Guns to avoid standing downwind of at the Range

[LoneStarWings]

I'm a novice shooter, and today I went to a new range for the first time. This particular one was an outdoor range with about 60 pistol positions and no partitions seperating each positon. Today it was quite crowded so I had to wait and took the first spot that opened up. It was also very windy, with about a 20 mph north wind gusting to 30 mph blowing just about straight paralell with the firing line.

The guy to my left, and upwind was shooting some sort of revolver that billowed a pretty thick cloud of black smoke every time he fired it.....I could feel the particles going up my nose if I forgot to turn my head before the cloud got to me.

My questions:

Are most revolvers like this, or is it only certain brands/calibers/ammunition?

Are there major health concerns with this happening, even if it's very occasional?

Could the clouds be caused by dirty weapons, as the revolvers looked pretty grimy?

I don't mean to be a range snob, they have every right to be there as I do and I'd avoid shooting on saturdays or buy my own land if it really bothered me that much. I'm sure my semi-auto spraying brass on everywhere is just as annoying to others as that guy was to me.

Thanks for the answers.

 

[ATW525]

Sounds like black powder.

 

[jnyork]

black powder smoke is white.

 

[highlander 5]

Black powder smoke is white and has the distinct odor of sulfur.
If it's black smoke I have no idea what he's firing.

 

[HK G3]

I've noticed Wolf ammo will produce puffs of black smoke rather than the usual mini-fireball out of my .45, but it's hardly a thick cloud of smoke by any means.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

If the indoor range fans are not running, I find myself standing stationary on the line inside a cloud of fumes from the shot.

 

[Hans Esker]

Just guessing, but sounds like burning plastic to me.

 

[rbernie]

Sounds like the dude upwind was shooting cast bullets - that's likely the lube smoke you were seein'. I don't think that it's particularly harmful, but I try to avoid inhaling it just the same.

 

[Gamera]

Next time you visit the range you could bring along one of those cheap painter's masks, just in case.

 

[MaterDei]

I like the smell of gunpowder so don't mind standing downwind of any gun. Some shooters though...

 

[grumpycoconut]

I used to reload a bit of .38 and I always loved using alliant Bullseye because it was so stinky and smoky for smokeless powder.

 

[Huddog]

I've never noticed smoke that much even indoors so long as the fans are running. What I really have a hard time with is the people who stand so they can extend their automatics past the partition so the brass won't bounce off the particition back at them but flies into my shooting area. At least I learn to concentrate while distracted.

 

[wyocarp]

Funny, I find a lot of partitions aren't high enough and brass goes over the top and into the next shooting area.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

Hm. Alot slots in the range I shoot at has brass bouncing off the walls and across your FOV at times.

Tink! Pistol brass...

THONK! Shottie Brass....

KLING!... Rifle brass...

Ah ****!!! Not good....

 

[rbernie]

I used to reload a bit of .38 and I always loved using alliant Bullseye because it was so stinky and smoky for smokeless powder.

My pet 9mm load uses a cast 125gr bullet over 4gr of Unique powder. It's VERY smoky, and I try pretty hard to be conscious of where my smoke cloud goes.

 

[WardenWolf]

Unless your range has screens to protect shooters from ejecting shells, I strongly recommend against standing to the right of an AR-15 or AK-47. AK's aren't usually bad (they often eject forward or rearward), but AR-15's almost always eject directly to the side.

You don't want to be downwind of a PSL (looks like a Dragunov) firing 7.62x54R, though. Big BOOM and a cloud of smoke, the dispersal of which is helped by the muzzle brake. Funny stuff. The same goes for a Mosin Nagant.

 

[HK G3]

Along with AK-47s and AR-15s, you don't want to standing to the right of an HK 91 that doesn't have a port buffer. It really ejects the casings with authority.

I think the 91 has just about every semi auto beat when it comes to tossing/beating up brass.