Crap!
January 25, 2005
|
Posted by Aubrey Turner
It looks like I’m going to have to find a new shooting range for a while.
A fire in the gun range at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World caused about $125,000 worth of damage over the weekend, but no injuries were reported, a fire official said Tuesday.
The store’s sprinkler system extinguished the flames before firefighters arrived, said Grapevine fire investigator Roger Stewart.
A Grapevine man using a black powder pistol accidentally ignited the blaze about 6 p.m. Saturday at the store, 2501 Bass Pro Drive.
“Generally, black powder is not allowed on the range, but an employee allowed the man to use it,” Stewart said.
The man was firing the weapon when burning material fell from the pistol and rolled off the range, igniting the fire, according to fire reports.
The blaze destroyed shooting equipment, the range and several aisles, Stewart said.
As I noted in Cinomed’s post, I’ve been afraid of something like this for a while. Lots of unburned powder accumulates on the floors in that range, which I would always notice when sweeping up my brass. They had the same thing happen in the rifle tube a couple of years ago.
Update: Sources tell me that the black powder shooter in question finagled his way into the range by telling the range officer that he was only going to test some percussion caps since they had supposedly sold him the wrong ones before and he wanted to make sure these new caps were the right ones. Once inside he lit off a full charge instead of just using the caps as promised. I sure hope he’s happy that he got to shoot his precious black powder pistol on the range by talking his way around the rules, since now the rest of us have to suffer for his “victory.”
Categories: Guns
Unless you’re pretty far west you should try DFW range. Cheaper, good lighting, clean and nice peeps. BPS seems a bit pricy
The problem with DFW Gun Range is getting over there. I’m in Keller, so it’s a major pain in the hind parts to deal with the Dallas traffic (not to mention the fact that it’s about an hour away).
I suppose I can go back to Quail Creek. They’re an outdoor range and are only open during daylight hours, so I’d probably have to go on a Saturday or Sunday instead of during the week.
You might want to check out the Winchester Gallery. It’s pretty small, but pretty nice. A lot closer to us than DFW range. I only been once on a Sunday morning and they were not too busy, though the guy said they can be real busy about the same time some Sundays.
http://www.winchestergallery.com/
Warning that page don’t play well with FireFox, had to open in IE *spit*
I’ve been to Quail Creek twice recently. Weather was nice and always a wide variety of interesting firearms being used by fellow shooters. Have tried their guns and they’ve tried mine. *Interesting* conversation with a jewelry wholesaler bodyguard from Dallas last fall.
Shortest pistol distance is 15 yards-nice to shoot closer in an indoor range sometimes
Roanoke gun range in planning stages? Know anymore about that?
