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A few years ago a small group of people asked me to teach them how to shoot. Some had novice experience with firearms and others had no experience. We met at the rock quarry off FR 70 near Green Lake. Before any rounds were fired I went over terminology, the rifles we were using that day (10/22 and an AR platform), and the Five Weapon Safety Rules. I then had each person recite back to me the rules before I took them one by one up to the line to shoot. There were two other shooters outside of our group and everyone was friendly and following basic range protocol.
After about half an hour the targets needed to be changed so we called for a cold range. I had my students step behind the vehicles and signaled to the other shooters. Once all weapons were down and the range cold a few people walked out to switch targets. I was stapling a new target to the board when I heard the whip-snap "Crack!" of a round going overhead. Having served in the Marines this is a sound I know well and immediately whipped around to look at the firing line. But nobody was on the line and all weapons were untouched! Almost immediately I heard another "Crack!" and realized the rounds were coming from downrange towards us! I ran back to the firing line and told everyone to stay low. As I got back to the line a third round "whistled" over my head which really got my blood going. I told everyone to stay low and jumped in my truck. I gunned it up the forest road to what would be the tree line at the top left of the rock quarry. When I came to the clearing I found a group of five or six people shooting into a low berm. I jumped out of my truck and immediately yelled "Cease Fire! Cease Fire!" as I waved my arms. They stopped shooting and looked at me like Sasquatch just walked out of the woods. I yelled at them for shooting in an unsafe area, said their rounds were going over our heads, and that if they wanted to shoot they should go down to the quarry. Silence. I jumped back in my truck and drove down to the quarry, told the students range day was over, and took them back into town.
I've seen a lot of dangerous stuff at the quarry but this one took the cake. I've since avoided it as much as possible.
I would like to share some lessons I've learned from shooting outdoors:
1. Much of the Pacific Northwest has thick brush and shrubs, you might not know what is 20 feet away.
2. There is no substitute for a solid backstop. A tall hill is great...make sure there are no trails or structures on the hill before you send lead down range.
3. Don't shoot across rivers and streams.
4. Don't shoot across roads.
5. Trees do not stop bullets. A .308 will pass right through a 20" Fir. Will a tree stop some rounds? Sure. Will it stop all of them? No. And as shooters we are responsible for ALL of our rounds.
6. Bullets ricochet so keep an eye out for rocks and boulders.
7. It takes a lot of dirt to stop a bullet. If your thoughts are: That would make a sweet bike jump" then it's probably not big enough. If your thoughts are: "frick, I don't want to climb up that" then it may be safe to shoot.
Let's all be responsible and thoughtful firearms users. It will give people a better impression and leave everyone a lot safer.
So let's not forget the Five Weapon Safety Rules:
1. Treat EVERY weapon as if it were loaded
2. Never point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
3. Keep your weapon on safe until you are ready to fire
4. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until you intend to fire
5. Know your target and what is BEYOND!
I'll end on what I told the shooters that day "There are no firearm accidents...only negligence"
Safe shooting everyone.
After about half an hour the targets needed to be changed so we called for a cold range. I had my students step behind the vehicles and signaled to the other shooters. Once all weapons were down and the range cold a few people walked out to switch targets. I was stapling a new target to the board when I heard the whip-snap "Crack!" of a round going overhead. Having served in the Marines this is a sound I know well and immediately whipped around to look at the firing line. But nobody was on the line and all weapons were untouched! Almost immediately I heard another "Crack!" and realized the rounds were coming from downrange towards us! I ran back to the firing line and told everyone to stay low. As I got back to the line a third round "whistled" over my head which really got my blood going. I told everyone to stay low and jumped in my truck. I gunned it up the forest road to what would be the tree line at the top left of the rock quarry. When I came to the clearing I found a group of five or six people shooting into a low berm. I jumped out of my truck and immediately yelled "Cease Fire! Cease Fire!" as I waved my arms. They stopped shooting and looked at me like Sasquatch just walked out of the woods. I yelled at them for shooting in an unsafe area, said their rounds were going over our heads, and that if they wanted to shoot they should go down to the quarry. Silence. I jumped back in my truck and drove down to the quarry, told the students range day was over, and took them back into town.
I've seen a lot of dangerous stuff at the quarry but this one took the cake. I've since avoided it as much as possible.
I would like to share some lessons I've learned from shooting outdoors:
1. Much of the Pacific Northwest has thick brush and shrubs, you might not know what is 20 feet away.
2. There is no substitute for a solid backstop. A tall hill is great...make sure there are no trails or structures on the hill before you send lead down range.
3. Don't shoot across rivers and streams.
4. Don't shoot across roads.
5. Trees do not stop bullets. A .308 will pass right through a 20" Fir. Will a tree stop some rounds? Sure. Will it stop all of them? No. And as shooters we are responsible for ALL of our rounds.
6. Bullets ricochet so keep an eye out for rocks and boulders.
7. It takes a lot of dirt to stop a bullet. If your thoughts are: That would make a sweet bike jump" then it's probably not big enough. If your thoughts are: "frick, I don't want to climb up that" then it may be safe to shoot.
Let's all be responsible and thoughtful firearms users. It will give people a better impression and leave everyone a lot safer.
So let's not forget the Five Weapon Safety Rules:
1. Treat EVERY weapon as if it were loaded
2. Never point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
3. Keep your weapon on safe until you are ready to fire
4. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until you intend to fire
5. Know your target and what is BEYOND!
I'll end on what I told the shooters that day "There are no firearm accidents...only negligence"
Safe shooting everyone.
![IMG_5728[1].jpg](https://data.northwestfirearms.com/attachments/452/452758-2bd9066cd63526f9b8e1dfeb5b9d969c.jpg "IMG_5728[1].jpg")
