New shooters stealing

[DirtDiver]

I'M CHANGING MY OPEN GUN TO 38SC.....WITH THE PRICE OF BRASS KEEPING UP WITH GOLD....I WANT BACK WHAT I SHOT.

PEOPLE ON THE RANGE WHO COLLECT BRASS FOR THEIR PROFIT NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS NOT A CHARITY SPORT.

[kevin c]

I was more thinking practice at the indoor ranges near me. They usually have a layer of brass on the floor about once case deep. You kick them out of your way to get good footings, or if you're willing, you grab their broom and sweep it up. I've been in the only guy in the place, sweeping up 40, 45, and tons of 9mm from some folks who are long gone. That was what I was more thinking about.

The indoor ranges I've shot at usually have some rule to the effect that the brass from ammo bought from the range belongs to the range. Brass from ammo brought by shooters usually is considered the property of the shooter, and can be picked up, unless it falls forward of the shooting line.

The short answer is to ask. Most folks who bring their own still don't keep their brass, so might be more than willing to let you have it. The range master might say no as far as range owned brass goes, especially with the price of scrap brass rising, but might just say yes if you promise to sweep the entire range and take it all with you (I've heard a lot of people setting themselves up at ranges that way).

It's still caveat emptor - it's probably once fired brass you're picking up, but mebbe not, and mebbe there's a reason why that reloader left it behind...

[GentlemanJim]

We may not be the perfect brassers...a little slow and such

But none of our shooters will swipe your brass.

picking brass trashes my back out real quick ...I prefer to set steel or paste targets

Jim

[bp78]

I know this past Saturday at an excellent local match I attend, there were around 100 shooters.

In our squad we had 16 shooters; a pretty big squad. But - out of 16:

5 are 'out of commission' : RO, scorekeeper, shooter, previous shooter loading mags, and next shooter on-deck.

3 more might be gone working on a gear problem, buying Gatorades, in the john, wherever.

2 more might be deep in a conversation, or taking a quick break from RO'ing or scoring

6 people is none too many to paste a 32-round large field course, and too few to brass,

I'll come right out and admit that I'm a brass whore at about 1 match a month.

I don't think it's new shooters so much as it is new reloaders. Before I started reloading, I'd shoot a match with sparkling fresh winchester white box and never give a seconds thought to where that brass landed or ended-up.

I shot the same match above with boo radley and agree with the points made. This was also a match that I brass whored. When I wasn't scoring, I would pickup a handful of brass on the way down range, paste a target or array, and then grab another handful on the way up. The only folks on our squad that gave a thought to brassing at all were the open shooters. I'd go through each handful to deliver all the 38super flavored casing to them. Even picking 3x to 4x the amount of brass I shot at each stage, we still left lots of brass behind. I'm very conscious that I notice who & who doesn't care about their brass. And I go out of my way to make sure I do my part in running the stage, either resetting steel, pasting, or scoring. Hopefully if anyone has a problem with it they'll tell me.

I really don't see a problem at our local clubs, maybe it's just the heat and humidity that keep people from caring about brass. At the other matches each month, I'm happy to keep my hands clean, paste & score, and keep my head in the game. Brassing is a dirty job.

I understand the hate rants about folks that do nothing but brass the stage for themselves. We don't see many of those types, and when we do, somebody tends to hand them a fresh strip of pasters to get the point across.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the unwritten rules where brassing isn't a stage assignment are:

• First priority is keeping the stage running; paste,reset, and score just like everyone else.
  
• A shooter is entitled to his own brass back if he makes any effort to get it. Help him if so, in the hopes he'll return the favor to you.
  
• Marked brass goes back to it's owner.
  
• .38Super shooters *always* care about their brass.
  
• Brass left behind by shooters is up for grabs if the club doesn't have a rule that it's theirs.
  
• Pick-up the live ones for the sake of the lawn mower.
  

[steveknapp]

The short answer is to ask. Most folks who bring their own still don't keep their brass, so might be more than willing to let you have it. The range master might say no as far as range owned brass goes, especially with the price of scrap brass rising, but might just say yes if you promise to sweep the entire range and take it all with you (I've heard a lot of people setting themselves up at ranges that way).

Agreed. I always do. But the answers I've received aren't always clear. So if at the range you see someone doing the wrong thing, might be worth giving them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't know, or even *did* ask and got a different answer.

At a match, I figure talking to people in you squad is part of the fun right? I can't imagine things being that hostile.

[prreed10]

We have the same guy steeling brass at our match. He is a piece of work, trying to get something for nothing. First, he showed up at one of our speed steel matches - in our match, you can shoot all calibers, even .22. Well this guy shows up at the match with his .22 pistol, but proceeds to pick up all of my buddies .45 brass. We know it is his because he is the only one shooting .45. The match director pulled him aside and they had a little discussion. Needless to say, my buddy got his brass. He showed up again at an IDPA match with a friend. His friend was not shooting, but proceeded to pick up brass while watching. He had a discussion with the Match Director as well.

