New bolt action brass catcher

[Diver160651]

Filmed Chong, a guy in my squad during our PRS Southwest Regional Qualifier at Avenal this weekend using a brass catcher.

This first gen from KET just clips on an off your scope with one simple clip, it is soft and didn’t seem bulky-Seemed to work well.. but I didn’t get to try it.

We had at least one Rattle snake on the trail and one off the trail.. so the idea of not reaching into holes or grass for brass sounded appealing.


Winds someone said at the end gusted up to 32mph.. lots of rain and mud, but we had a good time.

BTW in transparency they sponsored the stage.. but I am posting because I thought it might be cool especially for practicing when the grass is really tall or the area rocky etc.

 

[just browsing]

Early design looks a little bulky but with some refinement, would easily be in for a couple.

 

[usafa77]

Is it April 1st already?

 

[cattleman99]

Looks like a great idea, until you have some sort of equipment malfunction and need quick access to your action and chamber

 

[MarinePMI]

Looks like a great idea, until you have some sort of equipment malfunction and need quick access to your action and chamber

(Tongue planted firmly in cheek) Bu, bu, but...custom actions are just as reliable as an AI...

 

[lts1ow]

Reverse ejection port so you could in theory still clear malfunctions while using something like this.

Complicated answers to problems that weren't

 

[Diver160651]

Looks like a great idea, until you have some sort of equipment malfunction and need quick access to your action and chamber

I brought up the same point, he simply showed two speedy options. He flipped it over with this index finger showing clear view of the ejection port and it clips on and off the scope about as fast as a USB is pulled out of your computer. He was also single loading for 12 round stages.

This is never going to be for everyone. Maybe you don’t care about your brass, maybe you don’t need to worry about practicing in high grass or other areas that swallow brass and maybe you don’t ever worry about snakes and spiders when you stick your hands into the tires and such..

But I like seeing innovation and think it’s cool just how much stuff is coming out for us that shoot positional matches..

I remember when 90% of people thought it was f’n stupid to carry a 5-7 lbs Game Changer..

This is not my product.. but after seeing it all day in the snotty mud, rain and such that brought down several guns, I thought I should at least share..

I’ll be trying one when I practice..

(Btw I think the guy shooting it and the creator is a Marine)

 

[cattleman99]

I bright up the same point, he simply showed two speedy options. He flipped it over with this index finger slowing clear view of the ejection port and it clips on and off the scope about as fast as a USB is pulled out of your computer. He was also single loading for 12 round stages.

This is never going to be for everyone. Maybe you don’t care about your brass, maybe you don’t need to worry about practicing in high grass or other areas that swallow brass and maybe you don’t ever worry about snakes and spiders when you stick your hands into the tires and such..

But I like seeing innovation and think it’s cool just how much stuff is coming out for us that shoot positional matches..

I remember when 90% of people thought it was f’n stupid to carry a 5-7 lbs Game Changer..

This is not my product.. but after seeing it all day in the snort mud, rain and such that brought down several guns, I thought I should at least share..

I’ll be trying one when I practice..

(Btw I think the guy shooting it and the creator is a Marine)

It’s a neat idea for sure. I’m in no way trying to downgrade the idea, just saw a flaw in my opinion. I’m all for saving brass

 

[hlee]

Saw a guy at the Best in Texas match using a Caldwell pic rail mounted brass catcher on his bolt gun. He didn’t seem to have any problems with it on the stage.

 

[Nik H]

Link

I brought up the same point, he simply showed two speedy options. He flipped it over with this index finger showing clear view of the ejection port and it clips on and off the scope about as fast as a USB is pulled out of your computer. He was also single loading for 12 round stages.

This is never going to be for everyone. Maybe you don’t care about your brass, maybe you don’t need to worry about practicing in high grass or other areas that swallow brass and maybe you don’t ever worry about snakes and spiders when you stick your hands into the tires and such..

But I like seeing innovation and think it’s cool just how much stuff is coming out for us that shoot positional matches..

I remember when 90% of people thought it was f’n stupid to carry a 5-7 lbs Game Changer..

