Dark "dirt" on range floor!!!

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Prof Young

New member
So I splurged on a year long membership at the local indoor range. Like most places they appreciate it if you clean up your brass. I reload so I pick mine up anyway. Shot a bunch of 22 and while sweeping them up noted that I was collecting a lot of dark "dirt" along with the brass. I've noted this before. This time it occurs to me that this is not dust or tracked in dirt . . . it's unburnt powder.

Thoughts?

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
This time it occurs to me that this is not dust or tracked in dirt . . . it's unburnt powder.
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Pretty common at indoor ranges. You would be surprised at how much powder does not burn completely.

I believe the issue is worse with slow burning powder in short barreled ARs and pistol AK patterns.
 
I was at an outdoor range a few months ago when a storm rolled in on us. A sudden gust of wind pushed a lot of dust off the concrete into the air. I happened to take a breath at just the right moment to get a lung full. It immediately irritated my throat and lungs. With rain rolling in I packed up to leave, but by the time I got to my car I was coughing. Stopped at the first gas station for a drink.

I avoid indoor ranges for a multitude of reasons.
 
I used to shoot at a range (was the only game in town for years) and they weren't the cleanest place in the world. They also had a bad ventilation system. I quit sweeping up my brass from all the crap it put in the air and just picked up the empties the best I could. I also wore a respirator! :eek: Thankfully I have an outdoor place to shoot now so it's no longer an issue. We also have gobs of new indoor ranges around as well.
 
It is both burnt and unburnt powder, but is the stuff that range fires are made of, if you aren't careful.
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IIRC, a few decades ago an indoor range in New Bedford (MA) burned to the ground after unburnt powder on the range floor was accidentally ignited.
 
If you want clean shooting, there's archery.
Be glad they don't allow black powder guns. :)
Be sure not to track all that range crap into your home.
My first stop on arriving home is hosing down my shoes.
The second is the washing machine for my range clothes.
Might want to wipe down the range bag and car seats, too.
From an outdoor range, or indoor range, either one, doesn't matter.
 
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g.willikers said:
If you want clean shooting, there's archery.
Be glad they don't allow black powder guns. :)
Be sure not to track all that range crap into your home.
My first stop on arriving home is hosing down my shoes.
The second is the washing machine for my range clothes.
From an outdoor range, or indoor range, either one, doesn't matter.
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Or blow dart guns...lol they provide just as much fun!
 
"...it's unburnt powder..." Far more likely to be plain old carbon and accumulated dust and dirt carried in on boots and shoes.
"...after unburnt powder on the range floor was accidentally ignited..." Any documented proof that was the cause?
"...a bad ventilation system..." Old range building? A bad ventilation system etc. wouldn't be allowed these days. You cannot just vent to the outside any more either. EPA would jump on 'em.
 
Not complaining . . .

Oh, I'm not complaining about a dirty range. This one, overall, is pretty clean and better ventilated than some others I'd used. It just never occurred to me that the stuff on the floor was powder. But that all makes perfect sense and is clearly normal.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
"...it's unburnt powder..." Far more likely to be plain old carbon and accumulated dust and dirt carried in on boots and shoes.
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And the basis for that conclusion would be? I think most shooters can recognize unburnt powder when they see it. I've seen plenty of unburnt powder in front of the shooting stations at both indoor and outdoor ranges and have no reason to question the OP's statement.

"...after unburnt powder on the range floor was accidentally ignited..." Any documented proof that was the cause?
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I'm not sure what "documented proof" would satisfy you. That was the reported and generally accepted cause at the time. That's all I know.

"...a bad ventilation system..." Old range building? A bad ventilation system etc. wouldn't be allowed these days. You cannot just vent to the outside any more either. EPA would jump on 'em.
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Nonsense. Bad range ventilation systems are the norm. I used to shoot at the Smith and Wesson range, pretty much a state of the art facility. They had terrible ventilation. Every other (not sure about S&W) indoor range that I've shot at here in New England (and that includes quite a few of them) vents directly to the outside.
 
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Years ago, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department had a number of fires inside the mobile shooting trailers they were using.

One such incident was a flash fire caused by welding on the tgt track and the sparks ignited the unburnt powder on the floor.

The manufacturer of the shooting trailer put out a bulletin warning of the danger. My agency had one of those trailers and we started wet mopping the floor every night.
 
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