Picking up casings at the range

[TheCytochromeC]

Before some get the wrong impression, I'd like to clarify that I'm referring to my personal casings that I've purchased and fired. I was wondering, does anyone has advice on the easiest way to leave with as many casings as you entered, particularly with semi-auto handguns? I'd hate to be the guy in the center row of a movie theater that has to use the bathroom...

[Piney]

indoor or outdoor ?

Two of the outdoor ranges I shoot at are open bay-- no shooting line with multiple persons. I'll put down a small tarp. I've seen a manufactured "catcher" that looked like landscape or sun screen cloth with nice tidy edges.

Indoor with lanes-- difficult as many bounce downrange. One could ask the range staff if you could get a handful or two back out of their barrels. One indoor range I shoot has grates on the floor. They'll provide a carpet piece that helps catch some.

[brainman]

The last time I shot at my local club, a guy next to me had a contraption (looked home-built) that was essentially a screened box with a large opening in the side. His firing position was such that the cases ejected into the box.

[SPDGG]

Indoor: I sweep my area & any loose brass forward before I start. I pick up after each mag, most times I load 5-10 for precision or cadence drills. Transition, Reload type drills I'm only loading a few so its easy to keep track. More about quality than quantity I'm throwing down range. Come back with 95+% of my brass. I would never take any range brass, not just the principle of it: not mine, but dont know the history or the casing, not willing to waste time to sort bad from good or have split cases come on early.

Outdoor: I do the same, clean my area and the area I know empties will go. Movement drills are the same. Time consuming but I get my brass & have got use it.

Both help me leave the range cleaner than I found it.

My buddy that shoots at an outdoor range marks his headstamp with a colored sharpie, but that takes forever. Think he pays his little elves with sweets to help him.

[rotor]

I bought one of those large net things to catch my brass and would be ok if my gun shot in one direction. Everything I have shoots in all different directions, bounces off the walls, etc. The real secret to getting brass in my case is to bring my wife to the range. She likes to shoot and she always gets more brass than what we shoot. Probably gets 10 for each one we shoot. I have to drag her home to stop her. I am always surprised to find as much as we do, I guess some people don't know about the shortage. She was in Dallas today, stopped at Basspro and called to tell me they had some powder and primers. She got me 3 # WIN 296 and 1 k Federal large pistol magnum. She went into the store and asked where the gunpowder was.

[rthillusa]

I was at the Garland Gun Range a couple of weeks ago and noticed a guy had an open box standing on end on the bench just to the right of his AR. I thought "that's odd, why would he do that?" About 2 nano seconds later I realized it was catching his brass for him. I can't wait to try it for my 9 MMs. It seems so simple I wonder why I've never seen anyone else do it before.

[TheCytochromeC]

indoor or outdoor ?

Either one , I shoot at both. I'm referring to an public range with firing lines.

My buddy that shoots at an outdoor range marks his headstamp with a colored sharpie, but that takes forever. Think he pays his little elves with sweets to help him.

That's what my great-uncle taught me to do, color code head stamps and primers with a legend kept in the box. That way if you have several different loads and you drop the whole box, you still know exactly what composes the round. Winchester primers are red, Remington primers are green and so on and so forth. It is time consuming but I don't usually shoot a high volume.

The real secret to getting brass in my case is to bring my wife to the range. She likes to shoot and she always gets more brass than what we shoot. Probably gets 10 for each one we shoot. I have to drag her home to stop her. I am always surprised to find as much as we do, I guess some people don't know about the shortage. She was in Dallas today, stopped at Basspro and called to tell me they had some powder and primers. She got me 3 # WIN 296 and 1 k Federal large pistol magnum. She went into the store and asked where the gunpowder was.

That's one fine lady you've got there. I hope my girlfriend will do things like that for me later in life. Hopefully later in life I'll buy some land so I won't have to worry about any of the crazies at public ranges and shoot what I want, how I want.

I've seen and heard things about net-based casing catchers. I was thinking about fabricating a tripod with a telescopic shaft and a big pool net that you can change the angle on at the end. It seems like a lot of trouble but who knows, it may be fun and worth the effort? A tarp does sounds pretty easy though...

[michael e]

I go first thing when they open, I am usually the only shooter in the place . When it gets packed I get ready to go. It seems to be the easiest way to keep my brass and not get someone elses.

[Gyrogearhead]

There is also a gadget on the market that was originally designed to pick up pecans in the grass. It looks like a football made of wire strands with a bearing at each end and a long handle. The small ones are perfect for picking up anything down to 25 cal cases. It's called "Nut Wizard" and can be found at http://nutwizard.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and also on Amazon under "Nut Wizard". You simply roll it along in the grass and the wires capture anything hard and trap it inside the cage. Works great on concrete too. Best thing since lace up shoes. I've been using mine for around four years now and wouldn't go to the range without it. Needless to say it picks up all the cases it contacts so you have to sort through the day's take to separate the brass from the steel other people have left behind.

Gerry