Tip for the ladies
Anytime I take a woman shooting, I always tell them not to wear low-cut shirts or loose fitting shirts. My wife ignored that advice once to her detriment. Now, a Bristol police officer has been shot by his girlfriend after a hot piece of brass went down her shirt.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:08 am
I teach at our local range (we do a LOT of education). We had this lady who was cantilevered WAY out there. At the first class, where we do the classroom stuff, I suggested that she wear a less low cut top. (she liked to show ’em off). Next class session, she showed up in another shirt that was veed WAAY down. I lent her a sweatshirt. Next time, she was (if possible) offering an even larger catchment area. We all liked the view, but this led to:
9MM brass from the person next to her fell into the large and open catchment area offered…. she was holding an identical pistol and discharged one into the floor about 10 feet from the shooting station before her coach could get the pistol under control….Hot brass dance is fun to watch…At lest she did keep the pistol more or less pointed downrange.
The last session she was buttoned up to the neck.
We have changed the rules to REQUIRE shirts that offer less chance of such an occurrance happening again. It embarrasses both the teachers and sometimes the attendees, but safety first.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:14 am
Yep, sent my sister-in-law back upstairs to change before a range trip.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:36 am
Mr. B,
In the parlance of internet comments, photographs please or it did not happen….. (-:
October 19th, 2011 at 9:48 am
Had it happen to more than one student, but to their credit, fingers came off the triggers, and the guns stayed in a safe directionIf a student has a plunging neckline we usually place them at the left end of the line, solves the problem simply
October 19th, 2011 at 9:49 am
You have it all wrong… When they shoot they should be topless that way absolutely know brass can get caught in their blouses….
October 19th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Oh so true. It’s turtlenecks or the like for me at the range, even in the summer.
October 19th, 2011 at 10:01 am
I told my then girlfriend the same thing.
She didn’t listen.
She got burned.
I should have been more forceful.
October 19th, 2011 at 10:16 am
It has happened to several women when I worked on a public range. One young tatooed woman went so far as to pull down her top to let me see the burned area. She was quite proud of her store bought enhancements.
She did come back wearing turtlenecks after that.
October 19th, 2011 at 10:25 am
I’m just trying to picture how the training session went, based on now typical police gun safety standards as illustrated in any number of recent cases: All right, honey, first thing you do after putting the cartridge in the chamber is, put your finger on the trigger and start pulling it. You don’t need to wait till you are ready to shoot, just go ahead and half pull the trigger, doesn’t matter where you point it. Don’t worry your pretty little head about those NRA four rules of gun safety, I’m one of the few people who should be allowed to carry guns. “What’s this thing here,” lady points pistol at police officer. That’s the safety, turn it off. (hot brass goes flying, down lady’s shirt, she jumps while half pulling the trigger, BANG.)
October 19th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Despite suggesting that all students wear shirts that button at the neck, I don’t have control over what garments are actually worn when they show up for class, so I bought a 12-pack of 40″ triangular bandages through Amazon. If someone arrives in a “brass catcher top” they get to wear a triangular bandage as a brass deflector during the live fire session.
October 19th, 2011 at 10:57 am
I have had hot brass stick to me multiple times when I am sweaty.
I used to shoot mostly 1911s and 22s and have occasionally had an unwelcome casing stuck to my neck, chest (if I’m wearing a wife beater), etc.
My gun continues to point downrage irrespective of what happens with or to me.
October 19th, 2011 at 10:59 am
BTW its also a VERY good idea to warn them that they may get hit with a piece of hot brass and not to panic, and how to safely and calmly set the gun down if something goes pear shaped.
Putting the gun down is just as important as the 4/5 rules and sight alignment.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:43 am
It’s not just necklines that can pose a problem. I had one Colt 1911 that would toss its spent cases so that they landed on my head. I always wore a broad-brimmed hat when shooting it. (No, I was not holding it gangsta-style.)
