Believe it or not, it won't be too long before there's a lot more action at your local shooting range. While there will always be those who wait until the week before Opening Weekend to check their zero, a lot of guys seem to view the start of Dove Season as the time to begin at least thinking about throwing some lead at paper targets. I must admit it was my earlier post that got me to thinking about what hunters and shooters (the ones who don't hunt but just love to shoot) look for when they visit the range. While some prefer to shoot alone, it seems just as common to see two, three, or even several guys getting together for a little "bench time" at the range. Also, while some guys prefer to be left alone, others enjoy friendly discussions over their choices of rifle, ammo, scopes, and who knows what else. I always enjoy asking others questions about their rifle, keeping in mind you can usually tell when a guy just wants to be left alone. I can honestly say I've never run into someone who didn't enjoy talking about their rifle, even when it's new to them. Still, there has been a time or two when I've been at the range and decided to leave when someone shows up with an attitude that mixes with guns and bullets about as well as gasoline mixes with fire. One such incident that comes to mind happened when a guy could not stop cussing about how displeased he was with the rifle and scope the range store had just sold him. It was quickly obvious he would have no part of looking into a mirror to find the potential source of his problem.

Not being a skeet or trap shooter, I've gotten nothing when it comes to expectations for this type of practice shooting. However, I'm sure there's a completely separate set of expectations that people have when using shotguns to bust clay targets at the range.

A day nobody brings a single shot bolt action rifle with magazine to the range and leaves the mag installed on said single shot during a cease fire creating the start of a new Cold War and decades of debate over the future of all spring loaded RO’s and their touching of the wife like rifle sending ripples across the entire shooting community and bankrupting small communities nation wide while looking into a mirror that can’t reflect ones own image. It was a really wicked awesome day

You just reminded me Old Thumper how my first rifle was an old single-shot, bolt-action Winchester. It was a Model 67 if I remember correctly. Wish I still had it.

Not sure but perhaps it was the range policy of loading just one shell at a time (nothing in the magazine) that made me refer to my Savage as a single-shot, bolt action.

My all time favorite range story kind of goes along with this thread, so here it goes:

About 25 years ago in a galaxy far away, about a month before deer season started, a buddy of mine and I met at Carter's Country (a gun store with range attached in Spring) to sight in our deer rifles. While getting set up to shoot, about two benches down from us there was a guy shooting a Weatherby Mark V .300 Weatherby, and he was wearing full camoflage clothing and a camo doo-rag. Everytime he shot that rifle, this wanna be Rambo would get up and cry and whine about how his shoulder hurt, and did it yelling at the top of his lungs, disturbing the other shooters. The rangemaster called a cease fire, and my buddy and I went down range to change targets. The targets at this range are attached to a large piece of chicken wire with clothespins. After the range was clear and the rangemaster called commence fire, I proceeded to shoot all four of the clothespins holding his paper target on the chicken wire with my heavy barreled Winchester Model 70 .308, and then watched his target fall to the ground. Oh man, you should have heard him cuss. Was it right? No. Did he shut up right after that? Yes he did.

"What do you consider a good day at the range?"

Any day that I shoot is a good day! Calm Sunday mornings when I often have the entire range to myself between 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM. I enjoy shooting by myself but I often bring a guest - especially newer shooters. It is nice to unhurriedly walk (instead of drive) out to the 500 steels to repaint them when finished. I go all year, but spend more time in the pistol bays as deer season approaches.

Can’t think of a bad time, seen stupid stuff, who cares, have fun.

Shot skeet at Carter’s last weekend. Two very attractive mothers brought their school age sons who are on a skeet team at Crosby. Very well mannered young men that were fundamentally sound and shot well. They also tended to their business and shot fast, which I like. It was a pleasure to shoot with the two young men. After I finished at skeet I shot my 357. Range officer was seated behind me. I was shooting ok and he was paying more attention than I realized. After I had I good portion of the bullseye chewed out the range officer suggested I shoot the clothes pins holding the targets. He gets a kick out of seeing the clothes pins disintegrate.... left the range relaxed and batteries charged. I don’t usually enjoy shooting in a crowd but it was a good day.

Now that’s funny!

When I get to go , all the guns function properly and the sun is shining 🙏