Had this happen at the range today. The wife and I went to the local pistol range today to try out her new sig 9mm, I took my .40 m&p and we took both hers and my Walther .22s. We had about 200 9's, 200 40's and a 325 pack of .22s sitting on the bench next to our gear bag. This older gentleman which I have bumped into on occasion there walks up and starts picking up my wife's and my brass, I look at him and say "I'm saving my brass, so leave the 9's and 40s lay". He says "okay I'll leave yours" and starts picking up everything in sight, including mine. I then said to him, while pointing at our empties "these are ours" you can pickup everything back there" pointing behind the bench. I reloaded the guns, stepped up to the line we were shooting from, got a sight picture and there off to my 2:00 position is the guy bent over picking brass not more than 10 feet away. I got upset at this time as now it's a safety issue as he's in front of the line of fire. I say "okay, I've had it, get your azz back behind the bench". The guy looks at me and says "I'm okay over here". I return with" You're not here shooting, get out of here, until we're done shooting or we'll report you to the game commission for harassing us". (range is state range) He "f-bombed me, (my wife is still standing with me), called me an a-hole, told me to kiss his "rear end" and then walked back to the parking lot and stood there staring at us. I was upset, told the wife that I had had it and we packed up to leave and he returned while we were picking up the empties, I just said the heck with it and walked away, while calling him a bad name. I feel bad about this as he is a old guy who is just trying to make a few bucks to help his SS. but I really feel that he should have not been in a position to interact with me in the first place. Should range pickers be at the range while it's being used or should there or is there a rule that says they have to wait until the range is empty? Or am I just being a moron about this?
Am I being unreasonable about this?
- Thread starter jwink
- Start date
No, you were not unreasonable. The correct protocol is to ask another shooter if they want the brass and to stay out of their way until done shooting.
Just by reading your post I thought , Hey this sounds like the Public Ranges in PA. Then I went to your profile and Bam I was right. I stopped going to the public ranges there long before I moved away because of rude , unsafe and or inconsiderate behavior. You could complain to the game commission and they will either do nothing or if there are enuff complaints ,close the range. They seem to have very little interest in making range safety an issue or helping the decent shooting public. This is just my humble opinion , but the same type of character you meet at the range is the same type that make me not miss my birth place at all!
Just one of the reasons I never go to a public shooting range that is open and available to any and all. Private membership clubs only, where range rules are posted, and enforced. Violate them and you are thrown out of the club.
The guy in the story was way off base, and he would not be tolerated at any of the 3 private clubs I belong to.
The guy in the story was way off base, and he would not be tolerated at any of the 3 private clubs I belong to.
In my opinion the guy was way out of line and behaved like an idiot; one of the big problems with public shooting ranges where there is little recourse. At the clubs I belong to that kind of behavior will get you expel quicker than "cramp going through a goose".
I always ask permission to pick up brass if I arrive at the range and someone is shooting before I arrived; I assume any brass on the ground belongs to whoever is shooting. To me, it's common sense to do this.
You might want to mark the head your cases with a sharpie, it takes a few seconds. That way your brass should be identifiable and any reasonable person wouldn't challenge this.
While I naturally repel against being intimidated, sometime discretion is the better part of valor, especially where the parties in dispute are armed. These kind of conditions can quickly escalated out of control to a tragedy - a few empty cases are not worth it.
You are not a moron - the other guy is - I think you did the right thing walking away - sometimes that's harder than confronting someone but often smarter.
I always ask permission to pick up brass if I arrive at the range and someone is shooting before I arrived; I assume any brass on the ground belongs to whoever is shooting. To me, it's common sense to do this.
You might want to mark the head your cases with a sharpie, it takes a few seconds. That way your brass should be identifiable and any reasonable person wouldn't challenge this.
While I naturally repel against being intimidated, sometime discretion is the better part of valor, especially where the parties in dispute are armed. These kind of conditions can quickly escalated out of control to a tragedy - a few empty cases are not worth it.
You are not a moron - the other guy is - I think you did the right thing walking away - sometimes that's harder than confronting someone but often smarter.
Was this at the range in Ligonier? Did this guy have long hair and a car filled with junk? I was there shooting a couple weeks ago and this guy was grabbing the brass as it came out of my chamber, he was such a pain I had to leave, I only fired 2 shots. The game commission has been told about him by several people but you can see how much good it does.
The last time I was at our public range some guy was walking down the parking lot through the vehicles with his AR15 looking for an antenna that would fit in his barrel to nock out a stuck case. That was two years ago, I haven't been back since.
dragman
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I think your 100% in the right, that guy is totally over the line. but this is why I wont go to public ranges because god forbid it would have escalated it's almost impossible to prove your innocents and anything with "guns" involved a sportsmen can be assured he has a uphill battle. Just isn't worth it.
I work several days a week, as an RSO, at our local range. Because of what happened to you with this "brass mining". We now have a very strict rule, that only the shooter can pick up their own brass. Even if the range is empty and no one is shooting. At the end of the day, any brass on the ground is swept up and goes into recycle. Better that than someone accidently getting shot. AND yes I get a bunch of flak when I catch someone "brass mining" and tell them it's a no-no. but then again I am the RSO, and if they don't stop I can ask them to leave, or call the sheriff.
Gina
Gina
jonbearman
I live in new york state,how unfortunate !
I used to be a brass scrounge at one time and I always asked the shooter if he wanted the brass and while I was picking it up I would pick his up to help him out and prevent stepping on it and ruining it.I also would never go ahead of the firing line as it is suicide.I never pestered anyone and most of the guys knew me anyways and it was a public range.The only one in new york I ever heard of in my area.The junk brass would go in the range money bucket for recycling and the rest I would take but never without permission.
The range near my old house in North east Pa. was a landfill, Party spot, dead animal dump, Rifle range. Parking lot for trout fisherman, and a stolen car drop off. Talk about multi-use public land.jwink said:
Oh and there was three Islamic individuals arrested there that regularly practiced their "Jihad" tactics . They had planned to make an attacked on Fort Dix!!!!!!!
jonbearman
I live in new york state,how unfortunate !
Are you kidding?
Gotta love crackhead scrap metal junkies. Hey, be glad he wasn't at your house while you were at the range, stripping the copper plumbing and wiring out of your walls with a fire axe!
Isn't everything supposed to be "free" nowadays? Where's my free stuff?
Isn't everything supposed to be "free" nowadays? Where's my free stuff?
We had an Attorney shot for his TRG at a Public Range near Carlisle PA back in July 2010. Turns out it was a couple of Prison Guards!
Wyoming isn't kidding about the range near is old house, I'm only 20 minutes from where he lived and know the spot he's referring to. Don't forget those ELF people from back in the 80s, they used it too. Environmentalists starting fires, who would ever think that burning an excavator to the ground would be bad for the environment. Crazy crap.
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