Sure, but you used a revolver, right? No brass on the ground. Get in your car and drive away. Cops will show in 20-30 minutes.
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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…
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The Best AR15 Brass & Shell Catchers
-
Michael Crites
- January 26, 2020
What are the best options for catching brass?
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...
$31.19
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
Cons
- 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...
$43.59
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
Cons
- 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.
$17.51
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
Cons
- 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
$43.89
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
Cons
- 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
$35.87
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
Cons
- 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
There are quite a few options out in this category, but we hope this article steers you in the right direction. If you have any questions or feedback please drop us a line.
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.