This is not my product.. but after seeing it all day in the snotty mud, rain and such that brought down several guns, I thought I should at least share..

I’ll be trying one when I practice..

(Btw I think the guy shooting it and the creator is a Marine)

Link to website...Tried Google but got nothing but Caldwell

 

[mikehotel]

I use the Caldwell and the TAC Star units, both available from midway

Caldwell Brass Catcher AR-15 Picatinny Rail Mount Nylon Mesh Black

The Caldwell Picatinny Rail Brass Catcher offers a convenient, consistent and easy to use method of collecting brass while shooting at the range. Unlike...

www.midwayusa.com

Tac-Star Brass Catcher AR-15 Picatinny Rail Mount Nylon Black

TacStar’s Brass Catcher is the perfect accessory for AR shooters who reload. No more walking around bent over trying to find where your brass...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[tunaman]

I use the Caldwell also, on my AR10, and it works well. I need to try it on my new Tikka T3x TAC - I’ve got an extra mount. For the most part, catching brass isn’t an issue for my bolt when just target shooting, but I could see it come into play for competition or some other circumstances.

Definitely love innovation - will have to look at this alternative more closely later as it could come in handy with my M1Ds, for instance.

 

[Diver160651]

I use the Caldwell and the TAC Star units, both available from midway

Caldwell Brass Catcher AR-15 Picatinny Rail Mount Nylon Mesh Black

The Caldwell Picatinny Rail Brass Catcher offers a convenient, consistent and easy to use method of collecting brass while shooting at the range. Unlike...

www.midwayusa.com

Tac-Star Brass Catcher AR-15 Picatinny Rail Mount Nylon Black

TacStar’s Brass Catcher is the perfect accessory for AR shooters who reload. No more walking around bent over trying to find where your brass...

www.midwayusa.com

FYI these are soft, smaller fold into your pocket or flip in and out of the way, pop on an off in 1-2 secs and have Velcro for your SAP 2 round holder etc
.

Not at all in the same category-

That’s why I shared the post

 

[tunaman]

Sorry, but that is definitely not smaller than the Caldwell that I have.

 

[Diver160651]

Sorry, but that is definitely not smaller than the Caldwell that I have.

How many cases does your Caldwell hold?

The Cadwells I have seen also have a rigid insert at the top and a metal non- foldable ring/square that holds the net open. It also uses the pick rail and sticks out. Am I thinking of the wrong unit?

 

[hlee]

I mentioned the Caldwell unit ONLY because it was an example that adding a brass catcher does not, necessarily, reduce the reliability or usability of a bolt action rifle. It was not my intention to derail this thread. I'll grade that as a solid FAIL.

Yes, the caldwell unit does have a wire frame that holds the bag open. Yes, it does attach to a pic rail. Yes, it does stick out from the side by 3.5 inches. I'm not sure how many cases it holds, but "enough to complete a PRS stage" is conservative. It is a slip-fit (with detent retention) onto a pic rail adapter and comes off as fast as you can grab it and pull. I've only ever used on on an AR-15, but it was a non-issue on the props I encountered in the 2 matches I shot with the rifle and brass bag.

 

[NoLegs24]

Just hire someone to catch your brass for you haha, right @hic28 ?.... lol

I would only use that if i was shooting near a cliff where my brass would def go to the brass gods after every ejection.... besides that, looks like it'll just get in the way and annoy the f* out of me... especially in a bolt gun

 

[Diver160651]

Just hire someone to catch your brass for you haha, right @hic28 ?.... lol

I would only use that if i was shooting near a cliff where my brass would def go to the brass gods after every ejection.... besides that, looks like it'll just get in the way and annoy the f* out of me... especially in a bolt gun

Jorge, doesn’t everything annoy the F out of you ??

Kidding—

But ya, might not be for everyone, but interesting watching it work..

Jim

 

[NoLegs24]

Jorge, doesn’t everything annoy the F out of you ??

Hahaha, you're onto something there lol

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Just hire someone to catch your brass for you haha, right @hic28 ?.... lol

I don't know if he's still available, but there was a time when our Resident Brass-ologist was @BOLTRIPPER and I don't think you had to hire him. Just ask him to catch your brass, I'm pretty sure it'd never touch the ground!

