Worst day at the range is still better than the best day at the office

And, it IS a perishable skill.
You'll do better next time OP

True.
Agree.
Thanks!

There's a reason they have an M4 specific zero target
Now there ARE some things you change the desired POI for as you describe but basic zeroing of the irons is not one of them
Not everyone who runs a range is a high speed shooter.
It's an assigned program of instruction just like any other class or block of training.
Hopefully the unit knows its NCOs enough to assign the right people

I figured out I had installed a gas tube upside down on a 20" rifle I had just built.

I still put a box of 20 rounds through it. Now I know how they shoot AR's in the UK

I can't even imagine how you did that.

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My very first gun, my first or second range trip... squib load with factory ammo.



I had been told never to try to fix a squib yourself, and always send it back to a gunsmith or the manufacturer. I was new to the scene, so I had no idea where to go or how long / costly to expect. Eventually I talked to my father-in-law (an avid gun collector) and was advised to pound it out with a brass rod. No ill effects to this day.



I've made several range trips and forgot to bring the correct mags or ammo, but luckily I usually still have something to practice with.



I spent far too many shots trying to zero in my first scope. I would shoot, notice the point of impact, adjust a couple of clicks, shoot again, and notice the impact was further from POI than the previous one. It took me almost a box of ammo to figure out I had the scope mounted with the windage turret on top, and the elevation turret facing the right side rather than windage on the left and elevation on top. That was a face palm moment.



I had a spent steel-cased 308 lock up my Ruger GSR. The bolt wouldn't budge at all, even after whacking on the bolt handle with a rubber mallet. I tried letting it cool, tried tapping on it in several places, tried getting some extra lube on it, all to no avail. Finally I ruined a rifle cleaning rod knocking it loose. I still have no idea what happened; the case looked fine - no burrs, no pressure bulges, etc. It must have expanded in some weird way.



I picked up a cheap, sporterized M1917 with a tiny pin-hole target sight on the rear. Not be used to target sights, I got really close to it for the first shot. The mount for the sight whacked me on the bridge of my nose. Ow.



I decided to start reloading to save money. I cranked out about 100 rounds of 45 ACP after making a bunch of adjustments. Apparently I either forgot to do a barrel plunk test / measure OAL, or the seating die didn't hold my adjustment. None of the cartridges would feed in the 1911 I brought - the lead bullets were engaging the rifling and leaving the gun out of battery. Worst of all, after trying a few to see if it was a fluke, one engaged enough of the rifling to completely lock the gun up. I couldn't rack the slide by hand, couldn't rack the slide against a block of wood, etc. And, even though it was out of battery, it was still loaded with a live round, so I didn't want to transport it like that. I eventually managed to softly pound on the frame with my hand while holding the slide on a block of wood and pop the round out. It actually unseated the bullet from the case, poured powder all over the inside of my 1911, and still required me to knock the bullet out with a rod. On top of all that, I didn't bring any other ammo with me. Ugh.



I do everything I can to be safe and well prepared, but a rubber mallet and sacrificial brass rods are now a staple in my range bag.

Do you have pics of this?

Most range days in the Army were really bad in regular units, unless you applied a special kind of twisted logic to the abortion, and decided you would have fun no matter what.

In good units, it was the opposite.

Not a bad day for me but the guy down the line had a 10-22 dud. The army retired Col. RO said take it to the club house when they could not clear it. The other RO blew a fuse when they started to remove the rifle. Almost a fist fight.

  No firing for ten minutes until the gunny sgt. owner came out and took it inside.

I had an idiot friend shoot MY ar with the muzzle brake about 2 feet from my left ear without calling the range hot again.  I was completely deaf for about a week, and now have about 30% hearing in that ear.

I went to KCR one time when it was right in the middle of Fudd season...

Every time some brass landed on the Fudds table I got bitched at.  I will never ever go back when it's close to deer season again...

Once.

I showed up at an empty public range with my brand new AR-180B and forgot my ear pro. Figured, out in the open with nobody else how bad could it be?

Three rounds later I determined it could be "really bad".

If you shoot long enough you have a number of " bad " range trips.

I have forgotten ammo , stapler, spotting scope , and a few other minor items.

I have showed up after driving an hour to find the range closed, rained out, full of idiots, and in some cases dog trials going on

I had a glock 23 lock up on a round so hard I had to beat it with a rubber mallet at home. Had bullet fragment catch me in the neck and shut me down for the day.

I had op rod spring shatter on a garand I had just purchased and few times had primers blow up on a number of rifles.  

Probably the worst trips are just dumb people that don't know what they are doing that drive me nuts , but that's public ranges for you. Although RO's at some ranges can get a Hitler complex at times and just ruin the day. ( Lane 3 stop firing so fast there is no rapid fire) Gay!

Wat? How upside down?

We were on an FTX in February 1976 that included a night shoot. The company marched from the bivouac area to the designated range and got there right after sunset. Then we were forced to stand there and get cold. Of course it got colder the longer we stood there. After about an hour of standing we got to draw our live ammunition. Then we were moved to the staging area, and stood some more. Everyone was cold and miserable. We had loaded our magazines 1 tracer, two ball, since it was dark and we were going to be shooting 3 round burst, prone. Everything was super slow since it was dark, and nobody wanted any accidents. I was in the first relay. Laying on that frozen ground was sucking what little body heat you had right out of you.
Finally, the tower gave the command to lock and load. Everyone on the line was bitching to hurry up because it was so miserable. "Firers watch your lanes!" As soon as the command was given, tracers started arcing into the sky as soldiers were dumping their mags as quickly as possible. "Cease fire! Cease fire, Goddamnit! Keep those weapons pointed down range! Now we're going to try this again. Firers, watch your lanes!" Tracers arced across the sky again as soldiers did mag dumps trying to get up off of that heat leeching ground. Finally everyone had emptied their magazines and cleared their weapons, and we were allowed to get up off of that heat sucking ground and go stand in formation again as the second relay went through. Eventually we road marched back and got warmed back up from the hike.
That's a shitty range trip story.

Trying to work now so I won't tell the whole story but I once learned the damage 1/4" of Velcro can do.  On the other hand, helicopters and morphine are really fun.

Drove 1.5 hours with my AR to the family ranch only to find that I had grabbed the 12 gauge ammo box...

I keep 5.56 and 12 gauge in identical ammo boxes. Not anymore.

Nope.. you just cheaped out on the can.

Lol, ok.

At the time, the reviews on those were awesome. Everyone was raving about how great they were, and I could use them on my AKs with corrosive ammo.

Kid wanted to go out, packed up his stuff thinking i had just used his rifle and it was still in the truck. Got out there with everything except for a gun

I treated a shooter who had a self-inflicted GSW this past June. Though he lived, his day was worse than most anyone elses.

I found myself starring down the barrel of a .308 semi auto rifle just yesterday. The old guy who wouldn't shut up about how bad ass his guns were got an ass chewing after the second one. He was about 10ft down the line from me. The first one I caught out of the corner of my eye and wasn't 100% sure that's what I saw. Turned and asked the wife (yes she was shooting too) and she was just starting at him, which was a clear sign I could of been pink mist. Noticing he was still fucking around trying to clear rounds that kept jamming, I stood up from the bench and started backing off the line. Sure as shit, happened again. This time I was not very friendly. I'm all for respecting my elders (I'm 30, he was every bit of 65) but flag me and the wife twice for multiple seconds, the Marine in me comes out quick.

Where was the range officer you ask? On the bench doing what looked to be sleeping.