I was just wondering if someone can explain why most public ranges do not allow people to shoot FMJ ammo out of their guns! I don't know if it is just something that is here in Tx. or if it is like that everywhere,but all of the local ranges that I have been to or know about do not allow it. I really hate to just shoot up my handloads that I have spent alot of time developing for each of my guns when I just want to go meet some friends at the range and shoot all day and I have tons of FMJ just waiting to go down range. THB
Liability. There is a belief (real or imagined, does not matter) that FMJ ammo is more likely to ricochet than a SP or HP. If using an earthen berm, a SP "may" be more likely to deform enough that it is unlikely to leave the range area. Same reason they do not allow rapid fire at most ranges. Aimed fire is more likely to impact the berm and stay put. Never mind if some doofus deliberately shoots over the berm or his sights are so far off he shoots over the berm. It;s all about liability and CYA. The range owner/operator has to try to rely on a good faith defense and show they exercised "normal" and reasonable precautions so the fault can be tied to the shooter, not the range management (and their deep pocket insurance company).
If the gun ranges don't use a dirt berm and have a backstop instead, it could be because FMJ might be more likely to penetrate it. If they do use a dirt berm, the policy doesn't make much sense, IMO.
I, also, would say it's a liability issue. I don't know much more than that cause I don't visit public ranges, I have plenty of space to shoot between my land and the huge field behind me and family's land. Although at the Knob Creek Range, the do allow FMJ's. Thier range is more than just an earthen berm though, they shoot into the side of a huge hill and own all the land surrounding the range.
Once a government android thinks something could, might, maybe, possibly happen, they have to have rules against it. One thought is that FMJs can ricochet off of a rock and spark, causing a wildfire to break out. It could happen, but it's not very likely. Just another example of government wasting it's time on imagined or unlikely threats and ignoring the important threats facing us.
Come to think of it, Knob Creek does forbide the use of tracers if the weather is dry. But that's a no-brainer. Other than that, I don't think they restrict ammo any further.
Yeah, like the evil "barrel shroud", "silencers" etc etc. The public range I go to now on't let us shoot anything thats not lead core (eg SS109). They check 5.56 with magnets when you check in (guess they wont take your word for it). They also check any .308 the same way. No tracer, no "rapid" fore (1 every 3 seconds, a bit over the top IMO but what the hell, it is safe I guess).
I have never experienced this issue before. The range I use is on conservation ground, and people (myself included) use FMJ all the time with their weapons as there isn't a rule in place that states otherwise. I wonder if the range I shoot at is truly one of those rare exceptions when it comes to FMJ ammunition.
The outdoor gun club I shoot at has no restrictions on ammo, save for two: no .50 BMG and nothing smaller than 9mm at steel targets. The indoor range I go to just doesn't allow steel ammo.
The liability issue is what I was thinking,but on several occassions I have asked the Range Master about FMJ ammo and have been told it was just the rules or it helps keep the gangbangers from coming to the range. That one made me laugh,and then I asked him why they sold FMJ ammo at the Range store,if the customers can't use it there and he didn't have any good answers for that question either.
The liability issue can be huge. I would imagine some of the rules are a result of the insurance carrier imposing their own rules as a condition of coverage. A range here in the Austin area experienced a nearly tragic incident a couple of years ago. A doofus, wanna be gangsta was shooting rapid fire with his AK and sent some rounds over the berm at the 100 yard line. About a mile away a pickup was driving down US 290. The truck caught a bullet in the windshield, through the rearview mirror, out the back window, hit the tailgate and fell out the slit between the bed and the bottom of the tail gate. Driver was narrowly missed but did catch some glass in the face (nothing major). I made the scene and started looking at the map and the range layout. found that the range was angled toward that spot on the road. By the time we got to the range, the dumba$$ had departed. That left the range owner holding the bag. He had no records of names of shooters to fall back on. At the time he did not have an employee actually standing watch to control the range. That range is no longer open.
Oh I know. The public range here in Ft.Worth has a 3/4" steel plate wall set up about 25yrds from the shooting line on the 100yrd range and it is about 6' above the ground and has all kinds of holes in it from idiots that don't have the common sense to own/shoot any type of firearm. Some are from 50BMG rounds,and that really makes you wonder"Why does someone bring a 50BMG to a 100yrd gun range,those people need IDIOT tatooed on their forehead for the whole world to see.
That's one think I like about Knob Creek, they don't restrict calibers either. Anything between .22 and .50 BMG is allowed and on some occassions (the big bi-annual machine gun shoot) they even bring in feild artillery and tanks. I once saw them shoot a 90mm howitzer at a car, it was on Mail Call with R. Lee Ermy.
