Advising the Misguided Newb Shooter (Rant I suppose)

[Maverick0313]

Wow, and I thought my gender-fail was epic.

 

[Norton]

Thanks Rusty.

Does the guy "get it" now?

 

[Todd v.]

An Appleseed may be the perfect introduction into shooting...... http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=46294

As long as the spouse isn't uber liberal and trying to correct real history with revisionist history during the history portions.

 

[Lex Armarum]

Thanks Rusty.

Does the guy "get it" now?

You know, I didn't talk to hubby but my colleague "gets it" to a degree. Attorney/Delegate stated the he/she was surprised that anyone could walk into a shooting range and rent a pistol for use there. Hearing about it kind of freaked him/her out. I told him/her that he/she had legitimate concerns regarding rentals as folks have been known to misuse them at the range (suicide) but its a risk with renting any sort of dangerous equipment.

Colleague is still interested and Pro2A from what I can tell. This is good. Hubby I think needs more initiation and familiarization.

 

[Lex Armarum]

An Appleseed may be the perfect introduction into shooting...... http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=46294

As long as the spouse isn't uber liberal and trying to correct real history with revisionist history during the history portions.

Passed the info on. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[sigdad]

My son (10 at the time) and I took the NRA basic pistol course at Select Fire and personally I couldn't be happier. When it came to live fire time they put us in lanes at opposite ends of the range and told me to stay away from him. They treated him like any other student, with a little extra hand-holding, and refused to let me "hover".

I find Select Fire to be the absolutely best place for a newbie - it is seldom busy and you don't have all the .357 and .44s you find at On Target. Just because some of the rules turn us off doesn't mean they will mean anything to someone new to the sport.

Just my impression...

 

[weeman]

My son (10 at the time) and I took the NRA basic pistol course at Select Fire and personally I couldn't be happier. When it came to live fire time they put us in lanes at opposite ends of the range and told me to stay away from him. They treated him like any other student, with a little extra hand-holding, and refused to let me "hover".

I find Select Fire to be the absolutely best place for a newbie - it is seldom busy and you don't have all the .357 and .44s you find at On Target. Just because some of the rules turn us off doesn't mean they will mean anything to someone new to the sport.

Just my impression...

And the out of left field first post, claiming selectfire to be great. It amazes me every couple of months we get one of these.

 

[sigdad]

Hey - discount it if you want but this isn't a shill for Select Fire. It's my first post simply because it's my first time I had anything I *thought* might be useful for others.

Getting a lane at On Target can be difficult at times, it's almost always busy and extremely loud. I just don't see that over at Select Fire and it's where I'd take a friend, or wife and/or daughter who recently went, for the first time. However, I have purchased two pistols at On Target and will again. I even shot them there for the first time because of the free range time included...

I personally don't like some of Select Fire's policys but they have the right to have them and they don't turn me off enough to stop me from using them when convenient to me. Hiding behind the insurance carrier like they do there does irriate me sometimes - just tell me that's the way it is and leave it at that.

Whatever...

 

[woodstock]

hap baker. going to buy my badge tomorrow.

i am left wondering why an indoor range was preferred over an outdoor range? too cold maybe? during the week, days are really slow at hap, just an FYI, just remember they are not open monday and tuesday.

 

[rch184]

Did you even read all the posts?

And Your Point?

 

[hole punch]

And Your Point?

great sportsmanship

 

[booker]

There's one sure-fire way to avoid the brass... get in the left-most lane. There's usually a bit more elbow room on the ends as well.

 

[Old Gaffer]

OK, time to weigh in here...

Do feel free to let the shooters know that I'm available and interested in hosting them at "my" range <http://www.twelfthprecinct.org/> I say "my" because for the time being at least, I'm the club president. I can open the range anytime, and will take Mom AND Dad that the kids down to let them all shoot .22 rifles. We have a sheltered area that we can heat up with a propane heater to make it a little less uncomfortable in this cold weather, or we can just shoot outdoors.

