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Lost brass at monthly match?


Matthew Duncan

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Sunday at Wildwood Wranglers.  

5 stages.

100 rounds shot

Of the 98 casings returned to me;

1 case was split.

1 case didn't belong to me (WW).  My headstamps were Winchester and Tombstone.

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Sounds like you did pretty well. I usually expect to lose about 10% of my brass (give or take).

I know larger matches are hard for returning brass (especially with common firing lines), but I hate lost brass matches.

I get that they usually do a fund raiser with Scouts or some such, still don't like em.

I'd love to get 96% of my brass back!

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I am a brass picker.  Some people pick better than others and some rifles scatter the brass worse than others.  When I finally put a short stroke in my .357 '73, brass started going more forward and I lose some.  This weekend I shot my 44-40 at the Texas state BP match, Regulators Revenge.  Bitter Trigger was the other picker on our posse and I got all 100 rifle brass back!

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I lose about 80%-90% of my rifle brass.  It all ejects forward... way forward.  Very few places around here have down-range movement, so getting the brass back is usually a lost cause.

 

I get a high percentage of my pistol brass back.  :)

 

Totes

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I mark my brass with Machinist dye.  Since I shoot C.45 Spl, it is rare.  Even rarer with blue machinist dye.  Usually after a stage or two, pards know my brass.  Usually at the end of the day I have a couple of people coming up to me with some of my brass.  I also make a point of returning brass to the proper owner when it turns up in my brass pile.  Works both ways.

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I don't like losing brass, but I figure it ain't a day at the range unless I lose some.  I probably get 98-99% back.  I shoot mostly .44-40.  Once I think I came out a couple ahead. Not sure how that happened, but, "sorry" to whoever lost the brass that ended up in my bag.

 

Lawman Mark, I found a .38-40 in my bag of brass after one match.  Could be one of yours meandered up to Mid-Missouri for a visit.  I ain't never had one of them little critters before.  I've got it sitting on a shelf near my reloader so it can watch the goings on.

 

Angus

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That's really good return.

 

I normally only get about 80% back. Wife only 60% as she shoots a Marlin that throws then forward.

And our firing lines do not allow you to go forward to pick brass. The last few matches I have went out

front and picked some brass after the match to get some of hers back. Most all the monthly's around here allow you to do that.

 

It's nice to have a good brass picker or two in the posse. BUT. I know some won't like this. But I don't like to slow the whole

posse down to Easter egg hunt either. As a picker, TO  or PM. Once it comes down to everyone standing around waiting on the

brass picker. It's time for the next shooter.

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We so a follow-up clean-up at our range and then paint targets before next match and about always gain a few 38 Special brass. 

 

My  Marlin rifles and Sawmill Mary's Marlin does not sling brass everywhere.  They drop the empties to the right. Problem now, we are shooting 44WCF and so are many others.   We all use Starline brass so identifying orphan brass is a chore. Then I shot my 38WCF in a couple of matches.  Darm if there wasn't another guy shooting 38WCF in a rifle.  Pickers don't notice the difference between 38WCF and 44WCF.  

 

We shoot with a lady that shoots a 73. It can sling brass anywhere in a 20' radius.  He wears a hat with a large brim. It usually catches a couple. 

 

I loose more brass when shooting my little 32WCF.   I suspect people picking it up and mixing it in with 38 or 357. 

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Here are a few pointers for being a good brass picker.

 

While it is fun to watch the shooting you should make it a point to watch where the shooters rifle is throwing brass. Is the shooters hat catching a bunch of it? Is it going forward of the firing line?

 

As long as you will not get in the shooters way, start picking rifle brass as soon as possible.

 

Count each piece as you pick it up. When you get to the round count you are done. Seen a lot of people looking for brass when they already have all the shooters brass.

 

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6 hours ago, Totes Magoats said:

I lose about 80%-90% of my rifle brass.  It all ejects forward... way forward.  Very few places around here have down-range movement, so getting the brass back is usually a lost cause.

 

I get a high percentage of my pistol brass back.  :)

 

Totes

Take a step or 2 back-^_^

OLG

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.38 brass  I get what I get.  Don't really care too much.  After paying for travel, guns and match fees a little brass doesn't bug me.    Now that I have a 38-40 it might change but I don't plan to shoot it much

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5 hours ago, Anvil Al #59168 said:

Wife only 60% as she shoots a Marlin that throws then forward.

 

We have a lady with a Marlin that ejects forward.  But I notice she leans into the the stage and has the gun well out the window or over the table. So a vast majority of the brass goes in front of the stage. 

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I shoot a '73 or a '66 and seem to have all my brass , almost, in one place and easy to pick up.

It's  now rare for me to lose any brass out of the 50 to 60 rifle rounds fired.

