My local indoor range

[Pablo]

Great place for winter/rainy day shooting. Not too many idiots at any given moment. I've been a member for coming up on a year. Was considering upgrading my membership but something occurred a couple trips back that I didn't mention earlier.

I found out in a demeaning manner about steel bullets during an ammo search at the check-in counter. They asked what kind of ammo (standard question). I said I have a variety....and I listed off the brands I was packing and as soon as I said S&B, they went on full Barney Fife mode. I had to pull out all my ammo....they rudely ripped open the boxes and checked the bullets with a magnet. Well the .357SIG and 45ACP were fine, but my *S&B .38 Special copper FMJ, sure as poop stuck firmly to the magnet. They said I couldn't shoot it so I took it back to the car and had to buy some Blazer FMJ, brass, from them if I wanted to shoot my revolvers. It was $19, so I wasn't super [censored] about that. But I did tell the guys to calm down on the Gestapo routine and I don't like my ammo boxes torn. I pay for this????

*I have 6 boxes of S&B .38 Special at home. 4 boxes have magic magnetic bullets, 2 boxes don't. Go figure.

I know the rules so I'm not complaining about the prohibition on steel bullets (and cases). The whole thing was kind of embarrassing. The one guy could tell I was [censored] and said "Don't get mad at ME". I told him I was not exactly mad at him, just a little cranky about the behavior of the crew and didn't like the S&B surprise.

[BarryinIN]

If they know some S&B has steel jackets, which is a bit unusual in current commercial ammunition, a little note about that wherever they post the "No Steel" rule might help. Something like: "In addition to military ammunition, some varieties of S&B ammunition might contain steel bullets.". It would beat going into a full blown panic upon learning someone

And obviously, asking you to open up the boxes and produce one round from each while they get their magnet out would have made a big difference in how it all went.

I understand that a crater in one of the backstops would require the entire section to be refaced, which is no cheap thing, but once you were told, you produced it. It's not like they had to pounce on it and hurry to get it open before you escaped.

People hear "steel" and panic.

Some of the steel used in bullet jackets is pretty soft as steel goes. I've never seen any of the numbers from it, but have heard some testing was done on some steel jacketed .30-06 that appeared from off shore a few years ago and it was right in line with most similar bullets for hardness and "softer" than some copper jackets.

I know a range owner has to say "no steel at all" of course, but it's almost amusing to watch when people turn pale and lose all control over the mention of the word "steel" when it's no more specific that saying "gun" or "ammo".

[Pablo]

I should have done this research earlier:

http://www.sellier-bellot.cz/pistol-and-revolver-detail.php?ammunition=9&product=81

How can this be harmful?

[Tom]

I had a similar situation at the local indoor range when the clerk couldn't clearly communicate that a lone person couldn't rent a gun and shoot. You either need 2 people in your party or need to bring 1 gun, then you can rent all you want. All he could tell me is "I can't let you shoot alone". We had a circular conversation, and I thought he meant me personally couldn't shoot, until he finally explained insurance purposes and suicide...

The local range is small, 4 lanes, but it's kept up well and a lot of cops practice there. Their hours suck, 9-5 m-f, 8-12 Saturday. Luckily we have good weather around here and a really nice outdoor range.