Funny story from the range.

[Obturation]

Hey all,
Hope everyone's feeling good.
Thought I'd share a quick story from the range .

I'll start by saying , my brain was slightly dysfunctional - I was concerned by my dwindling brass supply ... Then I realized most of my brass was tied up in loaded ammo- duhhhhh. Time to hit the range so I've got some brass to occupy my free time.

I lucked into a brick of large rifle primers and figured I'd focus on some fine tuning of my 45-70 loads. I've loaded 45-70 a few years and always just kind of settled with pretty good and never really spent the time to get the load exactly to my liking.

So off to the indoor range. One other lane occupied by a father and son , shooting some kind of puny who knows what modern cartridge . I gave the guy a heads up that it may get a little loud and boomy. His kid, a boy about 12 or so looked interested and the guy said "no problem". I fired a few rounds and noticed his kid peeking around the barrier. I let him take a look at the cartridges in my hi tech zip lock bag and I could tell he was used to seeing something significantly smaller. I offered to let either of them try it out (with trailboss loads) and it was an immediate "no way!".

The part that was funny to me was when one of my pieces of brass hit the floor and rolled in their direction . the kid grabbed that thing like it was treasure and stuck it in his pocket. I always police my brass and hate losing any but seeing this young fella so excited to get something he thought was cool felt good. I just smiled and kept on shooting.

Maybe there is a hope for the future generation .

That's all, not too great but worth sharing I thought.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

When I first started shooting, I was probably more fascinated by the variety of cartridge casings on the floor than the guns, lol.

Hope that lil fella continues with his fascination too.

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

That's what shooting and life should be all about, enjoying your time and helping others when you can.

 

[Barbaroja]

Sounds like about the best way to loose a piece of brass that I can think of.
I would have done just the same.

 

[JeffG]

Good stuff!

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Then I realized most of my brass was tied up in loaded ammo- duhhhhh. Time to hit the range so I've got some brass to occupy my free time.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who's done this before. lol

 

[Rex in OTZ]

The first and only time Id ever seen a 38-55 Winchester casing was walking to work 1989 Barrow AK along the edge the road by a boat slip, was a tarnishef cartridge casing with a small stub of stick and a seagull wing feather stuffed in the casing, it was just strange to see.
I left it where I found it.
Same with the .45 Win Mag casing and the live .256 Winchester cartridges at the Barrow gravel pit.
Strangest was the all brass 12 gauge 00 buckshot military round under a corncrib in Nebraska.

 

[22250Rem]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Once upon a time I was that kid picking up a big, to me, piece of brass. I can recall being young enough to think a .30-06 case was the biggest, baddest, dangerous game round there was. Back when I thought all rifle rounds were more along the lines of 22 Long Rifle ammo.

 

[Speedo66]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Once upon a time I was that kid picking up a big, to me, piece of brass. I can recall being young enough to think a .30-06 case was the biggest, baddest, dangerous game round there was. Back when I thought all rifle rounds were more along the lines of 22 Long Rifle ammo.

I’m still that way. lol

Earthshaking explosions two booths down from me at an indoor range. What the hell was that??
Guy was shooting a Desert Eagle in .50AE, and left his brass behind when he left. I picked up a couple and was amazed at the size difference between them and a .45acp. Still have ‘em.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I’ve given away a small fortune in .470 NE brass for similar situations.

 

[wiscoaster]

That's a cute story. Obviously you've given the kid a big early motivation to grow up to be a large caliber rifle shooter.

 

[Dale Alan]

Great story , you can just imagine the excitement the youngster felt grabbing that treasure . It would be interesting to hear how he tells the tale . Good stuff right there . Thanks for sharing .

 

[Sniper66]

Thanks for sharing the day. That kid is also getting to hang around with the guys at the range, which is a critical part of development and healthy psychological growth. (I'm a retired psychologist.). His memento that you allowed him to keep will stay with him. Small things can mean a lot.

 

[Dale Alan]

Small things can mean a lot.

You nailed it . I always say , small things add up to one big thing , so lets make the small things as positive as we can .

 

[Rex in OTZ]

Small things like .22 Hornet, .25/20 Winchester.
Strange things like .30 Remington and .303 Savage, .257 Roberts.
My last was 10mm live rounds spilled along the shoulder of a gravel road.
9mm are so tiny.

