Is brassing a thing of the past?

[JayDee]

Not sure where this would go best so, mods, pls move if needed.
 

After taking some time off of shooting for family and then a very inconvenient pandemic, I have started shooting local matches more frequently. 

I don’t mind getting my own brass but I was surprised over the past several matches that almost no one picked up their brass and the act of picking up a fellow shooters brass seems to be a thing of the past. Last weekend I was one of two shooters on my squad with a brass bag.
 

Is it the lack of components? Are so many new shooters buying factory ammo that retrieving brass is not a priority? Fewer folks reloading?

[HI5-O]

Same thing has recently started at our club. Used to have guys pick up all the brass, then pick out your brass and scoop up what went unclaimed. I guess guys got tired of picking up other peoples brass while they wait in the shade. Now people, including me, just pick up their own and call it a day. Some guys just leave their brass because either they have to go to work or they have so much brass they don’t bother or they don’t plan on reloading. Myself and a couple others shoot Starline 38 SC so we help each other find their brass. 

[MHicks]

With the cost of everything going up I've been surprised at how brass picking has declined. I used to see more clubs that had one or two people picking up brass while others reset. Now most just want to leave it till the match is over. It's not so bad if shooting 9mm but my 45s are scattered on all the stages if you're left to only pick up brass on your last stage. It's supposed to make the match go quicker but with full squads I'm not sure it does.

[BritinUSA]

Perhaps there are a lot of new shooters who do not reload. They likely don’t see a need to retrieve their own brass so why pick up anyone else’s ?

[Joe4d]

I would pick up my brass if place required a clean range. Also when I shot pins we all stood in one spot so was easy to pick up.
However shooting USPSA ? Everywhere I shot was covered in brass,, When I shoot I tend to worry about shooting instead of the brass. 
Pre match , or a few spots during I could easily pick up more brass than I was gonna shoot at the match,  generally wasnt much effort to leave with more than I shot.  I would tend to pic up 38 super if it wasnt too much issue and lay on a table or barrel at back of stage for those guys. 

 

[Sandbagger123]

i shoot mostly in the Seattle area for about 10 years.  i have heard of  this brassing thing, but have never experienced it here.  people shoot and leave it . if you want your brass back,you pick it up after the match .   

 

[TaterHead]

I have shot in NM, AZ, CO, OK, and TX and you always got your brass back. “Tapers, steel setters and brass pickers”. You had to be one of them. I reloaded the same brass 7, 8 times. Moved to Florida 10 years ago. Then and now all matches are a “lost brass” match. Yup, had a name for those anomalies. I don’t think this is a thing of the past, rather where you are.

[rowdyb]

When I started shooting uspsa in CA in 2014 each squad was given a brass bucket and multiple nets and grabbers. The expectation being two os so people would be picking up brass after each shooter. What the shooter didn't claim was shared by the squad at the end of the match. It was established and part of the match culture.

Then I moved to AR and TX and never have seen the same enthusiasm for the process. Like none.

[Racinready300ex]

Most places here in the interest of time want you to wait until the end of the match to look for your brass. They can have 15 plus shooter squads. Now if I'm shooting my 38SC gun I'll be looking for my brass through out the day. If I'm shooting 9 I may or may not wait around to pick up brass after. 

[WFargo]

Here in the Netherlands we have this lovely habbit that after you shoot, you pick up the brass of the shooter after you. 

And for the first shooter of the squad, the last shooter of the squad will pick up the brass.

 

If anyone is slacking, the RO will sound off quickly with a loud "Brasssssss!!!!!" and then you will immediately see someone spring into action  

This is at level I's and II's.  At level III's we're usually not allowed to pick up the brass. (Brass is for the helpers)

[Racinready300ex]

40 minutes ago, WFargo said:

Here in the Netherlands we have this lovely habbit that after you shoot, you pick up the brass of the shooter after you. 

And for the first shooter of the squad, the last shooter of the squad will pick up the brass.

 

If anyone is slacking, the RO will sound off quickly with a loud "Brasssssss!!!!!" and then you will immediately see someone spring into action  

This is at level I's and II's.  At level III's we're usually not allowed to pick up the brass. (Brass is for the helpers)

 

Seems like a good system. 

[GigG]

When I was first shooting 1987-1993 brass was picked up almost religiously at matches any match below nationals. Everyone on the squad other than the guy on deck helped along with help taping targets. 

 

My short return in 2013 saw nobody picking up brass but I thought it might just be that one club I was shot at.

 

Jump ahead to today and still at the four clubs where I shoot I see no brass pick up.

 

I surprised me considering the component costs. 

[varminter22]

I see the same thing around here.  

 

Years ago, there were "tapers and brassers" but now there are none, and no one seems to care.  I don't understand it either.  

[Sinister4]

Kind of the same here, not many save brass at a match.  And if you start looking for yours the next shooter is started so quick you have to clear the area.  So I just chuck it, sad deal really

[broadside72]

Our club's matches are brassed at the end during tear down. If you want yours then pick it up and keep it. If not, then pick it up anyway and put it in the brass bucket. The range takes it, sorts it and sells it. 

