picking up brass after every stage

[Tcon260]

I like to get most of my brass back. At the last match I attended, I had two new shooters with me that I loaded for. Would rather not leave 600 pieces of brass on the range in one day.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Tcon260

[retarmyaviator]

My local club has the standard that in each squad some score, some reset / tape targets and some pickup the brass to return to the shooter. Works well and no one fusses.

[compshootfl]

I pick up my brass....if you don't want yours...I'll take that too.

[Sarge]

I am pretty much a brass whore-der. But the more matches I shoot the less I worry about picking it up. If you get into the game, become an RO and sign up to work just one or two big matches a year you can get all the brass you need for a year of shooting.

I have gotten to where it is annoying to have to keep telling guys to clear the stage so we can keep shooting. As a matter of fact we had some guys picking up brass after they shot a match this year while a few of us were tearing down and putting away. We made it clear to them to either help or leave the brass for us. It takes balls to crawl around picking up hundreds of pieces of brass while guys are walking right past you with props, etc. Not acceptable at my matches, sorry.

[ZackJones]

One advantage of shooting a .38 special at the local club match is I'm the only one that shoots it so I usually get almost all of my brass back. At the USPSA match this past weekend we, as a squad, decided we would pick up brass while taping and scoring was going on. As brass was picked up it was deposited on the table behind the shooting area. There we sorted through it. Those that didn't want their brass allowed those of us that wanted it to take it. I came home with nearly 100 pieces of .45 ACP brass as I'm collecting it for when I get a .45 ACP pistol.

[retarmyaviator]

Sounds like a friendly place to shoot. If that had been my introduction to USPSA I would have told them to stick it where the sun didn't shine.

I have gotten to where it is annoying to have to keep telling guys to clear the stage so we can keep shooting. As a matter of fact we had some guys picking up brass after they shot a match this year while a few of us were tearing down and putting away. We made it clear to them to either help or leave the brass for us. It takes balls to crawl around picking up hundreds of pieces of brass while guys are walking right past you with props, etc. Not acceptable at my matches, sorry.

[sperman]

I'm with Sarge on this one. If you see 4 or 5 guys tearing stuff down and putting it away why do you think it is OK to get in their way and pick up brass instead of helping?

[motosapiens]

I'm with Sarge on this one. If you see 4 or 5 guys tearing stuff down and putting it away why do you think it is OK to get in their way and pick up brass instead of helping?

Not a problem at our clubs, since 1 or 2 guys always pick up brass during the reset and give it back to the shooter. When we tear down there is pretty much no brass at all on the ground.

[Sarge]

Sounds like a friendly place to shoot. If that had been my introduction to USPSA I would have told them to stick it where the sun didn't shine.

I have gotten to where it is annoying to have to keep telling guys to clear the stage so we can keep shooting. As a matter of fact we had some guys picking up brass after they shot a match this year while a few of us were tearing down and putting away. We made it clear to them to either help or leave the brass for us. It takes balls to crawl around picking up hundreds of pieces of brass while guys are walking right past you with props, etc. Not acceptable at my matches, sorry.

My match is a very friendly place to shoot. I just don't tolerate inconsiderate people very well. It doesn't have to be about brass either.

[Sarge]

I'm with Sarge on this one. If you see 4 or 5 guys tearing stuff down and putting it away why do you think it is OK to get in their way and pick up brass instead of helping?

Not a problem at our clubs, since 1 or 2 guys always pick up brass during the reset and give it back to the shooter. When we tear down there is pretty much no brass at all on the ground.

Our matches seem to be totally different at all of our local clubs. The only folks really looking for brass during the match are the super guys and maybe some 45 shooters. Everybody else sort of just want to stay focused on keeping the match going.

[spanky]

We police brass at the end of the match during teardown. Seems Sarge would have a heart attack at our teardowns.

[retarmyaviator]

Well, at our club your attitude would be the one to fall into the inconsiderate category. We all help to assist in resetting stages and picking up the last shooters brass between shooters. Does not slow the process one bit.

Sounds like a friendly place to shoot. If that had been my introduction to USPSA I would have told them to stick it where the sun didn't shine.

