Strange situation at the range today!

[cbseniour]

A lot of old guys don't get much company, he may live alone and long for contact with younger people. This is as much a social event to him as a chance to shoot.
Give em a brake

 

[mainjet]

If I don't like what I am seeing or feeling at the range then I move or leave.

There are lots of reasons why someone may have acted in the way you describe but I don't think the gun range is a great place to wait and see what it is. You have to trust what is going on around you. People have and will steal your guns. People have and will fire when it is not safe. Just because someone has a gun and is at the range that does not mean that they are a safe handler of that gun.

I probably would have moved. If he didn't like it then I would say "hey, there are lost of open benches and there are 3 of us so we just want the extra room, no offense".

I don't like someone around my bench (or theirs for that matter) when I am down range. If people are using our same bench then I leave someone back near the bench to watch the bench while I go down. If I am alone then I look back often often enough that I watch my own bench. While the rule is no guns down range, I always have the "J" CC. I don't leave extra guns on the bench if I came alone to the range. I get them out as I use them.

We have had a muzzle loaded stolen from the 100 yrd range at Willow Slough years ago before the had a range officer and all that. Someone took it out of an open truck while we were down range. This is one past instance I learned some of my rules for today.

 

[superjoe76]

I know what you mean. When I arrive I will go to the complete opposite end where people are just to avoid anything.

Most people do the same if we are already there. I haven't had anyone crowd me...yet.

 

[Indy317]

Could be he just wanted to be around other folks. Lonely old men often have a hard time talking to folks. Next time, trying talking to him, asking about his weapons, might make a new friend.

A lot of old guys don't get much company, he may live alone and long for contact with younger people. This is as much a social event to him as a chance to shoot. Give em a brake

I'm the type that if I'm at the range, I don't really want to talk. To me, the range is for practice, focus on skills. I don't really view the range as a social gathering unless it is set-up that way (ie: INGO shoots, etc.). The fact remains that most old folks who are single and lonely usually have their own mannerisms and actions to blame for that. There are numerous better ways to get engaged than going to a range. I don't mind a few questions or small talk, but for some people, they want to make tons of conversation. I took my wife to a range years ago and I had some decent firearms back then (HK USP, Sig) and this one guy was shooting something on the cheaper end. He just kept talking and talking and talking. Some folks just don't know when to quit.

 

[Spike_351]

Its quite normal at crosely, there are very limted ranges and its usually set up where there is space for 2 people at one bay, I have never had a problem and everyone has always been safe and respectful, had a lot of good conversations and met some good people.

 

[Bunnykid68]

The old man was rude. Open bays available and he just walks up and starts setting up where you and your sons are shooting.

I do not care how lonely he is, he is a stranger and I am with my boys and thousands of dollars of firearms and ammo, you bet I got a problem.

 

[Colt556]

We always try to give as much space as possible and respect others already set up.

THIS...

Maybe he was just senile.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

That's weird that the older gentleman would act like that. I always like to give people room at the range, especially if there's not many people there.

 

[Shootsforfun]

The old man was rude. Open bays available and he just walks up and starts setting up where you and your sons are shooting.

I do not care how lonely he is, he is a stranger and I am with my boys and thousands of dollars of firearms and ammo, you bet I got a problem.

Yep, I'm afraid I would have told him to pound sand...

 

[Spike_351]

Are the bays at this range set up for 2 parties/groups on the same bay or is it more of a one person thing?

 

[LarryC]

Red Brush correct? Were you in the main pistol rang, if so alot of people just use that one defacto.

There is another possibility - he may have been a little handicapped. Were you in the closest bay to where a car could be parked? It may have required a real effort for him to carry his firearms and accessories to a more distant bay. I know 30 - 40 feet doesn't sound like anything when you are in your 30 - 40 or 50's but it can be a real effort if you are 70+ or have bad hips /back etc. Speaking from experience!

 

[Libertarian01]

To All,

No matter what is going on or where we are there is a generally understood "socially acceptable distance" that we all try to abide with, consciously.

For example, a guy walks into an empty public restroom that has 20 urinals in it. The guy goes to one on an end leaving 19 available. If another guy comes in and picks the one urinal right next to the first guy this is ODD! Social courtesy demands giving folks some degree of personal space.

