Interesting Happening at the range

[exiledtoIA]

Thursday I was at the local range to relax.
Got my stuff laid out, waiting for the range to go hot and a young couple, probably in their early 30's take the stall next to me.
They take a brand new revolver out of the box, take a box of ammo out of the plastic bag, open the pack of targets they have and unwrap their brand new earpro.

I will admit that I seriously considered moving. I'm glad I didn't.

They were having problems loading the gun.
And I'm thinking to myself " Oh God, how can anyone mess up loading a revolver?"

They look around in confusion and he comes around the wall and asks if I know anything about guns. So I offer to help if I can.

Bran new Ruger SP101 in .327 Federal Magnum. The clerk at the store who helped them decide on the gun got them a box of ammo for it.
Federal .357 Magnum. Oh so close, but no cigar.

We go into the range house and ask if they have any .327 Federal on hand. They have a couple of boxes that have been gathering dust for a while.

Back out on the range and I walk them thru care and feeding. They both try the gun and are doing OK. i did set their target up fairly close to start them out.

At the next break we talk about why they bought the gun.
They bought a house in the country and have been having problems with wildlife, and they worry about snakes in the garden, etc.

Turns out they were a really nice couple.

I let them try a few of my guns, just so they would have a little more experience.
The 10/22 was a big hit as was the 6920 ( " Is that a machine-gun?").

The BHP and the M&P weren't as popular - too complicated.

I did explain the differences in caliber and made sure they understood what to ask for in the future.

All in all a good day on the range, even if I didn't get to shoot as much as I had planned.

[CobraBG]

Great story. It's people like you who encourage new gun owners to really enjoy the sport. Not everyone would have taken the time.

[exiledtoIA]

Like I said, I almost didn't. Newbies on the range make me nervous.
He politely asked for help which put them well above the norm for newbies.
I will be taking a few different pieces with me next thursday so they can try them as well.

Great story. It's people like you who encourage new gun owners to really enjoy the sport. Not everyone would have taken the time.

[rljatl]

A good friend of mine told me a similar story. Except the newbies asked for help inserting the magazine into their brand new Glock. For some reason, the mag wouldn't go all the way in. My friend took one look at it and saw they had loaded the ammo in the magazine backwards! Yep, the bullet was pointed towards the rear of the magazine. Must have tried hard to make that mistake.

[ST911]

Bran new Ruger SP101 in .327 Federal Magnum. The clerk at the store who helped them decide on the gun got them a box of ammo for it. Federal .357 Magnum.

Observed. I have no use for .327 and don't get its existence. It also doesn't pass the Walmart test most places either.

Good on you for helping out.

[Slvr Surfr]

Good on you for helping the new folks out!

[exiledtoIA]

I don't own one either, tho my Lady has been making noises about one. I'm not going to say it's useless, just that it won't do anything my GP100 in .357 Mag. won't do.
If I was just starting out in firearms I might give it a try.
Heck if Ruger would put it in the GP series with a 6" barrel I might try it out.

As for helping out, I try not to interfere. But I can remember when I was just starting to shoot on my own. If more experienced shooters hadn't helped me I would have wasted a lot more time and money on things that weren't worth it.

Observed. I have no use for .327 and don't get its existence. It also doesn't pass the Walmart test most places either.

Good on you for helping out.

[Ned Christiansen]

None of us was born knowing it all (as we most cetainly do now ). That means that at some point between knowing nothing and knowing a lot of the right stuff, we may well have passed through certain bad parts of town, like "stupid", "know-it-all", "believer of anything", and even "unsafe".

When we get a chance to escort a new shooter safely through these dangerous areas, we really ought to, you might just avert a tragedy and it helps us all. Ya done good!

[HackerF15E]

My friend took one look at it and saw they had loaded the ammo in the magazine backwards! Yep, the bullet was pointed towards the rear of the magazine. Must have tried hard to make that mistake.

Maybe they thought their Glock was an H&K?

[exiledtoIA]

I don't know it all. The difference is that NOW I know enough to know I don't.
They seem like nice enough people and I don't want anyone getting hurt if it can be avoided.
Besides looking back I did some stupid things when I was younger and when I look back now the question is "How the hell did we do that and no one got killed?"

None of us was born knowing it all (as we most cetainly do now ). That means that at some point between knowing nothing and knowing a lot of the right stuff, we may well have passed through certain bad parts of town, like "stupid", "know-it-all", "believer of anything", and even "unsafe".

When we get a chance to escort a new shooter safely through these dangerous areas, we really ought to, you might just avert a tragedy and it helps us all. Ya done good!