Posted: 2/21/2009 3:18:07 PM EDT
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More cars in the parking lot than I had ever seen before. Three other EBR guys there.
One guy was sighting in a new Bushy, another guy was shooting a RRA, and there was another Bushy guy too. Tons of Fudds...and I do not mean that it a bad way. When I first got in to this hobby 18 months ago, there seemed to be more EBRs out there. (Especially at Calverton.) Something's changed. There was a guy there shooting something I have never seen before. It might have been a homemade rifle. It was like a wooden AR. It had an A1/A2 pistol grip, A1/A2 style carry handle, but no sight wheels as far as I could see. It was small caliber rifle. Sunny and nice. |
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When I first got in to this hobby 18 months ago, there seemed to be more EBRs out there. (Especially at Calverton.) Something's changed. What changed is that ammo $$$ went through the roof and our Black Rifles cost too much to feed. They eat fast and have a big appetite. |
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More cars in the parking lot than I had ever seen before. Three other EBR guys there. One guy was sighting in a new Bushy, another guy was shooting a RRA, and there was another Bushy guy too. Tons of Fudds...and I do not mean that it a bad way. When I first got in to this hobby 18 months ago, there seemed to be more EBRs out there. (Especially at Calverton.) Something's changed. There was a guy there shooting something I have never seen before. It might have been a homemade rifle. It was like a wooden AR. It had an A1/A2 pistol grip, A1/A2 style carry handle, but no sight wheels as far as I could see. It was small caliber rifle. Sunny and nice. i've seen those rifles at the gun shows and thinl they are .22 rimfire. interesting but not my cup of tea. brookhaven is a nice range but I don't think of it as an EBR friendly range. |
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For the most part the "Fudds" as you call them (anyone who ISN'T shooting an ugly plastic rifle?) are dedicated. They are there every weekend, every month, all year long. The EBR guys tend to be more "once in a while" shooters. (I've brought this point up many times here. If a range (or any business) is going to cater to a certain group of customer, it's going to be their most frequent loyal customers.) As well, they young guys don't have the money the older guys do, so the can't afford to shoot as often. They also know how to enjoy 20-30 rounds, rather than needing to bang away 150+ rounds at a time. You could learn a lot from them.
All that aside... while I can't stand the term "Fudd", Phil is running the range, and he's about as Fudd as they come. 
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For the most part the "Fudds" as you call them (anyone who ISN'T shooting an ugly plastic rifle?) are dedicated. They are there every weekend, every month, all year long. The EBR guys tend to be more "once in a while" shooters. (I've brought this point up many times here. If a range (or any business) is going to cater to a certain group of customer, it's going to be their most frequent loyal customers.) As well, they young guys don't have the money the older guys do, so the can't afford to shoot as often. They also know how to enjoy 20-30 rounds, rather than needing to bang away 150+ rounds at a time. You could learn a lot from them. All that aside... while I can't stand the term "Fudd", Phil is running the range, and he's about as Fudd as they come. Can I learn something from them? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I was sighting in a rifle that had a new barrel put on it...and I think I shot only 40 rounds....and I was there for two hours. I only used "Fudd" as a descriptive term. Believe me, I do not consider myself better than anyone else out there.....'cause I'm not! My thinking is always like this, "Ok, don't screw up. That guy looks like he knows what he's doing.... Don't want to look lie a tool in front of him..." By the way, my black rifles are beautiful! No ugliness there. 
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For the most part the "Fudds" as you call them (anyone who ISN'T shooting an ugly plastic rifle?) are dedicated. They are there every weekend, every month, all year long. The EBR guys tend to be more "once in a while" shooters. (I've brought this point up many times here. If a range (or any business) is going to cater to a certain group of customer, it's going to be their most frequent loyal customers.) As well, they young guys don't have the money the older guys do, so the can't afford to shoot as often. They also know how to enjoy 20-30 rounds, rather than needing to bang away 150+ rounds at a time. You could learn a lot from them. All that aside... while I can't stand the term "Fudd", Phil is running the range, and he's about as Fudd as they come. Brookhaven is to far for me plus they raised their prices .Last time I was their shooting my 45 before I could turn around some rat picked up all my brass and ran,so much for reloading.Otherwise nice place and seem to be a nice mix of all firearms |
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I bought a couple of those brass catchers for both handgun and my ARs. They do work, and they stop the brass
from hitting the guy on your right or behind you. For a non-resident, what is the rate at Brookhaven now for rifle/pistol and over on the left for trap, if I may ask ? |
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I haven't been there much in a long time... I think for a resident it's up to $12 or $15 "for 3 hours". ($12 resident, $15 non maybe?)I'm not sure. It's not cheap anymore, but nothing is. There's a few reasons why.
I'm trying to remember what skeet is a round.... $7-8 maybe? That's not too bad considering the cost of the birds has tripled. |
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I think skeet was $6. for 25 clays when I shot there (at Brookhaven) two springs back. And I think non-residents would pay $12 for four hours ( ? ) on the rifle and pistol at that time.