Some here may remember.

 

[memilanuk]

So what is 'KET'? Do they have a viable product out there, or is this just someone testing a theory?

 

[Diver160651]

So what is 'KET'? Do they have a viable product out there, or is this just someone testing a theory?

I don't really know the specifics, here is all I know:

I shot a prone match a couple years ago in the same squad as Chong. He and his partner have created a different CQB offering that apparently is getting a lot of looks. I think that's the product that is in production.

I do not know their website or if they have one, just his email and phone. They sent me a video to ask my what I thought, I said they should get it into the hands of some solid PRS shooters as a test. I did say that without a super detailed video, bolt guys might have a hard time grasping the concept. It is super early and I do not think that has happened yet. We started talking about them sponsoring a stage and giving out some free product.

He ended up in my squad almost randomly as the MD was moving people around to balance the squads, he flew out by himself so it was an easy move. He came out to test to see for himself if the movement and obstacles would be problematic. We had 14 stations with a minimum of 36 moves and as many as 12 rounds under a single live fire clock.

He was super chill and it looks like the catcher worked well. I did ask once they are in production for one to try during practice. It sounds like they are really close, but you know squad talk... everyone was busting each other balls more than any real deep conversation.

Either way, nice to see someone try something new - especially a guy who served.

 

[memilanuk]

Cool.

What made me kind of laugh when I saw this thread, is that I've been watching the whole PRS thing from a distance for a while now. I have RO'd a few stages along the way, and shot a match or two (though its been a while for the latter). Watching people grubbing around in the dirt for their brass, and going to various lengths to mark their cases so that they can be identified if mixed in with god-only-knows who else's stuff... always made me wonder if there was a better way. Lately, with the advent of chassis guns, and the whole AR-ish ergonomics of some... I literally asked someone this weekend at the Kettle Falls Steel Challenge "why does nobody run a freakin' brass catcher?"

And then I see this thread ?

FWIW, what I had in mind was the Caldwell version. I have one for my ARs, with a block mounted on both my MSR-15 and MSR-10 so I can swap between the two. Been meaning to try it on the 10 BA Stealth, just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[nfoley]

I would definitely be interested in trying one. If nothing else would be great for practice on those muddy days.

 

[Diver160651]

The Caldwell holds more brass but all you need is 12 - 15 to be safe even for some crazy MD

The Caldwell gets knocked out of place and a lot of obstacles makes it a 100% no go. That’s why I wasn’t so sure about with this one too; but it was kinda cool. At some field matches there is no way I’ll reach in to get some of my brass..

Again, maybe more merits for practice..

Anyway, I think their first product for CQB was a solution to brass catchers being just about the silliest thing ever for that type of training, but drilling brass in your partners face kinda sucks too — they apparently created something ultra light, flexible that works without causing additional issues. That’s their words interpreted the best I can on the phone - they actually gave away some at the match, but I don’t know if any bolt guys even understood what it was, or it’s use.. Well, the Ex Buds CQB Instructor guy had left before the price table— he would know I guess..

 

[BOLTRIPPER]

I don't know if he's still available, but there was a time when our Resident Brass-ologist was @BOLTRIPPER and I don't think you had to hire him. Just ask him to catch your brass, I'm pretty sure it'd never touch the ground!

Some here may remember.

Frank did a picture of me .....long time ago at a RO match being a brass whore and made it into a poster...one of the patriot firearms helio matches.......somebody please find it.....

 

[Bwells]

Cool idea but obstacles and run and gun stages may cause some issues.

 

[260284]

Filmed Chong, a guy in my squad during our PRS Southwest Regional Qualifier at Avenal this weekend using a brass catcher.

This first gen from KET just clips on an off your scope with one simple clip, it is soft and didn’t seem bulky-Seemed to work well.. but I didn’t get to try it.

We had at least one Rattle snake on the trail and one off the trail.. so the idea of not reaching into holes or grass for brass sounded appealing.


Winds someone said at the end gusted up to 32mph.. lots of rain and mud, but we had a good time.

