I’ve been Safety Officer for several years now, and I thought I had seen just about every safety infraction, but I guess people are just more inventive than I give them credit for. I was doing a walk-about at the range today and I saw something laying on the berm between the high power targets number boards and the pit area.
I thought at first it was a piece of plastic that had blown off the burn pile, but when I went over – it turned out to be a piece of cast concrete that someone had used for a target at 300-yards. They had hit at least once because it had shattered and there was spalled concrete scattered about.
BAD IDEA!
This is a violation of any number of Range Rules and just everyday common sense! For example:
Range Procedures
6. All firing is to be done only from the direction of the firing line toward the backstop. All projectiles must impact only on Club property!
Violations and Fines
Targets are to be placed so that bullets will impact the backstop. Bullets will pass over the backstop if targets are placed too high. Targets placed too low results in bullets hitting the ground short of the backstop may ricochet off the Range, especially when the ground is frozen in winter or packed hard as it sometimes is in the summer. If for some reason you wish to place a target close to the ground, walk up to the backstop and place the target at or near the base of the backstop.
Fine: $100.
PROHIBITED ITEMS AND OR ACTIONS
Hard metallic targets such as but not limited to gongs, bells, dueling trees, etc. are to be used only during Club sanctioned events due to the possibility of ricochets.
(Concrete blocks fall under this provision)
Any ricochet has the potential to shut down the range.
FINE: $100.00
DUH!