Well I will tell ya...

[sussexmuzllodr]

Shooting today at the SGL reserve I was surrounded by a crowd of Modern Shooters.
I had my Lyman flint That I shot..my favorite rocker.
Some Guys thought it was so cool...being the odd Guy there.
As usual I offered some of the younger Lads to touch it off.
They gladly accepted and behold huge smiles appeared after they shot it.
Will they gravitate to it? IDK
But for personal satisfaction it was better than hitting my marks today.
I stuck something in someones mind today.
Hey! Ya never know....

 

[Sidney Smith]

I actually stopped taking my muzzleloaders to the public range I used to go to before I joined a club. Mostly people were ok with me shooting there, but many others would get upset at the "stinky smoke", or when they'd get hit by particles from the lock side, even after I warned them ahead of time. So, I'd wait for the far left table (left handed flintlock), so thered be noone to get hit by particles. I'd still get the "oooo it stinks" comments. Had one guy come over in amazement that I was shooting at a target on the 100 yard boards. "I didn't think they'd go that far" was all he said to me. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and educated him as to how far a muzzleloader can fire, but he couldnt care less and was being sarcastic. I stopped shooting there for those and many other reasons(one being the place was getting overcrowded and unsafe). When I found the club I belong to, with its dedicated muzzeloader range, I never went back to the old place. Now you have to pay to shoot at this once public range. Matters not, as I'll never go back there.

 

[longcruise]

I belong to a modern arms type club and a ml club. I've been a member of the modern club since 1987. We have around 900 members. Muzzleloaders are not unusual there. Everything from inlines to flinters. Some members are curious about the ml guns and ask questions. I let them loose a ball or two if they seem very interested.

Nobody has ever complained about smoke or stink. It's a shame that you had to put up with that sense of entitlement from some of your members. Wonder how many of them ever considered how obnoxious their recoil reducers can be.

 

[wiscoaster]

....
They gladly accepted and behold huge smiles appeared after they shot it.
....

....

Nobody has ever complained about smoke or stink.

Those have also been my usual experiences, not as detailed in another post above.

 

[snakebit]

Takes all kinds. There will will always be at least one guy riding a high horse no matter where ya go.

@sussexmuzllodr , hats off for being a good ambassador.

@Sidney Smith, I'm glad you landed on your feet with a comfortable place to shoot.

I don't get mobbed too bad at my range unless I'm shooting one of my .32's, or one of the C&B revolvers. Then curiosity takes over for some.

 

[Pete G]

Tell them that the smoke keeps the bugs away.

 

[Collie]

Every time I go to the range I always get people who are curious about what I'm shooting and usually they're very excited to take me up on my offer to shoot whatever I brought. I've never had a bad experience with someone complaining about me shooting black powder. It's hard for me to imagine to be honest

 

[snakebit]

Every time I go to the range I always get people who are curious about what I'm shooting and usually they're very excited to take me up on my offer to shoot whatever I brought. I've never had a bad experience with someone complaining about me shooting black powder. It's hard for me to imagine to be honest

You're lucky. It's Usually the black rifle crowd, or the mega bucks custom rifle super expensive scope guys.

 

[JDBraddy]

You're lucky. It's Usually the black rifle crowd, or the mega bucks custom rifle super expensive scope guys.

Guess my experience is sorta reversed, I was a competitive benchrest/ F-class shooter, frustrated with restrictions and novices at public ranges. I had no interest in black powder guns at all, but found a black powder club and joined just to have access to their range. Went to one of their matches, bought a used CVA off the for-sale table, and couldn't get it to work. Took it to a gunsmith who told me it had two dry-balls and one hot load in the bore, and he had to pull the breech plug to clear it. Cost me more than the gun was worth. Shot it a few times and liked it, then shot a match and liked that. Wanted to try something nicer, so sold it and bought a Lyman GPR, then a T/C Hawken, then a P-53 musket, and a Pietta 1860 revolver, a flintlock. Bought books and looked here for advice how to get better. Even started knapping my own flints, Next thing I knew, I was skipping benchrest and F-class matches to shoot black-powder matches.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I tell them the smoke prevents Covid. I don't go to the public range much anyway. Too many Urban Warriors with the short barrels and muzzle brakes.

 

[wiscoaster]

.....Too many Urban Warriors with the short barrels and muzzle brakes.