I have gotten to where it is annoying to have to keep telling guys to clear the stage so we can keep shooting. As a matter of fact we had some guys picking up brass after they shot a match this year while a few of us were tearing down and putting away. We made it clear to them to either help or leave the brass for us. It takes balls to crawl around picking up hundreds of pieces of brass while guys are walking right past you with props, etc. Not acceptable at my matches, sorry.

My match is a very friendly place to shoot. I just don't tolerate inconsiderate people very well. It doesn't have to be about brass either.

Edited November 5, 2013 by retarmyaviator

[Sarge]

We police brass at the end of the match during teardown. Seems Sarge would have a heart attack at our teardowns.

If somebody picked up a bagful for me while I put everything away they would have my blessing!

[spanky]

We police brass at the end of the match during teardown. Seems Sarge would have a heart attack at our teardowns.

If somebody picked up a bagful for me while I put everything away they would have my blessing!

This is how our teardown goes:

Squads tear down AND police brass on the last stage they shot. Props are carried to the storage shed and/or loaded onto trucks and then unloaded into the storage shed. All the brass is put into the stage buckets and brought a designated area and is all dumped out together. At this point, after teardown and during "awards/scores presentation" everyone who wants to can go through the piles of brass to find theirs and/or take what people don't want.

Edited November 5, 2013 by spanky

[Sarge]

We police brass at the end of the match during teardown. Seems Sarge would have a heart attack at our teardowns.

If somebody picked up a bagful for me while I put everything away they would have my blessing!

during "awards/scores presentation"

I'll have to try one of your local matches someday!

[spanky]

We police brass at the end of the match during teardown. Seems Sarge would have a heart attack at our teardowns.

If somebody picked up a bagful for me while I put everything away they would have my blessing!

during "awards/scores presentation"

I'll have to try one of your local matches someday!

I didn't realize scoring at a local match was uncommon.

Maybe consider changing your procedure so that all brass collected during teardown is lumped and poured for everyone to go through after teardown?

Edited November 5, 2013 by spanky

[motosapiens]

I'm with Sarge on this one. If you see 4 or 5 guys tearing stuff down and putting it away why do you think it is OK to get in their way and pick up brass instead of helping?

Not a problem at our clubs, since 1 or 2 guys always pick up brass during the reset and give it back to the shooter. When we tear down there is pretty much no brass at all on the ground.

Our matches seem to be totally different at all of our local clubs. The only folks really looking for brass during the match are the super guys and maybe some 45 shooters. Everybody else sort of just want to stay focused on keeping the match going.

picking up brass is part of keeping the match going. It gets done before the RO is finished scoring the stage. Maybe it's easier for desert dwellers with gravel/sand/dirt bays instead of grass.

[tbarker13]

I'm with Sarge on this one. If you see 4 or 5 guys tearing stuff down and putting it away why do you think it is OK to get in their way and pick up brass instead of helping?

Not a problem at our clubs, since 1 or 2 guys always pick up brass during the reset and give it back to the shooter. When we tear down there is pretty much no brass at all on the ground.

Our matches seem to be totally different at all of our local clubs. The only folks really looking for brass during the match are the super guys and maybe some 45 shooters. Everybody else sort of just want to stay focused on keeping the match going.

picking up brass is part of keeping the match going. It gets done before the RO is finished scoring the stage. Maybe it's easier for desert dwellers with gravel/sand/dirt bays instead of grass.

Shooting at 4-5 local clubs, I've yet to come across a match where things flowed well enough that we could afford to have people picking up brass after each shooter. Maybe squads are larger at some of these other clubs.

But with, say, 10 shooters on a squad - that means you have two doing the scoring. One shooting. One getting ready to shoot and one loading mags, etc after shooting. That leaves five shooters to reset the stage.All it takes is one or two of those shooters to be slugs and things can get bogged down pretty fast. Particularly if it's a complicated stage with a lot of steel or moving targets that need to be reset.

Everyone once in a while I hear someone in the neighborhood suggest we pick up brass after each shooter. I hope we never try to go that route.