.32S&W starter pistol casing laying around after a track meet.
Had me wanting a boltaction single shot in that caliber for plinking.

Picking up spent shotgun casings different colors and sizes.
The 28 gauge and 10 gauge are two empty shotgun hulls that never get culled.

 

[bassjam]

Reminds me of my childhood. I had a display up above my closet door in my bedroom with all the empty brass/hulls from the different types of rounds I had shot.

 

[Archie]

I've still got an old box housing my "Odd Ball" cartridge collection. Mostly fired cases, but a few loaded rounds of 'odd' things I've found over the years. I knew or found out most of them. Sometimes someone would ask about some obsolete cartridge and I could show them. Tell them from where it came and the purpose.

Cut to Obturation's story. Good work. Easy way to make a friend and present a good image of yourself and your comrades. In other terms, great Public Relations.

 

[dcloco]

.......

The part that was funny to me was when one of my pieces of brass hit the floor and rolled in their direction . the kid grabbed that thing like it was treasure and stuck it in his pocket. I always police my brass and hate losing any but seeing this young fella so excited to get something he thought was cool felt good. I just smiled and kept on shooting.

Maybe there is a hope for the future generation .

That's all, not too great but worth sharing I thought.

YOU are responsible for paving the road for this young gentleman of his future. He will cherish that spent cartridge and, with a LITTLE luck, tell the story to his kids and grandkids.


Thank you - seriously. Not many of us have that opportunity.

 

[RainDodger]

Heh... Mr. Cynical here... that kid is probably well trained by his dad, to look cute and collect brass for his dad's hobby!

 

[lightman]

Thats a cool story! You made that kids day and hopefully he will remember it.

 

[Frostbite]

Lucky you, you went to a shooting range. Lucky kid, he met you there.

 

[Riomouse911]

I read your post and realized that kid was me.... about forty years ago.

My Dad took me shooting at the then-new public range in Carson City Nv. It’s out of town a bit sitting just above the Carson River, and we took his Marlin 39A Golden Mountie and his Colt Huntsman .22’s to plink with.

When we were done on the pistol range I saw a couple shooting a few big rifles on the 300 yard range. The guy was really nice and showed me his guns. I recall a Garand, another mil-surp (98k maybe?) and a couple of hunting rifles. He offered me a shot at with a bolt rifle that he picked up and fired, hitting his target about 250 yards out. I couldn’t resist the offer. I took the hefty rifle from him, sighted through the scope at the same target stand he had fired at.

The rifle was an Interarms Mark X... in .375 H&H.

My shot went a little high, I saw the dust poof up behind the target as it hit at the 300 yard berm. As I set the rifle back on the bench I noticed the skin under the four fingernails on my left hand had pulled away a bit leaving blood underneath the nails. (I guess my fingertips were held fast by the sharp checkering on the forearm as it recoiled.) I was thrilled, this was my first ever shot with a “magnum” rifle. The guy saw that in my face I guess, and he gave me the cartridge case he popped out of the action.

I still have the cartridge case I fired that day, a treasure from that nice, unnamed couple in Carson City.



I hope that little guy can share a similar story about meeting you someday.

Thanks for rekindling the memory for me.

Stay safe.

 

[Broccolis]

I have to share this with my range buddies.

 

[.38 Special]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who's done this before. lol

I just recently stumbled across a paper sack of sized and primed .357 brass I didn't know I had. Like an excited kid, I fired up the lead pot and cranked out a pile of semiwadcutters (I'm pretty sure I already have hundreds of them ready to go, but was very careful to not look for them) and then loaded them up in my slowest single stage press.

Now I'm thinking about having them framed. (Or maybe just pulling them down and starting over.)

 

[Steve Milbocker]

Great story and it also jogged my memory. We always scarfed up empty cases when my Grandpa,dad and uncles were shooting on the farm. We would carry them in old shell belts we were given to compliment our toy six shooters and rifles, especially my prized Daisy pop gun! Loved the smell of fresh fired paper Super X shot shells My favorite spent case was an all brass shot shell my grandfather painstakingly stacked with cardboard wads and folded the fingers back down on to mimic a loaded round. Thanks for the story and reminding me of a great childhood memory.