Our range is setup with 3 rows of bays - while in the rear bays, you can't see the front. We have guys show up to watch us shoot the front. When we come back after shooting the back bays, all the brass is gone. We now shoot rear to front.

What pisses me off the most is having one or two guys tape targets, while 3 or 4 are picking up brass. We are on the verge of making all of our club matches lost brass - SO's only.

Edited May 9, 2008 by prreed10

[uscbigdawg]

We are on the verge of making all of our club matches lost brass - SO's only.

Now there's not a bad idea (RO's included).

Rich

[robomanusa]

Brass IS expensive, and therefore worth alot more this year. Both to the shooter who wants his own brass back, as well as the "scrounges" who just want to sell it and make a buck or two.

Kinda seems like a stalemate, except for one small detail ....... IT BELONGS TO THE PERSON WHO SHOT IT!

Take what belongs to you, and hand the rest off or place it on a table, or whatever. When I pick up brass I don't pick up 9mm or .45 because I AM SHOOTING .40 IN LIMITED. Plain & simple it's not mine.

Please be courteous to your fellow shooters and do the same.

I'll try and get out to shoot some matches this year, I will be sure and bring my 1 or 2 brassers and tapers with me, they always try helping best they can

[Johann the Horrible]

When shooting I leave my keys in my car- so I wont loose them. Here in South Africa we always pick up our brass and at my club you get yelled at if you do not pick up your brass, especially if it is non reloadable stuff. If you leave the stuff on the groung the other guys keep on going to the brass thinking that it might be theirs.

I like the bucket idea, it sounds more efficient.

[davidwiz]

Back in the day, everybody picked up brass and gave it to the person who just shot. Nowadays, I rarely see anyone pickup brass (except for their own).

[Shoot-4-Ever]

This is an old thread, but thought it was a good read!!!

As I read all the post in this thread, I could relate to many of the complaints. I really expected to read in some of the post that they have posted a sign at or near the range. I didn't see that?

Myself, I hate to see junk signs posted everywhere, but if it solves most of the problems with all the brass whores, I would go along with a sign that was simple and to the point.....such as.......It you didn't fire this brass you don't pick it up. And if you DO pick it up, ALL that is NOT yours, will be placed in the bucket (next to this sign)....or something like that. But now that I mention a sign, I find that it is probably difficult to make a good sign that reads short and to the point, that will cover most of the problems.

I have had people help me pick up my brass when I finish the string and they assume that they get 40% of it if I am not watching them (now that's a true brass whore).

I would be interested in anyone who does use signs to post about it here. What do your signs say, and does it solve most of the problems?

One club I belong to, where I shoot skeet/trap, we have league shoots about every other month and the league rules are...when shooting at any league shoots, you will not pick up any empty hulls, they are the property of the host club. At the end of the day, or between strings if time allows, the workers pick them up and put them in boxes for everyone to sort thru at the end of the day. However, they are usually 30% total junk because they (the shooters) know they won't get them back unless they are member of club working the event. At the end of the day there are always enough to go around. I would often take plenty if no one wanted them. It didn't take long before I had all I needed and didn't take any the next 6 months. We also traded gauges if we didn't reload them. The smart ones shoot O/U guns and they never hit the ground.

And yes, there is ALWAYS one or two non-member shooters who think they are exempt from the rules. The basic reason for the rule is for safety and wasted time while someone looks around for their empties.

What does your range sign say.....or what do you think about placing a sign or two??? Your thoughts???

[PINMAN44]

Hey guys thought I would add my two cents.

I love shooting 9x19, i have never had to buy brass for it. The guys at my gun range who don't reload just give me their brass which is really cool and I just sort out whats good and whats not. If I ever shoot IPSC I would go with the 9x19 or forty cal and I wouldn't worry about picking it up. 38/9x23 is way too expensive to shoot.

That's why I love that 9x19. I used to shoot 9x23 but not anymore, way too expensive.

[JimmyZip]

The brass bucket is interesting.

I really don't have this trouble at our range here. There are way more club members who don't reload than do. It is not uncommon for me to go practice with 250 to 300 rounds and come home with 500 to 600 casings. (9x19) I hope it stays that way, we will see as the economy does its thing and people get really tight.

Funny thing though is therer are a few guys who clean the range on Mondays I think, and they scrounge brass judiciously. Yet, there always seems to be MORE. There must be brass fairies at our range or something. I dunno. For this reason, I just leave my match brass on the ground. I'll get more when I come and practice on Thursday anyway.

JZ