What is the range etiquette for this?

C

Chaz88

New member
Yesterday my daughter and I were at a small outdoor unsupervised Ike's range shooting handguns. A man and his wife pull up and do not have hearing protection so we stopped shooting. I said hi and asked how they were doing. The guy tells me that he likes to come by late on Sunday afternoons when nobody is around and pick up brass, (mmm.. we were around). Then he started shagging up my brass. I made it clear that I was saving my brass for reloading. Did not even slow him down. We had been cleaning up as we went so there was not a lot of my brass on the ground but now we started scrambling around to save as much as we could. I stayed calm and basically friendly but was more than a little put off that we had to stop shooting and try to salvage our brass before this guy snagged it all.

All the way home my daughter and I were both saying "what the heck was that"!

Just wandering what others think of this and what kind of reasonable action you might have taken.
 
You were kind. If you wanted to be a little firmer, you could have said something like, "I tried to politely make it clear to you that I am saving my own brass. As far as I am concerned you can gather brass elsewhere all you like, but this is mine. Please stop taking it."
 
I do believe that one of my footsies would have been implanted in a place where the sun does not shine.
 
Its theft, simple as that. Petty theft.
I was at a a public range a while back & had a similar issue. When I firmly, but politely asked him to stop taking my brass he called the (non-resident) ranger to complain. In his, the brass picker's, viewpoint after it left my ejection port it was "thrown away" & so became "scrap, public property".

I wasn't quite as polite as you were.:mad::eek:
 
Some ranges allow the Range Master to keep any brass that hits the ground, as part of their compensation. Maybe the guy is a range employee who's entitled to the brass? If so, an explanation was certainly in order.
I'm always a bit reluctant to "get into it", with anyone or for any reason, at a shooting range.
 
Now I am a brass whore pure and simple but always ask before picking some one brass up.

I would not have been very polite after telling him I collect my own brass.
 
One reason I always take a painter's cloth/tarp with me for catching brass flung by the autos and levers. Folks are welcome to anything on the ground, but if it's on my cloth/tarp and you pick it up, I get out my cell phone and threaten to call the cops. Most of the time when shooting the big bore handguns, folks without hearing protection stay quite a ways away...........:D
 
Time to load up the USAS-12 (or Saiga 12, if you have one) and start blasting some 10 round stick-mags and a drum. Let's see how long they last without any hearing protection.

But, if I don't have my USAS-12 with me, I would simply look straight at him and shout something like "Hey, buddy - don't steal my brass". The "hey buddy" would quickly turn to "HEY...." something else if that didn't get his attention.

Assuming that the guy collecting brass has some kind of authority from whoever maintains the range to collect brass, there is NO WAY the guy has authority to collect brass while the firing line is hot. However, like the OP said, this guy was just some guy scrounging around for brass. That wasn't a lack of etiquette; that was just a dirt-bag looking to see if you were going to do something about him stealing your brass.


PS: The tarp idea is a really good one; I think I'm going to start doing this.
 
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I would instruct my daughter to double up her hearing pro and start picking up any and all brass as quickly as possible, and then get out the hot loads for my .44 mag or break out the AK and start banging away. I bet they wouldn't have stayed around for long. That's just rude.
 
The proper response is to be direct and clear: It's your brass, and you're going to keep it.

If that isn't enough, start creating "close calls" where you nearly step on their fingers, as they're trying to steal your brass.

And, if that still doesn't work, step on some fingers, pick up your brass, and leave.



What irritates me even more, are range employees or volunteers that do it.
The only public range that I occasionally visited in Utah (maybe once every 2 years), had a volunteer that cleared brass from the firing line, in the name of "safety". Because he wasn't getting paid for it, he had an agreement in place with the range manager: He got to take a nice share of the profit from brass sales. So, of course, he targeted more valuable brass, and ignored dime-a-dozen cases like 9mm.

I was trying to be as patient and polite as possible, one day, but that geezer pushed too far. He tried vacuuming up a piece of .32 H&R brass from between my legs, while I was picking it up, and then went for the pile in front of me, ON MY SHOOTING BENCH. I slapped the hose away, but he tried going back for some pieces he had just knocked down around my feet. I stomped the hose flat, stood on it, and gave him the death stare until he retreated. I expected some harsh words from the range manager; but he came over, laughing, and told his buddy to shut the vacuum off and take a break. :rolleyes: Absolutely ridiculous.
 
I think you handled it right.

I was shooting once in the national forest and some brass scroungers showed up. I didn't care, since I was shooting steel-cased AK ammo at the time, but I had to stop (my option, I guess) while they were doing their hunt and peck b/c they didn't have ear protection.

They didn't notice me standing their, drumming my fingers on my stock, reloading, fiddling with nothing in particular for 10 mins.

When they started picking up 22lr, I just bagged up and left.

Some people.
 
Chaz88 - The inconsiderate/greedy brass hounds could have been on the shady side of deaf --- but they could have been off their rockers. I would have looked at them with astonishment, and would possibly hint to the couple that you are going to call the police, or just pretend to call the police with your cellphone. Either way...it should garner their attention.
 
Wow. I have seen some brass hounds, but I have never seen someone so bold as to pick up someone's brass while still shooting. At the ranges I shoot at, people at least wait until you have packed up and the left the station before scrounging the brass left behind.

I would have probably started with the same comment you made, but would have gotten a little more forceful with a second comment since they decided to continue.
 
I'm pretty sure I would have planted myself firmly between himself and MY brass and asked him what part of "I save my brass" he did not understand.

If that didn't work, I would likely have followed up with "GET THE [BLEEP] AWAY FROM MY BRASS -- RIGHT NOW."
 
I have never seen someone so bold as to pick up someone's brass while still shooting.
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An extreme case I'm sure but I once had someone have his kids try to catch the brass as it flew through the air when ejecting.
Talk about hot brass & safety violations!
 
I'm with Aquila on this,,,

It was your property and that man was stealing it,,,
Etiquette does not apply when dealing with a common thief.

At the ranges I shoot at, people at least wait until you have packed up and the left the station before scrounging the brass left behind.
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There are a few very bold brass rats at my range,,,
In one instance a man was running a brass catching tool,,,
Right behind me as I was shooting and saying "Once it hits the ground it's fair game".

I called a park ranger who made him dump ALL of his brass,,,
Then I contacted the president of our Rifle & Pistol club,,,
I don't know what happened after that,,,
But I've not seen him again.

I won't be so bold as to tell you what you should have done,,,
But I can say that short of shooting him in the foot,,,
You shouldn't have to worry about etiquette.

Aarond

.
 
Think I agree with RickB on this one...

Some ranges allow the Range Master to keep any brass that hits the ground, as part of their compensation. Maybe the guy is a range employee who's entitled to the brass? If so, an explanation was certainly in order.
I'm always a bit reluctant to "get into it", with anyone or for any reason, at a shooting range.
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I agree. The shooting range isn't the best place to get into an altercation.
 
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