October 19th, 2011 at 11:44 am
I’ve had it happen, and I know better. And yet, I have a scar. Knowing that it can happen is a big help. I have a scar because the brass sat there and sizzled while I carefully set the gun down before dealing with it. I point this out every time I teach a new shooter.
October 19th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
When I run NRA Women on Target clinics I actually keep a few old sweatshirts in the car. If someone is inappropriately dressed I’ll have them toss the sweatshirt on over their top before they can shoot.
It is a safety concern. The “hot brass dance” is only funny until you realize how dangerous it can be, then the humor goes away quickly.
October 19th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Occasionally I see women with just string tops or sports bras at the range that I use. They’ll learn eventually. Hopefully no one gets shot when they do.
October 19th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Hot brass dances are for everyone.
I had a 9mm case leap from my Glock, bounce off the partition between shooting bays, and wedge between my safety glasses and my eyebrow. What a surprise that was!
October 19th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
There are two contributing factors here. The clothing and the hold on the pistol. Virtually all auto pistols will chuck the brass out to the right and away from the shooter if held properly. Limp wristing will often cause the brass to be lobbed slow and back, into the shooter. That’s when you need the high, tight shirt, but I’ve also seen hot brass get stuck between the limp wrister’s face and the glasses.
Teach a good hold and this becomes much less of an issue. I tell the student to imagine using the muzzle of the gun barrel to push open a heavy door. That gets the shooter’s hand high, the forearm in line behind the pistol bore, and stiffens the wrist.
A third factor is of course situational awareness. Getting a little sting from a hot case (or a local hornet, or a cell phone ringing, or a streaker running through the gun range, etc.) should in no way cause a ND. All this takes some dedicated and well-planned practice prior to loading the gun.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
I tell the girls to wear low-cut and TIGHT fitting shirts.
And then I have them watch ME shoot!
October 20th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Garand match. Guy next to me was shooting prone in shorts in the Texas heat. 30-06 brass not only hot, but BIG. I swear it was sizzling and smoking before he noticed it.
October 20th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
When my son was young and still learning to shoot he hated wearing the cap I insisted he have with him. Until he limp wristed our M&P9 one day and the brass hit him in the forehead right above his safety glasses. He looked at me, I shrugged and said “Never happens to me, I have a cap with a brim that protects my face and eyes.” Since that day, he wears his hat, even shooting indoors. I hasn’t occured to him that he hasn’t been hit in the face with brass since then because he learned not to limp wrist the gun, but he is safer, so I don’t say anything.
We took a pistol class at an indoor range that did not have dividers between the shooters. We were both wear our caps. One other shooter was teasing my kid about wearing a hat but when the brass from the shooter to his left started bouncing off the roof and raining down on him, he took a break and went out to his car to get a cap.
Some people just have to learn the hard way.
October 20th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Hey, hot brass smarts even down the *back* of the shirt!
October 20th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
I’m a lefty, and this is a real concern for me when firing right-handed rifles. I caught a 5.56 shell in the shirt awhile back, and the shirt wasn’t even low-cut – just a garden-variety t-shirt. I still don’t know how it happened.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Keep a bandanna (or two) in your range bag (man or woman). If there’s a lady present with too low a neck line all she has to do is ‘cowboy up’ – tie the bandanna around her neck so it covers the appropriate area.
My ever-indulgent wife has a pair of bandannas in her bag so she can dress for the day, not just the range.
Our bags also have our range hats but even so I’ve had brass (fortunately just .22) bounce off the partition and shoot the gap under the hat and behind my shooting glasses. Sometimes big eyebrows are a good thing, but it *did* smart a bit sitting up there, sizzling away while I set down the gun and got it out.
October 20th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
I shoot an S&W 1917; never did the hot brass dance until I went to the range with a friends who shot 9mm. One landed right in the cleavage,but I didn’t start shooting wildly, what the heck would that accomplish?
(okay, maybe the stiff trigger deserves the credit 🙂 )