A little rant HANSON ROD AND GUN...made my kid cry

[drgrant]

Boycotting isn't the answer. Members need to dive in and get more involved, not less involved. Only then will they be allowed to participate in the inner workings of the club leadership and then work to get the changes they want.

Normally I would agree but usually by the time the fudds get control it's usually too late to do anything about the problem, unless you can find a few more involved people who are reasonable and basically stage a coup... usually whenever this shit happens, there are one or two bad people who need to be removed before anything changes. This is seen time and time again.

A better way of selling the "get involved" thing is this.... if your club does not suck, it behooves you to get involved to make sure it stays that way for as long as possible. It's easier to prevent a club from "going fudd" than it is fix that problem.

-Mike

 

[Sig Sauer Shooter]

Is this just a normal dirt berm like every other club has, or is there something special about it? Serious question

 

[Kevski]

Not so much the ricochet but it looks like a bunch of redneck yolks have been there

Whats the problem with pieces of clay in a mound of dirt.....did the clay that made the targets not originate from the ground. This is the circle of life.

Pick your battles Teddy Broosevelt

 

[josh2600]

and drag a tree branch behind your vehicle as you leave the club covering up all tire prints.

You don't do that anytime you leave anywhere? Do you even opsec bro?

 

[BigMoby]

Is this just a normal dirt berm like every other club has, or is there something special about it? Serious question

The berm is normal it's just the club thats not.

 

[Amputee Marksman]

Changes can happen. Sometimes they are slow but if the membership is persistent things can happen. It wasn't too many years ago when my club pretty much said there will never be "active pistol shooting". What happened was a group of members wanted IDPA. A few of them ran and got elected to the board. There was a lot of education and lobbying and votes and now we have a really good IDPA program.

While not a member of the board or a club officer I attend basically every general membership meeting and about 50% of the board meetings. Get involved and know what is going on at the club.

The sad reality is that a minimum sized group of people are going to run the club because they show up. We have about 35 to 50 people out of a membership of close to 2000 that run the club. All it takes is about a half dozen people to show up and make some noise and things can get changed.

 

[TayNinh_66]

What the hell is the point of a 5-round mag limit, anyway? Angle Tree Stone has the same thing, apparently.

I was a member of a small live and let live club and their biggest problem was people coming in and doing constant mag dumps. The damage to the roofs and the target frames was repairable. The constant complaints to the Selectmen less so. Solution? 5 rnd limit so they quit and go somewhere else. Annoying as hell but I understood their problem.

 

[dcmdon]

I'm having similar problems with tin cans. My 8 year old loves to shoot cans. We stack them up in a pyramid and she knocks them over.

The problem is that none of my clubs allow this. Not Harvard Sportsmen, Not Mass Rifle, not Weston Shooters.

They all seem to have this ridiculous phobia that a .22 LR bullet will ricochet off an old stewed tomato can and kill a nun 5 miles away. Its ridiculous.

Don

 

[Radtekk]

Most clubs have met their limit unfortunately. You may have to bite the bullet on this one.
As far as biodegradable clays go, 20 years ago I hid one in the woods at Walpole to see how long it took to break down. A few years ago when I was a member again, I went scouting and found the clay and aside from the orange paint turning white, it is still in one piece.

I have to confess, I've been replacing it every year...

 

[mac1911]

Is this just a normal dirt berm like every other club has, or is there something special about it? Serious question

Hanson has a massive dirt berm two levels. The lower first berm is the impact area. And the higher berm is the safety net.
As far as I know hanson has had zero problems since they moved the training to the 50 yard line and most pistol shooters moved to the pistol range.... it's all about angles.

The new pistol lanes are pretty massive also. A far cry from the sand covered tires of the past.

HANSON HAS A GREAT SAFETY RECORD. It's because 98% of the members are actually very safe. I know they went on a safety rule crack down a few years ago and weeded out a few habitual offenders.

Here's a tip to some of you . If a young kid has to tell you your violating the safety rules......there's a high chance your screwing up pretty bad.

