Noise & etiquette - is it any wonder ! ( Rant mode on)

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Santa2512

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
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Just come back from a couple of straw bailers today, and i'm  not a happy chappie, so i'm going to have a little rant!

Noise

Now i know i can be a curmudgeonly old git, but it really does make me wonder whether some shooters actually give two figs about noise and its effects

Noise is as we know a contentious issue, and more often than not, local councils appear to take the side of the plaintiff, when a concern is raised .

However it would appear  from the last couple of straw bailers ive been too, that some people  dont give a toss, and if anything  want to make as much noise as possibe.

10:00 am  on the dot  - An opening salvo of a 21 cannon salute.

What is it?, why do people need to use 32g game loads for clays at best 20 /30 yards away??  and for the next hour and a

half you get a  cacophony of pops and cracks interspersed with the boom of the 32g load being used. Is it an apendage thing?  you know, big cartridge / gun to make up for small appendage? 

For the record i shoot 21g loads ;)

Prehaps if they stood in the car park with there ear defenders off, they might realise how loud they sound.

Now it may be the crack from the smaller loads is worse at greater distances, but if i lived near to a shoot, i know which

one would wake me up!

Etiquette,

As there dont appear to hard and fast rules governing etiquette, it never ceases to amaze me  the amount of people who 

just dont get what there actions convey to other people.

Closed guns out of the slip,

 Now i was tought that the correct way to handle an OU / SS gun, was to break it in the slip, and withdraw it that way. Likewise when you return a gun to the slip it should be broken, and closed in the slip.  Obvioulsy the exception to the rule is the semi auto, but that should be flagged etc when empty.

The amount of people ive seen recently who remove the gun unbroken like a semi auto , then when its out and moving

around will break it.. and on its  return insist on closing it to place it horizontally into the slip from the small end, so they

dont have to  open the slip more than they have to.  

Crowding,

Why do people insist on crowding round the stand when your trying to shoot. you can see perfectly well  5, 10, 20 yards

back, so why the need to look over my shoulder as im setting up the shot.  would you be happy if i stood that close to you

while your trying to have a pee??    And then they dont move when your trying to leave the stand.   ??  let me get out, and you can get in :)   simples

Alcohol

Possibly one of my biggest anti topics, what is it with people who come to a shoot and are swigging from a hip flask the whole way round.?  Yes it may be a social  / tradition thing, but driving a car under the influence is heavily restricted, due to the known risks,  So shouldnt common sense apply when your carrying a gun?. you may not be driving, but your in charge of a lethal weapon.   ( BTW i left the stand i was in line for when saw this. i came back later when the stand was empty)

I dont mind if you want a beer after the shoot, hell i'd prolly join you, but not when your actually shooting

Picking up cartridges.

Why do some people think that there above eveyone else, and steadfastly refuse to pick up there spent cartridges...

The amount of middle aged blokes who break the gun and just dump there spent cartridges on the deck,

FFS it takes all of two seconds to break the gun and remove the cases by hand before depositing them in the bin. 

I bet you'd soon kick off if people just dumped rubbish on your carpet when they came to visit you, rather than using a bin.

Horseplay

I didnt think people were that stupid, but they clearly are. I wont go into details, but I and my nipper who were shooting today both saw examples of it from a group of shooters.

Words fail me. the consequences just dont bear thinking about, 

And breathe :)

Yup some people may think i'm being a petty old git, but what does a few manners cost. 

:santa:

 
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That sums them up quite well.

And they have no idea they are doing it - I for one will have a word (sometimes a quite one)

I nearly got clouted around the head last year - Bloke came out of a stand threw his gun over his shoulder and promptly turned around, lucky i saw it coming and ducked.

Needless to say i was not impressed and told him so in no uncertain terms ( he was twice the size of me) but what the hell.

Yes it had the desired effect and he was quit apologetic. 

The list goes on!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
I agree with most of what you have written.

I don't believe 32grm shells make anymore noise than 28grm shells. Your choice to use 21grm.

And I see nothing wrong in removing the gun from the slip and then breaking it as long as the barrels are facing downward.

After all you see many guns in gun racks and the barrels are all facing skyward, taken from the rack and at some point broken.

Surely the closed gun in the slip, as you would suggest, is as dangerous, the presumption is being loaded.

Don't quite get why removing the gun from the slip,unbroken is unsafe.

Sounds like you never had very good day.

 
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I agree with most of what you have written.

I don't believe 32grm shells make anymore noise than 28grm shells. Your choice to use 21grm.

Sounds like you never had very good day.
I use 24g, it was a joke,

Didnt do too badly  missed some easy teal & driven, but did better on the crossers ...  

:santa: :)

 
You need more lead. The metal stuff not forward allowance.

What about shooters changing choke tubes on closed guns barrels facing skyward.

We are all supposed to be sensible certificate holders are we not.

How much more nannying do we need.

I personally have never seen a accident involving guns at clay shoots, nor do I want to see one.

Shooters more or less police each other on safety issues.

