Picking brass at range, not allowed!

[Gary Wells]

I would contact DNR upper management and verify the rule, and the fact that there is a rule but not posted, and the fact that you saw them screening what brass to pick up and what brass not to pick up. I do not pick up other people's brass and nobody better pick up mine. However, what's mine is mine and it goes home with me.
Did they allow you to pick up your own brass?

[rebs]

we have a guy at our club that gets there at &am every morning and makes the rounds of all the ranges and take every piece of brass, then puts a sign up on the bulletin board to sell the brass. IMHO this is wrong. You should only take what you are going to use to reload for yourself.
I quit picking up range brass since you have no idea how many times it has already been reloaded. I buy new brass that way I know what I have and how many times it has been reloaded

[cw308]

Any range worth shooting at will charge enough to stay in business , if they make money on brass left from those who don't want it fine . They should pay more attention on safety and less on pissing off the customers . And making it look like he was doing him a favor this time LETTING HIM keep the brass . Must be the only range in the area to get away with that. D N A Do Not Resuscitate seems more like it. Glad my range isn't like that . That would put a fire under me though .

[ninosdemente]

Here is the range I go to that is free:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jasp...firefox-b-1-ab

This is the paid range I use to go to:

https://www.google.com/search?source...67.7r-ol3hHQ7g

Gary Wells, yes they didn't say anything about me picking up my own brass. He brought it to my attention when he saw me at another empty table.

I don't go as often as I would like to. I do understand if it was a problem as some have stated and can agree that it would upset me or anyone else those people can be annoying and not respectful. At this range I rarely see people picking up brass. At least that seem to be around my age group or below (37). The ones I see picking up are a few older guys who bring their own boxes and mostly are the ones at the 200 yds, sometimes at the 100yds but not much. Of course the DNR guys as well. But still, I don't go to the range to be picking up all the time. If I get some, great. If not, no big deal. I go to focus on why I went there to begin with.

[cw308]

It's the same as going to the gym , some workout and leave the plates all over , without putting them back at the rack . Somebody has to pick it up . Even at our indoor range there's a broom and scooper to clean up your area . Even in a situation where someone else was picking up brass , why would you stop them for even cleaning up for you , you should thank them. No reason for someone else to clean up your mess . Should be cleaned up for the next shooter . Just don't make sense to me not cents.

[RC20]

I

quit picking up range brass since you have no idea how many times it has already been reloaded. I buy new brass that way I know what I have and how many times it has been reloaded

I disagree. You usually can tell, sometimes it the primer but often its the shooter has a new box of store ammo and not a re loader setup.

In all the years the only issue I had was some Lapua 308 (sigh) that someone shot god awful hot, loose primer pockets. Maybe 8 of them. Out they went.

Very little 9mm is reloaded proportionally. 44 mag and the like more so.

[cw308]

I get my brass 308 & 45acp from friends that don't reload . They both like shooting so I'm pretty lucky.

[gwpercle]

I solved that pesky problem with a few revolvers , I have them in 22 LR, 38 S&W, 38 Special , 357 magnum , 9mm Luger , 41 Magnum, 45 acp and 45 Colt .
And now I can shoot all afternoon and don't have to chase the fired brass all around the floor and the best part is I don't have to bend over and pick them up....my back really likes that !
Range Revolvers Rule !
Gary

[spacemanspiff]

I am skeptical that the range keeps its doors open by selling brass. I would ask to see records documenting they sell the brass rather than keep it for their own reloading or their buddys reloading.

[gw44]

Sad but true at most ranges, it is something you have to live with, I put my own range together so I can make my own rules !!!

[Jim Watson]

I shoot several places under different policies and accommodate myself to their rules.

Clubs 1, 2, 3: Pick up all you find, there is no club scrap program for those who do not recover brass to reload. There is not even much of a scramble after an IDPA or USPSA match.

Club 4 (I go for matches only): Pick up about what you shot, leave other shooters theirs to recover.

Commercial range 1: Pick up only your own, abandoned brass goes to the owners.

Commercial range 2: Same and they even help me sweep my lane. I have been trying to negotiate for sorted range pickup brass at an offered reasonable price, but they have quit talking to me about it. I guess scrap price is better than sorted brass, time to sort considered.

[LE-28]

When I moved to North Carolina the first indoor range I bought a membership for saw me picking up my brass and the owner came running in there and started yelling at me.

We went back to the show room where I could hear and he said if the brass hits the floor it is his. I told him to refund my $200.00 yearly membership I just paid for and I would find somewhere else to shoot. I brought the brass in here and it will leave with me. He told me OK, Let's do this.
If you can pick up what you came in with if it's on the carpet, if it falls in front of the line then it has to stay there. I agreed.
It's funny how fast they change their mind when it is going to cost them.

[cw308]

LE-28
Nice going , good to hear from someone with a pair to push back , most likely things will go smooth from now on. Safe shooting and may all your cases fall to the rear.

Chris

[Aguila Blanca]

I've heard of ranges that have a rule if the brass hits the ground, they own it. I have never personally encountered such a place.

