Shooting range etiquette: Picking up brass

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jpruitt

jpruitt

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At a public shooting range (in a gun store, for example), is it expected that you pick up your empty shells? Assuming you are not interested in reloading, I would think cleaning the floors would be a job for a store employee.
 
i think it varies by location.

if there's a broom around, i will sweep brass i don't want (such as the person who used the lane before me) forward of the line just because i don't like stepping on brass on concrete. but i would let store employees pick it up (they're selling it for $ so they can do the work)

but i pick up my own because i reload.
 
taliv said:
i think it varies by location.
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^^^This most of the time. Most ranges post their rules. If it's not posted, ask. They will know their etiquette and rules better than strangers on the internet.
 
I think you have to consider two things: 1) what the range requires; and 2) what the range allows. Some ranges require shooters to clean up after themselves to a degree, either picking up brass and disposing of it or sweeping it into an area where people will not step on it and maybe slip or fall; other ranges don't care if you leave your brass. Some ranges allow hand loaders to crawl around and pick up their brass; other ranges might not allow it or they may call it theirs once it hits the ground.

You simply have to find out what the range allows and what is required.

Lou
 
My range has Range Safety personnel on the range. They keep things clean on the floor in the booth. I tell them that I reload and will pick up my brass when I leave. They acknowledge that and away I go. This is the policy of the range, tell the RS if you want your brass or leave it and they sweep it up.
 
Strangely enough, the range where I (used to) frequent, prohibits picking up brass. They do a lot of introductions to non gun owners (who often like to take souvenirs) and also collect and sell it themselves, but the policy has caused a few incidents over the years.

It's not once or twice I've had to explain to an overzealous supervisor that I have a permission from the owner to collect my own brass and as long as their range store doesn't carry 10mm, .357Maximum, .41Mag and a few other rare/oddball calibers in abundant quantities, I most definitely will pick up my brass myself.
 
I'd sweep up unless you're told not to.

It's just courteous to the next person who walks in, so they don't slip on some brass laying around.

I'm not a big fan of some place that gets all possessive over brass I just fired in their range...they charge me to use the range, they can at least allow me to collect my own brass to reload with and return to their range to shoot it. Would be stupid in my mind for a business to cost themselves future income just so they can make a few cents on used brass. That said, if some clown was emptying the brass bucket...well obviously there are boundaries that should be established.
 
The title of the thread kind of says it for you. "etiquette" It's like cleaning the trash off your table at McDonalds. It just the decent thing to do.
 
No etiquette involved at all the outdoor Forest Service ranges I frequent. Signs all over telling you to police your brass, targets, clothespins, etc..
 
Blue Thunder said:
My range has Range Safety personnel on the range. They keep things clean on the floor in the booth. I tell them that I reload and will pick up my brass when I leave. They acknowledge that and away I go. This is the policy of the range, tell the RS if you want your brass or leave it and they sweep it up.
Click to expand...
I don't think I could stand being a member at a range with range officers/safety officers. It's like saying members can't be trusted by themselves (some can't but that's not the point). I sure don't plan on explaining to others what I am or aren't doing (going to pick up brass, etc). My private range we all just have at it and never have any issues, don't need to pay someone to stand there and point out the obvious of not sweeping someone or shooting when others are down range. :)

We generally police our brass after a shooting session, if it's brass I might sweep it to one side for the next reloader to come along. Otherwise it goes in the trash.
 
I pick up all my brass. I won't go to a range where they wont allow it. if shooters next to me on either side are shooting brass that I want.. and I notice that they DON't pick it up or reload, then I will ask for it and (if they consent) studiously clean up their brass.
 
At my local range I always pick up the brass that fall near me, but I won't go after any that's around other people. I think crawling around somebody is rude. I don't like, though, the busy bodies who make a point of raking all around me, coming into my lane, that is very rude. Basically, I say clean up your own trash and don't bother others.
Mauserguy
 
The only thing I have a problem with at my range is that if your neighbor puts your brass in the bucket you will loose your membership going into the bucket.

Mike
 
Varies wildly. Most indoor ranges I have shot at won't allow you to pickup brass that has hit the floor, but anything on the counter is fair game. Some reload the brass expended, some recycle it. The reasoning behind why they don't allow pickup is just as varied. One range told me they didn't want people wandering into the firing line to chase after brass for reloading. The thought is in the right place, but I have never seen anyone step in front of a hot firing line to chase a case. Another range straight up told me it is so the store can reload it and sell it. Even if there are no signs posted about store policy about pick ups, if you see a large push broom that is probably a clue.
 
I shoot at three different ranges. One is help yourself to anything on the ground that the shooter doesn’t want. Another one is “Please police your brass” and take it with you or put it into the bucket. The last one is you can collect your own brass, but any other brass is considered theft. Like I’m really going to stand there and separate MY 9mm and 45acp brass from the hundreds of 9mm, 40 S&W and 45acp that were on the floor when I got there. It’s become a revolver only range for me. And it also has the highest fees.
 
I always run a red sharpie across the base of all my automatic pistol brass. I WILL go home with all my brass. I admit I scrounge brass, I found out when the local PD qualified at the indoor range I frequented, and made it a point to shoot after they were done, scrounged 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of once fired .38spl back in the '70s, still have a few cases :D
 
At my range, you are expected to police your brass and everything else you bring in. If you want your brass you keep it. If you don't want it, you throw it in the brass bucket (well behind the firing line.) Anyone looking for brass, either for reloading or scrap, is welcome to sort through the bucket and take what they want.

Very simple, works well. The firing line is always clean and the brass bucket is usually empty.

Tinpig
 
Indoor ranges? No. In fact, they want the cases, to be sold as scrap, or possibly for later reloading, although I think this would open them up for liability. You can pick up any of your brass that landed on the floor behind you. Not in front of the firing bench, obviously. I have heard that some don't allow you to pick your cases up. I would not patronize such a range just on general principles.
 
At my club range each person is required to clean up their brass and other debris and if you don't they will know because you are on camra. this system works well and also enforces safety rules. Some violations have been addresed in the last year the cameras have been in use.
 
Our range has a rule that you police your brass, as all of our shooting benches are on concrete slabs. Even at the rimfire range its on a slab.
The club provides brooms and buckets for brass to go in.

What I like is that the reloaders are free to pick through the brass buckets. :)
Don't find something every time, but I've lucked into several good scores. Once I found two full boxes of Winchester .30-06 brass.
 
One of the ranges I was a member at had a rule of clean up after yourself. They had a brass bucket that would get emptied on a weekly basis by the reloaders picking through it. The other range was a different story. They "suggested" that all brass be put in the brass bucket, and not to pick any loose brass up. They are also much more expensive than anyone else in the area, and they have NO sound-proofing material on the wall. I have walked out of there with a headache due to the noise even after plugs and muffs.

I have seen a "if it hits the floor its ours" range one time, and I left them a pile of .22 long rifle brass. I did not take my .45 out of the case as I was limited on brass and did not want to loose it.

I would look around and do what the romans do. Such as sweep up after myself for sure, police brass if allowed, and leave the place a little cleaner than I found it.
 
New range by me has shooters standing on metal grates. Brass falls through into collection pits. No sweeping, no collecting, no one else walking around behind you collecting your brass and distracting you.
 
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