Even the Saturday squads brass their stages before leaving. Sunday squads brass and teardown

[MHicks]

I wonder if it's partly because a higher percentage of shooters are shooting 9mm? Otherwise I would think with other costs having skyrocketed shooters would still prefer to brass more to save a few bucks.

At a small match with small squads I get that there wouldn't be enough bodies to reset but with full squads there should be. 

[Barcode1337]

Brassing used to be a big thing at my club when I started shooting (IDPA). As time has gone on, and as I've taken to running USPSA matches there, I heavily discourage brassing during the match. If you want to hunt around for it between shooters, whatever, but I would rather folks focus on resetting and keeping things moving. Anyone that wants their brass can pick it up after teardown. If no one wants it, I'll do it and add it to my stash.

[OPENB]

41 minutes ago, MHicks said:

I wonder if it's partly because a higher percentage of shooters are shooting 9mm? Otherwise I would think with other costs having skyrocketed shooters would still prefer to brass more to save a few bucks.

At a small match with small squads I get that there wouldn't be enough bodies to reset but with full squads there should be. 

I think this is it, for the most part. When I started in 1995, there were few 9mm shooters. Major was 175, Super/Super Comp in Open, 45 for everything else. With the advent of Production, CO, PCC and more A fudgecicle nobody but a few crayon chewers and winder likkers want shooter than before, 9mm brass is everywhere. Last time I bought it, it was in 5 gallon buckets. Just not worth picking up for the cost of it. My own .02

[GigG]

1 hour ago, OPENB said:

Last time I bought it, it was in 5 gallon buckets.

 

Pre-COVID right?

[JayDee]

Sounds like a regional thing and also a shift in reloading behavior based on new shooters. 
 

makes sense but I kind of miss the days when the squad worked together more. A couple times last weekend, I had to go find my dropped mags after a stage run. 
 

maybe there is an opportunity with new shooters to instill some of the “taping, resetting, brassing” through mentorship. It might go a long way in forming community instead of focusing on an individual performance. 
 

and yes, I was shooting single stack 40 so I had a bunch of mags dropped around the stage and was the only non-9mm shooter on the squad. Makes me an outlier  

[MHicks]

Now that it's been mentioned I also have to go around and pick up my mags. At least more then I used to. When I  was shooting locals and we were regularly picking up brass it was nice at bigger matches to not worry about it because it was lost brass match. But that was only a few matches a year. Now it's common at locals. But I'm primarily a 45 shooter so notice it more.

[shred]

Long ago brassing was a thing for everyone and all the matches here in Central TX.  We shot .38 Super and .45 ACP and neither of those was real cheap or plentiful.  Then .40 came along and things were the same until tons of once-fired .40 brass came available after all the PDs switched to it.  Pretty soon the .40 shooters started saying "nah, I don't want my brass"... then decided that meant they didn't need to bother picking up anyone elses' brass either.

 

The Super shooters kept at it for a while picking for each other, but eventually 9mm and laziness took over and now if you want it, pick it yourself later, and the range has a carpet of 9mm brass.

 

[David.Hylton]

I've noticed the same thing. We don't have organized brass clean up at our range. But before the 2016 Presidential election there was  barely a piece of brass left on the range after a match. Fast forward to post 2020 Presidential race and hardly anyone picks up any brass. 

[WFargo]

19 hours ago, WFargo said:

Here in the Netherlands we have this lovely habbit that after you shoot, you pick up the brass of the shooter after you. 

And for the first shooter of the squad, the last shooter of the squad will pick up the brass.

 

If anyone is slacking, the RO will sound off quickly with a loud "Brasssssss!!!!!" and then you will immediately see someone spring into action  

This is at level I's and II's.  At level III's we're usually not allowed to pick up the brass. (Brass is for the helpers)

 

I should actually add that this is also somewhat of a necessity for us in the Netherlands as we almost exclusively shoot indoor-matches.  The surfaces we shoot on are concrete, wood, gym floors, etc. and it would be very unsafe if the shooting area was littered with brass....

Edited August 10, 2022 by WFargo

[Joe4d]

6 hours ago, WFargo said:

 

I should actually add that this is also somewhat of a necessity for us in the Netherlands as we almost exclusively shoot indoor-matches.  The surfaces we shoot on are concrete, wood, gym floors, etc. and it would be very unsafe if the shooting area was littered with brass....

Was my experience as well when I shot an indoor concrete floor club.  All brass was picked up or swept to the wall in between shooters.  Stages almost always went up range to down range to shoot. SO RO and shooter ended at the berm,, At range is clear, tapers / brassers went down range picking up brass, but not touching targets. SO scored targets in reverse order moving back uprange..  Then folks taped moving back up range.
Seems alot of USPSA matches folks want to start taping moving down range. This seems to eventually lead to a premature taped unscored target