Retrieving Brass

[Onward Allusion]

What is your method. I normally just pick 'em up but I think the grounds guy at our club is slowing down or something. It is a challenge finding the spent cases in 6" of grass!

[xandi]

I have a brass catcher for my ar, it works 90% of the time, other wise I pick up everything and sort it later

[T. O'Heir]

A grass rake can help, but a brass catcher, while expensive, works too.

[jag2]

When I used to shoot my m-1 carbine a lot I would lay out an old sheet in the approximate area where most round would land. Really did help, those little boogers could hide everywhere.

[FITASC]

An old tarp or blanket works well enough

[FlyFish]

I use one of these: http://www.gracomodels.com/bigcatcher.html. Works great, not too expensive, and mine has lasted for many years.

[TailGator]

I use one of the rolling basket devices used for harvesting pecans. Like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Harvester-Pic...ecan+harvester

I trimmed the handle down for ease of handling. I saw someone using one at a range and liked it. Now people see mine and ask where I got it. It works amazingly well and saves a lot of stooping and bending, which my old back doesn't take so well.

[TJB101]

Not sure why but my Mini14 launches brass into the next county ... I need a brass catcher for sure ... I consider stooping over to pick up the brass my exercise of the day

[gwpercle]

A grandchild, 1 cent a case cash bounty and a trip to Dairy Queen usually gets it done.
Gary

[FITASC]

A grandchild, 1 cent a case cash bounty and a trip to Dairy Queen usually gets it done.
Gary

make it .05 each and a trip to Olive Garden if they also clean and reload!

[jmorris]

When I can, I catch it before it hits the ground. If in tall grass a tarp at least would be a good idea.


These are some methods to pick it up I have used.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...ight=brass+vac

[jmorris]

Not sure why but my Mini14 launches brass into the next county .

I thought that was something that they all did until a few years ago when a friend brought his new to him mini down to the farm and we were shooting it with one of my Ranch mini’s. The regular mini doesn’t throw them near as far but it also has no provisions for scope mounting.

[Bfglowkey]

I watched a gentleman next to me drape a old hand towel over his scope and it covered his ejection port....the round would it the draped towel and just plop in a neat pile. Brilliant

[mikld]

The "range" where I shoot is just dirt, small rocke, shotgun shells and assorted small pieces of trash. I took a telescoping squeegie handle and inserted a piece of 3/1" steel rod in the end. The rod has a tapered end. approx. 1 1/2" and bent at 90 degrees. I just stick the rod tip in the case mouth and pick it up. Not as fast as some methods, I just stroll around the area with my "picker-upper" in one hand and a coffee can in the other. Another aid to retrieving brass; I only clean/tumble two cases to a high shine, my 30-06 for my Garand, and 45 ACP. My other cases either don't go far, are manually removed from the gun or like 9mm, I'm not bothered if I don't find them all.

Brass catchers work, but I already have too much equipment to haul and deploy...

[TailGator]

A grandchild, 1 cent a case cash bounty and a trip to Dairy Queen usually gets it done.

I love that answer. My first grandchild is just less than 8 months old right now, but my day is coming!

[rclark]

I just punch them out one at time in my hand, and place right back in the box . Haven't lost one yet .

[Sky Master]

I use the 3Bucc brass catcher. With an additional mount I can move it from my AR15 to my AR10

[jag2]

As you get older you'll learn to appreciate revolvers.

[JeepHammer]

I picked up an idea from an old guy at the proving grounds,
He simply took a canvas tarp (OD Green, go figure) to the side of the bench, let it drop down and connected the other side to poles between bench stations.
The brass hit the tarp, rolled to the bottom.

I went one step farther, I cut a hole in the bottom and slid a bucket under it.
You have to shake the tarp when you are done, but everything falls into the bucket.

The local range rolls out heavy construction plastic, has it on a rounded edge 4x4 with a hand crank & universal joint on the end of the 4x4 they use to roll it back up quickly.
Keeps people from tearing up the grass when it's wet & they have a shoot.
They just leave it rolled up when they aren't needing to extend the firing line.

As for fishing brass out of grass, did the idea of running a weed eater before you shoot cross your mind?
I'm sure the range wouldn't complain if someone helped with grounds keeping!

I started with chip gravel... The weeds tried to take over, so I salted the ground.
15 years later I wish I would have got a few sheets of tin and laid them down before the gravel so weeds didn't march on me in force... Like my grandpa used to do with tin sheets, tin cans, etc before he laid a path or drive.
The old guys had it figured out, but they didn't throw anything away, it all found a use.

Underlayment would keep my salt & gravel where I put it...

[Onward Allusion]

Thanks all. Definitely more than a couple of good ideas here. I do have one of them brass catchers, but it only catches about a third of the cases. The nut pickers don't work well in 6" grass. I have one and it's great on really short grass. I'm gonna give the tarp a try.

[McCarthy]

I bought a catcher on http://brasscatcher.systems/ a few years ago. It comes with telescoping poles, all out off an ammo can.

The idea is neat, but the telescoping antennas (they actually are antennas) are mounted very flimsy. The latches bend each time you work with it, just a matter of time before it will break.

Setup takes me a bit each time because by the time I'm hooking up the last corner the net moved off another, or the antennas twisted. Also, the entire thing is very wind sensitive. They offer am optional bracket to secure the can to a table but that doesn't work at my local ranges. Another option would be to keep (a lot of) weight in the can.

All that being said, my product arrived half finished (can was sanded, VERY dirty and not painted), and the customer service was unresponsive and slow (much like the shipping). When I complained about the half finished product I was offered this optional wind bracket but they never sent it. Go figure.

I think I'll build my own soon. Something that is stable and quality.

Here a photo of my typical setup:

[Chainsaw.]

At my local range they have built boxes, say 2'x3'x10" deep, wrapped all but one large side with window screen. Works great to catch brass, doenst have to be on your gun or in your face. Just set it on the bench in a convenient place to catch brass.

[RKG]

When shooting an auto rifle from the bench, I use something almost the same as McCarthy. However, I am neither as clever nor ambitious as he: I use something called a ""sweater drying rack" from Bed, Bath and Beyond. The mesh is loose enough that rounds kicked out of an M4 do not bounce, but just drop straight down. Dirt cheap.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...RoC8kgQAvD_BwE

[Minorcan]

I use an electric shop vac by running my vehicle 12 vdc through a converter to output 110 vac. I use a 25’ extension cord. Same idea as the brass vac Morris uses in the attached post but electric so no gas or such to mess with. Since I already own the shop vac and converter its basically free. Walmart and HF have converters for under $30.

[jmorris]

I use an electric shop vac by running my vehicle 12 vdc through a converter to output 110 vac. I use a 25’ extension cord. Same idea as the brass vac Morris uses in the attached post but electric so no gas or such to mess with.

The main difference is my brass vac will only catches heavier objects like brass. Grass, dirt, leaves and such just pass right through, only objects that have more mass drop into the buckets.