Anyone have any experience with a brass catcher ?

[Grobin7569]

Just spent a few hours at the range and ended my session as usual, on my knees looking for my brass.

Do those wire basket things work on our sand / gravel environment?

I am realizing that I'm using a revolver more, just to not end the session groveling around.

[71MUSTY]

My wife has a brass catcher, but she has learned to wear a high necked shirt, or a bandana like in the old westerns

[Meety Peety]

3 methods that I have found to be pretty successful all have pros and cons.

I built a big frame out of PVC pipe that looked sorta like a small upright soccer net. Stand next to it at the range and your brass spits right into it. This worked very well, and even collected up small 22lr brass without a hitch. The downside to that one was that you had to stand exactly in the same spot at all times, or at least move the thing any time you wanted to shoot from another location. Much like picking up your brass after every magazine.. it took a lot of the fun out of range time.

Second thing that works pretty well is standing on a tarp while you shoot. As you can imagine, you'll get all kinds of dirt, rocks, leaves etc in your pile.. and obviously you end up with more than a few that fly past the tarp.

There is a product out there that takes it a step further and uses a "tarp" made of mesh that will catch your brass but all the dirt and stuff falls through when you clean up. Unfortunately, so does 22lr brass and a lot of 9mm will work their way through as well. And then you still have the issue of brass flying past the end of the tarp.. which is pretty much guaranteed when shooting most service rifles.

I have not tried the brass catchers that you attach directly to the weapon or your wrist.. not sure how they would work out. Out of all three that I have tried, the upright brass catcher that I built out of PVC was the best, but I still hardly used it after a while. It was great for shooting ARs from a bench, since you never move anyway. I'll probably build another one one of these days.

[Grobin7569]

I was thinking more of those things that you roll around to pick up brass.
Seems like they might just push the brass into the sand.

Musty - feel free to post a pic of your wife's brass catcher...

[jericho89]

They do have issues in soft sand and loose gravel. They work great on concrete and hard packed gravel, not that you find that much at he range. For rifles the brash catcher nets that attach to the rifk work well. For pistols there are hard plastic brass catchers that work well for he bench, but are a little clumsy. For revolvers an empty ammo can to dump your brass into is your friend at he bench.

[barearms562]

http://www.ammoupusa.com/compact

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[barearms562]

This is what I just purchased for the same reason


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[romukom]

I usually go to ranges that have tables. I use a pop up laundry basket (horizontal version) and stick it to an ammo can. You can get the laundry basket in Walmart, Target, etc. ($5-$7). Depending on the ammo some of the cases will bounce out. Let say from 100 rounds, maybe two or three casing ends up bouncing out.
Usually I have to rotate a little bit the basket so that it will bounce around inside like a cue ball bouncing on the pool table.
Also, depending on the table height, you might want to prop it up as I show in the picture.
I hope this help

DSC00090.jpg

['ol shooter]

Because my son likes to move around a bit when he shoots, we use a Brass Wizard, and it really works pretty well.

[liber]

I use one of these which fits on the picatiny. They're a bit tricky to adjust, but the picatiny mount adjusts on some rods which make it possible to mount with most scopes.

I shoot at a bench most all the time, with a bipod, so it doesn't bother me at all. If you were shooting prone, knealing or standing I don't know if that would be a problem.

My only complaint is that 223/5.56 fly out of the chamber pretty hot and tend to stick to the mesh netting occasionally...not bad enough to burn through, but just stick to it.

[uechikid]

You might also consider this pickup tool.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/873612/double-alpha-ammo-brass-collector

[Jimi Jah]

That version of Caldwell should work on 7.62 x 39 as well since it's adjustable how far off the bolt it ca be set.

I have the velco versions and those can be tricky to set in the right spot.

An alternative is to layout a beach towel and pick them up that way.

[Metal God]

I use the Caldwell brass catcher for my AR like the one above except mine is the kind the uses a velcro strap and wraps around the forend at the receiver . They work great and I leave them un-zipped so the brass just falls to my feet . This way when shooting a bunch the bag does not fill up . I use them a lot and have never had a case hang up and or cause any feeding issues with the firearm . The only down side is when the line goes cold I have to remove it so the SRO can see the empty chamber .

For pistol I started using the Caldwell brass trap http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o05_s00 . Like others said , to use it you must shoot in the same place for every shot . Now I use it most for load development because I need to inspect my brass after every sting . Having to go hunt for it on the ground mixed with other range brass is simply not an option . You can just set it on the bench next to you with or with out a small tri-pod or you can use a large tripod and use it while standing .

The AR catcher works great in all positions as well as running & gunning . I'll add that if you leave it un-zipped and shoot from the bench . HOT brass at times will roll over and kiss your arm while you shoot .

The other one works great as well if you really need to catch your brass but does take the fun out of shooting if your there just to play .

[SuperSet]

Maybe this is a known fact but for those brass catchers that attach to the gun, you should only use those when standing still or shooting from the bench.
If you do any dynamic movement at all, do not leave it on your gun. It will cause malfunctions.

['ol shooter]

You might also consider this pickup tool.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/873...rass-collector

Same as the Brass Wizard.