Watch your brass

[Slinger]

Took my wife to an outdoor range run by the DNR this past weekend. It is a small two lane range with earthen berms on three sides and railroad ties buried upright to staple your targets to. We were the only ones there for a little while and were joined by a gent with a lever action rifle and a .22 pistol. My wife and I were practicing with my 3 auto loading pistols taking turns with the gent with the rifle. A while later two "good ol' boys showed up with their AK-47 and set up on the picnic table next to ours. As we were loading magazines up on the table one of them unloads a 30 round mag ( rapid fire) at a target down range and showers my wife with at least half a dozen hot shell casings on her head, face and shoulders. Needless to say this put her in a foul mood, so we packed up to leave.

I know most of us are courteous to others when we go to the range, but there are allways a few that don't give a damn about whats going on around them.

 

[Mr_Moore]

Very rude. Did they apologize?

 

[Lupinus]

moronicus idioticus, a species who's reproductive habbit's are growing

 

[Slinger]

There was no appology as they didn't even act like they knew what they were doing, even though she was saying ouch each time she was hit.

 

[birdv]

I try not to go to public ranges, but if I do I always go to the far left.
I have only had that happen once and one went down my shirt and another got in my shoe.

Hot brass will make you dance.

 

[Pilgrim]

When I shoot semi-auto rifles at the range, I try to get to the extreme right hand firing positions for just that reason.

Pilgrim

 

[chickenfried]

I dunnho I think complaining about hot brass from a bench neighbor ranks right up there with complaining about guns making loud noises.

 

[Justin]

Walter Mitty was practicing for when the zombie puma bears attack. You can't expect him to be courteous about spraying a little brass when practicing for such dire circumstances!

 

[Keaner]

Gah, I am actually quite guilty of this

I shoot my M1 at a range, that even though it has dividers, they aren't nearly large enough. I attempt to take the rightmost stall, but when I cannot, and I cannot place a row between us, I sometimes will hit the person.

My M1 has a habit of ejecting "curveballs", where it'll go out straight, and curve back into the stall beside me! Sometimes, it goes high enough to clear the wall, so I sometimes do get it into the nearby stall.

 

[Cacique500]

I dunnho I think complaining about hot brass from a bench neighbor ranks right up there with complaining about guns making loud noises.

It's one thing to be hit by an occasional shell...that's expected. I think it's something altogether different when you get sprayed by some idiot rapid firing in a small area like that.

If I rapid fire with my AK or AR I always check to my right and give fair warning...fortunately my range is big enough that we are usually well spaced out anyway.

Hopefully Slinger this won't discourage your wife from going again...

 

[Lupinus]

Accident's happen. If I get hit with a hot brass Im not going to say anything unless it get's me someplace serious. Two and I will say excuse me, not rude, just excuse me so they know where it is going. Three and I will say watch your brass. He ignore's me and there's a fourth...well I will figure it out from there but two nice thing's said is enough for someone to know where their brass is going.

 

[Kurush]

Did you let him know he was causing a problem? If he didn't have electronic earmuffs he might not have heard your wife. I think everyone who shoots a semiauto has done this at some point, especially when firing an unfamiliar gun.

Heck one time I shot my CZ52 I couldn't find even one casing afterwards, all I could figure was they must have been thrown over 20 feet and landed on top of the berm.

 

[pax]

I dunnho I think complaining about hot brass from a bench neighbor ranks right up there with complaining about guns making loud noises.

Well ... yes, mostly.

The only exception would be if there were room for the other guy to have set up far away, and instead he set up right next to you.

Slinger, did you & your wife have shooting glasses with sideshields, brimmed hats, and shirts that weren't open at the collar? If so, brass could be nothing but a nuisance. If not, y'all need to be more careful. Eyeballs only come two to a customer.

pax

 

[oneshooter]

Garand brass showers

Keaner,
The M1 Garand extractor/ejector system can be "tuned" to put the brass where you want them. My Nat Match M1 will pile the brass 2'to my left and 1' behind the action.

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

 

[Missashot]

Well, Never thought about that. Guess I've been guilty of "Brassing" people. I will have to make it a point to try to watch out for that from now on.
On the flip side though, I have been hit more than once, just didn't give it too much thought.
Lucky for me I don't guess I have upset anyone or gotten upset myself. Just something for me to watch for from now on.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Our range has wooden boxes with screening on them, otherwise known as "brass catchers."

Polite people use them.

 

[TexasRifleman]

You should be complaining to the range to fix the problem really. Guns spew brass.

Should I stop shooting my AR if someone else is at the range with me?

Yes, the guys could have been somewhat nicer about it, but I'd direct my anger at a range that doesn't provide enough separation between shooters, or doesnt provide a barrier between shooters.

 

[DelayedReaction]

I'm 6'9" and have rather long arms, so the dividers at my pistol range aren't typically enough to prevent people from getting showered with my brass. Fortunately I have a 1911 so I don't dump out too much at once (slow fire, small mags, good times), but I still do my best to keep an eye on the wee folks beside me.