Tit for tat. They irritate me with the hot gas venting sideways from their short barrels, and I irritate them by obscuring their vision with my black powder smoke. All part of the fun at a public range.

 

[springfield art]

I actually stopped taking my muzzleloaders to the public range I used to go to before I joined a club. Mostly people were ok with me shooting there, but many others would get upset at the "stinky smoke", or when they'd get hit by particles from the lock side, even after I warned them ahead of time. So, I'd wait for the far left table (left handed flintlock), so thered be noone to get hit by particles. I'd still get the "oooo it stinks" comments. Had one guy come over in amazement that I was shooting at a target on the 100 yard boards. "I didn't think they'd go that far" was all he said to me. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and educated him as to how far a muzzleloader can fire, but he couldnt care less and was being sarcastic. I stopped shooting there for those and many other reasons(one being the place was getting overcrowded and unsafe). When I found the club I belong to, with its dedicated muzzeloader range, I never went back to the old place. Now you have to pay to shoot at this once public range. Matters not, as I'll never go back there.

Fortunately, my local range has a dedicated BP range. There are some drawbacks, like you can only load one cylinder at a time with a revolver unless there's a RO present. But on this BP range, they have a table dedicated to rifled slug (deer) shotgun sighting in, and you can shoot out to frames at 25-50-75 yds. Smoothbore muskets are OK, unlike under a prior mgmt. (I guess the old mgmt. thought the ball would go in big swooping circles like a Roadrunner cartoon.) This is a reasonably priced range that requires membership and orientation, not an open area where "the public" can drive in and bang away. I am indeed lucky.

 

[nkbj]

Shooting an accurate muzzleloader at a public range can be a real hoot during the annual flinch thwarted sighting in of the scoped deer rifles as they keep looking over at your target. The old Dixie Gun Works fifty with its 43" barrel and 90 grains of FFg was always good at that.

 

[springfield art]

Shooting an accurate muzzleloader at a public range can be a real hoot during the annual flinch thwarted sighting in of the scoped deer rifles as they keep looking over at your target. The old Dixie Gun Works fifty with its 43" barrel and 90 grains of FFg was always good at that.

I am so happy to have a range that keeps the high-power and black powder separated. The only small hitch it when going to post targets, you need to co-ordinate the two.

 

[westrayer]

I hate going to the club range and dealing with the Nija-Warrior Wanna-Be, black rifle shooters. I just shoot from the down-wind benches. I often get funny looks when I break out my 1880 TD carbine or my Sharps conversion carbine in 50-70. I actually had a guy tell me I couldn't shoot the Sharps because they don't allow 50 BMG. I told him to report me. You can't fix stupid!

 

[JDBraddy]

You're lucky. It's Usually the black rifle crowd, or the mega bucks custom rifle super expensive scope guys.

Yea, nothing like going to a public range, and sitting next to the guy trying to sight in an AK with $30 red dot at 300yd. and boucing steel case brass, off your $$$$ custom rifle and March scope, all the while complaining about rich a**-holes with "pretty -guns".

 

[Colonial Boy]

Our range, which is Government owned but is in the hands of a Committee made up from the various clubs that use it, is mainly modern but after the modern matches at the pistol club we have an hour or so to shoot black powder pistols and once a month we have a Centre fire Rifle day, which is actually for any rifle or gun and gets a good black powder turn out. We’re working on a dedicated bp day.

Also the range can be used on weekdays provided that there are at least two licensed shooters, this is for safety reasons.

Did something wrong there, sorry Collie

 

[kyron4]

I have to chase the chickens off the range every now and then and the ducks laugh at me when I pull a shot, but the RO is an old blind farm dog so he doesn't give me to much grief.

Never shot at public range with other people around. Use to have a membership to a range and I'd go in the mornings on weekdays and always had the range to myself.

 

[Banjoman]

I’m fortunate that I can shoot on a public range early in the week and usually never seen anybody. A few weeks ago I was there shooting the Fusil when a couple of women came up behind me. Kinda startled me at first but turns out they were just picking up empty brass for crafts.

Anyway, the first woman the first introduced herself and said “I told my friend that was a flintlock, I could tell by the sound.” She then asked “is that a .62 caliber Fusil de Chasse?” I said “close, it’s .60 caliber “. She apologized for interrupting me and they went on about their business.

 

[tenngun]

I’ve always had good experiences at public ranges