Mitchell Field is good for me at $3.50 for the hour on weekdays, and I am worried that Suozzi will shut it down. Calverton is a hell hole, but at least when you bring everything but the kitchen sink, one can make it a kind of "my hell hole." I have been a guest recently of Suffolk Archers and Peconic Sportsmen, but for now, joining private clubs and the related expense while I work full time is not for me, plus my preference from May to October is and always will be fishing and boating. I didn't even realize that the price of clays had gone up. Wonder what the excuse for that is, China is buying up dirt ? |
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It's $18 per day for non residaent at Brookhavent. I haven't seen them ask anyone to leave unless it's during hunting season and they have folks lined up in the parking lot waiting to get in.
Now i'm wondering if I am a "Fudd"? I shoot there all year long weather permitting but usually shoot something other then my AR's. I usually shoot in the first 7 bench's(0-6) and anyone who wants to try what I am shooting, just stop by. Mostly 308 (M14's, FAL's and K98's), 30-06 (Garands, 1917's, 1903A3 and FN49's) and 7.62X54r (PSL's, 91/30 sniper rifles and Finn M39's). Ken |
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Guys, Is there a range term for guys like us who shoot EBRs?  Well when I RO'ed at Brookhaven we had two kinds of EBR shooters. The one's who followed the rules we called friends. Friends were treated with respect and were left alone to have a fun day at the range. The rest were wan-a-be assholes. Assholes are the one's that come with uncased guns, 20+ topped off w/Wolf 30rd mags dumped on the bench wearing Tach gear and couldn't hit water if they fell off a boat. |
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Guys, Is there a range term for guys like us who shoot EBRs? Well when I RO'ed at Brookhaven we had two kinds of EBR shooters. The one's who followed the rules we called friends. Friends were treated with respect and were left alone to have a fun day at the range. The rest were wan-a-be assholes. Assholes are the one's that come with uncased guns, 20+ topped off w/Wolf 30rd mags dumped on the bench wearing Tach gear and couldn't hit water if they fell off a boat. Hey I shoot Wolf
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Guys, Is there a range term for guys like us who shoot EBRs? Well when I RO'ed at Brookhaven we had two kinds of EBR shooters. The one's who followed the rules we called friends. Friends were treated with respect and were left alone to have a fun day at the range. The rest were wan-a-be assholes. Assholes are the one's that come with uncased guns, 20+ topped off w/Wolf 30rd mags dumped on the bench wearing Tach gear and couldn't hit water if they fell off a boat. I'm sure you're right...although I've only seen those guys at Calverton. There was a guy at Brookhaven back about three weeks ago who was doing quite a bit of rapid fire. other than that, he was behaving himself so nobody said anything to him. It might be fun to start a thread here that deals with range stories. Weird characters, safety violations, etc. For example, I saw a guy at Calverton last summer who was probably a little ripped....shooting and AK. I was walking up and down the firing line...waiting for the "all clear" so that I could swap targets. This guy sees me walking behind him. He turns to face me, still holding the rifle...and he fires off a round! If downrange was the 12 o'clock position, his muzzle was at about 2:59PM when that round fired off. He just looked at me and made a , "Woah, did you just see that?" face. His friends packed him up and left within minutes. |
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The rest were wan-a-be assholes. Assholes are the one's that come with uncased guns, 20+ topped off w/Wolf 30rd mags dumped on the bench wearing Tach gear and couldn't hit water if they fell off a boat. Wan-a-be assholes? You mean wan-a-be's, who are assholes.
I think a lot of these guys have created this whole self image thing. They want to feel like they're being persecuted because of the type of gun the have. I guess they want to feel like rebels. That the whole world is against them and their misunderstood rifle.  Please.
That's what bugs me about the many "EBR friendly / rapid fire" range threads (rants) we get here. What's one have to do with the other? These things are not one in the same. You CAN shoot an AR15 slowly. You CAN shoot just about anything fast enough to piss off the range staff and other shooters. Heck I got yelled at once about rapid fire and I was shooting a single action revolver. (to be fair, it was rapid. ) It's your actions that people will judge you by. So many people piss me off with this; if you're an asshole and people react as such, don't blame it on your rifle.
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Guys, Is there a range term for guys like us who shoot EBRs? Shooters. –––––––– ETA: Guys like us? I like to shoot. Period. About the only thing I don't shoot and don't care for... or don't get rather, are modern inline muzzle loaders. (But I have traditional and semi traditional cap locks and flintlocks.) But to each his own, God bless. Otherwise I think I have just about all the areas covered as far as firearm types. While I own a whole bunch of AR's, they're no where near my favorite things to shoot. |
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Okay IWRFO... now you got me thinking. General range curiosities;
Guys with tactical vests on. (many people feel the need to get into costume to go to the range. Some wear tactical gear they have no real use for, some like wearing camo, some put on their hunting clothes, you even see young guys in their wanna-be-gansta gear.  I guess the vests are a costume thing. I don't get it.
