CRIME It starts: St. Petersburg, FL police will no longer respond to non-violent calls
- Thread starter mzkitty
- Start date
Getting roundabout confirmation on this also being whispered by LEO types.
Posted for fair use.....
5 Best AR-15 Brass Catchers - AR Brass Carchers Reviewed for 2022
If you want to avoid spending the back half of your day at the range picking up the brass casings, a brass catcher will come in handy. Given how much time & money folks invest in their AR-15 - with rails, accessories, and various upgrades - something as simple as…
www.americanfirearms.org
The Best AR15 Brass & Shell Catchers
-
Michael Crites
- January 26, 2020
If you want to avoid spending the back half of your day at the range picking up the brass casings, a brass catcher will come in handy.
Given how much time & money folks invest in their AR-15 – with rails, accessories and various upgrades, – something as simple as a brass catcher – that snags your casings before they hit the ground – will keep your casings clean and ensure you spend more of your time putting lead down-range than picking up cold brass.
After considering 15 different brass catchers and testing 8 of them on a series of different rifles—including an AR-15, 22LR, and SKS —we recommend the Caldwell Pic Rail Brass Catcher as the best brass catcher for most recreational shooters who like to collect and reload their casings.
If you prefer a non-attached brass trap or are looking for a budget option, we have provided recommendations for those as well.
[Related] The Best Budget AR-15 Scopes (all under $500)
Quick List: The 5 Best AR-15 Brass Catchers
- Best Attached Brass Catcher: Caldwell Pic Rail Brass Catcher
- Best Trap Brass Catcher: Caldwell Brass Trap
- Best Budget Brass Catcher: GLORYFIRE Pic Rail Brass Catcher
- Best Brass Retriever: Caldwell Brass Retriever
- Runner-up Attached Brass Catcher: TacStar Industries Brass Catcher
Best Attached AR-15 Brass Catcher:
Sale
Caldwell Pic Rail Brass Catcher with Heat Resistant Mesh for Convenient Picatinny Weapon Mountable...
- SPECS: Holds 100 rounds of .223 brass
- EASE OF USE: Zipper at the bottom of the mesh bag makes emptying simple and the brass catcher...
- DURABLE: Heat resistant mesh will not melt during use and the internal wire frame maintains the...
View on Amazon
The rail-mounted Caldwell Pic Rail Brass Catcher is sturdy, secure, and light. Measuring 10 tall x 7 wide x 4 inches deep, and weighing just 4.8 ounces, it’s a perfect fit for a non-obtrusive brass catcher that’s easy to use, fits nicely over the ejecting port, and will hold up to 100 rounds of .223 casings.
Obviously your mileage may vary if you’re shooting a larger caliber, but in our tests, we found that considering you’re changing your mag well before hitting 100 rounds it’s easy to clear it out as you go.
Effective Mounting System
We’ve tested thousands of dollars of gear for our product guides, and of all the products we’ve put to the test, this Caldwell brass catcher is one of the few things I both bought for myself and have given as a gift to my shooting buddies.
Catching brass with the Caldwell
It has a nice mounting system that works with any picatinny, so if for some reason you don’t have a top-rail this won’t work for you – but for most AR owners, it’s a simple and effective accessory.
Mesh & Catch Bag Quality
One critical note – the heat resistant mesh is very durable, but over time the bottom of the mesh bag can wear though from the way the cartridges land nose down (the hottest part of the cartridge).
A slight mod makes it near perfect
While it’s unreasonable to expect anything to last forever, we found that the addition of a small piece of leather in the bottom prevented any visible wear, and will extend the life of the product considerably.
Pros
- 100 round capacity
- Empty without removing from the rifle with bottom zipper
- Standard picatinny rail mounting
- Fully adjustable to work with a variety of rails
- Rounds land in the bag nose down & can melt the bottom over time
Read Reviews on Amazon
Best Trap Brass Catcher:
Caldwell Brass Trap with Heat Resistant Mesh and Tripod Mount for Range Brass Collection
- DIMENSIONS: 19" H x 17" W x 16.5" D
- EASE OF USE: Zipper at the bottom of the mesh bag makes emptying simple and the brass catcher...