I can usually arrange to take a day off to shoot with a couple of days advance notice, and can being enough RSOs to the line to outnumber the shooters.

I have rifles, ammo, hearing protection, training in teaching firearm safety, and I'm totally motivated to make sure these folks have a rocking good time. I like nothing better than getting new folks out to the shooting range and showing the entire family what a great time they can all have, and if we do it sometime where there's not a league going on, it will be a LOT less intimidating for all concerned.

All the best,
Rob Weaver
President,
Twelfth Precinct Pistol and Archery Club
Harwood, MD
My PM info is on the club's homepage.

 

[Lex Armarum]

Do feel free to let the shooters know that I'm available and interested in hosting them at "my" range <http://www.twelfthprecinct.org/> I say "my" because for the time being at least, I'm the club president. I can open the range anytime, and will take Mom AND Dad that the kids down to let them all shoot .22 rifles. We have a sheltered area that we can heat up with a propane heater to make it a little less uncomfortable in this cold weather, or we can just shoot outdoors.

I can usually arrange to take a day off to shoot with a couple of days advance notice, and can being enough RSOs to the line to outnumber the shooters.

I have rifles, ammo, hearing protection, training in teaching firearm safety, and I'm totally motivated to make sure these folks have a rocking good time. I like nothing better than getting new folks out to the shooting range and showing the entire family what a great time they can all have, and if we do it sometime where there's not a league going on, it will be a LOT less intimidating for all concerned.

All the best,
Rob Weaver
President,
Twelfth Precinct Pistol and Archery Club
Harwood, MD
My PM info is on the club's homepage.

Rob,

Thanks! I will pass this info on.

 

[P-12 Norm]

So....

I had a more detailed conversation with Attorney/Delegate today and here are the specific beefs:

1. Wannabe gangsters stinking up the place with their lack of adherence to range etiquette and "unsafe" behavior
A. Namely, wannabe gangsters standing outside of partitioned booth and firing thus showering Son with hot brass indiscriminately

2. RO not paying nearly enough attention to wannabe gangsters and their antics
A. Specifically, RO seemed to be on a first name basis with wannabe gangsters and tolerated their antics

Ultimately resulting in Delegate's Spouse feeling unsafe. An understandable gripe but....

I pointed out to Delegate that

A. Maryland has a very limited selection of indoor shooting facilities;

B. OnTarget seems to get more than their share of wannabe thugs who show up, rent a pistol, and practice gang-banging on the line;

C. If Spouse and Son had visited MSAR or Select Fire the situation would have been even worse (not bashing MSAR, I like the range, but you must admit that the crowds of "qualifiers" tend to make one uneasy);

D. Only other options were Continental or Horst, both have their pros and cons but Continental sees less riff raff than other ranges for some reason (maybe not, that's my impression but I don't go there too much);

E. If Delegate was solely focused on indoor facilities, then those were pretty much their choices unless they wanted to travel to Gilbert's in MoCo.

F. I then pointed out that there were numerous outdoor ranges in the state but hardly any convenient to central maryland - one exception, Hap Baker

I also noted to Delegate that if MD allowed more indoor ranges by stopping the environmental and zoning BS, the problem would dilute itself; as shooters we see the poor behavior of the non- or inappropriately-initiated but can do little to stop it other than complaining to the range owner or saying something ourselves so we tolerate it to a degree; I told Delegate that the only other options were joining a club or shooting on private property; I also mentioned 4-H and NRA youth shooting programs.

Just FYI

I like that last unlabeled paragraph. Try pushing that a little, and you may get the attorney to be an advocate for better relationships with ranges, and maybe get said attorney to work towards getting MD to loosen up a bit towards new, opening ranges. Maybe even **GASP** working with shooters to get more OUTDOOR ranges constructed!

 

[damifinowfish]

I would suggest to the attorney that they find a youth shooting program to get the kids into. This way the learn the right way from the start in an environment geared to the youth.

The AGC has some great youth programs to look into.