 

[J.A.C]

First they came for exploding targets and I said nothing, then they came for reactive targets and I said nothing, then for metal, then for the prone position, then they came for my mags, and I said nothing. Now I quietly sit on a lazy boy aiming my bolt action at paper 200 yards down range.

 

[J.A.C]

I don't get to go to Hanson much at all anymore, the Westwood Club is so much closer, but I still really like Hanson. It has a little bit of everything. Plus a lot of great memories there from growing up (been going shooting there since I was 5).

One thing I like about Westwood is you go to the range and look to the right and its a graveyard of clays.

 

[dcmdon]

The clays usually center around the mess they produce.

HSC has a sub gun range where you can put all kinds of messy things. They ban clays on other ranges where they don't want the mess.

Shoot. They even ban .22s on ranges where they don't want mess because people don't pick up .22 brass.

 

[J.A.C]

The club just banned pistols from being used on the high power range.

 

[drgrant]

I'm having similar problems with tin cans. My 8 year old loves to shoot cans. We stack them up in a pyramid and she knocks them over.

The problem is that none of my clubs allow this. Not Harvard Sportsmen, Not Mass Rifle, not Weston Shooters.

They all seem to have this ridiculous phobia that a .22 LR bullet will ricochet off an old stewed tomato can and kill a nun 5 miles away. Its ridiculous.

Don

Basically plinking is pretty much banned at all but the smallest clubs. The only places you can do it at are the places that are small and isolated enough that nobody is around to care, so if the range is built well enough and you clean up most of the debris, nobody will care. Hell we used to go appliance hunting every weekend in central MA with centerfire rifles and otherwise. Nobody died, nobodys house got hit with anything, etc. The only reason some ranges banned it is because of the trash issue (some people were nippleheads and would leave junk behind). Even then I'd still usually get a pass on the rule because I was up at the club cleaning shit out.

-Mike

 

[robjax]

nothing like that has been banned at my club as far as I know. But to keep the mess down they schedule clean up days. Out come the trash cans and the rakes and shovels and we do a clean up. In fact there is a scheduled weekend for it in April. That's the big clean up weekend. Maybe suggest something like that and perhaps they may let you shoot clays and plink with .22's.

I guess I'd be interested to know why they banned that. Kind of conflict a gun club banning stuff. Hanson was good to us for that GOAL rally too. Looks like a nice club.

Typically they tighten the rules when they notice abuses. See if that is the issue.

 

[J.A.C]

nothing like that has been banned at my club as far as I know. But to keep the mess down they schedule clean up days. Out come the trash cans and the rakes and shovels and we do a clean up. In fact there is a scheduled weekend for it in April. That's the big clean up weekend. Maybe suggest something like that and perhaps they may let you shoot clays and plink with .22's.

I guess I'd be interested to know why they banned that. Kind of conflict a gun club banning stuff. Hanson was good to us for that GOAL rally too. Looks like a nice club.

Typically they tighten the rules when they notice abuses. See if that is the issue.

On facebook someone asked a why and a Ricochets was noted as the main reason.

 

[robjax]

On facebook someone asked a why and a Ricochets was noted as the main reason.

Ok. I don't know what their range looks like or whether the back stop is enclosed or not. Could be legit but no idea without seeing it.

 

[allen-1]

The club just banned pistols from being used on the high power range.

Not sure if for the same reason, but we don't allow pistols on the rifle ranges at either of the clubs I shoot at because of rounds striking the ground before the berms and ricocheting out of the range.

 

[mac1911]

The club just banned pistols from being used on the high power range.

ABOUT TIME

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure if for the same reason, but we don't allow pistols on the rifle ranges at either of the clubs I shoot at because of rounds striking the ground before the berms and ricocheting out of the range.

THIS 100%

 

[mac1911]

Basically plinking is pretty much banned at all but the smallest clubs. The only places you can do it at are the places that are small and isolated enough that nobody is around to care, so if the range is built well enough and you clean up most of the debris, nobody will care. Hell we used to go appliance hunting every weekend in central MA with centerfire rifles and otherwise. Nobody died, nobodys house got hit with anything, etc. The only reason some ranges banned it is because of the trash issue (some people were nippleheads and would leave junk behind). Even then I'd still usually get a pass on the rule because I was up at the club cleaning shit out.