- VERSATILITY: Can be used to catch casings from pistol or rifle shoots and can be weighed down with...
View on Amazon
If you’d prefer to avoid mounting anything to your rifle (but still want to use a catch) the Caldwell Brass Trap makes catching, clearing, and removing all your brass easier than every other trap catch we’ve seen.
Stand-alone trap
The fact it’s a stand-alone catch means it’ll work for any firearm – rifles, pistols – you name it. Plus the mouth is huge at 19″ x 20” so it’ll catch anything you toss at it and it’s far easier to clean out than other traps.
The nylon mesh is sturdy and the internal frame helps it maintain a consistent shape. The unit can be tripod-mounted so you move it to fit wherever you’re shooting – standing, seated, or prone. We mounted it to a standard tripod mount and shot from a variety of angles and positions with no issues.
Best when secured down
With its large size but relatively lightweight we found that without a tripod the catch worked best with a sandbag or bungee cord to tie it down. Once you get it secure though, this thing isn’t going anywhere.
For those reasons and more, we think a quality brass catch that makes a very tedious task much easier is worth the premium price.
Pros
- Big & easy to use
- Holds an absurd amount of brass
- Tripod mount makes it super flexible
- Won’t interfere with your shooting style
- More expensive than other options
- Will need to be weighed down to keep in place if there’s any wind
- Plastic rods are flimsy
Read Reviews on Amazon
Best Budget Brass Catcher:
Sale
GLORYFIRE Pic Rail Brass Catcher
- Zipper Design.Padded mesh with zipper closure can be used to effectively emptying and safely...
- Convenient Use.Quick detent locking and separating, easy to install and change.
- Practicality. Mounts anywhere on picatinny rail compatible with most models.
View on Amazon
If your budget is tight, or the Caldwell Pic Rail Brass Catcher isn’t available, the GLORYFIRE Pic Rail Brass Catcher is easy to attach to your rifle, holds the same amount of cartridges (100 round capacity) and costs less than our top pick.
The GLORYFIRE is not a product you’ll find in stores – it’s a “made for Amazon” kind of thing – but it’s also a fairly capable brass catcher.
Easy to attach, if somewhat inconsistent quality
It’ll attach via the provided mount & allen wrenches and offers a zippered bottom for easy emptying – plus it keeps you from flipping brass at your neighbor on the range.
It’s also light enough not to interfere with shooting position or optics and the mesh is high quality – it showed no signs of melting in our 100+ round fire tests.
The picatinny mount worked well in our test unit but there have been reports of the mount not being milled to spec, which can cause it to be canted when mounted. QA can also be an issue, but absent that the product works as intended.
Pros
- Attaches easily
- Mesh is durable
- Price
- Picatinny mount can have inconsistent milling
- QA can be an issue
Read Reviews on Amazon
Best Brass Retriever:
Sale
Caldwell Brass Retriever
- EASE OF USE: Simply roll the device over the brass casings (.223 or bigger) to collect them quickly...
- VERSATILITY: The telescoping design makes height adjustments quick and easy
- RELIABLE: Works on many surfaces, such as concrete, pavement, gravel and short grass
View on Amazon
If you really don’t like the idea of attaching a catcher to your rifle, or would prefer to simply clean up once your day at the range is done (but still don’t want bend over and pick up your brass by hand) the Caldwell Brass Retriever is sturdy, light, nimble, easy to assemble, and a superb performer for picking up spent casings & saving your back.
It did a better job of picking up .223 & 5.56 casings than any other retriever in our test—and did so on cement, light gravel, and packed dirt reasonably well. Its long handle and metal opener tool mean you stand upright when cleaning up then quickly drop the casings into a bucket to haul home.
Easy on the back
This really reduces back strain, and its collapsible handle makes it small enough to fit into a range bag.