The fact that this guy just came up and didn't say word while setting up right with you is odd. A simple, "Hey, do you mind if I set up here. I like to chat while I shoot?" or something like that would have made all the difference. But it wasn't said.

The only reasonable explanation I can give is that some forms of autism do not give the people with it any appreciation of social norms. If you watch the movie "Temple Grandon" it shows how this very intelligent woman who now has her Doctorate in Animal Husbandry has some a general lack of paying attention to social norms. Very bright and extremely perceptive on some things, but almost blind when it comes to dealing with other people.

This is the only reasonable explanation I can think of.

Regards,

Doug

 

[CQB]

I feel the same way when people come and sit right next to us in an empty restaurant or theater. It's just rude. With older folks I tend to be more lenient in my reaction. Whether that's right or wrong I don't know. My grandpa served in WWII, as did most all of his generation. Something in me just feels they've earned the right to do whatever they want. I know some of them are just *******s, but I prefer to believe they're like my grandpa was. At the last 1500, I watched three WWII vets (wearing their veterans caps) walk right to the front of the line and wait five minutes before the doors opened. No one said a word. The two dudes in their twenties who tried to follow them weren't so lucky.

 

[Bapak2ja]

Would it hurt to try a little kindness? Yes, the old boy was rude. Yes, he violated the normal social rules and etiquette. Why not ask him what he is shooting? Ask him if he shoots often at this range—you know how it goes. Might make an old man's day, and you might make a new friend.

From the sound of these posts, Hoosier hospitality is rare as Sherman buttons at an Atlanta picnic.

 

[TLHelmer]

Are the bays at this range set up for 2 parties/groups on the same bay or is it more of a one person thing?

The bays are large and set up 25 to 50 yards apart. There are large earth embankments between each shooting bay. Several people can shoot in a single bay, but it is usual practice not to go to an occupied bay if other bays are open. Especially when one of the open bays has the reactive targets he was shooting at.

Walking distance is the same at all of the handgun bays.

 

[WebSnyper]

Would it hurt to try a little kindness? Yes, the old boy was rude. Yes, he violated the normal social rules and etiquette. Why not ask him what he is shooting? Ask him if he shoots often at this range—you know how it goes. Might make an old man's day, and you might make a new friend.

From the sound of these posts, Hoosier hospitality is rare as Sherman buttons at an Atlanta picnic.

With all the strangeness going on with the community at large around gun ownership, etc, I am not apt to take chances, at the range or elsewhere. Multiply that reaction a few times when my kids are involved.

I get your point, but I'm watching my back at the range as much as anywhere. I'm not interested in trusting someone I don't know for no other reason than they were at a gun range.

 

[LANShark42]

My teenage sons were off school today since they haven't used any snow days this year. I took them to the range. The range we go to has 5 different bays four of which have metal targets. Two of those have reactive metal plates. We were lucky enough to have the range to ourselves most of the time we were there until an older gentleman pulled up and decided to use the shooting bay we were using.

I was a little surprised when he pulled into the bay we were in because all of the other bays were open at the time. I had the boys put all of the guns down and wait for him to put his ears on and get set up. The guy turns to me and asks if there is a problem. I said no, we are just giving you time to get set up. He replied that we could all shoot. I just nodded.

He put his ears on and proceeded to start shooting. After a bit I told the boys to start packing up so we could move to one of the other open bays. About the time we were loaded up he started slamming his gear around and just left.

It isn't a big deal, but I never shoot in a bay where someone or a group is already shooting if there is another open bay. If is was just me it would be one thing, but with my boys there that is enough to keep track of for safety purposes.

Is my thinking off or is this a normal expectation?

Were you at Strictly Shooting? I know every time I've been there, they have assigned me a lane, even when no one else was shooting. Maybe he took that a little too literally....

 

[LANShark42]

The bays are large and set up 25 to 50 yards apart. There are large earth embankments between each shooting bay. Several people can shoot in a single bay, but it is usual practice not to go to an occupied bay if other bays are open. Especially when one of the open bays has the reactive targets he was shooting at.

Walking distance is the same at all of the handgun bays.

Just saw this. Ignore my other post.

 

[Harley]

I wouldn't have stayed there with the kids either.

 

[! twitty]

Did he use the urinal closest to you with the other four open too?