That, and I'm also buying a 686 sometime soon. Should eliminate my problems right then and there.

 

[Dionysusigma]

Once, after 30 rounds through my AK, I noticed that the guy who had been ~20' to my right was standing beside me. When I asked if I could help him, he smiled and asked me if he should go and get an umbrella.

I apologized and, as "revenge," let him empty one of my 40-rounders as I stood off to the side. When finished, he sighed and said that he would have to get one now. I still don't know to this day if he ever quit smiling.

 

[chris in va]

I would've looked at the trajectory of my own brass, maneuvered to their left and rattled off a couple mags.

Inconsiderate git 'er dun types piss me off. BTW, you leaving is exactly what they were trying to achieve.

 

[KriegHund]

There was no appology as they didn't even act like they knew what they were doing, even though she was saying ouch each time she was hit.

Shooting a gun rapidly is going to overcome an "ouch" on the noise level, even after shooting.

In my and many others book, the right to complain is lost once youve made the decision not to do anything about it.

If you had asked them to do something, then you would rightly complain.

 

[Matthew748]

I have to go with chickenfried on this. I make an effort to choose a sight well away from others when I am shooting my AK or FAL, but if it is a busy day I am not going pack up and leave simply because I am afraid that someone might get a teensy bit offended by some brass. I don’t expect any special treatment from fellow shooters either. One time I got a hot 30.06 case as fired from an M1 lodged between my elbow and shooting mat. It burned like crazy and left a bit of a scar, but I did not complain, it comes with the territory.

The fact that they set up right next to you was inconsiderate, but not necessarily malicious.

 

[JohnKSa]

Since there was no other shooting position, you can't blame them for where they set up.

They could have let you know before they started shooting, but then again, you should know as well as they do that brass would start flying, and where it was going to fly.

I tend to agree with the comment about flying brass and noise being standard hazards at a range.

If you don't like being hit with brass, take the left most position or stay back from the line while folks with semi-autos are shooting.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you--exactly what are you suggesting that they should have done differently?

 

[m0ntels]

I dont go to the public range anymore either, but I've been on both ends. I usually have a 22 auto or SKS with me. Both are guilty of flinging brass in the wrong spots. If I am stuck next to someone nice, I try and not shoot when they are, and I will even try and tilt the gun a bit to try an redirect the brass some other direction, to the sacrifice of my own shooting just to play fair.

On the other hand, if some goon keeps hitting me, the redirection of brass can work the other way too. I'll bury that guy in my rimfire and steel case shells!

The best story I got is from the private range actually. It wasnt crowed, just me, my brother, and 2 other guys shooting S&W autos. There is only room for about 6 people though, so we are still pretty close. I bring a medium sized box with me to pick up range brass and a few hulls if there are any. These guys have all their brass on the floor still so I know they dont reload. I keep getting pinged in the glasses by spent 9mm brass. I dont even say a word, move my stuff a foot over, and stick my brass box right where I was. Picked up about 3/4 of their spent cases without having to lift a finger

Worked for me!

Randy

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Holy cow, I have to go write this down on the calendar. JohnKSa and I are apparently in at least a general agreement!

Slinger, I don't know what to tell you because I don't really see that the guys were doing anything wrong. Granted, they did not go out of their way to be polite, but apparently you and your wife didn't go out of your way to ask them to stop, at least not from anything you described so far.

So your wife said, "Ouch" every time she was hit. Since the guy was apparently shooting rapid fire, he certainly may not have heard her.

There are several things I don't understand here.
First, once your wife started getting pelted, why did she not move away?

Second, saying "Ouch" is fine, but y'all apparently did NOTHING to educate the good ole boys and instead just left mad. So not only were you and your wife unhappy, you didn't do anything to make it better in the future. Coming online and complaining to us certainly isn't going to make things better. Chances are, none of us were those guys at your range.

Third, given that the shooter is supposed to be looking down range, did you ever consider he may not have known his brass was going to hit your wife and since he probably could not hear her saying ouch, he was oblivious. You didn't want him to turn and face the direction his brass was flying in order to see where it was landing while shooting in another direction, did you?

Fouth, you know you were at a range where people could setup where they wanted. You were there early. You and your wife did not set up on the far left side of the range where few folks get pelted with brass because most guns eject to the right. Have you not ever been to a range before? Getting hit by brass is one of those things that happens at a gun range. If you don't like it, then you need to go to a range that has shooting lanes that are physically separated from one another by barriers or you need to be smart in where you set up.

Fifth, tell your wife to wear a hat. Even a baseball cap fluffed a little above the scalp will mitigate most of the blow of flying brass, even from a heavier AK47 shell.

Yes, it was a sucky situation that probably could have been rescued quite easily. Sometimes something like flying brass can turn into a convenient way of meeting other shooters. After they finished, your wife could have said something in a nice way, or your could have, and the guy probably would have apologized. Heck, before the session was over, he might have been letting y'all shoot his AK as part of being a chagrinned shooter who intended no harm and wanted to make amends.