Picking up your brass etiquette

[Blueridge]

From my experience brass being picked up is a common part of the stage reset (along with pasting, resetting steel, etc...). Brass left on the ground can cause problems with shooters having "safe" footing whlie shooting a stage. It is as much about safety of the shooters as it is helping a shooter retrieve their brass. That would seem to be the case how I see it.

95%+ of the time I get my brass back (even from lost brass matches) because no one else shoots .45 Colt in IDPA and USPSA competition (I compete in revolver division or ESR as you can guess). The RO's or SO's have either advised me that I can pick up my brass during stage reset, or they have tracked me down on occasion to return my brass to me. The first time I shot a "lost brass" match I of course made no attempt to pick up my brass and was surprised when the SO's had gathered my brass and returned it to me. None of them were interested in having the brass. I was of course appreciative to get the brass back.

[Smo11]

ive been shooting competitively for about 2 years my dad has been shooting for over twenty years when it was only ipsc about a year ago are squad was all old timers (farts) except for 3 of us and the entire match brass was picked for every shooter and it ran smooth i dont think there is any lost time by not picking up the brass to get done faster

[West Texas Granny]

If you wish to pay those setting up and tearing down equipment used during a match include it in the match fee do not assume that shooters are willing to have their property ( expended brass and moon clips) taken for that purpose without their consent.

[JKSNIPER]

Brass etiquette seems to vary according to where you're shooting that particular day.

It should be no problem for anyone here to adjust to the rules in a new/different place.

Matches here move too quick for guys to spend time going through the sand looking for a shooters expended brass.

If there's a guy in the squad and he has nothing to do then he should try and trail behind and pick up what he can to give to the shooter when he's finished but you can't reasonably expect to hold up the match to dig through the sand and dirt just for a few bucks worth of brass.

So the brass rats got it...big deal....maybe that guy NEEDS it to keep shooting.

And no one has the $ to pay guys to set up and tear down.

They usually get "paid" by letting them shoot the match ahead of everyone else.

[MGMorden]

I have 3 or so matches that I shoot on a regular basis.

2 of them nobody seems to pickup brass during that match, which I'm fine with. After we're all done and the stages are torn down some people will pick some up. Typically at this point I'll go out with my bag and pick up what I can. I try to basically get back my "fair share" - ie, once I have picked up about as much as I think I shot that day I'll go ahead and leave the rest for the other shooters.

Match #3 is a little different. There usually guys there who are using the little "rolly cage" things to grab all the brass while the stages are being torn down. They dump it all into a bucket. I see some people picking back through the bucket to grab some brass back, but my personal reservations are always that I don't feel comfortable digging through a someone else's bucket of brass that they picked up, so I just consider that one a lost brass match.

I have attended another match however where there was one guy on our squad who had one of the "rolly cage" things who would grab the shooter's brass while the stage was being pasted (we had enough squad members that it didn't seem to hurt for time). Once the stage was scored he'd find the shooter and offer them back their brass if they reloaded. If not he just had a bucket he dumped it into. Seemed to work fine IMHO. He gets a lot of extra from the guys who don't reload, and for the guys that do, they get their brass back without having to pick it up .

[gunguru]

As I'm not reloading, it's not really a problem for me, so if a shooter tell me He's reloading, it's always a pleasure to give him my brass.

[Rambo]

As long as the match is not a declared "lost brass" match then I believe shooters have the right to recover their OWN brass.

However, I believe that 'recovery' should not interfere with the primary purpose of the match which is SHOOTING the match...

I have no problem coming back after I've finished shooting the match to pick it up...but it is very frustrating to come back after and find it picked clean. Especially when I sacrificed my chance to pick it up during the match to help reset stages and RO.

[59Bassman]

I get frustrated at times. I try to show up early (or the day before) to help set up. At a match, I typically try to help the squad move - taping, scoring, whatever. I will pick up brass, but only after the match is over and props are taken down. The frustrating part is a few of the regulars who are out a couple times a month, have been shooting for a couple years, and have no idea how to score. They've never learned because they're too busy pocketing the previous shooter's brass between each shooter.

If you reload and want to help out around the range, stick around and help yourself. If there's nothing else to because everyone else is doing a job, OK. But if being a brass chicken is keeping you from learning how to help, and you're cherry picking the .45 ACP I JUST SHOT, please hold off until we're done shooting.

Edited February 16, 2012 by 59Bassman

[hunt_fish]

In NZ most of us pick up our brass as the cost of components is rediculous!! You're talking the equivalent of roughly USD$180 for 500 cases of 38 Super Comp!! But - most people tend to mark their cases, and everyone picks up everyone's brass and returns the brass to the rightful owner.

However - shooting takes priority - followed by stage reset - so once the stage is reset the RO will clear the range and not wait for people to pick brass. This works well, and we tend to get 75% or so back from a match.

[juan]

I was so broke once,

shooting a two day sectional, I had to pick my brass to shoot the second day.

[Giant81]

The match that I shot was an indoor match with 40 shooters in a range just big enough to setup 2x stages at a time. One shooter of group A would shoot one state, and a shooter from group B would shoot the other. As soon as the range went secure, it was a mob. People pasting, people setting up steel, older guys with nut cages grabbing brass, some younger guys gathering mags. Typically by the time the scoring was done, all brass was picked up and piled with their mags on a table. If they wanted it, they could have it, if they didn't, they just dropped it in the bucket next to the table. Went pretty smooth and since we were shooting indoors, kept from having lots of brass under foot while moving which keeps it safer. Brass on concrete I'm sure is about as graceful to walk on as marbles.

[promod1385]

I shoot with 3 different clubs. Policy/ettiquite is as follows.

Club #1 - Everyone helps, usually by the time I get done checking my hits with the RO several guys are handing me my brass.

Club #2 - Policy - If you brass is warm OR marked you can pick it up. Otherwise all brass is for the clean up crew to pick up after the match is torn down. This club gives a $5 discount for set up, and a $5 discount for tear down. If you help with both you shoot the match for $10!

Club #3 - No one cares and generally we are asked to pick up brass at the end of the match if the bays are not already picked clean. We brass rats usually get together and help one another between shooters.

If someone is shooting 38 super, comp, 10mm, 45acp or some other caliber where brass is more expensive then I generally try and give them a hand. I started shooting 45acp and as a young rookie shooter I NEEDED every piece of brass I could get otherwise I couldn't afford to shoot.

Edited March 4, 2012 by promod1385

[kpbaer]

Today at a local match Two guys one of them being a RO were picking up everyones brass. I was pasting and resetting so had no chance to pick up even my own brass.I think brass should be left till the end when everthing is broken down then everyone has a chance to get some