Learn from Ruger 10/22 mistake -- Ejected Shell in Vehicle

[Lee Whitsel]

Rancher said just do like we do just park your truck and shot with the window down. So with his advice I did. Big mistake. After shooting gopher. I left and went home and the next time I turned on my heater the fan made funny noises and no air. Turns out a 22 shell from the 10/22 went down the air windshield hole and went all the way down to the fan and stuck in the fan blade and locked it up solid. After H0URS 0f taking out the radio and most of the dash I was able to get it. What a nightmare. My advice is next shoot a semi auto inside your vehicle it is a huge mistake.....

 

[Hino895]

Also be careful if you need to shoot off the roof of your car.

 

[jpx2rk]

bolt actions can do the same thing if you don't learn to "aim" the ejected brass somewhere safe. I was finding 17hmr brass in various locations/compartments for weeks after a sage rate trip.

 

[ChrisA]

I'd cut a screen to cover the vents before I quit shooting out the window.

 

[CJ6]

Window screen works well.
Dad of a guy I worked with did this. Not exactly above board here (shooting from vehicle) , but anyway.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

One of my good shooting buddies had the same issue with his truck. Had to take it to the dealer for complete dash disassembly to remove all the empty 22LR cases from his heater ducts. He got back a gallon freezer bag full, about 2 lbs worth!

A look at the floor of his truck during some 'drive-by' rat shooting on the ranch recently:



We've now solved the problem by adding brass catchers to our 10-22's intended for the AR:



Now no more blocked heater vents or jammed heater fans! Problem solved.

 

[n.c.outlaw2024]

Goodness. correct me if I am wrong but isn't shooting out of a window of a parked cartruck illegal in most states?

 

[CJ6]

It is here MN. UNLESS you have a permit from the DNR (handicap), even on your private land. You can't shoot in, on, or off a vehicle.

 

[RCE1]

Goodness. correct me if I am wrong but isn't shooting out of a window of a parked cartruck illegal in most states?

In Kalifornia, too. The game wardens get really excited about it, even squirrel shooting on private land with written permission. They have the right to confiscate your weapons there and then if they feel so inclined.

 

[Downhill]

In Texas, shooting on or from a public road or right of way is illegal. Shooting from your truck on private property is alright. If it is your property or have landowner approval.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Goodness. correct me if I am wrong but isn't shooting out of a window of a parked cartruck illegal in most states?

Totally legal here in Orygun on private property with the landowners permission, which we have.

When it's cloudy, a bit rainy, or too windy to be comfy bench shooting, we drive the ranch two-tracks on the perimeter of the fields with our custom 10-22's and window bags. The rats are still out, and the shooting can be pretty frisky. It's not uncommon for each of us to go through a brick of 22LR HP's before lunch.

My turn as the 'waist gunner' that day:



About everything I/we do here is illegal in Kalifornia. No wonder we all fled that place many years ago and never looked back. FREEDOM!

 

[Downhill]

Alot of our big money varmint hunts allow "Trolling". We idle along with the varmint calls going and scan with lights. Best way to cover a lot of territory when you hunt a contest with a time limit. Usually a rifle or two out each side of truck.

 

[n.c.outlaw2024]

many people i know hunted 'roos that way.

 

[Mark W]

I used to hunt a property in Louisiana that had a few hundred acres of old hayfields that had been planted very densely with pine trees. There were fire lanes throughout the pines, but an elevated stand was useless because the trees were at a stage of growth that if I got above the ground, all visibility was lost due to overhanging limbs.

I would usually hunt by setting on the ground and often constructing crude blinds from dead limbs and pine straw. On cold, windy, or rainy days I would park my truck at the end of a fire lane and watch from comfort. The truck didn’t seem to bother the deer at all. Ironically enough. the only deer that I shot on one of those days, came out while I was outside the truck taking a leak. I was able to slowly grab my rifle and drop the deer in his tracks.

 

[Toddmack]

Goodness. correct me if I am wrong but isn't shooting out of a window of a parked cartruck illegal in most states?

I've shot the majority of the deer in my life out of a pickup. Not from a road, but most of them out of a pickup. That's the great thing about free states and knowing/being related to landowners.

All that being said, my 10 yr old son is going to have to do it the hard way. He will not learn the "easy way" to hunt from me. He will have to learn the shortcuts on his own, when is older.

 

[farmerjohn]

In Texas, shooting on or from a public road or right of way is illegal. Shooting from your truck on private property is alright. If it is your property or have landowner approval.

Hey Fellers, I think it's a farmer/rancher thing. 90% of the critters I kill are out the pick up window or a UTV. It's legal in Arkansas on private property and just a way of life in the cow business. I have a truck gun that lives in my pickup butt in the back seat and barrel under my elbow on the console and another in a corner of the equipment cabs.... John

 

[jepp2]

I just covered the vents with a towel to contain the brass....

 

[K22]

Back in the 60's we would road hunt ground hogs in a very remote area of southwestern PA. We had permission from the farmers and would rotate between several farms where we could access farm roads and hunt from the truck.

The typical scenario was we would drive around until we'd spot a hog, stop, and place a sandbag on the hood of the truck and either take a shot or wait if we happen to spook the hog. Sometimes, we just watch a field with a lot of holes.

This one occasion it was my buddy's turn to shoot. We spotted one and setup. He shot, a relatively easy shot. When he missed, we couldn't figure it out until we saw the longitudinal hole in the hood of his truck. The only good thing was it was his truck not mine. Hard lesson to always check the position of the muzzle.

 

[farmerjohn]

Back in the 60's we would road hunt ground hogs in a very remote area of southwestern PA. We had permission from the farmers and would rotate between several farms where we could access farm roads and hunt from the truck.

The typical scenario was we would drive around until we'd spot a hog, stop, and place a sandbag on the hood of the truck and either take a shot or wait if we happen to spook the hog. Sometimes, we just watch a field with a lot of holes.

This one occasion it was my buddy's turn to shoot. We spotted one and setup. He shot, a relatively easy shot. When he missed, we couldn't figure it out until we saw the longitudinal hole in the hood of his truck. The only good thing was it was his truck not mine. Hard lesson to always check the position of the muzzle.

Growing up in the last half of the 40s and early 50s all the pickups had front fenders that you could sit on and ride and we'd all ride the farm roads between Friendship and Witherspoon with shotguns at night and shoot rabbits crossing the road. Shoot till you missed and rotate. Witherspoon was about 6 or 8mi away depending on which way you went and the boot legger there would swap out a Falstaff tall boy for a rabbit, we called it shooting a case. Regular Friday and Saturday night occurrence...boy, I like to go back to those days.... John

 

[kyotekiller25]

Goodness. correct me if I am wrong but isn't shooting out of a window of a parked cartruck illegal in most states?

Not on private property it isnt...