Leave My Brass Alone

Went to the range today with my friend Matt and his girlfriend. We had an assortment of weapons in different calibers to shoot. Sig P220 .45acp, Sig P229 .357sig, Glock 27 .40S&W, Springfield XD .40S&W, Walther P22 .22lr, S&W 65 .357magnum, A4 .223 & AR-15 .223.

When we arrived at the public range I moved us to the the last three benches so that our brass would land to our right and we could pick it up when were done. As I reload and brass and other ammo components are rather expensive these days I wanted to make sure we could get all the brass.

Toward the end of our shooting session we had a rather large pile of brass building up. I had stopped every now and then to pick up the rifle brass so that it would not be dented. I then noticed an older gentleman walking toward us with a five gallon bucket.

When I observed the gentleman picking up our brass I stopped him and told him nicely that the brass belonged to us and we would police our brass. The man then continued to pick up brass that was coming from our weapons. I again told him that I would police our own brass and that brass today was not cheap! He then decided to call me out by asking if were shooting all the calibers he had found.

The nerve of some people. I had a large five gallon bucket myself full of brass which he saw. I had told him it was our brass as I had been picking it up when he walked over. Brass was flying from Matt's weapon as we talked landing at his feet.

I understand times are hard but people need to still respect others property. This behavior at this range is not new at all though. The same guys come up to grab up brass to sell to the recycle shops for money. They will grab up your brass and run off before you know it assuming that no one wants it. All they have to do is ask and most shooters will let them have it. However there is enough reloaders so that they need to ask!! It only takes two seconds.