The design is dead simple – you extend the handle and basically mop up the casings by rolling over them with the wire head.
There’s a learning curve
You can’t overdo it though – after it has picked up about 20 casings they will start falling out of the head if you keep pushing it around. You learn when it’s “full” (even if it doesn’t actually fill the head) and can drop them into a bucket with the opener tool.
It’s also not omnidirectional – you’ve got to orient the head the right way to consistently pick up the casings (or it’ll just glide over top of them.) It will work really well at indoor ranges with smooth floors.
Outdoors your mileage may vary, and it will pick up rocks and other items in addition to the casings you actually want. That said, it’s a solid tool and does a great job if you use it within its design constraints.
Pros
- Saves your back
- Light weight
- Packs up small
- Adjustable handle
- Learning curve
- Will drop casings if not emptied consistently
Read Reviews on Amazon
Runner-up Attached Brass Catcher:
TacStar Industries Brass Catcher
- Clamps To The Firearm'S Picatinny Rail Section With A Low Profile Mounting Bracket
- Holds Up To 120 223 Cases
- Shell Bag Is Easily Removed For Emptying
View on Amazon
Another solid attachable brass catcher option is the TacStar Industries Brass Catcher, available on Amazon.
It’s about the same size and price as our top pick, and offers most of the features you want in a brass catcher. The actual catch is sturdy and well-built, and the material (while not see-through like mesh options) is very durable. It’s impermeable to hot brass casings and stiff enough that it doesn’t need a wire frame.
Survived our speed run with flying colors
We did a speed run – firing off 30 rounds in rapid succession. The spent brass was too hot to touch, but the catcher showed zero wear even when it was half full of red hot casings. Really impressive.
It mounts with a standard picatinny to any flat top AR, so if you have the rail space this should mount without issue.
Less mounting flexibility
One note on the mount though – while the Caldwell mount slides all the way across the opening – the Tacstar mount can only slide half way across – from the front rearward to about the middle of the unit.
This means your picatinny bracket needs to be placed forward of the catcher’s center point – you can’t put the mounting bracket further back on the rail.
While not a massive design flaw, this could create an issue for anyone short on forward rail slots or with a scope mount that’s using that space.
No zipper, but still easy to empty
There’s no zipper bottom like other units, so the bag needs to be removed to empty, but it slides off the mount smoothly. You can also unsnap the bag from the top bracket to give it a thorough cleaning when it seems prudent.
The picatinny bracket isn’t premium material – so don’t over tighten the screws or the threads may strip. There’s also no option to buy a standalone bracket, so if you overdo it on the bracket you’ll need to replace the entire unit.
Pros
- Flush mounts to standard Picatinny
- Durable catch bag won’t melt
- Needs to be removed to be emptied
- Limited mounting options
Read Reviews on Amazon
Conclusion
Each of these brass catchers offers different strengths and use cases but our top pick is the Caldwell Pic Rail Brass Catcher as it’s incredibly effective, easy-to-use, and met the criteria for any brass catcher we’d recommend:
- Easy to mount
- Durable
- Lightweight & lots of capacity
Brass Catcher Frequently Asked Questions
How do you attach a brass catcher to your rifle?
Many brass catchers use a top rail to mount the slide-in base, to which you lock your brass catcher over the rifle’s ejection port. This makes them an easy addition to more rifle platforms.
What is point of brass catcher?
Brass catchers are great for “catching” brass casings as they are ejected from your rifle – which eliminates the need to pick them up when you’re done at the range. They also tend to keep brass clean, which helps for reloading applications.
What makes a good brass catcher?
A good brass catcher should be easy to use (be it mountable, trap-style, or push-style), durable, and light-weight so as to not impact your firing sequence. You should not have to compensate for the brass catcher once mounted to your rifle.
mzkitty
I give up.
I can't imagine ANY desk-bound "social worker" who would volunteer to do this. They'd have to be crazy themselves.
