Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

What’s the polite way to pick up brass?


UpYoursPal

Recommended Posts

I’ve just started shooting 38 super, and I’ve come to realize that I really need to be picking up my brass at matches. Believe it or not, I’ve been leaving my brass at the last few matches!

 

I mostly shoot indoor matches where it shouldn’t be too hard to get them, but I’m wondering both WHEN and HOW I should do it?  Between stages?  After I shoot?  After the match is done?

 

Any advice would be very helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 71
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I think it depends. Most matches I attend, it’s more the norm to wait until after the match. The attitude is if you have time to pick up brass, you should be helping reset. At the smaller ICORE matches, it’s perfectly fine to pick up your brass after you shoot and often others will help you. Technically, you’re supposed to be fallowing the RO as they score your targets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ask the match director or range officer for their preference. One of the indoor USPSA monthly matches are lost brass matches. The match director keeps the brass but if you shoot something he doesn’t, like 38 Super, he doesn’t care if you pick it up. But just ask somebody at the match who should know first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Don’t pick up other people’s brass at the stage unless you’re given permission to do so by that shooter.  I’ve seen folks get testy when they’ve gone back to pick up thier .38sup or .45acp and discover that somebody else has beat themvto it while they were shooting.  

2. Get a “brass wizard” tool (it’s a little round cage on a stick) that makes it go faster.  

3. Ideally do it after the match but I think when your squad is standing around doing nothing it is fine as long as you’re picking it up at the perimeter of the stage (basically the 180 line) so you’re not getting in the way of the active squad.  You won’t make any friends by spending the time you’re supposed to be scoring and resetting picking up the brass of the guys who are scoring and resetting.  

4. And, like others are saying, make sure it’s not a lost brass match. 

 

I don't pick up brass during matches because no matter how you do it slows down the match or at least distracts the squad on the line.   Furthermore, it tires me out unnecessarily, and I want to keep my mind and body on the game and not that side stuff.  

 

Of course... there’s been times that I know I need brass to reload for an upcoming match, so at those times I’ll just keep an eye on all the stages for shooting boxes or corners where I know that everybody is going to be standing in one spot and shooting a crap ton of rounds.  I’ll go back to those positions at the end of the day and basically just shovel it all in a bucket and sort it out later at home.  

Edited by jkrispies
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ask first, a lot of matches here are "lost brass" matches. Typically all level II or III matches (USPSA) are lost brass because that's the compensation for the match staff. I know of a couple of clubs that have a posted "Lost Brass" policy that states if you pick brass without permission, you will be disqualified and escorted from the range. Best to ask first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After the match. The only time I view it as ok is if the squad ahead of you isn’t done yet.  Nothing worse than someone coming to you and saying someone was tripping over a range chicken while they were trying to do their walkthrough. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, jkrispies said:

  You won’t make any friends by spending the time you’re supposed to be scoring and resetting picking up the brass of the guys who are scoring and resetting.  

 

 

 

 

^^^ This ^^^

 

Make sure the resetting is done first before picking up brass.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the early days of IPSC/USPSA we would designate brass pickers and tapers.  Shooter, on deck, in the hole, brass picker, tapers.  Never had a problem.  I don't know when this stopped or why.  Just my two cents.

 

Arlin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pick up a few handfuls between shooters, and after the squad is done with a stage. 

 

We all reload, we all help reset.. stay out of the next shooter’s way while you’re getting brass and you’ll be fine around here. 

 

I can’t afford to shoot your match  if I don’t pick up my brass. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two thoughts for you:

 

1.  Fire each brass 4-6 times in practice, before you get to the match, and then consider it "lost" - don't bother with it.

 

2.  If you still feel the urge to pick it up, each range will have a different set of "customary practices" when it

      comes to retrieving brass.   Really depends on the RO or MD, to a large extent.

      I've shot at more than a dozen ranges, and some are lost brass matches, and some will actually have people

      picking up Your Brass while the scoring/resetting is going on - and then they hand you your brass.

 

      And, everything in between.   Seems to depend on what the RO/MD is shooting - if he's shooting a .38 Super,

he's probably Very Aware of your desire to pick up your expensive brass.   If he's a revolver shooter or shooting

 a 9mm, he may feel that picking up brass "slows the match down".

 

The trick, is to watch what everyone else is doing, at each match you attend, and fit into the norm.

 

The worst scenario is the guy with the brass scooper who scoops up Everybody's brass as soon as they

stop shooting - you'll have to talk to him about that.

 

Good luck with it.

 

Oh, BTW, a third option - switch to 9mm Major, and forget this whole question    :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it's a revolvers moon clips, after you shoot you or someone should pick them up.

At Level II matches and up, it's always a lost brass match.  Most Level I's (club matches) it's not.

For years the shooter in the hole shagged brass.  We tried to get what you shot but sometimes that's not possible.

