Brass landing where..?

[RugerBob]

Seen this in rifle forum. Got me to thinking. My 1911 tosses brass every where. I have never left with the same amount of shells shot. Always less. The area I shoot at is sand/gravel. Its a local range. Short of putting down a tarp, what do you reccomend for not losing brass? 50% seems to be behind me, 25% to the far far right and 25% lost. Some of the ones behind me hit my hat and land on the brim. These are all hand loads with mixed brass, 200gr lead and 700x powder. Just shy of max. 25% lost is on a bad day. Ususally lose 2 or 3 in 2 mag shoot. (16 rounds). Is there something I can do to controll ejection angle? Any input is appreciated. Thanks Bob

 

[dusty14u]

I have read or guys making brass catchers/screens from laundry bags and pvc pipe. They tear down and setup quickly and keep your brass confined to an area close to the shooter. Always made sense to me. I shoot at a private club now and rarely have a problem finding my brass. If some goes to the front of the firing line I just replenish what I lost from the brass buckets. I sweep the area around my lane before I shoot and generally shoot at a time when only a few lanes out of 10 are being used. I reload so I make sure I leave with the same amount I brung.

 

[DinosaurJones]

i typically take home more than i intended in the tread of my boots... i shoot at an unsupervised outdoor range & it seems many people don't bother to take their brass with them... its like trying to find a needle in a needle stack sometimes.

 

[buck460XVR]

I generally take a painters drop cloth or a tarp with me where I shoot. I spread it out to the right and to the rear. It catches almost everything the 1911 and the levers throw.

 

[rcmodel]

On a 1911, an ill fitted firing pin stop plate & loose extractor can scatter brass in all directions.

What happens is, the extractor turns back and forth in the slide each shot and never makes the brass hit the ejector in the same way twice in a row.

Over-size stop plates are available and are easily fitted with a fine-cut file.

Tuning extractor tension can also help a lot too.

See this about that:
http://www.m1911.org/technic2.htm

rc

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yup...I trained my Colt 1911 to eject them not more then 3' from my right foot...

 

[halfded]

Shoot a revolver..

Sorry, gotta dig on you autoloader guys every once and again.

 

[Skillet]

haha ^

I have this same problem with my CZ. it goes from in my face to ten feet away

 

[LightningMan]

You can go to a heavier recoil spring like I did. It was my solution to finding my brass because it seemed to throw it out 20 feet or so. I think my Kimber came with a 16 pound spring and changed to a 22 pounder. Now they don't go very far. Might help with your problem. LM

 

[DBR]

If you want to know where your brass really lands have someone else shoot the gun and watch. Most semi-autos eject the brass spinning wildly and the brass skips several feet in a random direction when it hits the ground.

 

[RugerBob]

Thanks for the good input guys.
rcmodel- looks like more then I can do. May have a local guy try to do it tho.
halfded- I usually take a revolver or 2 per trip as they are not as exspensive to feed. My 3 main hand guns are single action 45s. The 1911 is my only auto loader. I like it tho. Only had it about 8-9 months. I haven't been to thr range since september. Snows finally about gone tho. Hoping to be there in April and its only 10 mins away.
LightningMan- I may just try that heavier spring. Its something I can do w/o a smitty.
Thank you all for posting. The wife also got me a chrony for christmas and I am looking forward to a day at the range. Be laid off soon. Par. For good tho as our company sold equitment off. Boiler operator here and when warm weather hits we'll be gone to. Spring summer off ok, just sure hope theres something out there. Rambling here , so have good day all and thanks Bob

 

[wally]

I've never found a solution for my 10mm pistols. The brass just flys too far. I'm doing good to find 6 out of 10

--wally.

 

[NJGunOwner81]

Funny thing...

Well, I don't reload so I'm generally not concerned with where my brass goes but I do make sure that I kick my brass downrange so nobody slips or trips on it going to the lane or walking around.

Anyway, with my 1911 the brass usually goes diagonally down past my forearm and to the floor and I never really paid any attention to how my brass traveled until I shot my new Sig.

All the variables seem to come together to give my Sig P250 a little ... personality ... I guess you could call it! All the angles line up so that when I fire my Sig the brass ejects from the gun, bounces off the side board next to me (I'm on a firing lane on an indoor range) and just grazes the top of my head It doesn't hit me ... but it goes just over my head sometimes brushing my hair as it goes back.

It doesn't annoy me and I'm not worried about it; I just think it's rather comical that 9 of 10 shots brush my hair ... now if I was as accurate and consistent as the brass I'd be all set!!!

Take Care & Be Safe!

Frank
NJGunOwner81

 

[Bovice]

My .40 P229 throws all the brass out at the same angle and direction, but it's the way that the brass happens to hit the ground that matters. Lots of factors that influence that once it leaves the gun. I manage to find all of it, though. I'm getting into reloading so it's important to build up a supply of brass. What I find helpful is to shoot 1 or 2 magazines, whichever you feel like (remember, you're there to SHOOT, not pick up brass!) and then look around and try to find as many as you can. If a few are missing, don't worry about it. Load up and shoot again. Repeat.

When you're ready to leave, take a good hard look for the missing cases. It's amazing how you can look over the same spot twice, see nothing, and go back a third time and find 3 cases.

 

[loadedround]

Listen to Rcmodels advice. I too shoot at my outdoor range in nice weather and had my gunsmith tune my 45 's extractors to drop empties in a neat two foot pile. Both guns cost me 35.00 and well worth it. BTW, I also use a drop cloth.

 

[TheBandit]

I got a pack of queen size sheets on sale at walmart. Use the unfitted sheet to catch brass then funnel it into one of the pillow cases that came with them. Easy solution for about $7

 

[NMGonzo]

If I limpwrist my 1911's, they all hit me in the head.

I need a sombrero.

 

[gordy]

If you can build a L shaped board wall. stand with one behind you and one on your right side you should catch all you brass. I used two old doors. used the hinges off one to put them togather. you can fold it up and put it a truck or hide it in the trees. worked for me.

 

[Shadow 7D]

You can make or buy magnetic brass deflectors, I like the butterfly nets (most are custom but remind me of 3rd grade chasing down butterflys on the football feild) and many can be adjusted to be at the right level for the gun you're shooting.

That seems to be the easies method for me, but I've heard of people useing pantyhose that runs from the pistol to a pouch on a belt, I understand the whole love of "your" brass, but really, if you shoot a common caliber, can't you just volunteer to sweep the range to replace what you may have lost?