 
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This happened at a local straw bale event a few years.
 
The person in question had been drinking and had already been advised not to continue shooting apparently.
 
He chose to ignore this advice and the the photo's show the result. Thankfully he was pointing straight ahead, the consequences if he had turned round don't bear thinking about.
 
Said shooter had his gun forcibly taken from him and shown the exit with some pretty choice words. He was very apologetic but it's too late after the event.
 
It turned me from ever going to another.
 

 

 

 
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Is a straw bailer a shoot that's not considered cpsa registered, because I have been to some pretty sh** registered shoots that are far worse than some straw bailers.
Yes I should clarify. There is a "local shoot" near me which is very low key. A nice straw baler I suppose, but everybody there behaves pretty well, even the inexperienced, who are looked after by the more experienced. So, no, I don't mean anything unregistered.

The shoots I hate are the ones where most of the competitors have hardly been anywhere else, or have not shot any decent shoots ever, so just have no idea. Shared guns, people shooting with their feet a metre apart with the gun mounted on their arm, leaning over backward while their mates jeer loudly.

 
Not sure to be honest as I had just arrived at the stand and was putting my gear down when it all kicked off.

You would have though that action would have been taken a lot earlier if the drinking earlier story was true - I personally hadn't seen it so am not in a position to comment.

 
:fie:  Santa, just cos you are on a Zero hours contract and recieving social security top ups don't give us your sh**! :fie:  

 
I know where you have been Santa, I wont say on hear not fair on the sound couple who run this shoot. I agree with what your saying. Do what I do if annoyed by tossers, tell em straight. I have witnessed most of your rant, I now find people that i have given a bollicking in the past either avoid me or go out of there way to ensure they act correctly, when around me. We get one chance if we go wrong someone could die, it's that serious.

 
Naturally I have seen people taking a sip of sloe gin on a driven pheasant day. Only a sip, more a nod to tradition than a proper drink. But hip flasks and clay shooting don't mix at all. Shooting holes through fence panels is more than bad form, it's truly unspeakable.

Over the past year, at a local properly organised clay club (not a straw baler) I have seen:

Accidental discharge - the shooter in question was under instruction, not listening, and not obeying the instructor. Hole in ground. Hasn't been again.

Shooting (on purpose) clays from the neighbouring stand. This was accompanied by raucous cheering. This was a local RFD who is a bit of a "lad" and his chums thought it was a laugh. I didn't think so, nor did those shooting with me. This sort of thing can spoil a round. Not a formal event, just our weekly pottering around, but it soured the day.

Barging, loudmouthed horseplay. In a covered stand. In they come ( Mr "look at me what a character I am") from the previous paragraph. Barges shooter (who was holding loaded gun, ready to call "Pull"). General horseplay and fluffy rabbits. Huge amusement, but limited to the culprit and one other. Culprit's lady friend looking desperately embarrassed. This was outrageous. Horseplay and firearms are an even worse mix than alcohol and firearms. I was persuaded not to draw this to the attention of the club management, to my eternal regret. I will have nothingto do with the chap.

Friendly fluffy rabbits between established friends is fine, and is part of companionable activity. Many is the time we have called "must have been a ricochet off that tree" to a remarkably good (or lucky) shot, many is the time we josh each other over our good or (more likely)poor marksmanship. But there are limits which are easy to understand, and the line that shouldn't be crossed is plainly drawn.

I wish I had said something. Maybe we should all be more prepared to say something.

 
The shoots I hate are the ones where most of the competitors have hardly been anywhere else, or have not shot any decent shoots ever, so just have no idea. Shared guns...
Will, sorry for the dumb question, and it is just that, a question, but what's wrong with sharing a gun?

 
Will, sorry for the dumb question, and it is just that, a question, but what's wrong with sharing a gun?
Nothing as such, it's just the combination of sharing a gun amongst a group of obvious newbies with no one in charge and some haphazard loading and shooting. I always either walk on or if forced tend to stand close enough to be able to do something if one starts to turn around with the gun or something.

 
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I have found that those who have no idea on safe gun handling, which includes how to remove/replace a gun to and from a gunslip CORRECTLY, are normally the game shooting fraternity. If I see this on a game shoot, especially from my neighbouring guns, then I am on my guard. On the plus side, at least they are using a gunslip and not waving their guns around or slung over their shoulder. As for drink on a shooting ground, thankfully I have never had to deal with this other than whilst running the annual clay shoot for the local game shooting syndicate, but, they know me and the way that I run things so the drink remains with the BBQ until the shooting ends. Unless you notify the person responsible for the shoot of any wrongdoing, they can not really be held responsible. So, either speak up and offer advice at the time, or at least let a member of ground staff know of the problem.

 
Will, sorry for the dumb question, and it is just that, a question, but what's wrong with sharing a gun?
As Hamster says.. It also goes to show how chaotic the scenario is when four people think one gun will suit them all. I have seen two guys trying to shoot sportrap with a shared gun!

 
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