BTW in transparency they sponsored the stage.. but I am posting because I thought it might be cool especially for practicing when the grass is really tall or the area rocky etc.

I saw this when it was originally posted and have been waiting to see if anyone else saw what jumped out at me from a safety standpoint? At our local matches your bolt stays open until you are on the target looking through your scope. The shooter in the video closed his bolt and then searched for the target after the fact. With safety being the first priority and everyone in a squad being a RO, how did this not get noticed? In our local matches, if you close your bolt, you better be on target and ready to fire. If you need to dial dope, adjust parallax, or come off your scope, you are asked to lift your bolt.

Hopefully this makes sense as I had back surgery on Tuesday and I am still taking painkillers and muscle relaxers every 4-6 hrs. Not trying to call anyone out or offend the OP or the shooter, but that was the first thing I noticed.

I have the rail mounted Caldwell brass catcher and it worked fine on my 6.5 Grendel. If I was shooting prone I just left it unzipped so my brass would be in a pile. I might have to try it on my 22BR and see how it works.

 

[MarinePMI]

I noticed it as well, but think ranges still vary on their enforcement of closing the bolt only when on target.

This sport is growing, and it'll take a little bit for everything to become standardized. Our club is transitioning to this rule as well, and so, we still have some we have to remind. Some during the string of fire, and some (who are still learning and struggling to get everything into muscle memory) are corrected after the string is over. It's a learning curve sort of thing. Eventually we'll all get there, and as long as they are not posing a safety hazard (that range has pretty wide lateral limits by the look of it), then gentle correct and gradual integration is fine in my book.

 

[Diver160651]

I noticed it as well, but think ranges still vary on their enforcement of closing the bolt only when on target.

This sport is growing, and it'll take a little bit for everything to become standardized. Our club is transitioning to this rule as well, and so, we still have some we have to remind. Some during the string of fire, and some (who are still learning and struggling to get everything into muscle memory) are corrected after the string is over. It's a learning curve sort of thing. Eventually we'll all get there, and as long as they are not posing a safety hazard (that range has pretty wide lateral limits by the look of it), then gentle correct and gradual integration is fine in my book.

I was wrong, I should have stopped the recording and corrected. I didn't see the first bolt close because I was looking through my phone and where I was, might have blocked the others from seeing. If I would have noticed the very first bolt closing, I would either have stopped him from closing by yelling a reminder, asked him to re-start if I felt strongly enough to completely interrupt his COF, or called the MD on the radio. However, I did notice the others and he was told as soon as he finished. I even texted him after the match to have a better post match debrief on the why's etc. I saw the issues in this video too, before I posted it, I think I was hopeful that people see the post for what it was, rather than a newbie shooter fucking up and an old fucker not busting his balls immediately.

It was his FIRST Positional match, His first was a prone match where you do NOT need to have bolt back to transition to another target. I was the shooting RO & corrected him earlier and he made all the adjustments each time. Other than his lifting of the head and bolt manipulation once on the obstacle but before on glass, his gun handling skills where safe and never had the other typical first match issues. He alway remembered bolt back mag out when he moved, ECI in before leaving the stage, etc...

​

I understand this does NOT make it correct, but some of the stages (not all) have hundreds of mils of safety built in because target package is nested in the canyon. This was another target package with the targets in a canyon; so once I noticed, I decided to let him finish then talk to him hoping it would be more fruitful.

Everyone in the squad, included 2 MDs for another club enjoyed him and helped, he was not in contention to be disruptive to the PRO shooter or top spots. Everyone stepped back and tried not to mess with the video I was taking with my phone. I wanted to get one video of him hitting targets, you can even hear one of the guys calling an impact before he even starts, in fun. We tried this on another stage and I stopped the video and corrected him.

Should I have changed things on this one stage? yep. Was I wrong? yep.

Nobody else in that squad is to blame for my decision to take a video, choose to stand where I did and I let him finish the COF and choose to correct at the end.

Jim T

Here are the Practiscore results for the PRS division / Open class.. if it was anyone other than a first time positional shooter, a dangerous shooter, or top contender, I would NOT have have made the same decision. I cropped the result page long before the shooter in question.