I shoot at an indoor range. It's a commercial range, not a private club, although they do sell annual "memberships" that reduce the cost a lot for frequent shooters. I know they sell the brass, and most shooters there don't reload so they have plenty to sell. But there's no rule, and the owner has no problem with me collecting my own brass to reload. If I see another shooter with Winchester in .45 ACP, I'll ask if I can have their brass, too -- I've more or less standardized on Winchester brass, for no particular reason other than that before I began reloading I was shooting mostly Winchester USA, and I started saving the brass because I knew that some day I was going to try reloading.

[5whiskey]

I have only shot at one range that is anal about it, and it's a restricted range for law enforcement only owned and operated by the local community college (they needed it for their law enforcement training class, my agency and several other partnered for maintenance, instructors, and operation). Supposedly if it hits the ground there, it's the range's. It is sold as scrap and that money helps pay for it. The berm is occasionally mined for scrap as well.

Otherwise, all public ranges I have used will at a minimum allow you to keep your own brass. Most don't care if you scrounge a little extra. One range let's you pick up all you want. It just so happens it's one of the better ranges in the area, so that's where I go most of the time.

For what it's worth, I would not patronize a public range that does not allow me to at least keep my own brass. I understand that selling scrap can be a source of revenue, but I work hard to load my rounds and reloaders are generally a very small percentage of the patrons at any range.

[AK Man]

In Indiana state taxes & hunting license money pays for those ranges. Most likely a few dnr guys making a few extra bucks on the side.

[marchboom]

From what I have seen, reloaders will pick up their brass to reload it. Non-reloaders will not and it goes in our brass receptacles and is sold by the range. This brass is 95% once-fired, especially handgun. Very few non-reloaders purchase reloaded ammo. They buy inexpensive ammo (usually) for their weekend shooting.

[Jim Watson]

If anybody at one of those commercial ranges had gotten huffy about me picking up brass, I'd have been doing a lot of revolver and .22 shooting there, until my "membership" ran out.

A "lost brass" IDPA or USPSA match is a different thing. A sack of brass is about the only thing the staff gets for their time.

[briandg]

The federal government, through the GSA, sells literally hundreds of tons of range brass. I believe that most of this is swept up from solid floor ranges, not scrounged from the dirt by hand.

Would the guy be rummaging around and collecting it for salvage value? Unless he's living on ramen, I can't say. If he is collecting it for himself and lying, he is probably selling it to a dealer who re-sells it.

Our scrap yard had about a dozen barrels of used brass, it was kept separate from any other metal. That's not going to be melted.

My range has a written policy, collect and remove all brass and debris. When I'm there and alone, I gather whatever is on the ground until I get tired. I get back what I shot and some more. I also gather the aluminum and steel, dump the aluminum in a bucket, toss the steel into the trash. There's nothing to be gained gathering aluminum brass, 45 cents a pound? I don't like waste, or I'd leave it there forever.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who does this, because sometimes the range is clean of all brass but buried elbow deep in steel and aluminum.

[briandg]

The story of the agency making their employees collect it and turn it in for salvage seems kind of funny.

The missouri owned and operated range has barrels at the range, little holes in top, and bolted shut. The three barrels are for steel, aluminum and brass, and there are signs to please collect your own brass and recycle it there. No crossing guards to collect it for you.

[5whiskey]

I believe that most of this is swept up from solid floor ranges, not scrounged from the dirt by hand.

Depends on the caliber. If it's 5.56 or 7.62 the overwhelming vast majority of that was picked up by Joe and Lance Criminal at Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune.

[briandg]

They sell it all, from any and every source. Some shotgun, but mostly 9, 40, 5.56, standard rounds for police and military. They sell it by truckloads. I think that one auction had ten barrels.

https://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/aucitsrh/

Look the place over, they have brass every few weeks.

I personally go to it because it's one of the funniest places on the internet. They literally sell broken screwdrivers.

[m&p45acp10+1]

I recently moved to the Nebraska panhandle. The closest indoor range to me. If I am there by myself they let me police all of my brass. When I get there the floor is always swept clean. Any brass that is not mine I put into the sorting bucket they have. They sell the left brass at a reasonable price, along with lead. The place I went to in Texas the outside range let me have any that I wanted. provided I did not glean the grounds. I cleaned up the area, and put what I was not going to use into the barrels. The indoor range kept all that went ahead of the line. A guy that worked there was active with a floor squeegie making sure that if it hit the floor. It was going ahead of the line. (I shot there on rainy days, and kept it to steel case there.)

If there is a no picking up brass rule. I either do not shoot there. Or shoot steel case, or Berdan primed stuff.

[zeke]

At our private outdoor range, we would appreciate any member who would kindly pick up all the brass they could. So long as they aren't being a pain, thief or safety hazard. Then, I could actually find my own brass, without resorting to positioning and a tarp. It is tough to enforce everyone picks up their own brass, as we are busy enough at times to make that a safety hazard.

The private indoor range frequented allows you to pick up your own brass as long as you aren't a pain to other shooters. While someone with lots of time on their hands may want to pick up these places brass to sell, can't see it being worth the effort. Especially if you clean it first.

[jmorris]

If it’s not your land, you don’t get to make the rules. If you are on someone else’s playground and want to come back to play, follow their rules.

If it bothers you the solution is simple, just find somewhere else to play.