Single point slings and two point chest rigs. Fairly dangerous ANY time, but a horrible idea at the range. Especially when knuckleheads feel the need to put them on and muzzle sweep everyone at the range. Guys with knives. Not folding knives, gun guys are usually knife guys too, just about everyone at the range has the ubiquitous folder clipped in their pocket. I'm talking about big sheathed knives. Belt knives. I see lots of them and I don't know why. Not hunters and not mall ninja types... just seemingly normal people. I guess it's a costume thing as well, people want a chance to wear their big knife. I dunno.
The odd assortment of handguns in really cheap ass holsters. Floppy old leather or floppy cheap nylon. I'm not talking about people shooting handguns, but rifle shooters. Maybe it's a costume thing, maybe it's just a change to take it out of the house. But you see lots of people wearing handguns (usually in cheap holsters) who don't ever shoot them.
GLOVES! The tacti-cool craze of the last few years. It's July and 98º out, and you're wearing gloves to shoot your AR15. This isn't Fallujah. I've worn them in competition, but come on... you're sitting at bench at a rifle range, you didn't just fast rope in. 
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Okay IWRFO... now you got me thinking. General range curiosities; Guys with tactical vests on. (many people feel the need to get into costume to go to the range. Some wear tactical gear they have no real use for, some like wearing camo, some put on their hunting clothes, you even see young guys in their wanna-be-gansta gear. I guess the vests are a costume thing. I don't get it.
Single point slings and two point chest rigs. Fairly dangerous ANY time, but a horrible idea at the range. Especially when knuckleheads feel the need to put them on and muzzle sweep everyone at the range. Guys with knives. Not folding knives, gun guys are usually knife guys too, just about everyone at the range has the ubiquitous folder clipped in their pocket. I'm talking about big sheathed knives. Belt knives. I see lots of them and I don't know why. Not hunters and not mall ninja types... just seemingly normal people. I guess it's a costume thing as well, people want a chance to wear their big knife. I dunno.
The odd assortment of handguns in really cheap ass holsters. Floppy old leather or floppy cheap nylon. I'm not talking about people shooting handguns, but rifle shooters. Maybe it's a costume thing, maybe it's just a change to take it out of the house. But you see lots of people wearing handguns (usually in cheap holsters) who don't ever shoot them.
GLOVES! The tacti-cool craze of the last few years. It's July and 98º out, and you're wearing gloves to shoot your AR15. This isn't Fallujah. I've worn them in competition, but come on... you're sitting at bench at a rifle range, you didn't just fast rope in.
I must admit that I haven't been to the range in quite some time but I just wanted to comment on your post. While I am sure that some of those in gear at the range are probably living out their SWAT fantasy, some might just be working stiffs trying to get a little extra range time wearing what they wear at work. That whole 'train like you'll fight' mentality. That could explain the vests or the gloves or the what-have-you. When I was still 'on the job' I used to wear my duty belt at the range as well as bring my regular belt and off-duty holster, so I could practice with both set-ups. As for the guys shooting only their rifles at the range but also bringing their handgun, I know that I would hate to have a car full of my favorite long guns, all safe in the trunk and get caught by the bad guys unprepared, unable to defend myself. Talk about irony, or even worse, having your car jacked and supplying guns to the local 'youth group'. Just a different point of view although I am sure that you hit the nail quite solidly on the head with more than a few of the 'characters' you've encountered. |
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Okay IWRFO... now you got me thinking. General range curiosities; GLOVES! The tacti-cool craze of the last few years. It's July and 98º out, and you're wearing gloves to shoot your AR15. This isn't Fallujah. I've worn them in competition, but come on... you're sitting at bench at a rifle range, you didn't just fast rope in.
Ok, you got me with this one. 
No excuses. I guess I just dig the glove thing. |
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It might be fun to start a thread here that deals with range stories. Weird characters, safety violations, etc. I was a weekend RO for a few years there and could right a book about the good and bad I have seen. The thing I miss the most is the incredible deals I got on rifles at the range. A like new Bushmaster A2 for $400
A like new Bushmaster A4 as payment for my Win. 70 I was selling
Preban C-Mag for the price of installing a AR barrel
Beretta CX4 Storm w/ a ton of extras as payment for a complete lower off of one of those Bushmasters
Mossberg 500's - one for $50 and another for $75
Uncountable preban magazines for like $5 each 
I would have to look around my gun room to find all the great deals I made. 
This is nothing compared to what I walked away from because I didn't have the cash that day. 
God I miss that low paying job. 
The list is even bigger of what I passed up because I didn't have cash at the time |
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...some might just be working stiffs trying to get a little extra range time wearing what they wear at work. That whole 'train like you'll fight' mentality. That could explain the vests or the gloves or the what-have-you. Nah... NONE of these people could remotely be confused with the people you're talking about.
Shorts, T-shirt, Gloves. or "I didn't know they made vests that large!"
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You could still have that low paying job back any time you want.
The best deal I ever got was a used rear sight for $300.00 (thing is it WAS a good deal)
I think the only other thing I ever bought was a few AK mags and some 7.62x39 ammo and it was no bargain. I heard stories about you from formerly employed you know who. "Yeah he got good deals because he asked everybody if they had anything for sale." lol
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