brass/shell pickup tools

[Buckshot Blaine]

what is good to use for the basket for brass/shell pickup to go along with the grabber?

[Sedalia Dave]

A small bucket with a short rope tied to the bail.

 

A small shrimp / minnow net attached to a longer handle. 

 

Avoid the metal kitchen strainers attached to a long handle. They tend to get bent easily because people like to lean on them 

[Buckshot Blaine]

Thanks!

[Badlands Bob #61228]

The absolute best brass pickup tool is an energetic 12 year old.

[slow poke gear]

8 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

The absolute best brass pickup tool is an energetic 12 year old.

That's the main posse job for my two kids 11 and 13. 

[Matthew Duncan]

15 hours ago, Buckshot Blaine said:

what is good to use for the basket for brass/shell pickup to go along with the grabber?

I use a tin cup.

[Chili Pepper Kid, SASS #60463]

I got this small milk can from Hobby Lobby. 

[Sam Sackett]

A #10 metal can fastened to a stick. Cheap and easily replaceable. 
 

Sam Sackett 

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

A small fishing net works great.  Jackalope showed me "the light" years ago.  We now have many local converts.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Frabill-Wooden-Premium-D-Shaped-Minnow/dp/B000EZ09SY/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2Y90UPBCN8O2Q&keywords=small+fishing+net&qid=1694183447&sprefix=small+fishing+net%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-15

[Lucky Lead Pepper]

15 minutes ago, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

A small fishing net works great.  Jackalope showed me "the light" years ago.  We now have many local converts.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Frabill-Wooden-Premium-D-Shaped-Minnow/dp/B000EZ09SY/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2Y90UPBCN8O2Q&keywords=small+fishing+net&qid=1694183447&sprefix=small+fishing+net%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-15

 

I use a similar fish net I got at Walmart for $5.

[Choctaw Jack]

Cup is still usable as a drinking cup, if the vendor still gives free refills!

Choctaw

[wyliefoxEsquire]

https://arcmate.com/ezreacher-pro.aspx

 

They will replace no charge if it breaks.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

17 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

A small bucket with a short rope tied to the bail.

I hate those

A small shrimp / minnow net attached to a longer handle. 

I hate those

Avoid the metal kitchen strainers attached to a long handle. They tend to get bent easily because people like to lean on them 

I love these.  Skyhawk Hans has one that I use when I spell him as brass picker.  It is a thick mesh, has never bent, is easy to turn to dump brass onto table or into another brass cup if more than one picker, etc.

So, there is obviously some personal preference and YMMV to this.

 

4 hours ago, Matthew Duncan said:

I use a tin cup.

This is what I've used for years (actually a small boy scout cook pot).  I pick it up and set it down on the ground with the picker.  Move it around on the ground so it is sitting close to the empties.  Easy to set it on the ground forward of the firing line when reaching over fences or out of windows for those Marlin shooters. 

[Possum Stu]

I use either a tin cup, or a telescoping fish net, the sort you use to get fish out of a fish tank. 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.  Either work really well.

[watab kid]

i have an old thrown away kitchen strainer attached to an old thrown away swiffer handle and i dont lean on it its lasted over 15 years now , along with one of those pickers 

[German Jim]

I use a french fry basket (from Amazon) that I attached to a cut-off metal broom handle.  Stuffed the basket handle into the end of the broom handle.

[Renegade Roper]

21 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

The absolute best brass pickup tool is an energetic 12 year old.

And where would one find such a creature?  Amazon?

[Texas Maverick]

5 hours ago, Renegade Roper said:

And where would one find such a creature?  Amazon?

Your local skateboard park.

 

TM

[Chief Rick]

I prefer containers that have a screen or mesh-type bottom to allow water, dirt and other debris to fall out.

[watab kid]

me too , for all those reasons , but given the option ill pay a 12 year old to do the job long as they do it well , 

[Rance - SASS # 54090]

I use a big tea strainer mounted to the bottom of an old cane..

I mounted it up on the shaft so when I lean on the cane the basket doesn’t touch..

Two perverbial uses..

[Tequila Shooter]

IMHO no matter what is used it has to have a perforated bottom.  So many times I’m at the ULT trying to get off the table before the next shooter gets there and when the brass shows up it’s all mixed up with rocks and debris.  Personally I use the bucket and string method, it will sit on the floor.

[watab kid]

i agree - i kinda like the cane yoiu can lean on and side mounted basket - i see a new project in the winters agenda , i have both canes and baskets to work with these days , 

[KingSnake]

I have a pencil basket from office max that I mounted to a handle. Drilled extra holes in the bottom. A few shakes and most of the dirt and rocks fall out. 

[Eyesa Horg]

8 hours ago, KingSnake said:

I have a pencil basket from office max that I mounted to a handle. Drilled extra holes in the bottom. A few shakes and most of the dirt and rocks fall out. 

Same, except screwed to an old cane.

[Bart Slade]

Does anyone have any solutions that at least LOOK like they're from the 1880's?

 

I have an old ore sifting pan that I use to hold the cases, but my pick-up-stick is just a modern thing - way too modern looking.   But I ain't gonna bend over, I'm not built for that.

[Assassin]

I use my hand.

[Sedalia Dave]

For those that have youngsters picking up brass. Be sure they are taking all the necessary precautions to prevent lead poisoning. 

 

Handling spent brass and then eating or drinking without washing your hands will significantly increase the levels of lead in your system.

[Eyesa Horg]

The Scouts we've had, wear disposable gloves mostly, some wear work gloves.

[Idaho Gunslinger]

I was going to say the same thing about kids and lead. My understanding is that lead is much harder on the health of children than it is on the health of adults. 

[Rip Snorter]

You might look into the scale of the original study that caused the furor.  Caution: the "science" may have been adjusted.

[Sedalia Dave]

20 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

You might look into the scale of the original study that caused the furor.  Caution: the "science" may have been adjusted.

 

Everyone reacts differently to lead exposure. Some people's bodies do not adsorb it and other people adsorb it like a sponge. Most people fall in between. the two extremes. Children are especially susceptible to damage from lead exposure.

 

Several years ago a shooter here posted about his young child being sick. Skin lesions and other serious problems.  Took some sleuthing by the doctors but eventually they determined it was lead poisoning. 

 

After some detective work they traced it to picking up spent brass for other shooters. Primers contain lead styphnate which contaminates the outside of the brass via blowby. Was transferred to his hands and onto the snacks and water bottles he used.

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

22 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Everyone reacts differently to lead exposure. Some people's bodies do not adsorb it and other people adsorb it like a sponge. Most people fall in between. the two extremes. Children are especially susceptible to damage from lead exposure.

 

Several years ago a shooter here posted about his young child being sick. Skin lesions and other serious problems.  Took some sleuthing by the doctors but eventually they determined it was lead poisoning. 

 

After some detective work they traced it to picking up spent brass for other shooters. Primers contain lead styphnate which contaminates the outside of the brass via blowby. Was transferred to his hands and onto the snacks and water bottles he used.

 

 

Can recall chewing lead split shot as a boy while fishing.  No idea why, but never a bad lead test.  I also had a bottle of mercury I used to play with.  Washed my hands, no issues.  We played in mud, drank from hoses, rode bicycles with no thought of helmets, on and on, living life and we are still here.  Life is tough.  People raised to be tough beat the snot out of hothouse flowers.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Here is what we use. They work well for us, but the smallest we can shoot is .38  cal. in Canada, so I don't know how they would work on anything smaller.