If they are FORCED to do it as part of their "job description," they will probably just quit.
I've known social workers as friends and neighbors. They sit at desks all day and bitch about the stacks and stacks of paperwork they are buried under.
ExCop
Veteran Member
Sorry TKO but I have to respond to this:
While I am not the longest serving Cop, I can tell you that for most of the officers I worked with you are just WRONG!!
You are entitled to your opinion but come work in my shoes for a couple of months and you will see most cops deserve waaay more than they get. That is not to say there are not bad cops and bad districts but they are the exception not the rule. At least they used to be.
I have had guns shoved in my face more times than I can count. How often do you wonder when you head out to work if you will even make it back home? I used to. How many times have you been shot at - at work? I have.
Pension plans aren't worth a whole lot if you are killed in the line of duty.
Yes I took my vehicle home at night - Why? Because I would get calls at 3AM to respond to a wreck or for a domestic violence call or to assist the fire department with a fire or to respond to a burglary. You see these things don't only happen during 7:00am to 5:00pm. One of my worst calls was responding to a wreck at 2:00am. Two 300+ pound men in a Trans Am piled into a hillside at over 100 miles an hour. We had to deconstruct the car to retrieve the remains.
The rule for my department was to let speeders go if they were not endangering others. The reason my sheriff gave was he would rather people would work WITH us when we needed them rather than to just put money into the town coffers.
Now I don't know your story or why you obviously HATE cops but don't hit us all with that broad brush. You never know when you might get awakened by some cop pulling you out of a wreck saving your life.
Off my soapbox now.
ExCop
Veteran Member
Back to topic
I used to live in St Pete in my wild younger days......even back then it was a fairly dangerous place to be white. Almost every day that the temp went over 100 degrees we would have some kind of riot in the Black sections of the city. Those areas were never safe for white kids to enter after dark - and I had lots of Black friends and it still was not safe. Now my old neighborhood is all a person of color area which used to be filled with whites since 1920.
I used to live in St Pete in my wild younger days......even back then it was a fairly dangerous place to be white. Almost every day that the temp went over 100 degrees we would have some kind of riot in the Black sections of the city. Those areas were never safe for white kids to enter after dark - and I had lots of Black friends and it still was not safe. Now my old neighborhood is all a person of color area which used to be filled with whites since 1920.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
You do realize that for hundreds of years drunks were put in a "drunk tank" to sober up.
The smarter we get the dumber we get. We as a society are so smart that everything is a mental disorder, instead of just bad behavior.
et2
Has No Life - Lives on TB
just added another to my collection this week.
TKO
Veteran Member
Thanks for commenting your perspective. Let me make it clear I don't hate cops. If you don't fit this mold I've seen...God love you for that! I just don't have a lot of respect for the cops around here. Their main goal in life is to rob from the citizens with all their speed traps and unmarked cars. And you RARELY see one catching speeders around schools.
I guess I live in a wealthier city where there's plenty of money. Cops know it is easy pickings here. Here, if you ask a cop a question they'll write you a ticket fast. They come back at you thinking you are QUESTIONING their authority. Don't even look at cops in the eye here. I got a ticket once because the cop said I didn't stop at the entrance to the road from my neighborhood. I actually stopped twice...as I was testing my son's brakes. He didn't see me stop as he drove by and I got a 180 dollar ticket for it. When I told him I did stop, he said I could contest it but likely going to cost me a lot more money. BUT, he did give me the robbery speech on if I paid 250 dollars, plus the cost of the ticket, I could keep it off the insurance. My neighbor got a ticket for passing a guy going 30, in a 35, in a passing zone. Yep. He went over the speed limit for a moment while passing. Cop was right up on top of the hill and got him. 38 in a 35...but called it 40. That's a 100 dollar ticket here. REVENUE producers for the city. These are the kinds of cops we have here. And if you need them, forget it. One cop here, everyone has a nickname for him..."Ticket X" Like Racer X. He must give out more tickets than anyone in the history of the force here.
