching him techniques with his own .308 rifle. Nothing unusual. The kid seems to know about safety and how to manage the firearm and all.

(I start sweating just thinking about what happened next.) After the solider had fired several magazines and several walks downrange to examine the targets, talking, learning, etc... they stop shooting, set the guns down and my friend is walking downrange to prop a target or something while the solider was standing near the table with the rifle on it. None of us thought he would touch it with a man walking downrange, but while none of us could fathom it, the boy got the idea to fiddle with the rifle on the table. None of us had our 'ears' on. When that .308 discharged on the table it wasn't pointed at my friend, but it was the general direction. I can still feel that boom in my bones.

This friend of mine is the most even-tempered guy you'll ever meet, but he was so mad he literally turned shades of red and purple. He didn't even have to yell at the solider as he shrugged over like a dog that had been whipped. My friend was madder than I've ever seen him and his color stayed red for a long time. I've lived through some traumatic circumstances in my life, and I'm pretty good at turning the fear off immediately, but 'wow.' My friend had seen his life flash before his eyes unexpectedly. Part of his anger may have been that he had let his guard down. Can you imagine what would have happened to this solider at a military range if he had an accidental discharge there? The kid would be in big trouble.

I guess the moral of the story is: you positively CANNOT be too careful.

- -

When *I* was young, gun safety was drilled into me. I won't even let a toy gun be pointed at somebody. When I was about 13, standing behind a clay pigeon thrower that my dad was re-setting, the 16-guage Remington 870 in my hands, with the safety on, discharged for no reason at all. (There have been stories about those Remington firing pins) My dad knew the gun would be pointed in a safe direction so he wasn't even alarmed. He saw how white my face was and said, "well, there's your gun safety lesson for the day." I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Good story; it really demonstrates what your Father had been teaching. Semi auto firearms seem to be the ones that offend the most, as in this poor quality video:

I have a story or two to share; one that was told to me by a WWII veteran about the year 1950. Seems they were attending a class on the care and safety of the Army .45. The instructor had just demonstrated how to dismantle, clean and reassemble the .45, and when the finished, he stated: "When you get the firearm assembled, you always need to test it an make sure it functions". He then cocked and fired the .45; unfortunately he pointed in the direction of the audience, and for some unexplained reason, he had chambered a round and it killed one of the GI's in the audience. He said the instructor was extremely remorseful, and was later killed in Italy.

We had a Highway Patrolman here in Oklahoma, Dan Combs; who during the 50's and 60's went all over the state demonstrating the use of all kinds of firearms and firearm safety. This guy was about as professional as they come, but he inadvertently shot himself in the groin with an Army .45 while tucking it into his belt. He was rushed immediately to a hospital, where he was treated and released. He used to joke that he was the only guy he knew who had a .22 caliber groin with a .45 caliber barrel.

American Rifleman | Profile: Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Captain Dan Combs

I guess the moral to the story is that even the experts screw up from time to time, and the first rule of safety in my book...treat every gun as if it were loaded and assume that wherever it is pointed, that it could discharge at any time...should never be forgotten.

 

[k0ua]

I guess the moral to the story is that even the experts screw up from time to time, and the first rule of safety in my book...treat every gun as if it were loaded and assume that wherever it is pointed, that it could discharge at any time...should never be forgotten.

Amen brother, Amen.

 

[drizler]

I Deployed to Desert Storm as a Platoon Sergeant. Had a female SSG that by her MTOE assignment was to carry a 45. I prepped her the best I could and put her on the firing range next to me. Firing two handed standing. After a couple seconds I realize I see dirt flying up in front of me. I stop firing and look at her. She has her eyes closed and is pulling the trigger. After a couple shots I was able to get ahold of the pistol and stop her. I moved her to a position that authorized her to carry an M16......

To defend female Soldiers, I've also saw males that couldn't hit a bull in the Azz with a scoop shovel.

When I went in back in 76 the women shot the pants off the men. Even then there were very few ridge runners like me going into the service. Most THOUGHT they knew what they were doing but that痴 about it. Women loved that M16 because ther was no real recoil. Now the 45 made everybody shoot like cripples...... I carried one 4 years , never did and never will like those.

 

[k0ua]

I carried one 4 years , never did and never will like those.

If all you ever fired were military models, I would agree with you. But modern commercial models made for carry or completion are different animals entirely.

 

[user.69169]

SHOOT I thought dis gonna be a thread bout bringin a new bride into kitchen and pointing out how to use stove.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The best ones from the third world (mail order) know all that and how to skin the Rat too. lol They also know the SMELL of money.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I Deployed to Desert Storm as a Platoon Sergeant. Had a female SSG that by her MTOE assignment was to carry a 45. I prepped her the best I could and put her on the firing range next to me. Firing two handed standing. After a couple seconds I realize I see dirt flying up in front of me. I stop firing and look at her. She has her eyes closed and is pulling the trigger. After a couple shots I was able to get ahold of the pistol and stop her. I moved her to a position that authorized her to carry an M16......

To defend female Soldiers, I've also saw males that couldn't hit a bull in the Azz with a scoop shovel.

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

It's hard to hit anything with your eyes closed. I laughed all the way through Lethal Weapon. Mel Gibson was supposed to be this crack shot, but he had the worst blink flinch I have ever seen.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

A newbie driving a tractor with a running chainsaw with a gun attached.
Now we have a new Liam Neeson movie scene!

Which brings up the question, do you have a rifle boot on your tractor?

 

[k0ua]

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

It's hard to hit anything with your eyes closed. I laughed all the way through Lethal Weapon. Mel Gibson was supposed to be this crack shot, but he had the worst blink flinch I have ever seen.

And that was with blanks too!

 

[user.69169]

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

It's hard to hit anything with your eyes closed. I laughed all the way through Lethal Weapon. Mel Gibson was supposed to be this crack shot, but he had the worst blink flinch I have ever seen.

Flinch because he not shooting at cracks. He shoots cracks flinch goes away.