# Range day cancelled - bloody hell



## Argon18smith (Nov 4, 2016)

I hate snow - well maybe only on range days.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

As I see it, you have a choice:
You can either be Canadian, and embrace the snow, or become a Californian, and embrace a surfboard...and a chick in a bikini.


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## Scorpion8 (Jan 29, 2011)

That's NOT snow to an Alaskan. Our range would still be packed. Snow helps muffle the noise too. Man up and git out there!


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## Argon18smith (Nov 4, 2016)

I did go out today and enjoyed it. Heavy overcast and below 32 F. I shoveled off an area so I wouldn't have to get on my hands and knees to find my brass. I was the only one out, I wonder why? On the way home I was dreaming of chicks in bikinis - sigh.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Finding brass: Snow is _good_!

Back when I was young enough to enjoy shooting in deep cold (in the mountains of Southern California, if you can believe that), one collected one's brass by looking for round holes in the snow. Down in each hole was one empty case.
The holes were perfectly round because the hot cases melted the snow as they sank in, head-end first. (If the hole wasn't round, it wasn't an empty case.)

It was much easier to find black holes in white snow, than it was to find brass cases scattered all over tan dirt.

However, if you are looking for cases on dirt, here are two useful tricks:
*1.* Hold a few empties in your hand, and rattle them a little as you search. The clinking sound they make causes the "lost" cases look up to find out what's making the noise, and you can then see them and pick them up. But the cases in your hand have to be the same size as the ones for which you're looking. Resonance, you know.
*2.* (This one's real.) Walk in a wide circle around the area in which you've been shooting. As you circle that area, decrease the size of the circle a little with each pass. If you keep your eyes on the ground, you will eventually find all of your empties. Walking in circles changes the light-and-reflection pattern that you see, so you will always be looking at an angle that is best for at least some of the cases.


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## Scorpion8 (Jan 29, 2011)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> *1.* Hold a few empties in your hand, and rattle them a little as you search. The clinking sound they make causes the "lost" cases look up to find out what's making the noise, and you can then see them and pick them up. But the cases in your hand have to be the same size as the ones for which you're looking. Resonance, you know.


Ha! Almost snorted some cola out my nose reading that one.


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## Argon18smith (Nov 4, 2016)

It is amazing how old eyes and angles of light make such a big difference. Brass and nickel casings are also very different with light conditions. Snow should be melted by next range day. We have a very large area of mats placed on the ground so retrieving brass is child's play.


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