I don't doubt you do some horrible work. YMMV depending on the city. Cops don't do that deconstructing thing here. That's all handled by the fire department. Cops just do the traffic control for the fire department, and investigate A lot of cops here have a rage and authority issue. I've seen it in a lot of places I've lived, too. Here, the hiring practice isn't to hire the best and brightest. Often, it is who you know and your IQ needs to be a little lower...because it's often a boring job and people with higher IQs will leave they think. I'm not kidding you on that one either. I was told this by a city councilman.
Your department may have different hiring standards. There's a profile here, though. So, we are stuck with a lot of authority driven power mad cops. NOW, not all of them are like this...as you mention. I know one that moved here from another police force and seems solid. He was used to major crime where he came from. His wife said either they were moving to a lower crime place or else he was leaving the department. They moved here where all they have to do is pull over speeders and answer "suspicious man" calls. And of course there's always the "after the fact" call of... "something was stolen from my car last night"...as we often get hit by drug users looking for a quick 20 to get some drugs. Not that cops stop that kind of thing...or even that people actually will lock their cars either. Just respond to the call and tell the drug story. They have speeding tickets to give out so they can't be too bothered with side work.
I respect your situation. You must be in a rougher area than I live in. Honestly, I've been shot at on my way to work before. I've had to shoot, too. I've been bombed, been shot at, been gassed, exposed to toxic chemicals, and not sure if I would ever see my family again.
Reminds me of the old joke when an citizen calls the police and tells them that someone's breaking into his shed in the backyard and the police say that there's no one available. He calls back a few minutes later and informs them that there's no hurry because he just shot the intruder to death. Cop cars show up in a couple of minutes. Finding that there had been no shooting the cops said hey I thought you said you shot someone, yeah well you said there were no cops available.
ExCop
Veteran Member
Thank you for the honest reply. The first day I arrived on the East Coast, I was pulled over at one of those money maker traps -there was no way you could not get a ticket. I do understand. To get an honest picture of what my department was like I have to tell you a little story.
My boss called me in 1 day because I had a customer complaint from a resident who said that I was Harassing them and that I was going out of my way to annoy them and to write tickets on them for miscellaneous parking violations and other traffic matters. Now my boss pulled me in so that the resident could complain to my face.
When I arrived in the office the gentleman started to complain about all the times that I had been obviously harassing him with parking tickets and and annoying him when I would make suggestions to him about where he should or shouldn't park. My boss at that point started laughing at him and could not stop. The gentleman was so confused and could not understand what was going on and he's looking at my boss
laughing.
He said what? Whats so funny? What are you laughing about? My boss just burst out laughing more and fell out of his office chair on to the floor still laughing. The man was getting frustrated and said to my boss tell me why are you laughing I don't understand. This made my boss laugh even more and finally from the floor he held up 2 fingers and the gentleman said I don't understand? Two what is two and he looked at me and says what's 2 I don't get it. My boss is still laughing and finally he looks at the gentleman and he says 2 tickets. What do you mean two tickets? My boss says he's only written 2 tickets in the whole time he's been in this department.
The gentleman said That's not possible because I've had lots of tickets on my car and I figured it was him because he's always telling me no you don't wanna park there you're gonna get a ticket, no please move your car so you don't get a a ticket and I figured it was him So he said who's been writing all these tickets? And my boss pointed at his chest and burst out laughing again saying me. He said you should have listened to him when he told you not to park places then you would not have gotten a ticket.
Sorry for the thread drift
My boss called me in 1 day because I had a customer complaint from a resident who said that I was Harassing them and that I was going out of my way to annoy them and to write tickets on them for miscellaneous parking violations and other traffic matters. Now my boss pulled me in so that the resident could complain to my face.
When I arrived in the office the gentleman started to complain about all the times that I had been obviously harassing him with parking tickets and and annoying him when I would make suggestions to him about where he should or shouldn't park. My boss at that point started laughing at him and could not stop. The gentleman was so confused and could not understand what was going on and he's looking at my boss
laughing.