-Mike

#1 reason for other than paper and steel targets is just this PEOPLE DONT PICK UP THEIR SHIT

 

[Cabin Fever]

I'm having similar problems with tin cans. My 8 year old loves to shoot cans. We stack them up in a pyramid and she knocks them over.

The problem is that none of my clubs allow this. Not Harvard Sportsmen, Not Mass Rifle, not Weston Shooters.

They all seem to have this ridiculous phobia that a .22 LR bullet will ricochet off an old stewed tomato can and kill a nun 5 miles away. Its ridiculous.

Don

The 25 and 50 yard ranges at Harvard specifically allow tin cans (along with paper targets). I checked the rules sign last weekend.

 

[J.A.C]

I grew up shooting bottles full of water, etc at Hanson, we always picked up our stuff. Flash forward 30 plus years and we are lucky to be able to shoot anything. I think part of the problem is housing gets built near these ranges and the dummies that buy them don't understand they are near a range or are ignorant until after the fact and another part is these ranges get a larger and larger member base and eventually dip Sh*ts get in that can't handle the concept of shooting and being responsible.

 

[dcmdon]

On facebook someone asked a why and a Ricochets was noted as the main reason.

Yeah. That's pure idiocy. A .22 LR has so little energy to begin with. It shows a complete utter lack of the basic laws of physics.

Don

- - - Updated - - -

The 25 and 50 yard ranges at Harvard specifically allow tin cans (along with paper targets). I checked the rules sign last weekend.

Enlighten me please. You mean the ones right on the left when you drive in? Are you allowed to put them on the ground?

Is it mentioned on the signs?

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure if for the same reason, but we don't allow pistols on the rifle ranges at either of the clubs I shoot at because of rounds striking the ground before the berms and ricocheting out of the range.

Yeah, again, idiocy and ignorance.

 

[bigblue]

You should really ban gunz from your ranges mmmkay. They could strike the ground, go into orbit, and kill a deerfly in China.


If you are an idiot, rounds can strike the ground or a tree irregardless of the firearm used. Pistols are neither more nor less likely to hit the target than a rifle: The difference is the operator. POA is pretty damn close to POI for a 5" barrel at 100 yards. If you miss, it isn't the pistol its the shooter.

 

[Supermoto]

What if you want to shoot your pistol at 100y?

 

[Toe Knee]

Water bottles are ok as far as I know. They just need to be at the base of the berm.

The reason for no pistols on the high power range is because of the alarming amounts of rounds that are hitting the ground and going up and over the backstop. They are not even close to leaving the property but there is a new training pit behind the hpr. I was in the first qualifying class for the new pits and rounds were wizzing overhead. One even hit one of the instructor's truck. We had to send someone down to reiterate paying attention to where your rounds are landing. Someone was shooting at ground targets. A no no for awhile. (Unless at the base of the berm)

In order to introduce the use of the new pits, rounds need to stay where they belong.

 

[bigblue]

Water bottles are ok as far as I know. They just need to be at the base of the berm.

The reason for no pistols on the high power range is because of the alarming amounts of rounds that are hitting the ground and going up and over the backstop. They are not even close to leaving the property but there is a new training pit behind the hpr. I was in the first qualifying class for the new pits and rounds were wizzing overhead. One even hit one of the instructor's truck. We had to send someone down to reiterate paying attention to where your rounds are landing. Someone was shooting at ground targets. A no no for awhile. (Unless at the base of the berm)

In order to introduce the use of the new pits, rounds need to stay where they belong.

I've seen the same thing with a couple of idiots zeroing a new rifle at 25 yards on a rifle range: The round were impacting at 75 yards and spawling into the woods. I have also seen it with people shooting standing at targets only 3' off the ground at 25y. This has nothing to do with the firearm and everything to do with the shooter.

 

[Toe Knee]

Exactly what you described is what is going on and the reason for limiting pistols to the pistol range and the new training/tactical pits.

 

[bigblue]

Exactly what you described is what is going on and the reason for limiting pistols to the pistol range and the new training/tactical pits.

Which has what to do with pistols?