Range etiquette question: Flying Brass

[Ringer]

I have been shooting at an indoor range more often lately since there is now one right down the street from my office. Occasionally (like once every 3 or 4 trips) I have brass flying over the wall from the shooter on my left and bouncing off my head, arms, hands etc. IIRC most often it is .40 caliber, maybe that is just coincidence. I find this to be annoying and it makes it difficult to concentrate on my shooting. If it continues I usually just ask to be moved to a different lane which is not really a problem during the non-busy times. It has made me more aware of where my brass is going when I’m shooting an autoloader. I'm wondering, are most people aware this is happening and is there anything they can do to prevent it? Or is this to be expected and I'm just whining?

 

[spacemanspiff]

yes you are whining, yes its expected, but you can do something about it. always go for the lane farthest on the left.
i usually dont mind other shooters brass pegging me, but if its .45acp, then it gets a bit more painful. but if its my brass hitting others, i do try to note where the brass is hitting and see if i can reposition myself in the lane so that it wont hit the person directly. i will also apologize to them about it, so they know i'm not being a jerk who doesnt care about my brass distracting them.

i did see one guy who had a brass catcher setup on the lane to his right, some nifty contraption with a net so he didnt have to hunt for his brass.

 

[Jmurman]

My brass flies over the partition and to my right. I have found it on the next stalls deck lid. I shoot a Kimber Pro Carry .45

I am requesting a far right stall so my brass will hit the wall and I can just pick it up.

 

[Bowlcut]

What about when it comes back and hits you on the glasses and burns your eyebrow....ouch

But at the next cease fire Id see if the person if friendly. Talk to him/her a bit see what they are shooting and stuff. Then casualy mention the brass is slinging over the divider. If they take note say "hey could you shift a hair this way or that" Maybe they need to move forward a hair or maybe to the left. If they dont seem too friendly, ask if you can move. Or maybe duck closer to the wall and practice some cover drills

 

[Monkeyleg]

I shoot outdoors, and our range has wood and screen brass catchers, which most people use. Occasionally, though, there will be some inconsiderate shooter who's not concerned about where his brass goes. Being pelted with brass constantly is an irritation.

 

[gudel]

the indoor range i went to had partition up to the ceiling. the outdoor range i went to did not have any partition whatsoever, and i didn't get hit by brass either from a guy standing 6feet away.

you are just whining.

 

[landon74]

When shooting my AR-15 at the local outdoor range, I'll try and get the lane on the far right end so I don't pelt anyone with my brass. If I can't do that then I typically position my hardcase to deflect the brass, and shoot off the bench.

On the pistol range they've got netting in a frame to catch your empties and deposit them in a coffee can, which works 90% of the time, which is pretty handy.

 

[Greg L]

Whining

Think of it as training to shoot straight while dealing with distractions.

Greg

 

[general]

I was at the range Sunday and after a while a guy came up and took the station next to me. One of mine (.45) went in thru the top of his safety glasses and stuck there between the glasses and his cheek. He got a little discoloration/burn there. I was embarassed and we both laughed a bit - I shifted so my ejects went behind him and viola! no more problems. We wound up having a good conversation about a variety of topics. Nice guy. It's all about common courtesy... occasionally my .45 will launch a spent one about 12 or 15 feet over my right shoulder. Have no clue as to why.

 

[AnklePocket]

It's awesome when hot brass goes down someone's shirt (not to mention good training).

 

[robear]

I always wear a hat when shooting, even indoors.. It helps keeps the brass from getting lodged between my glasses and eyeball!!

-R

 

[Ringer]

Thanks for the comments, figured I would get a mix.

Seems they could assign every other lane when not busy to help reduce this annoyance but they like to keep us huddled together. I'm guessing that is for easier cleanup, if so it doesn't appear to work. Anyway NO more whining. Unless I'm really getting pelted I'll go with:

"Think of it as training to shoot straight while dealing with distractions"

Hmmm, now I feel like going to the range for some training.

 

[cool45auto]

When I go to the outdoor range I try to get to the bench on the far left. It has a nice thick wall beside it and you don't have to worry about hitting anyone. If someone's there already I'll go a few benches down so it's flying toward the empty bench. I don't like it happening to me and I try not to do it to others.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

I had a situation where I was being pelted with the brass of the guy that started shooting next to me. It keep hitting me making it impossible for me to shoot so I asked the range master for help moving to another booth. Nothing worked so he asked the guy to switch with me. Problem solved. Now whenever I go I take the one at the extreme left or right and go at a time when it's not crowded so I can move if necessary.