With the increase in participation it's normal now to ask that you wait until the end, even if time not an issue.  Then just pick up all you can.

I personally don't like it, but I also don't like those who don't do their share in resets.

So if:

1) they ask you to wait, do so then pick up all you can, doesn't matter what caliber then, after tear down.

2) they don't say, pick up as much of yours, or similar brass, while the stage is reset.  Keep an ear on their calls as you don't want to slow down resetting the cof.  In this case I usually look at all targets ahead of the ro, if no issues I then go back and shag some brass without getting into the on deck shooters walk through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

Two thoughts for you:

 

1.  Fire each brass 4-6 times in practice, before you get to the match, and then consider it "lost" - don't bother with it.

 

2.  If you still feel the urge to pick it up, each range will have a different set of "customary practices" when it

      comes to retrieving brass.   Really depends on the RO or MD, to a large extent.

      I've shot at more than a dozen ranges, and some are lost brass matches, and some will actually have people

      picking up Your Brass while the scoring/resetting is going on - and then they hand you your brass.

 

      And, everything in between.   Seems to depend on what the RO/MD is shooting - if he's shooting a .38 Super,

he's probably Very Aware of your desire to pick up your expensive brass.   If he's a revolver shooter or shooting

 a 9mm, he may feel that picking up brass "slows the match down".

 

The trick, is to watch what everyone else is doing, at each match you attend, and fit into the norm.

 

The worst scenario is the guy with the brass scooper who scoops up Everybody's brass as soon as they

stop shooting - you'll have to talk to him about that.

 

Good luck with it.

 

Oh, BTW, a third option - switch to 9mm Major, and forget this whole question    :) 

Or use steel cased ammo! Would have to not shoot open though!

Edited by pskys2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my area it's the norm for someone to pick up brass while others tape and reset. We have enough on the squad to do it. Stop when the next shooter is coming up. We take it to a table and tell the shooters their brass is there.  Some don't want their brass.

 

If there aren't enough in the squad we get the brass later. Rarely do we get someone trying to keep all the brass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We get our brass after everyone has shot the stage. The shooters who want their brass will stay and get all the brass they can/need as long as there isn't another squad waiting. There are not a lot of shooters who pick up brass at our local match so there is usually plenty to go around for the folks who reload. As long as you are doing your part, pasting, scoring, running the timer, nobody will say anything about your getting brass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on the club. Ask around. watch what other people are doing. My favorite way to do it is to have people reset and grab a handful of brass on their way back, and keep about what they shot of the caliber they shot, and throw the rest on a table for everyone else. Then after the stage is done, if there is still brass and people don't want it, spend 60 seconds helping yourself to more.

 

I hate when people steal my brass while I'm RO-ing or scoring tho, and when the stage is over it's all gone. That's just rude. Sometimes people need to be gently educated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should add most folks who reload here mark their brass with sharpies of different colors and patterns. I use a red sharpie around the extraction groove so it is easy to see laying on the ground. Most do the case head with a line or x’s with one or two colors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, motosapiens said:

It depends on the club. Ask around. watch what other people are doing. My favorite way to do it is to have people reset and grab a handful of brass on their way back, and keep about what they shot of the caliber they shot, and throw the rest on a table for everyone else. Then after the stage is done, if there is still brass and people don't want it, spend 60 seconds helping yourself to more.

 

I hate when people steal my brass while I'm RO-ing or scoring tho, and when the stage is over it's all gone. That's just rude. Sometimes people need to be gently educated.

This is the way a lot of our shooters do it as well minus the stealing of others brass!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Mcfoto said:

Most matches I attend, it’s more the norm to wait until after the match. The attitude is if you have time to pick up brass, you should be helping reset. 

yes please!!  if you're picking up brass you're not taping/resetting as much as you can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Arlin said:

In the early days of IPSC/USPSA we would designate brass pickers and tapers.  Shooter, on deck, in the hole, brass picker, tapers.  Never had a problem.  I don't know when this stopped or why.  Just my two cents.

 

Arlin

This is how I knew it, too. Didn’t always designate, but someone always picked up your brass and handed it to you. Always. But, this was on hard packed clean dirt. It was easy to pick it up right away. I used to keep track of how many times I reloaded the same brass. Easy 6-8 times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, davsco said:

yes please!!  if you're picking up brass you're not taping/resetting as much as you can.

it takes 2-3 people max to reset a stage. beyond that, you're just standing around pretending to reset while taping 2 targets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Nathanb said:

And that may be the case but those 2-3 people get real tired of being the ones resetting while joe 38super is over there looking out for his brass 

 

yeah, it doesn't work if the guy picking up brass is just stealing it instead of picking up everyone's brass and handing it back to the shooter or leaving on the table. But then stealing stuff *never* works.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...