He said what? Whats so funny? What are you laughing about? My boss just burst out laughing more and fell out of his office chair on to the floor still laughing. The man was getting frustrated and said to my boss tell me why are you laughing I don't understand. This made my boss laugh even more and finally from the floor he held up 2 fingers and the gentleman said I don't understand? Two what is two and he looked at me and says what's 2 I don't get it. My boss is still laughing and finally he looks at the gentleman and he says 2 tickets. What do you mean two tickets? My boss says he's only written 2 tickets in the whole time he's been in this department.
The gentleman said That's not possible because I've had lots of tickets on my car and I figured it was him because he's always telling me no you don't wanna park there you're gonna get a ticket, no please move your car so you don't get a a ticket and I figured it was him So he said who's been writing all these tickets? And my boss pointed at his chest and burst out laughing again saying me. He said you should have listened to him when he told you not to park places then you would not have gotten a ticket.
Sorry for the thread drift
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Hawkgirl_70
Veteran Member
Excop - thank you for your service and all you had to go thru. God DEFINITELY blessed and protected you.
intothatgoodnight
. . .
. . . and bad CHOICES fueling inebriation - drug and/or alcohol - which drives yet MORE bad choices, to be tossed carelessly into the increasingly strained cultural melee.
Some can no longer recall the necessity of real sobriety.
intothegoodnight
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ArisenCarcass
Veteran Member
More and more, I've been thinking of using this as a jumping ground to roll my own:
Improvised Guns
Completed DIY .22 Revolver Project
Completed DIY .22 Revolver Project
A reader submission from Russia which was built from the DIY .22 Revolver Construction Plans by Professor Parabellum.
homemadeguns.wordpress.com
mzkitty
I give up.
Sure did. I posted it. What's your point? That nothing on this list is dangerous or requires cops anyway?
ExCop
Veteran Member
What’s really funny about this is that it seems the police commissioner in St. Petersburg forgot the lesson that most commissioners learned that if you prosecute every crime no matter how small the crime level goes down if you allow small crimes to flourish then major crimes flourish.
The “broken window” theory. Yup.
rob0126
Veteran Member
Glade you made it to retirement. It's certainly a dangerous job and lots of stress relieved off your family.
I think what TKO is talking about is the inherent corruption the system breeds because of what it is.
(Common law vs Contract law)
Most Lawyers & Judges use it extensively to crush people for profit and possibly amusement.
Your boss was probably a pretty upstanding guy but certainly he knew how twisted the system is.
All being said, I'd rather have an andy griffith patrolling the neighborhood, and not a barney.
Going through a similar situation with ex gf . God help her, she is mentally ill, an addict and after knowing her for 15 years sad to see, but we must protect ourselves. Cops sure won't and indeed can't.
TKO
Veteran Member
Wonder what will happen to all the military weaponry the cops got to become "militarized"? Sits there and rusts?
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
FYI in our neck of the woods, EMT's are not allowed into a dwelling, or area, until the cops have the situation contained. They will sit in their ambulance down the road until they get the "all clear".
I would add that "the list" seems pretty low key, non-combative. However, those situations can turn ugly real quick. Even panhandling can get really bad.
And at an initial assessment no one, NO ONE, can tell by looking if it will go sideways when they drive up. Having a cop do it, initially means they have planned for the worst.
Putting them in a "drunk tank" means not only do they get to stay safe, as they sleep it off, but so does everyone else. They can be reassessed in the AM, and a shrink called then, while still in custody, and everyone is still safe.
mzkitty
I give up.
ATF gunwalking scandal - Wikipedia
Why Are Federal Bureaucrats Buying Guns And Ammo? $158 Million Spent By Non-Military Agencies
Updated figures on guns and ammunition purchased by the Internal Revenue Service, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Education Dept., Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration, the EPA and other paper-pushing administrative agencies.
www.forbes.com