 

[Kharn]

Ringer:
Next time you venture a few states South of your location, pick up a 10gallon hat, that should catch all the brass coming over the wall. You might have to empty it a couple times per range session to prevent the brim from being unbalanced, but that should only take a second or two.

Dont forget your cowboy boots, spurs and Single Action Army.

Kharn

 

[coonan357]

feel lucky I am not in the booth next to you as the coonans 357 shells are mighty hot when they come over the wall , I often ask for the last booth to the right to prevent this from happening but I keep on getting pelted by my own brass .. now that is annoying .. and if you get into a defensive tactic are you going to complain to your partner about the brass from tryiong to save your 6 pelting you ?? I say use it as good training exercise ....

 

[Kenneth Lew]

Forget about flying brass! People complain about me being too noisy at the gun range. :banghead:

 

[jsalcedo]

When I shoot one of my Semi autos they tend to fling brass (or steel in my case) far and often. It hurts like heck when a wolf 7.62x39 comes flying from 15 feet away and bonks you on top of the head.

Every 5 stations has a deflector screen and I try to use those.
If I can't I try to time my shots or apologize a lot

 

[benEzra]

Whenever I shoot my mini-14 Ranch, I always take the far right shooting position. The Ranch version of the mini is famous for shooting in two directions at once (12:00 and 4:00), and it throws brass so far I have actually had to shift position to keep from hitting my CAR with the brass.

 

[happy old sailor]

in the case of the 1911, the angle and direction of ejecting brass can be changed by reworking the face of the ejector. slowly and carefully of course. bring a very fine toothed file and mucho patience. also good for not dinging up the brass on the way out of the ejection port. if you have shot much pool, the geometry of this will be easily understood. you may want to have a spare ejector on hand in the event the filing goes too far. a thorugh cleaning afterwards is a given.

 

[blades67]

Just think of it as free training. If you can make your shot while hot brass is raining down on your head, then nothing will distract you at the moment of truth.

 

[Tamara]

Flying brass is just one of those things that goes along with shooting at the range, kind of like loud noises. If you don't like loud noises or flying brass, the best way to avoid them would be to not go shooting.

 

[BamBam-31]

I think it's common courtesy to reposition yourself if you notice that your brass is pelting someone. Yesterday, some guy fired his .22 pistol standing, and the brass hit me in the collar. When I shook it off, he glanced over, smirked, and kept firing away in the same position.

After he left, another guy came up with a Mini, and one of his casings hit me in the face. The guy seemed embarassed, and I laughed it off. He immediately went to ask for a cardboard partition to set up at his table. During the line break, I went over and thanked him for it.

Common courtesy, like common sense, is sometimes an oxymoron.

 

[Sactown]

I use this to keep the brass in it's place. http://www.cm-machine.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=6006|6007&PRID=97882

 

[mummac]

I have a Mini-14 Ranch rifle as well. I always take the far right lane. If someone is already there, I will ask them to switch with me. Most people would rather move than be pegged with hot brass.

I took my girlfriend to the range a couple of weeks ago. While I was instructing her on how to shoot a rifle, this guy walks up to the line just to the left of us and empties a 30rd clip on his SAR-1 as fast as he can pull the trigger. There was no warning at all from the guy. He didn't even take off his backpack/range bag first. All thirty cases hit my girlfriend in the back of the head and back. She was startled and didn't want to shoot after that. I calmed her down and she still shot, but she was feeling uneasy for the rest of the day. While I'm not going to complain about getting hit by brass, I think a person should use common courtesy. Sure it's part of going to the range, but as with other places in life we should try to be mindful of how our actions affect others.

Funny story: At an indoor range I go to there are only two lanes for rifles in a seperate room. I was shooting the Mini-14 in there and the brass was bouncing around off the walls behind me. Well, apperantly I needed to tighten my belt because as I was leaning forward on the bench a hot case bounced around behind me and fell down the back of my pants. I jumped around like Yosamite Sam. Fortunately no one else was in the room.