Range Etiquette

What's the worst etiquette violation you've seen at your local range?

For me, the range dude just seems to round up my time something fierce. I always leave thinking, "Man, was I really in there for that long?"

Here's some other general range etiquette rules:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1067658/range_etiquette_101_the_basic_rules.html?cat=11

I haven't had any real problems with other people at my local indoor and outdoor ranges. They are pretty well organized and supervised. Occasionally I've run into a newby at the range who obviously isn't familiar with the the way things are supposed to go, but a friendly visit with them sets things straight and is usually appreciated. Besides the deliberate personal safety habits I've developed, I also make it a point to be very aware of the people around me and what they're doing.

I did have one experience back in the mid-70's, which started me really keeping an eye on the people around me. I was shooting in an unimproved, unsupervised, semi-desert area in Southern California, which was popular for plinking and sighting-in rifles. It was on a Sunday and there were quite a few people there, shooting all types of weapons.

I noticed that the guy about 75' to my left was getting ready to fire a Ruger Old Army black powder revolver. When he raised his revolver and fired there was a surprisingly loud KA-BOOOOM, immediately followed by some pretty severe recoil.

At first, I though I had misidentified his revolver so I walked up to him and inquired as to exactly what he was shooting. It turned out to be just what I thought; an original blued steel Ruger Old Army revolver. When I asked what he was loading it with, he explained and demonstrated his loading procedure on the empty chamber he had just fired.

He started by dumping a "smidgen" of Hercules "Bullseye" (smokeless) powder from a can into the chamber then filled up the rest of the chamber with FFFg black powder. Before he could seat the ball on top of this combination*, I quickly went back to my car and got the Hell away from this nut.

* For those not familiar:

1. You NEVER put smokeless powder in a black powder firearm.

2. Hercules Bullseye is a very fast burning smokeless powder and very little is required to produce maximum chamber pressures in a firearm designed for smokeless powder. This makes it easy to accidentally double-charge a pistol cartridge, which will often severely damage the weapon.

3. You NEVER, EVER mix smokeless powder with black powder. It's like playing Russian Roulette.