[StraightUp_OG]

I am still in awe of the fact that shooters accept just leaving their brass. I have been doing this since '85 and we have always had a brasser in the shooting order. I have posted above on how my "clubs" ;-P do it and can't believe that it takes that much extra time. I for one will NEVER leave my brass unless it is a known lost brass match. As much as I shoot I would go broke and have long droughts in between matches waiting on more brass to be delivered if I had to just leave it or try to race someone to my brass after the match.

This sport is about "Participation".

Edited November 6, 2013 by StraightUp_OG

[TroyB]

The majority of matches I have shot are the one at the range I'm a member of and two others out of state. No one has ever been assigned to pick up brass other than shotgun shells at the 3-gun matches and everything has always worked out fine. From my perspective, everything should be focused on keeping the match running smoothly so we can get home before it gets to be 110 degrees. Still we have a few who like to pick it up while everyone else is tearing down which I call being somewhat disrespectful. Let's keep the matches rolling and get it tore down, then worry about the brass.

[motosapiens]

Shooting at 4-5 local clubs, I've yet to come across a match where things flowed well enough that we could afford to have people picking up brass after each shooter. Maybe squads are larger at some of these other clubs.

But with, say, 10 shooters on a squad - that means you have two doing the scoring. One shooting. One getting ready to shoot and one loading mags, etc after shooting. That leaves five shooters to reset the stage.All it takes is one or two of those shooters to be slugs and things can get bogged down pretty fast. Particularly if it's a complicated stage with a lot of steel or moving targets that need to be reset.

Everyone once in a while I hear someone in the neighborhood suggest we pick up brass after each shooter. I hope we never try to go that route.

Curious. Thanks for sharing your experience. I would be interested to see it in action some day. Do you guys shoot on a grass surface where the brass is hard to find? I can usually tape targets and pick up 5 or 6 pieces of brass just walking between them. It's kind of laying on the ground in the open. If a stage starts with a competitor at the back of the shooting area and moves uprange, I usually pick up some of the brass at the back (and any dropped magazines) while waiting for the shooter to finish and unload up front. You probably won't get every piece the first go-round, but after the next shooter, you find a little more of the first shooter's brass (on your way between targets) and get it back to him. It just doesn't seem like it really takes any extra time at all, since we're already wandering around resetting the stage, and we have to walk right past all the brass on the way.

If we have one or two shooters that get lazy for a bit, we mock them and call them names and shame them into doing their share.

For me, the problem with waiting until after teardown to pick up brass is that alot of it gets squished underfoot, and it also gets all mixed together. I don't want your brass, or someone else's brass, I just want my brass back (and I want others, especially the open and 45 shooters to get their brass back).

Edited November 7, 2013 by motosapiens

[phatman]

Still we have a few who like to pick it up while everyone else is tearing down which I call being somewhat disrespectful. Let's keep the matches rolling and get it tore down, then worry about the brass.

Yes I think every club has these people they all cluster around the brass and try to grab as much as they can while everybody else is working tearing down the stages I call them s***Hawks however I try to ignore them

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[BSeevers]

Brass pickup is necessary for me for two reasons.

It's way expensive. I am not adding $50 + to a club match fee cost.

It is hard to get. Right now I couldn't buy $5000 worth of brass if I wanted to.

I don't think anybody would accuse me of not working my fair share but I load and pickup brass for 3 and manage to paste a whole lot of targets and set a lot of steel. For instance if they are scoring behind shooter I paste those those scored targets then pick brass and still manage to paste downrange too.

In our region it seems like only 38 Super/supercomp people pick up brass so I am usually one of maybe 5 brass pickers on a squad.

A club would not let me pick brass up this year and I assure you that I will never return to that club again.

[TroyB]

On a personal level, being at a match for 3-5 hours, I want to focus on shooting and not wearing myself out even further by worrying about and picking up brass, especially when it's 100+ degrees outside.

[mickd1]

This appears to vary with the locality. Here in idaho, we consider picking up brass to be part of the stage reset. The shooter typically follows the RO to look at his targets, most folks go to tape and reset, and 1 or 2 of the rest of the squad pick up brass. We don't really stress about staying out of the way of the next shooter because we're going to pick up his brass too, when he's done, and most times the brass falls somewhere the on-deck shooter isn't standing or walking anyway.

+1 at all our comps