PS: Bolt Open and Back is a rule for transitions 1.3.3; Bolt sequence on target, is best practices; there is a HUGE difference. Anybody readying this hopefully, gets the distinction.

 

[hlee]

I'm not saying that it happened in this case, but there is a certain amount of "knocking yourself off target when closing the bolt" that happens- especially with rougher actions (I'm looking at you RPR)- that can lead to an amount of searching for the target when the bolt is closes. Even more so for new shooters and high magnification (small field of view) scopes.

 

[260284]

I was wrong, I should have stopped the recording and corrected. I didn't see the first bolt close because I was looking through my phone and where I was, might have blocked the others from seeing. If I would have noticed the very first bolt closing, I would either have stopped him from closing by yelling a reminder, asked him to re-start if I felt strongly enough to completely interrupt his COF, or called the MD on the radio. However, I did notice the others and he was told as soon as he finished. I even texted him after the match to have a better post match debrief on the why's etc. I saw the issues in this video too, before I posted it, I think I was hopeful that people see the post for what it was, rather than a newbie shooter fucking up and an old fucker not busting his balls immediately.

It was his FIRST Positional match, His first was a prone match where you do NOT need to have bolt back to transition to another target. I was the shooting RO & corrected him earlier and he made all the adjustments each time. Other than his lifting of the head and bolt manipulation once on the obstacle but before on glass, his gun handling skills where safe and never had the other typical first match issues. He alway remembered bolt back mag out when he moved, ECI in before leaving the stage, etc...

​

I understand this does NOT make it correct, but some of the stages (not all) have hundreds of mils of safety built in because target package is nested in the canyon. This was another target package with the targets in a canyon; so once I noticed, I decided to let him finish then talk to him hoping it would be more fruitful.

Everyone in the squad, included 2 MDs for another club enjoyed him and helped, he was not in contention to be disruptive to the PRO shooter or top spots. Everyone stepped back and tried not to mess with the video I was taking with my phone. I wanted to get one video of him hitting targets, you can even hear one of the guys calling an impact before he even starts, in fun. We tried this on another stage and I stopped the video and corrected him.

Should I have changed things on this one stage? yep. Was I wrong? yep.

Nobody else in that squad is to blame for my decision to take a video, choose to stand where I did or I let him finish the COF and choice to correct at the end.

Jim T

Here are the Practiscore results for the PRS division / Open class.. if it was anyone other than a first time positional shooter, a dangerous shooter, or top contender, I would NOT have have made the same decision. I cropped the result page long before the shooter in question.

View attachment 7083275


PS: Bolt Open and Back is a rule for transitions 1.3.3; Bolt sequence on target, is best practices; there is a HUGE difference. Anybody readying this hopefully, gets the distinction.

Just got back from a 30 minute 1/4 mile walk and took some pain meds. I won't respond except good job on correcting the shooter and for making the match fun for him. Can't say anymore as I will look like a bigger fool than I actually am.

 

[Diver160651]

Just got back from a 30 minute 1/4 mile walk and took some pain meds. I won't respond except good job on correcting the shooter and for making the match fun for him. Can't say anymore as I will look like a bigger fool than I actually am.

You don't look like a fool - I think it is good that more and more people are interested in best practices..

 

[Back Spin]

Shoot, makes me wish I took a closer look at the KET brass deflector rather than taking the multicam handbag off the prize table ?

The above discussion on best practices definitely deserves a discussion on its own.

 

[Diver160651]

Shoot, makes me wish I took a closer look at the KET brass deflector rather than taking the multicam handbag off the prize table ?

The above discussion on best practices definitely deserves a discussion on its own.

the Brass defector is certainly suited more to guys in your line of work I'll text you the guy's number, he is super cool I am sure he'll comp you one.

Edited to add:

I texted and asked for more info. about what they gave away on the prize table. It was the deflector not the catcher.

He texted me this. I could not get it posted so I uploaded to my YouTube account:

 

[seansmd]

Looks pretty cool, I would be interested in the price.