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9 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

I shoot a '73 or a '66 and seem to have all my brass , almost, in one place and easy to pick up.

It's  now rare for me to lose any brass out of the 50 to 60 rifle rounds fired.

We have a number of really smooth and consistent shooters, and it's always a pleasure to pick brass for them.  It is never wide-scattered.  One in particular very consistently leaves all of his '73  .38 rifle brass in a pile that could fit under a cowboy hat.   Another leaves most of it ON his hat.  One cowgirl won't let us pick where hers falls.  

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10 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Yep some peole shouldn't be allowed to pick brass.

 

Really?

 

Give me a break. I don't particularly like to pick brass. I can't bend over and get up quickly any more, and those long handled pincer things don't work too well with my poor eyesight. So I try to avoid brass picking if possible. In a pinch I will do it, but I don't like to hold up the posse searching for every last piece. So if I don't get it all, I don't. You can complain to me after the match.

 

 

10 hours ago, Von Dutch, SASS # 7995 said:

There are a hell of a lot more people that shouldn't be allowed to be spotters!!!!! 

 

Really?

 

If I know a shooter is super fast, I try to hand off the stick to somebody else because I can't see fast enough to keep up with some shooters. Particularly if the shooting order is confusing.

 

I'll tell you guys what. I'll spend the match sitting on my butt on my cart. Then maybe you guys will be happy.

 

 

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I usually lose about 5%, although at my last match I only lost 10 45 colts, but the wife lost over 50 38 sp. including the shoot off. It is what it is!

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9 minutes ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

i got a big collander on a 3 foot stick and I catch the brass before it hits the ground. 

That might "not fly" at many matches or with many shooters as it could be very distracting for the shooter. I'm not "a contender;" but, I still want to do my best. So,  it would annoy me.

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At most of the clubs I shoot at, not counting split cases I discard, I usually lose between one and five rifle cases over the course of a match.  And I've noticed that this number was trending downwards this year.  I figure that is acceptable.  Nobody is perfect.   Besides, I always seem to have two or three .38s in my used brass when I get home and sort it that I know were not mine to start with.  That's cuz .38 Special is just about the ONLY caliber that I don't shoot.   Over the years, I think I've collected between fifty and a hundred .38 cases.  One or two at a time at dozens of matches.   I figure this means that some other shooter has gotten one or two .45's, or .44-40's, or .32-20's, or .44 Magnums or .44 Specials.  It has all evened out over time.   


Curiously, I have never lost a single 56-50 Spencer or a 12 gauge brass hull.   

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2 minutes ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

 

At most of the clubs I shoot at, not counting split cases I discard, I usually lose between one and five rifle cases over the course of a match.  And I've noticed that this number was trending downwards this year.  I figure that is acceptable.  Nobody is perfect.   Besides, I always seem to have two or three .38s in my used brass when I get home and sort it that I know were not mine to start with.  That's cuz .38 Special is just about the ONLY caliber that I don't shoot.   Over the years, I think I've collected between fifty and a hundred .38 cases.  One or two at a time at dozens of matches.   I figure this means that some other shooter has gotten one or two .45's, or .44-40's, or .32-20's, or .44 Magnums or .44 Specials.  It has all evened out over time.   


Curiously, I have never lost a single 56-50 Spencer or a 12 gauge brass hull. 

I've lost ONE .56-.50 case. I was baffled, because there is no grass or cracks in the stage front that big for one to hide in. I suspect someone wanted one for their collection...

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A 15 yr SASS pin and 98% ( +/- 1%) return on your brass? I'd say you're on a winning streak Mr. Matthew Duncan. I'd run out a buy a lottery ticket before your luck runs out.

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8 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I usually lose about 5%, although at my last match I only lost 10 45 colts, but the wife lost over 50 38 sp. including the shoot off. It is what it is!

Well the grass was kinda high at that shoot off, was fun though!  

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Nutmeg Ryder, SASS # 74966 said:

Well the grass was kinda high at that shoot off, was fun though!  

 

 

It was wicked fun and worth all the lost brass! Can't wait til next year!

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On 10/28/2019 at 9:00 PM, Sedalia Dave said:

As long as you will not get in the shooters way, start picking rifle brass as soon as possible.

I was told early on never to step into a shooter's periforal (sp?)  vision.  That being said, we have some very fine brass pickers in the Carolinas, and the Old North State posse has a centralized brass return facility.  Y'all come shoot with us.

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Our posses likes picking brass from sand floor shooting bays or grass cut short. 

I've been known to bring my grass trimmer and clip it REEAAALLLYYY short around the rifle shooting stations.

Mind you, that often goes for naught when someone is using a '92 or a '94. :ph34r:

Much like lightning strikes, we find their brass everywhere within a 10+ foot circle:D

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